Top of the World

This was an unintentional trip yet it was fantastic given to the fact that time spent was less than twenty four hours. It also holds as the shortest visit I have made to any city as a tourist.  My stop over on the return leg of India trip was in Dubai. Dubai is renowned to have a significant migrant population as compared to the local. Within that migrant population a high percentage of them are from the native State where my parents hail from. The state of Kerala, also known as "god's own country". It does not come as a surprise that very many of my relatives live there. In the past five years many of my first cousins have also moved to Dubai.
Now that I am an Irish man, its far easier for me to visit quite a few countries. Using this stop over when I am flying back my self seemed like a good idea. Checked with my cousins if they can accommodate me and the plan was set. Few days before heading to Dubai from Bangalore, I was wondering what Could I do for less than one day there, and which is the most effective way to see most of the city. Now that its common knowledge that the tallest man made structure is in Dubai as of the year 2015, it seemed to be the best option. Looked up , on how to get ticket. Checked with my cousins if they can join me. Booked tickets for all of us and all I had to do now is get into the Plane.
It was hard bidding good bye to my family especially my little one. Even the thought of visiting Dubai was not enough to excite me over the thought that my next few months in Dublin will be lonely.
Off from Bengaluru international airport and Dubai is a short three hours flight away. Reached there by midnight. My cousin brother, Mani was waiting outside to pick me up. The first impression I remember was the punch in my face by the heat as soon as I stepped out of the Arrival gate. Extremely hot! It was the middle of the night and the temperature was forty degrees. My brother, got me into his car and turned on the AC to full blast and went about paying the parking fee. Apparently, sitting inside an idle car with doors and windows shut will kill anyone. I was more than delighted to see him. He is the second oldest after me in my first circle of eighteen cousins on my mother's side.
He was driving me to my other cousin's apartment where he and his wife lives. The city at night looked busy with cars zipping on the roads, My cousin was telling me, missing one single exit means an extra twenty minutes on the road and he did just that. We got to the apartment by half past twelve. My sister in law and brother greeted us and offered some food. We had the usual family chit chat going on for a bit and then hit the bed. The cousin , Jitin, who I was staying with is the third oldest in the group.
Slept like a log, must be due to the heat only to realise in the morning that the whole apartment block is fully, centrally air conditioned. Like how in Dublin, some apartments have heating as part of the rent, there they have air conditioning system. My cousin was tip toeing in the morning not to disturb me to let himself out to head to office. My sister in law, Uthara whom I had briefly met just once before had prepared some fine Indian breakfast. My cousin Mani had taken a day off work and he came around to pick me up by ten. meanwhile Uthara and I got to see some family photographs and shared stories about my daughter and how the whole experience was for me off being a father.
My brother had some plans of showing me few places and he set the schedule. The quickest way to get to Burj Khalifa was by train, so we parked the car at the Metro station and took the train. The whole infrastructure was spic and span. While in the train, I noticed that not a soul was walking on the pavements or in the park benches. The sprinklers in the park were full on, still not a person in sight. That is what heat does. It was forty two degrees. People either inside buildings or inside cars. For all those blue collard workers, it must be such a tough life. Its a rule, that no outdoor work will be done during the peak noon hours.
In twenty minutes we got to the Dubai mall. This Mall connects to the tower. It was quite a long walk in spite of many moving walkways within. Took around fifteen minutes to get to the reception. flashed my booking ticket and there we were, the three of us to get to the top of the tallest tower. one hundred and forty five floors. The highest one can go to is one hundred and sixty five floors, but for that it will cost me an arm and a leg. Its not that like there is a tree branch at floor 145 that will block my view so, floor 145 was fine with us.

We were shown our way, by not one , but at least a dozen well dressed members of staff. By the time we were waiting for the lift we were given some briefing about the height and other statistics. One point mentioned was that the lift takes one minute to get to floor 145. I did not believe her one bit. Its impossible! The building is one kilometer tall, so imagine going up at sixty kilometers per hour. 60 kmps is actually understating, because the lift cannot hit 60 on the word go. So for it to average that sixty kilometers in one minute, it has to hit at least ninety kilometers per hour. This was all the math that was going on in my head. I asked my sister in law to video the whole thing. I had the stop watch on my phone set to zero. The lift had a dark ambience with some fancy lighting effects inside. There was music played. It did not actually it feel like getting into lift, it indeed felt like getting into a theater.  Honestly all three of us were giggling like a bunch of girls. As the doors shut, we hardly realised it was moving. Looking at the display inside the number initially incremented at a very slow fashion, and I was thinking we are never going to make it to the top in one minute at this pace. But then it ever so gradually sped up at a feverish rate. We could have held a glass of water in a tumbler and would not notice a single ripple on the surface I bet you not! The most obvious observation in that one minute was our ears kept getting blocked. Every time we yawned to get rid of the block, it blocked again. Floor numbers kept ticking away as fast as one can count numbers. By floor one hundred, it decelerated at the same rate it accelerated. Engineering at its best! There is no other way to describe that single one minute of experience in the list. In total awe we were to look at the stop watch at one minute.

