2011 to 2021 - 29 to 39 A decade well travelled!

 I have been wondering what to write in my decade post since the end of 2020. 1.5 years later, I know exactly what to write. I already know what I will be writing in my 2030 post though.

When I was younger, I never thought I would get married. In the 90's, a girl with certain health issues was destined to remain single and live alone. The joke about living with cats also came in very late, I would have been a happier kid had I known I will have a certain feline for company. 

Anyway, when I did get married, I had no expectations of travel. In the sad 90's, my sojourns were restricted to Nainital, Dadi house, and Nani house. Thank God my grandmothers lived in different cities than mine, otherwise Pinki, Billu and Chacha Choudhary would have severely restricted world view.

2011 - I was exhilarated when the Boy and I decided to go to Europe in 2011. I thought it will be my first and who knows, last trip to the beautiful continent. I insisted on going to France and Switzerland because I wanted to see the best places first lest I never went back. That was the start of the wonderful adventure we embarked upon and we have never looked back.

2012 - The Boy had started a new job and so we decided to take it easy and went to Turkey. Istanbul was one hyped city I did not like.

2013 - Since we were scared we might not get to travel much in life, we ventured into the U.S. of A! I loved the beauty of California and the unabashed Vegas. New York wasn't for the small town people like us - but I want to go again to like it!.

2014 - This was the luckiest year of our life in many ways. We won a free trip to Bangladesh for a Cricket World Cup final. The trip was like no other. We then went to Austria to give our parents a taste of beautiful Europe. It was the first and last time I cooked meals on a trip. We can eat almost anything and survive on outside food for months, but the elderly parents needed ghar ka khana and I was a good daughter-in-law! Our third trip this year was to Greece with friends. Santorini was beautiful but ruined by glorifying sunsets and hordes of tourists (like us!). We won a lot of lucky draws in 2014 and also bought our first luxury car. Ah, such an amazing year!

2015 - We went to Cyprus in the summer of 2015. We swam in the beach every single day and consider it one of our best trips. We also went to Amsterdam, Black Forest and Munich for Oktoberfest this year. I tried magic mushrooms and marijuana and the joy of being lost in thought and mountains. All these three places remain our favourite. 2015 was a triumphant year!

2016 - Portugal was a hidden gem that found a place in our hearts, Spain was a tad over-rated but Ibiza did live up to the hype. But the best part of 2016 was our impromptu trip to Prague. The beauty of that city is etched in my heart forever and it is my favourite city in the world.

2017 - This was a tough year for me. I became weaker and discovered that only when I could not walk a lot in my travels. Everything had suddenly become more difficult and it made me cry several times in Croatia. Dubrovnik was a joy, and Hvar island remains a place with one of our fondest memories of sleeping at the ferry terminal! We also took a 26-hour flight and travelled across oceans to St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and Miami. Our love for Bob Marley was born.

2018 - We took a leap of faith and went for cruise to the Baltics. 13 days on a ship with seven ports and three days in St. Petersburg went by in a jiffy and left us craving for more. We dream of  cruises now and hopefully will return to them soon enough.

2019 - I took my first girls trip to Amsterdam. It was a nightmare!! My health makes me anxious and things weren't easy. I hope I can break that feeling and go back with my girls who insist on taking me again! We went to U.K and Ireland this year as well. Watching the Cricket World Cup in the mecca of cricket was an experience I will never forget. We went to Jindal Naturecure in Bangalore and learnt so much about our health and eating. And then, we went to Prague again and fell in love with every single minute there.

2020 - Little did we know this year will be a tough one. Since we did not travel to a foreign destination, we moved to the suburbs leaving a fun filled apartment life. We are village people now and like it in many ways. We miss the hustle bustle of the city and miss it a lot too! We did go to Goa which is a leap year tradition and we wouldn't have missed it for Corona!!

2021 - We went to our favourite Black Forest and discovered the joy of doing nothing in Budapest. It was one of the best trips also because it was after a long hiatus. Yes, we have been to Europe several times but its so gorgeous that I would go there year after year and not feel bored.

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I consider myself very lucky that I can travel so much. We go to India atleast twice a year and visit Dubai often. Travelling from Bahrain is not easy - it requires long flights and expensive tickets since air travel isn't cheap here. Yes, we spend a lot of money on this but it is how we relish every year of our life. We plan to spend more and more and invest in these memories for best returns in our old age. I leave a piece of my heart wherever I go and give flying kisses to the hotels. I don't miss my bed or friends or anything. Travel with the Boy is easily my most favourite thing and hence, this decade was amazing beyond words!

D is for… Dubrovnik Diaries

Television series Game of Thrones put Croatia on the world map. Like true fans, we decided in 2017 to visit the country with our friends and see the street where Cercei was 'shamed'!

We started from Ljubljana in Slovenia followed by Plitvice National Park, then Split, and ending the trip with Dubrovnik. This trip had its own adventures, but those are for another time.

The gorgeous Old Town of Dubrovnik as seen from a hill top.
We have seen a few walled cities around the world, but nothing beats the charm of this one.

Dubrovnik is centred around its old town which is surrounded by walls. To get into the centre, you must climb down several steep steps from different sides. We were walking down one staircase on the first day. There were hordes of people in front of us. The Boy jokingly started in Hindi – chalo, chalo, chalo, aage badho (move, move, move, move forward) thinking everyone who is ahead of us cannot understand our language. A young man from India looked behind and started smiling and we all had a good laugh.

The steps from the bottom of the street.

We rushed people down this one!
There was a slope from an entryway as well.
We used that most of the times for ease of walking. 

