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Norway Travelogue

NORWAY Country: Norway Capital: Oslo Main Language Spoken: Norwegian  Currency: Kroner  I am at a total loss of of how to pen down my thoughts on Norway, renowned for so many things: the ethereal northern lights, trolls and Vikings, its deep calm fjords, and the glowing midnight sun. Its beauty as if has been honed to perfection and it is just like a world of fantasy. Oslo, the capital of Norway, was founded in the 11th century and is on the south coast of Norway. Akershus Fortress in Oslo has lovely views of the surrounding city and North Sea and the Aker Brygge harbour – a lively, bustling harbour with an abundance of multi cuisine restaurants. Right next to Aker Brygge harbour is the Nobel peace prize centre where the Nobel peace prize is given annually, Malala being the youngest to ever receive it. The building was a complete antithesis to what I expected. I expected a grand edifice whereas this humble structure can actually be quite inconspicuous. Another vibrant street is from Parliament House (Storting) to the Royal Palace, lined with cafes and shops. The city’s main highlight, Vigeland Sculpture park,  consists of more than 200 sculptures, all made by Vigeland. There is one main structure in the middle of the park called Monolith that took him 13 years to build it is composed of 121 human figures 36 figures are erected on the elevation bringing with them the “circle of life” message.  The sea has a stark change of colour, from turquoise to deep blue, it’s almost as if there was a line and the two sides were painted in different colours. That was so spectacular. Lofoten, an archipelago in the Arctic Circle, is endowed with natural beauty opening up a new scene at every turn; its multiple little islands connected by never ending bridges. To add to that the midnight sun glows up the scenery. That was truly once in a lifetime experience – not seeing any darkness for 24 hours!! The sea has a stark change of colour, from turquoise to deep blue, it’s almost as if there was a line and the two sides were painted in different colours. That was so spectacular.  Lofoten has striking red traditional fishermen houses called Rorbuers. They were built in 1120 by king Øystein so that it was easier for the fishermen to fish. This resulted in many more fishermen coming to Lofoten. Now they have been converted into stylish and sought after holiday homes. Lofoten is without doubt the fishing goldmine of Norway because it has perfect conditions for it – perfect spawning sea temperatures, the correct amount of salt in the sea, appropriate depth and has the suitable warm Gulf Stream current flowing in. A thousand year old fish preserving technique is to dry the fishes on wooden racks called hjell locally. Lofoten has perfect climatic conditions for drying fish using this technique. If it is too hot, food flies will stick on it and if it is too cold it will freeze. This technique has been around for about a thousand years while all the other fishing techniques have changed and modernised. Reine, is a stunningly beautiful fishing village, blessed with a dramatic setting off cliffs and sea. It is in my opinion the most beautiful village in Lofoten.  Another highlight of Lofoten are its white sandy beaches which are splashed along the whole coast. Though the water temperatures are freezing, it’s lovely to just bask on those beaches on a sunny day. Bergen, the second largest city in Norway, surrounded by 7 fjords and hills is a starting point for many ferries and tours. The old town, Bryggen, a UNESCO world heritage site, has brightly coloured houses lined up by the sea. It has bustling streets with a lively atmosphere. While we were there there was a local and seafood festival taking place. The live counter stalls, which made your mouth water, were selling local foods like smoked salmon (a top notch salmon recipe), reindeer meat and whale meat. People were thronging the stalls. I tried a reindeer sausage. It was so fabulous that a normal pork sausage totally pales in comparison. It was very interesting to see live king crab and lobster being cooked in front of us. In 2015, Bergen was awarded the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for gastronomy which comes as no surprise to me. To get phenomenal views of Bergen you can go up the funicular to Floyen, one of Bergens mountains, it has lovely viewing and play area and you can also have a go at canoeing.            Since Norway  is famous for its fjords (a long narrow and deep inlet of the sea  between cliffs that were created by melting glaciers) and the trip would be incomplete without exploring one. We visited Flåm, which is situated on Sognefjord. The Flåm Railway, a very picturesque year round train ride with a steepest incline of 55% and has 7 stops. Did you know that until 1944 all trains on the Flåm Railway were run by steam engines. Then in 1944 the Kjosfossen hydroelectric plant was commissioned. Since 1947 all  trains on the railway  started running on electricity from the Kjosfossen plant. The train takes a five minute photo stop at Kjosfossen waterfall . To keep the area folklore going, two ladies in red appear very mysteriously and start dancing and singing whenever the Flåm railway stops there. The legend is that there was once an underground spirit called the Huldra that captivated men and lured them into the mountains. The girls who you see now are from a ballet school in Norway. In Flåm we went on a fjord cruise.  The cruise started on Sognefjord which is the broadest fjord in Norway. Tall green cliffs surrounded the fjord and it was very peaceful. Then the ship took the turn into a narrower fjord, Naeroyfjord ( a UNESCO World Heritage Site) which is one of the the