There we were at the top of the highest man made structure. lucky we were that it was a clear sky with so sand storms. I definitely was not expecting a view like what I get from my home for most of the year. ( Cloudy and rainy ). Spectacular is one adjective. For hundreds of kilometers it was clear view. My brother knows the city like the back of his hand. He pointed out most of the landmarks of the city. The cars looked like ants crawling up the beaten path. The people were very hard to notice. If one peered really hard, we can notice dots moving and that would be the people. There was an open viewing area and we could see all of the city. We could see tall builds at oen direction, each one with an inspiring architecture. The view from an other end showed the endless crests and troughs of the sand dunes. The origin of the city. The third view offered the magnificent blue sea extending into the horizon. What better way to check out Dubai in the most effective way.  Man has truly conquered nature, amidst the sea and the fiery hot sand he has created a heaven with parks and hundreds of trees. Sprawling pools and water fountains all over. Bloody Impressive at the resolve of those visionaries and engineers who set out to build this city.
The staff were so courteous  , that they walked up to us and asked us not to hurry and take as long as we would like to be up there to enjoy the magnificent views. My sister law the charming person she is, very much into selfies. I joined her and indulged myself into selfies. That has to be the first selfie that I ever took.

We were allowed to take the stairs to floor one hundred and forty six. There was an exhibit of the history of the building and pointers to the various landmarks of Dubai. As any other tourist hot stop , a gift shop as well. We were also reminded that this is the same place where Tom Cruise  performed the stunt himself by hanging outside the windows for "mission impossible". The three of us would have spent a little more than an hour absorbing all the views and the trivia.
We decided to make it way down at twelve, since I had the four O'clock flight to Dublin. The one minute way down , did not fail to impress on the way down as well. One the way out there was scale models of the building in construction at various stages.  Mani, had other ideas of showing me the displays within the mall. There was one large aquarium. Even the famous London aquarium is dwarfed by this one. Three storeys high and more than a hundred feet.

It was mesmerising to see the shoals of fishes of all different shapes and sizes swim by. He also took me to a Dinosaur exhibit. He knows what I like to see. It was not a mock up of a Dino bone, its the real one hundred and fifty million year old Dino bone. its not a moulded piece.  This was a teenage Dino, if fully grown, it would have been twice this size. Now its 80 Feet long. The Dubai mall by itself was another massive structure with beautifully decorated domes. There were more than one such domes to be amazed at.  It occupies a space more than fifty foot ball fields. The tallest building in the world to one of the largest shopping mall in a single day. How about that!

It was almost close to two PM by now and I had to kill the idea of my brother treating me for lunch at one of his favourite restaurant. we hurried back to the flat. Lovely Uthara made sure that i don't get on to a plane hungry, so packed some food for me. Mani dropped be at the Emirates terminal. I did not even have time to say a proper good bye to both of them, but indeed i owe this whole Dubai experience to them. Every minute of it. With just thirty minutes to spare I was at the departure gates.

Now if some one asks me have you seen all of Dubai in under a day, I can say with confidence "I saw all of Dubai in under an hour and I am going back for more"

Life creation is a Life Changer

One can travel to many places, have many experiences. Travel to the same place and relive those experiences but in a man’s life there is one such experience that comes just once and the first time experience stays, always. 

It was somewhere in the month of august that our GP gave us the great news. The news meant a lot of things, none of them worrisome. We were warned that our free bird like life style is going to change, yet the news of a new arrival could not dampen our joyful mood.  Heading to cinema every other weekend, Checking out different restaurants, frequent shopping spree all had to go out the window. Not for ever, but at least the initial few years.  It sounds like a major hit to the way me and my Mrs lived our three years together here in Dublin. Life has to move on and having to share all what we have learned and earned with our offspring was indeed a good direction to go towards.

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts instead of making rare guest appearances in our dinner menu, started being a regular.  Either of them were not something we enjoyed, but I had to force my good wife to have them. Pint glass full of Fresh fruit juices and many more additions were made to the menu. Internet advises on what to have and what not to have were contradictory, and the conclusions derived from those site were again contradicting with the opinions from my mother and my mother in law. So, what was right could just have been a guess.

Antenatal classes; that’s an interesting experience. We had to go for six of them at the National Maternity Hospital. The so called NMH website celebrity was our facilitator and she was the most cheerful person I have ever known. In her late fifties she explained everything to the class in comic way which just put us at ease. When I say, everything, I mean absolutely everything that one had to know about having a baby. If that class was conducted in a more “death by PowerPoint “fashion, I am sure many expecting parents would have backed out of the whole process. That is because, the complications and the challenges of this so called natural process of a female human body can go extreme. SCARY! . The bump being to grow, Ashitha began to walk slower and in an awkward manner. She gained weight by a whopping fourteen kilos.  Weekly check-ups at the GP and the Hospital was a great sense of assurance that everything was in order. One does not want any surprises in this nine month. Everything by the book is exactly what we needed.

 We had the option to know if we were going to have by or girl, but we took a decision to not know. This is one Surprise that we wanted seconds after birth. Why stereotype girls to pink and boys to blue. Secretly in both our hearts we wanted a girl. Since the very first day Ashitha and I always referred to the person inside the bump as a girl. We even, just listed names of girls, but not boys. As we drew closer to the ninth month the bump was moving. It looked like something crawling from underneath the skin. It made my skin crawl, but there is no denying that it reminded me of the Aliens movie. In this case, it was not an Alien.  We had the shopping list, and we had to keep the standby luggage ready. The vests, socks, caps were all white and yellow. All Neutral colours.