Frankly, I never appreciate my language unless we have to speak it in front of someone who is unable comprehend it. There is a thrill in saying things without being understood by people! I come from a Sindhi family and the only time I have to speak my mother tongue is either when I am in front of a shopkeeper or a maid. Super fun - although I am pretty sure the way I mix my Hindi with my Sindhi, they can understand every word I say!

We spent most of our time in Dubrovnik within those walls. It was like time travel in there – you feel you are in a different world and then you hear Ed Sheeren playing in a pub. Each day within those walls was exciting and full of new discoveries.

Dubrovnik Old Town at 2 in the night.
Before this, it was always packed with people crammed in restaurants that fill the area.

One evening, we were sitting next to the waterfront. The boy and my other two friends decided to go for a walk. I was very tired by then and so I sat on a bench and just watched the world go by. Two women in their 20’s asked me if they could sit on the bench too. We started talking and I feared that they were there to snatch my bag or sell me drugs!!

They told me they lived in the city with their parents and were unemployed. Another red signal! I was hoping for the Boy to come back sooner. When I told them I was from India, they got very excited. They said they have been watching an Indian Television series which roughly translates to Something Aunt. One of them logged into YouTube to find the Teleseries. I guess it was ‘Humari Dewarani’ or something!!! I am not sure!

I was amazed that this was dubbed in their language and they had been watching this. Thankfully the Boy showed up within minutes and they left.

Dubrovnik is beautiful from whereever you see it. You can stay in the outskirts and
take a taxi to the old town every day. You will save a lot of money and miss nothing.

I still think they were there to rob me or sell me something I did not need, but who knows, maybe they were just making conversation with a friendly tourist! Maybe they had found this television series and used it amuse every brown visitor. I am paranoid, or am I? Anyway, it was a fun experience and it made for a good story to remember.

What say!? 

A is for …Amsterdam Memories – A Girl’s Trip

Let me give you a little bit of a background – given my muscle condition I have never even crossed a main road with moving traffic alone. I fear I could lose balance and fall! It has never happened, and it never will, yet in mind it can. When I was a kid/teen/young adult, I always had my mom. After getting married, the Boy protected and pampered me more than he should. I don’t blame anyone; they were doing their best. But in the process, I became totally dependent on these two.

So, when it comes to getting out of the house alone, I prefer going to accessible places where I will not need any support from anyone. I choose to go only to those spots which I am familiar with so that I can navigate with ease. Hence, even though I have amazing family and friends, going for a trip with them has always been out of question.

Somehow a girl’s trip always fascinated me, but I always shunned the idea. So, when S and A, two very close friends of mine in Bahrain, forced me to accompany them to Amsterdam, my first reaction was a big NO. However, it is these two who had convinced me to do a simple stage dance performance a year before. They have coercive powers over me to do things I never thought I could, or I would!

Before I knew it, I was in the land of tulips, canals, sex and marijuana with them! I had been to Amsterdam before, so the familiarity part was in control. I was an emotional mess the day I landed there. I can imagine it is hard for anyone to understand the reason why! Anyway, I tried my best to be happy and we did have some golden memories.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. I can go there every year.
Just tell my fellow travelers not to indulge in any exotic 'brownies' and I will be fine!

It was a very cold evening and we were walking down the infamous Amsterdam strip. A was wearing a scarf across her face since she was freezing. Out of a whim, we wanted to ask one of the ladies charges for her services. As soon as we went close to one, she gave us a horrifying look and banged her glass door against our faces. It was very rude.

Now S did not like this. She went ahead and showed the girl a middle finger for her ‘impolite’ behaviour! This girl got so furious that she threw a soda drink on us! S and A ran. I couldn’t, and so I was the victim of her fury! The rest, as they say, is an unpleasant history.

Everyone goes here, to Zaanse Schans when in Amsterdam. It is full of tourists! 
I'd rather recommend the villages of Marken and Volendam by public transport. 
Anyway, Netherlands is a beauty, go anywhere!

The next day we went into a casino that looked more like a dingy restaurant. We couldn’t find a machine where we could exchange money for tokens. S waved her precious 10 euro note around to ask someone where we could exchange so that we can bet on the roulette table.

We most certainly appeared like dumb girls who had no idea where we were. A kind man came to us and pointed towards the slot machine. Well, that is exactly where three, very naïve looking girls, who were showered with sprite the last evening, belonged!

We walked out laughing our hearts out towards a ‘coffee’ shop where my two besties spent all three of their evenings! I wish we did not though, but you can’t have it your way always, can you?

On our flight back, we talked for 12 hours straight. Man, girls can talk! We were sitting in the front row when a man came to the flight attendant for help. He was having a very bad headache and asked her for some medicine. I had a painkiller in my purse which I offered to him. He took that and sat in the seat across the aisle from us.

Even after thirty minutes of taking the medicine, he was in deep agony. He was twisting and turning in his seat and it seemed he could faint any time. I could not watch that and so I offered to do some acupressure on his palm. Since I have three years of experience of someone doing acupressure for me, I pressed on the right points as much as I could to help him feel better. 

Thankfully, within minutes, he started to feel better (my friend jokingly said that it was my gentle touch!!!). I continued for about half an hour and the man was absolutely fine by then. He thanked me profusely and later wanted to buy us meals, which we obviously declined! I've had many people help me when I take a flight home, this was a rare opportunity to give back. Anyway..

I am immensely grateful to these two for making me take this adventure of sorts. If I ever travel again with anyone other than the Boy, it would be because these two helped me shed my inhibitions a bit. I will be crazy scared, but I will know what to expect.

To many more learning experiences like this one!

Go to Amsterdam in the tulip season. But don't go to these gardens. 
Instead go to a village near-by and try to find a tulip field tour. Much better. 
And that is what you see in pictures too!
Anyway, these are my girls!!!