Portugal Travelogue

PORTUGAL Country: Portugal Capital: Lisbon  Main Language Spoken: Portuguese                                                                                                                     Currency: Euro Lisbon (Lisboa) , the city of 7 hills is the capital of Portugal. River Tagus (pronounced Tagoosh) flowing through it, runs into the Atlantic Ocean and is the biggest river in the Iberian Peninsula.  Lisbon enjoyed a strategic location for two reasons – being right on the estuary of River Tagus it was easy for ships to sail in and out and secondly because of its geographic proximity to Europe, Africa and Americas, it became an important seaport for trade. Lisbon flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries in the Age of Discoveries and ascended to the status of a world power during this time through trade and colonisation. In 1755 the Lisbon earthquake destroyed most of Lisbon and the Peninsular Wars in 1807 sent Portugal into complete anarchy. The downfall of this great empire began.  l first visited the Monument of Discoveries, which celebrates the Age of Discoveries. The navigation boats used during that period were called ‘Caravels’ and this Monument is shaped like one. King Henry is at the front holding a ship with 34 historically important people following him like Vasco de Gama, the first European to discover India and Ferdinand Magellan, the first to circle the world. The only lady in this monument is Queen Felipa, mother of Henry the navigator. King Henry was responsible for most of the Portuguese discoveries and was better known as Prince Henry the Navigator. There is also the Belem Tower close by which was built as a defence system on the mouth of Tagus with some other structures. It was also the starting point for many voyages. Baixa (pronounced Baisha) is the historical Old Town of Lisbon. It was fully destroyed by the earthquake and was rebuilt completely with the first types of earthquake proof material.  Baixa has lots of shops, restaurants and the streets were lined with vendors selling roasted Kastanhas (chestnuts). It looked a bit run-down or neglected . While we were walking down streets restaurant owners tried to persuade us to come to them by showing their menus! Praca de Commercio is the main square. The arch in Praca De Commercio was inaugurated on centenary of the devastating earthquake. Some elevators you see in Baixa are unique because they were made to take people not up and down buildings, but up and down streets!! We went to two of these elevators – Santa Justa and Gloria. These kind of elevators were built in the 19th century and are still operational. The Gloria elevator is technically a funicular but it’s called an elevator. From the viewing balcony on top of the Santa Justa Elevator you can see a lovely landscape of Lisbon dotted with red roofed buildings.  Santo Amaro Docks used to be a warehouse and a place for ships to dock and has now been converted into lively restaurants and is a lovely hang out place because there’s always the 25 de Abril suspension bridge over you, the sparkling blue River Tagus and the statue of the Christ De Redeemer on a hill overlooking the docks. Tram number 28, is a quaint yellow tram that goes up and down the steep, winding and narrow lanes of old Lisbon, which the new trams can’t navigate as they are too long. It was quite an experience to go in the rattling tram as it dates from the 1930s and is exactly the same as it was back then. All the old trams like Tram 28 are called Remodelado trams. We went on tram 28 because it goes through the most beautiful districts of Lisbon. Fado Music, the traditional music of Lisbon, is melancholous because it was made by the ladies whose husbands have gone out on voyages, so the wives didn’t know when their husbands will come, if they ever do. Many clubs hold Fado music performances to keep the tradition alive. Sintra is a must visit town that is bustling with tourists and it is an easy 1 hour train ride from Lisbon. There are loads of tourist attractions in the town of Sintra but the Pena Palace is definitely the highlight. We went up to the Pena Palace in a bus as it is made on a hill. You can also trek up to the palace but we preferred the bus as we had my little brother with us. The Sintra Pena Palace is a gorgeous palace and the first thing that strikes you is the colourful facade. The Triton, half man half fish figure is on the top of the main entrance. Don Fernando II built this palace. The palace has turrets that we were allowed to go on and that was a fun experience because I pretended I was a knight battling the enemy down below. The most panoramic view was from the Queen’s terrace. The inside wasn’t as extraordinary as the outside though. After Lisbon we visited Porto, the second biggest city in Portugal is on the banks of river Duoro. Porto is renowned for its port wine. The wine is stored in the wine cellars in Porto. Most of these wine cellars offer you tours and we toured one of wine cellars offering English tours. Inside the cellar was dark and cold because these conditions are required for the wine to mature. The tour was very informative and the coolest part for me was to learn about their vintage wines which are more than a 100 years old!! Also, in the olden days oxen were used to carry wine barrels in carts. A heavy load was put on their head so that they couldn’t