April the 27^th was the due date and given that My Mrs and I were first time parents our confidence level was not that high. With no family or relatives around my wife was a bit nervous. There is one rule about a nervous pregnant woman. “Always put her at ease”. I request for my mother in law and my sister to assist us in this highly anxious period. Sent over the required documents and booked their tickets to fly over to Ireland. It was a first time flying for my mother in law and first time to Dublin to my sister. They arrived on 21^st and it was a full house. A full house has its own pros and cons.  What mattered the most was that my wife was very glad that her mother was around. I was glad that my sister was around.  Ashitha being a very hospitable host with a full belly took them around to show the beach and shopping center.  That was exactly the right excuse for the baby to come out.

On the 23^rd the pains began. Thanks to the classes I knew exactly what to look for. It has to five minute interval and ninety second pain. But on the evening of 23^rd it was fifteen minute interval and forty second pain. Since the water hadn’t broke we went to the hospital, a quick check up and Ashitha was surely entering labor. Since we lived 5 minute drive from hospital we had to go back.  It was almost like a rehearsal to how to get to the hospital. Poor Ashitha did not sleep well and the pain only kept getting sharper. There is nothing anyone else could do, but only be with her and support her. By the time the clock hit eleven and at the fiftieth attempt of timing Ashitha’s pain we finally hit the Five minute interval. It was show time!

In five minutes we got to the hospital, straight to the labour room. The midwife checked and the update is, the baby is all set to come out. Midwife broke the water and took us to the labour room. My sister and mother in law were waiting at the room outside. Unlike India, here the spouse or the mother must accompany during labour. We were provided with birthing stool. All the learning from the Antenatal classes came in handy. How to breathe, how to use the birthing stool, what other gentle exercise can be done to manage all the pain. I can definitely say that it was a very exhausting experience for Ashitha. All I could do by being on her side was be a good moral support. Partners do not have this easy. Its, if not as such a painful experience what the wife is going through, it’s definitely demanding experience.  We had midwife Niahm, Emily and Sheeba with us in the room. Midwife Sheeba was in charge. I can picture her to a football coach, yelling out loud and clear with instructions and directions to the players. That’s exactly what she did, and she was bloody good at doing that the four hours we were in the room. The baby’s heart rate and Wife’s BP was checked every fifteen minutes. The duty consultant of the day walked into the room and left the room at the same pave he came in after going through the report. Apparently, his expertise is not required when things are going by the book. At twenty to Three, finally we could all see the crowning moment. A very hairy crown at that. My eye swelled up, while there was lot of screaming going on in the room. Not much by Ashitha, but by the midwife. I must admit, she outperformed at that situation beyond my wildest expectation. Few minutes later the head showed up, then later at nine minutes to four on a beautiful Friday, there she was. My precious! Our precious! The midwives were laughing at me, since I was the only one crying in the room with joy and Ashitha was exuding confidence after the harrowing experience.

The little one was covered in goo! She looked tired as well like the mother. With the cord still connected she rested on mom for a while. It was an “aaaawwwww” moment.  Very heart touching. Mother and daughter looked like they were meant to be together. I clicked few pictures. I then ran out to break the news to my eagerly awaiting sister and mother in law. I ran back into the room and I was given the opportunity to free the baby into the world. The chord was clipped at two ends and I cut the chord. It was quite a tough one. I had to give it three go’s before it cut off. The baby was subject to the initial checks . She was weighed and to all our surprise she was 3950 grams. For an Asian baby that was quite good. She was seventeen inches tall as well.

I am now the father of a gorgeous little girl. I am above Mars, over cloud ninety nine.  I spread the news to everyone . after having our cup of coffee and toast we were moved to the ward. Unfortunately we did not get a private room and we were sent down to the general ward with six other beds. WE got a nice spot in the corner by the window where my little one rested in her cradle. We had a lot to learn and Ashitha was finding the initial few hours really , really hard. The body has undergone such a large change in few hours and over that the pressure of taking care of the baby. No one could stick around after half past eight and Ashitha was all by herself. No one was comfortable with that. I kept texting her all night along. She was grappling with the concept of feeding the baby. It must have been a tough night for her. There is nothing much anyone could do.

That night, all I could do was watch the video clips and pictures I had taken over and over again. I had a dream that I was rushing to work, wearing a blue shirt. On my way, I kept announcing to everyone that I had a baby girl and when they asked me the name I said “Gayathri”.

Everyone in the house had their own suggestion for a name and none of them were in complete agreement with each name. But somehow, the name Gayathri struck a chord with everyone. To my delight all were in agreement. My sister, my mother, my dad, Ashitha and her parents were all fine with that. The name meant a lot in Hindu faith, the name of a Hindu goddess. The wife of the lord of creation, ‘Brahma’.

Generally the naming ceremony of the baby is very traditional back home, but now that I am Irish, we are going the Irish way of naming on the spot. We got her records updated on day two.  Ashitha and Gayathri spent another night at the hospital. After the drugs from day one wore off, Ashitha felt day two even tougher. WE finally came home on a Sunday. My sister and I had decorated the home to welcome them back. It was a celebration!!

