Tuesday 26 July 2011

une soirée à Paris

 The city of lights, romance, love, fashion, where else can you be but in Paris!


We only had one day in Paris and more than one thing had already gone wrong in that one day, so I will just end this with pictures taken all over the city.


Around the city!


Arc de Triomphe


Outside the Louvre


Notre Dame


Eiffel Tower



It seems that even the Gods believe in the strength of love that runs through the veins of the city!


Au Revoir



Photographs by : Urmita Das

Sunday 24 July 2011

Swiss Bliss!

 From the country that boasts of emperors, gods and goddesses, art and artists, we took off to a land that you have to experience first-hand before you even begin to speak about.


As a matter of fact, I was not really excited about visiting Switzerland. But as expected, I didn't want to leave the place once I had seen it.


We were staying in Luzern, a city in the north-central part of Switzerland.



Luzern lies on the shore of Lake Luzern, with Mount Pilatus and Rigi, in the Swiss Alps, in close sight.



We stayed in a hotel close to the railway station which is also close to the boat station and the Museum of Art Lucerne.


The first day we took a sight seeing tour of the city.



The Hof Church



The Lion Monument



The Chapel Bridge


The next day, we went on the Mount Titlis tour.


Now I have to mention that I am very scared of heights, and to reach the top of the mount we had to take multiple cable cars which was not a very pleasant experience for me.



But looking down on the landscape, I guess I forgot about my fear.



And the view from the top is simply breathtaking.



And I am also not an adventure person like my sister, who forced me into doing this.


But I always go through this ‘scared at first-highly skeptical about doing it-perfectly regretting while going through it’ phase to completely loving it phase where I want to re-do the whole thing. This generally happens whenever I do something new.



The day after, we went to look for the dragon on Mount Pilatus.



The mount can be reached by boarding the world’s steepest cogwheel train.



Pilatus was named after the local legend that claims that Pontius Pilate was buried here.


Pilatus also has the longest summer toboggan track in Switzerland.


 That is my lovely sister, my in-house model, and the photographer on this trip, Urmita Das


 And that's me!


Well, it was not easy to capture these.



I will definitely say that this is something that nobody should miss!


Auf Wiedersehen



Photographs by : Urmita Das and Me

Saturday 23 July 2011

Milano...il mio amore!

Milan! Home to many famous and emerging fashion designers, this city offers a blend of historic as well as strikingly new architecture.



We reached Milan around 11 AM and since we had only the day in the city, we quickly took off on a hop on hop off bus ride.


Our first and only stop – The Duomo



The Duomo is the largest Gothic church in the world.


Constructed out of a pink-tinged marble, the massive structure has 135 spires and countless flying buttresses.


I had always imagined that I would absolutely faint the day I will actually see the Duomo.


Well, I didn't faint but I was unquestionably awestruck by the magnificence of this cathedral.


Standing in front of the Duomo, you can actually feel its presence!



Access to the cathedral is through five huge bronze doors that are decorated with reliefs.



This exceptionally large monument is laid out in the heart of the city, with streets either radiating from or encircling it.



The interiors of the cathedral is full of stained choir windows depicting scenes from the lives of saints.



The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is also known as ‘Il Salotto di Milano’ – the living room of Milan; since it became the most favored meeting place in the city.



The impressive building is a five story arcade with a glass and iron roof, home to many designer outlets, cafes, and restaurants.


Enchanted by the beauty of the Duomo and the Galleria, we took our bus ride around the city crossing all major sights and shopping areas in the city.



As much as I wanted to stay another day in the fashion capital, we had to leave as this was our last day in Italy!



Photographs by : Urmita Das