Taj Mahal Travelogue

TAJ MAHAL Country: India Capital: New Delhi India is steeped in history and diversity and there is no dearth of historical monuments and sites in the country but the Taj Mahal is unarguably the magnet that attracts tourists from far and wide. The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO world heritage site, is an imposing marble mausoleum constructed during the period of the Mughal dynasty (1500’s-1800’s). The Mughal dynasty was the third biggest empire in the world and was one of the most prominent and powerful empires in India. Shah Jahan, one of the emperors of the dynasty, ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal. The Mughal architecture was at its pinnacle during Shah Jahan’s reign and therefore this period during his rule is also called the ‘Golden Age of Mughal Architecture.’  Under him many prominent monuments were built but the masterpiece is undoubtedly the Taj Mahal.  This structure, currently costing USD 827 billion, lies on the banks of the Yamuna river in the city of Agra, India. Taj Mahal’s saga has made it a symbol of eternal and undying love. Shah Jahan had three wives but his favourite was Mumtaz Mahal. She was also the only one who could bear kids for him. Mumtaz Mahal died from childbirth and she had two ‘dying wishes’ – one, to build the most stunning mausoleum ever in the world and two, Shah Jahan should never marry again. Shah Jahan fulfilled these promises. Twenty thousand workers from as far as Iraq and Turkey were appointed to initiate a task that would stagger the world with its architectural brilliance. Mumtaz Mahal was first buried and then the mausoleum was built around her tomb as the central point. The project was completed in 1631 after 22 years of arduous labour. After the completion of the monument, Shah Jahan cut off the architect’s thumb and he ordered the workers to never work again in the construction industry.  Shah Jahan also attempted to build a mirror image of the Taj Mahal in black, on the other side of the Yamuna river for himself.  While he was attempting to construct his grand mausoleum, Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan’s youngest son, conspired to kill his two elder brothers so that he could become the heir to the throne. Aurangzeb then imprisoned  his father in a room in the Agra fort where he spent his last days, from there he had a clear view of the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb feared that if Shah Jahan realised his dream of a black Taj Mahal, the kingdom would be near bankruptcy. When Shah Jahan died, his tomb was placed next to his wife. His tomb is the only thing that is not symmetrical in the whole mausoleum complex. The main gate for entering the Taj Mahal is built in red sandstone. It has 22 pillars adorning the top (for the number of years it took to build), eleven at the front and eleven at the back. The Taj Mahal looks totally mesmerising from the moment you set eyes on it through the arch of the main gate and it’s easy to see why this has been added as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The Taj Mahal indeed looks like a palace (mahal). There are clear, big pools and fountains leading to the the main domed structure surrounded by lavish and sprawling gardens. The pools were built in such a way that the Taj Mahal would reflect in them. Walking about or picnics in the garden are prohibited. Flanking the gardens are two red sandstone structures. Facing the East, there is a mosque and facing the west, a guest house. No one ever stayed in this guest house because it was considered bad luck to stay near a tomb. The edifice has embedded in it 28 types of precious stones which were sourced from as far as Tibet, Sri Lanka and Persia while the marble came from Rajasthan, India.  The stairs going down to the real tombs have been closed for the public but you can still see a replica on top. The intricately carved marble lattice that surrounds the two cenotaphs is in the shape of a Crown (Taj) and is made out of big slabs of marble. The workers had to carve it perfectly and with utmost care as a single mistake could shatter the marble. It is said that lots of marble was laid waste during this process in order to achieve perfection. At a first glance the aesthetically pleasing monument looks impeccably symmetrical but actually has an abundance of optical illusions built in. The minarets of the Taj Mahal which look straight are tilted slightly  outwards. This was done for two reasons, to help them look straight and for safety reasons – if an earthquake were to occur the minarets would fall away from the main structure instead of  falling on it. Another example is that the Arabic inscriptions from the holy Quran, which are carved on the main structure, appear exactly the same size from top to bottom but on closer inspection one finds that the lower the words get , the smaller they become! This was done for ease of reading. The Taj Mahal also appears very close to the main gate when you view it through the main arch but as you enter the gate, it is suddenly quite a distance away. It is almost incredible that the workers had managed to construct this fine piece of work almost 4 centuries back!  The monument’s beauty is unparalleled and very few can match its splendour. It’s one thing to have heard about the Taj Mahal, a totally different thing to have seen it.