Ashitha and I were cautioned that after the delivery the hormone levels in the mum will be all over the place. We did not know what it meant, but realised that emotions run really high for the next few weeks after Gayathri arrived. Nothing can prepare anyone for that. Especially partners. The mother have to deal with a pain of the body putting it back itself together so time is not easy on the mum as well. It’s very tricky situation, including high stress. Diplomacy and patience is what everyone needs. I have learned it, but its part of whole package. The joy of holding Gayathri sure does shrivel every other incident to a molehill. It was all worth it.

Gayathri is one lucky girl, she got plenty f gifts within the first few weeks. So many so, that in the past month and a half she hasn't tried them all. 

Now all I do is eagerly is watch Gayathri grow, recognize me and give me that million dollar toothless smile.

Being an Irish Man

I boarded a plane on June 27th 2008 for the first time. It was a long journey. Eight hours to Paris and another two hours to get to Dublin. My first travel to a foreign nation was for work. An Indian consultancy firm that employed me, sent me on to work at the client site.  Innocent was the beginnings. The Initial few days were tough on me and the thought of going back home within week two crossed my mind more than once.
Few friendly colleagues helped me cope with my jet lag  and feed me well. Work got interesting and time began to fly. Two and a half years went by that way. Every step of the way I earned more friends ,visited more places. Ireland and this beautiful city of Dublin started growing on me. Not a day did I had to experience anything that felt bitter. Everyone I bumped into were nice. The were all helpful. My name gradually took a turn in pronunciation. Actually spelt as Ba-tha-ri, was more frequently being used as Bad-ri. It almost sounded like "battery". I got so used to that, I sometimes have heard myself talking to a call-center agent and pronouncing my own name as Bad-ri.
When the economy took a downturn in 2010, work situation did not look great in Dublin. I looked else where. Applied for a UK work visa for myself and once that was sorted moved to Belfast. Spent a good bit of seven months there. Gathered more friends along the way. Looked further and moved to another company in Reading. Work there kept me on the move and a good old school mate of mine gave me shelter. Interesting few months there. That is when I got engaged to my now Wife.
In all this twelve months never once did i loose touch with any of my good mates in Dublin. Some of the quite close to me. The work situation in the bank that was working in gradually improved. My good friends  looked out for me. An opportunity came up and my buddy Maurice made sure that I got into the seat. Work continued. Work got interesting by the day, I got married and I was no longer single. My wife came over and I eased into family life. Every single day cherish able.
Attending weddings of my buddies here and hanging out with them for after work drinks. Trying different restaurants every week with my wife. Innumerable movies at the cinema all kept the clock ticking quickly.
Fast forward to 2014 and I have no track as to where the one thousand four hundred and sixty days went by. The law of the land here states that if anyone who has lived here for the past three consecutive years in a stretch plus additional two years in the past nine years are eligible to be naturalized here. I had all the credentials for that. This decision was not for me alone to make. It was a decision that impacts my family. After much careful thought, consideration and consultation with my wife decided to make the jump. Papers were all submitted. Laborious task was that to get it all arranged and verified, signed and stamped by solicitor.

Meanwhile I changed job and months passed to finally get a letter from the department of Justice saying that my application has been accepted and I will be given the citizenship of the Republic.
I was joyed, this was indeed a great honour to me. The thought that this also means that I had to give up the citizen ship of my motherland gradually sunk into me. It felt like the big lump in my throat that I could not gulp easily.
At the same time, It did not mean the end of the world. I could apply for an OCI card from the Indian embassy and that would allow me to travel to my mother country any time, any number of time as long as I live. I will be restricted from casting a vote and in purchase of any agricultural land. That's all.
I received a letter from the DOJ to attend the ceremony at the convention hall on April the tenth. A grand day for me. My Mrs and I went got there at ten to twelve . Hundreds were there with their family and close ones. All cheerful and happy. The certificate and the oath taking letter was handed over. Citizenship candidates were asked to sit closer to the stage and family in the rows far above.
The Republic's finest band played some fine music for the entertainment. Each number better than the next. I was fortunate to get a seat in the very first row to witness this event up and close.


The minister of Justice and retired chief justice of High court entered the stage. The tricolor flag of Ireland was brought on to the stage with all dignity and respect. A flag bearer and two military escorts marching up with the flag and the band playing made the hair on the back of my neck stand.  Everyone stood up with utmost respect.

The minister and the Justice made their speech. Some words were etched in my mind. They spoke for twenty minutes. They said, "we welcome you all to this tiny island and we want you all to  bring the rich culture and tradition from your home country and share it with the Irish" . We were asked not to forget our roots and teach our children the way we were brought up and what we learnt. We had to be the law abiding citizen of this great nation and enjoy the freedom which is exactly the same as every other Irish here. We were asked to support the teams from our mother country, but if they were not playing the default country to root for should be the Irish. Every single word and statement that they made, made me feel more comfortable, made me feel at home.
At the end of  this I did not feel , that the Indian-ness in me has been taken away, but in fact I acquired something more. I now have the sense of being an Indian and an Irish at the same time.  What more privilege can I ask for! . God bless my Mother nation, god bless my Home country.

Dublin Marathon 2014

Challenging our own capabilities is a very rewarding experience. Rewards come across in multiple ways if one is ready to take up the challenge. The challenge I had for myself was my third marathon here in Dublin. Signed up myself for the race months ago and there was no intention of taking it easy this time.  The last year time recorded for the race was four hours thirty eight minutes and the only option was to better that. Better that by thirty eight minutes. At least that was the plan. Dublin had been very warm this year as compared to the previous two and that provided the right setting for training weekend after weekend. This has to be one of the first years where there was no participation on my behalf in any of the ten mile, or half marathon race. It must be the confidence in the training that kept me away from those races. Since April after participating the first , my employer sponsored ten kilometer race the training schedule only went tougher.

The stats speak for it self. Spending several hundreds of kilometers every week, month after month. Ten kilometers was feeling like a walk in the park by September. Half marathon distances for every Saturday morning back to back became a regular schedule. My peak running distance was one hundred and thirty kilometers in a single month!. Honestly I surprised myself looking at the stats. The training involved using Energy gels. Training with the consumption of gels made my body get used to this injection of power into the body when it needs the most. Pushing the body to its limits every time and every time taking it a little further and the body trying to adapt and catch up is a fantastic experience. The legs do hurt a little after every run but as the training intensifies they recover that quickly. The thigh and calf muscles start shaping up and that does mean one that, that is, something is going right. The grin on the face is an automatic reaction then. My better half was not being my better half on those days that I train. Constantly trying to talk me out of running  for the day by tempting me with some distraction. The only option I had to resort to was to make most of the long daylight on those fine warm mid months. Even before my dear wife can wake up, put on my trainers and head out. Some times as early as four AM and come back home by half six when she is just about to wake up. Running that early was a rejuvenating experience every time. Eternally, I will remain grateful to this fine city that offered such a wonderful training track. The sandy-mount strand all the way to the Irish nature reserve leading into the park was my training grounds. The calm sea and the gentle breeze accompanied by the priceless view of the golden Sun raising , sometimes between the poolbeg chimney's was enthralling experience.

The day came when the race packs had to be picked up. October the 28th was the race and we picked up the race pack the day before. RDS was packed than any other year and the race numbers was not preassigned. Numbers were allocated as an when we went in to pick it up. Kind of made it easy operationally I guess. I was storing up on carbohydrates few days prior to the race. Rice, Pastas and more Rice. Kept myself hydrated well enough, even waking up in the middle of the night to gulp some more. Race was was upon me and all this hard work and sweat was for this one occasion.
The start line was at the usual place; Merrion square but slightly earlier than previous. The green wave had a slot to finish before four hours thirty. The largest ever mass event participation was this race. Fifteen thousand eight hundred people took part. Four thousand flew in from overseas. I was able to run just ith a T-shirt on and no thermals.

The course was different this year compared to previous as well and my personal opinion is this was a great route. Phoenix park route was utilized the most and there is no better place than the vast park to run. I started off keeping a slow pace. My training pace was 5:15 min a kilometer, but for the race I kept a low 5:30 min a kilometer race. This was just to make sure that I don't burn out at the penultimate segment of the race. My run till the thirtieth kilometer was good and my ETA to finish line was three hours fifty. Exhaustion did not get the better of me till that point. Legs felt strong , but this race is an emotional game. Few sights that was witnessed changed my mood, changed my determination.

Few of my fellow runners just collapsed. Some just dropped unconsciousness. One fell to the pavement and had froth come out of his mouth and the paramedics were rushing to him. None of these might happen to me but the thought that my dear wife is alone at home and any ill fate to me might cause her stress is what crept into my mind.  I dropped my pace to a brisk walk occasionally to get my heart rate down. Once done, the tendency to do that over and over again is irresistible. And talking about Heart rate,  of all the days that I wanted my HRM to work fine, it failed on this very important day. The last twelve kilometer my pace went all the way from 5:20 to 7 minutes a kilometer. My aim was to finish and finish I did. The time as I crossed the finish line was four hours eighteen . I had shaved twenty minutes off my previous record and that I am proud off.

My content was that the time has improved. Dissatisfaction was that I missed my goal of four hours by eighteen minutes. Thanked the lords at the finished line. My gaze wandered to look for my beloved. The arrangement has been for the firends and family to meet the finishers. But, truthfully arrangements were made more complicated. I picked up my precious medal and T shirt , rested for a bit and made my leisurely walk back home. The thoughts that ran though my mind was, that the previous year I wan unable to walk the two kilometer walk home and I had to take a Taxi, but this year I was able to walk. What happened to me! As I rested when I reached home I realised what happened to me was the WALL.
My resolution now, "See you next year WALL. Stand by; to be punched through."

Dublin to Sligo

There are few moments in life that I would cherish for the rest of my life. Especially when the cause of that moment is dedicated to my real life hero of my life, My Dad. Cycling , since my days I can remember is very close to my heart.  Never has any fall from a bike ever deterred from me from showing off by pulling off stunts on my bike in front of other kids. Most of my adult life even while I was working, I always used to ride a bike for the near by commute. All who knew me , knew I was more of a bicycle loving person. I have had three bicycles stolen from me in Dublin, but that never stopped me from going for another one.
Here's the story about an event that I took part in. An event to remember. A feat that defines me.A challenge that strengthened me. My very good friend, or more so a person who I would without an inkling of thought call my brother brought up this topic about an event . A cycling event. From west coast to east coast of this beautiful Emerald Island. More so this event was a Charity event to raise funds for Cancer research. How could I ever pass on this. The event and the cause both very I feel very connected to. I and Mihir signed up instantly, instinctively. Six weeks to go and first thing we had to do is train. Mihir had a race to go to and he was training at gym, but I was more of a runner and that's all i kept to. One thing was evident. I needed a bike, a road bike. What I had was a mountain bike and that was not suitable for any long distance cycling. My cycling mate and I spent three weekends cycling to nearby towns but that was no small distance by itself. Once to Bray, which was 40 kms, the next weekend a little further out to Grey stones which was 50 kms and the last one was to Wicklow which was 70 kms. All of this on a bike that I had borrowed from my good friend Shane. It was no racer but , it was a commuter bike with race profile tyres. It was much lighter than mine and did the job quite well. Mihir on the other hand went ahead and purchased a brand new high spec bike for a bag full of money. Our times were good enough. My running training did me good. It did look like I had enough cardio strength to cope with the endurance this challenge demanded.
Time had come to raise the funds. seven hundred euros had to be raised and Mihir and I thought a cake sale at work was an excellent idea. We also planned to sell Raffle tickets for four prizes. Each prize associated with the cycling theme. With support from our bosses and the best team admin ever we set up one on 6th of June. Posters were all put up and between few of us we had agreed to bake few cakes. My Mrs and I had very little experience in baking cakes. But what had to be done had to be done. So we set off on the 5th and to our surprise we pulled it off. Baked banana cake and a large chocolate chip cake.

Thursday morning as Catherine started to lay out the cakes in the coffee area, more and more cakes were brought out. Some of them, who we hardly spoke to took the time and effort to make and bring it home. I felt very humbled by their gesture. Before we knew it we had more than fifteen cakes for sale. People from all floors started to pour in and the Raffel tickets was selling even hotter than the cakes. Our team mates donated generously for our cause and by the end of the day we were more than delighted to count the last cent to reach a grand total of seven hundred Euros. We did not expect this to happen at all.But very glad that it did.
I bought padded cycling shorts and water bottle and cages for them, saddle bags for the bike. The bike was serviced and it was kitted out with the accessories all ready to go. The big day had arrived. Seventh of June on a fine Saturday morning is when it all starts.

Water bottles filled up, Tyre pressure double checked, Awakward shorts worn.saddle bags loaded, backpack packed with stuff I need for the weekend. I agreed to rendezvous with Mihir bhai at the city center at half eight. We had a long ten kilometer cycle to the hotel where the rest of the participants would meet up. We reached there, and to our surprise we were the only ones from Dublin.

The rest all were from Co.Sligo who traveled the previous night and stayed up in West county Hotel for a good night rest.  All of them were warm to welcome us, We were handed our jerseys to be worn on the second day. Everyone else had bikes that were proper race bikes. I was the only one with a a six year old bike which did have race profile tyres and that's about it. The straight handle bars did raise a few eyebrows which meant " are you really sure you want do cycle all the way to Sligo with that?" There is nothing that was going to deter me at that time, My only way was to go ahead. Mark , the main main who is an AIB man from Sligo greeted us and after a briefing to the team and a group snap we were set to go. First stop was at Maynooth.

Just Twenty five kilometers, but it was a challenging bit at that. It had the steepest inclines some with a gradient of 30 degrees for a good three hundred meters. Narrow by lanes which ran my the humble dodder did make for some memorable sceneries. I knew very well then, that this view is only going to get better as we go along. As we cycled up in twos we got just enough time to chat with fellow cyclists. We exchanged our interests and our passion for cycling. What we do for living and why take up this even was all a point of discussion that made the miles go by easy. After some tea and snacks we stared off again. The next stop thirty five kilometers ahead. The Knees had begun to complain but nothing can be larger than will power.

We had three support crew with us. One was a paramedic team, One a bike mechanic who carried tools and spares. The last an haulage van which carried out luggage and food. The last was our pace van . We had a mixed bag of experienced cyclists. Very few had done this before, but most of them new. Some have trained, some not so much , some not at all. The first fifty kilometers after the first stop let the cyclists loose. The experienced ones keep up in the lead while some were in the left behind. The Paramedic van and the Garry Cycles van(one of the sponsorers) always stayed behind the last of the cyclists. That made sure no one was left behind. That sense of assurance made anyone feel safe. Getting lost some where along the way can definitely add a lot to the mental pressure. Given that the road signs on this island is not that great, having anyone of the cyclists in visible distance was a great assurance. At one point we were very close to taking the wrong route. only with the corner of my eye did I see some a bright jersy go by and both the vans were behind me; Yes I was the last one. We course corrected and cycled along to catch up the group at the end of fifty kilometers. It was sandwich time. Tanked up next stop ninety kilometers ahead. As I cycled along my new cycling mates, the questions about my home country did come up. No one meant to offend me in anyone, but their questions very genuine. Questions about the rape crimes in India was the most prominent. Its kind of embarrassing having to answer ,but my only way I could respond was "In a land of more than a billion people the probability of having headcases like that are proportionally high". My brother was no where to been seen along the route.

He seemed to be stuck in a race mode. I let him be. I wanted to finish the event in a graceful manner that's all.  I did observe the fellow cyclists about the riding technique and realised that most of the stay in a slightly higher gear (easier) most of the time, this does mean more cadence but lesser power strokes. I was doing exactly the opposite, going as early as I can to lower gears . More power strokes lesser cadence. That was the reason I was lagging behind the group.  There was a Ninety kilometer stop at Longford. Energy was low, But we had further sixty kilometers to Rosscommon. The energy gels had to come out and I was hydrating myself more often on the move. The route was a mixed bag of motorway and side roads.

The earlier was the best sections since the tarmac was smooth and straight. All I had to do was lookup once and then keep the head down keeping an eye on the front wheel and the yellow markers. Make sure they are parallel and keep the cadence constant. That started to improve my pace timings. I stuck with few of them for a good bit of the final forty kilometers.

When Lorraine told me, "That yellow building is the hotel Badri" it was music to my ears.

I saw my team mates gathered in front of Hannon's. One hundred and fifty kilometers done and my legs were pushed to the limits. The previous highest ever was 70 kilometers in a single day and I have just doubled that!. It was eight hours since we started off and out of that we were moving for six hours. The bikes were taken care off by the staff and they did a fantastic job at that. Mihir and I shared a room and we quickly showered and changed. I felt like I just popped out of a bollywood song because I did not pack well enough for the evening. With a bright yellow shorts and bright green T shirt I managed to raise few eyebrows once again. Nothing was going to get in the way of me and the food I deserve. Tony and Margret joined us at our tables.

They were volunteering to be event coordinators and they did a fine job at that. Tony had the temperament of a teacher. It did not surprise at all when he told us that was retired primary school teacher. I was the only ever annoying vegetarian and the hotel chef manged to make one vegetarian pasta with chicken in it. That got sent back and then came good lasangne. This time it was vegetarian, vegetarian. The cheesecake topped it all in my belly. Few of them were up for a few drinks but I definitely was not.  Headed back to the room and even before I could complete the words "Good Night", I was out like a light bulb. I slept like a log straight through.

Day two : The legs were complaining. I had to be gentle to it. I remember talking to my own legs in the shower saying, "sixty more kilometers baby and we are done" . we all got a text message from Caroline that we depart at ten. I took a shower once again and stepped down for breakfast. Bags were packed, keys handed back and bikes out of the stable. Seeing everyone wear the same Jersey this morning made me feel special to be part of this gang of cyclists. My mission reinforced with a group snap. My trusted steed felt good.I checked for Tyre pressure and topped up the hydration system. The next thirty kilometers were inland narrow routes and they had good bends and not so steep inclines. Mark briefed us all that the pace van will stay at a constant 25 kmph. We were reminded that this was not a race but a journey together for a worthy cause. Since there was rains the previous night we were warned that the roads could be slippery and since its the rural back roads, manure on few stretches only made it worse. The next thirty kilometers were definitely the most enjoyable course. The views on the fields and the hills that lay beyond reminded me yet again that I am blessed to make this beautiful country as my second home. Hardly anyone to cheer us along the route but the heard of cows all seemed to notice us.

Guess they were surprised to see a bunch of similar clad cyclists. Each one of them, several tens of them at a time, lifted their large bulky heads out of the tall grass just to see us go by. It was beautiful. Not to mention the Irish cows are really pretty. I have a soft corner for them. The dogs too seem to loose they marbles when they saw us cycling in unison. The Curlew pass from Rosscommon was a test for many motorists. I would never forget the patience of these motorists who were stuck behind these cyclists for more than thirty kilometer on this single lane road. Not one did honk at us or try to rev hard while behind us. They were stuck in second gear and at times and when I made a pass at them to go ahead, all they did was shout words of encouragement with their thumbs up. It was remarkable display of  support from them all they way. We had a quick stop for some fruits and gels. Regrouped all cyclists once again.

As we approached Sligo, the welcome to Sligo sign was the biggest relief. I screamed with joy. Once again we were stopped and this time by the Garda. We were all being escorted into town! next twenty five kilometers we had a Garda car with flashing lights ahead of us and Garda motor bike close off the exits ahead of us. I was liking the special attention. Few cyclists pulled up by my side and said few kind words like " How did you make it this far with that thing", "good on you that you kept up with us at this pace on a bike like that", "You have done a fantastic job cycling that, if you had a bike like ours you would be flying " .

Those are exactly the kind of words that I needed at that point in time. I knew that I had dug in well into my reserves and my every single muscle in upper thigh had gone well past the moaning phase. They had given up on me listening to them and had decided to go Kamikaze. As we cycled into town, the sirens were switched on. WOW!, what a feeling of elation. The Sligo people started cheering for us. Many gathered and we stopped right outside the fancy glasshouse hotel . Press photographers clicked away our pictures and the sense of jubilation was overwhelming. I hugged my brother and congratulated all my fellow cyclists. We all had passed this two day endurance race where sixteen year old Patrick and few fifty plus year old cycled alike. The good spirit and camaraderie is what got us this far. A memorable finish. We had a train to catch  in an hour.

We were the first to grab the keys to a room. Mihir bhai and I showered and changed quickly and grabbed some food from the barbecue. Bid our farewells to all of them once again and made it to the train station. But this time while on the bike, not an inch of my rear end could slightly touch the saddle without those padded shorts. We had the tickets but had to buy space for the bike. Put our bikes to rest on the bike rack and set off to "home sweet home". Even before Mihir bhai finished his few sentences to me I was out like a light again.

My body demanded it. At the Connolly station Kate was there to greet us. A final picture with my brother who got me into doing this fantastic event. Reached back home by seven and cycled back home standing up. Every single living cell in my body aching, but isn't there a saying, "No Pain , No Gain".  What a Gain it was!, Coast to Coast on a bike  in ten hours,across a beautiful country like Ireland can only be once in a life time; or will it ?

Visit to Basel

Few Eyebrows raised when we mentioned that we are going to Basel in Switzerland. The immediate question was "why not Zurich?"  My Mrs and I thought why go to a bustling city every time. Why not go to a place where there is less of man made structures and more natural beauty to enjoy. Another reason being, Basel is a word that I come across in my line of work day in and day out. The Basel two and Basel three  are international banking regulations norms which is keeping professionals like us off the street. The committee which formulates these standards are based off this city.
Flights and accommodation all booked for a trip on a bank holiday weekend. We reached the city at midnight. I must admit that no matter how bold one tries to be, being in a new place for the first time does make one anxious.

We got off at the Basel central bus station and we did find plenty of people there. Some finishing late work, but many were youngsters being typical youngsters. Walking around with low waist jeans and boom box. Hair dyed pink and piercings every where. Smoking away something that stinks. Strangely we were actually experiencing a fact about this city in real. Switzerland is the country with the worlds least crime and in that; Basel the city has the least. No hassle what so ever. We took the tram as instructed and we got to the hotel.
Next morning started with a surprise. At the reception we were given a pass each and the lady said, "For the days you are here in Basel as a tourist, public transport of any kind is absolutely free". We could not believe our ears.  We took the tram straight to the central station , dived straight into the tourist office. Unlike the Holland pass which was more of a value for money pass for tourist, the Basel pass was not that attractive, but we went for it anyway. There was one spot that I had made a mental note off before I left to Basel. I enquired about the mode to get there. First stop "Reigoldswil" village. It was a good one hour bus journey from the city. As we traveled we noticed that the people are not obsessed with building huge houses or buildings, the nature is conserved in its purest forms. Even the houses looked minimal and well suited to the greenery all around. It was a post card picture every where around. We bought our tickets to get on to the cable car. A ten minute ride in that took us to an elevation of 1200 meters.

That ten minutes presented us with views that we will remember  a life time. Dangling several hundred meters with the valley below was spectacular. We assumed we are going straight to the peak of the mountains. But the assumptions generally don't turn real. There was a mountain on another mountain. The weather was spot on and the views fabulous. Hiking to the top could only mean better. On the downside in comparison to the massive upside of this mountain was that none of the sign boards there, was in English. Using the sixth sense of magnetic field orientation that all men claim to have I began to lead the way. We started hiking into the wooded area. Few other hikers accompanied us. The trails looked treacherous as we precariously made our way on the narrow edge of the mountain. Several hundred feet drop on both sides. We were able to catch some glimpses of the beautiful scenery on the other side of the mountain. As we reached the peak, the views were absolutely breathtaking. Pretty little houses dotted midst the smooth mountain curves which was completely carpeted with green.

Few glimpses of the Alps from there made it all worth it. A habit of mine is to pick up a rock from a place that I would love to remember the rest of my life. It has to be a place that has touched my heart and made me feel happy. I did pick one up. It was time to head back down, we could see the cable car station to get back down to the village, but we were lost up there. I don't mean in a emotional way, Quite literally did not know our way back down. Another hiker there seemed to be lost as well, He saw us wandering just like the way he did and knew we all were on the same boat. He was kind enough to offer us a lift back to Basel city. Georg was a German IT professional who spent most of this life in US. His English was as american as it could be. When we got to his car, was thankful that we were lost and ran into him. It was a Landrover that awaited us. What more can I ask for. He knew much about the Indian IT strength and we had discussions about the state of the EU post recession, while my wife comfortably slept in the backseat travelling at 160 kmph. The hike had worn us out equally, so we went back to the hotel to rest. Both of us had the same symptom of head ache and a slight temperature. Only did we realise later in the day after we recovered that we had sun stroke. The power of the sun, making its impact on us after continuous six hour exposure.
Day two started late. Nice and Relaxed charted our route to the Basel zoo.  As everything else in Basel, nothing is gigantic to stand out in terms of structure or building, same applies to the Zoo.

Just a small entrance, but as we made our way through we came to know it was vast. The subterranean  sea world alone took us an hour and a half to get by. From snakes larger than me to millions termites busy building a ten feet high mound, were all there. The elephant enclosure was under construction so we could not see much, but what we could see really up close was the Lions.

A lioness and her cubs stood mere feet away. We gained a new sense of respect for toughened ten inch glass. Few good clicks and we moved on to the tropical bird emporium. The large building was kept hot and humid for these tiny creatures. Small their stature might be , but each one tries to outdo the others in terms of noise.

Singing in competition.  The day ended with us just wandering about the city looking for good food.
Day three started relaxed since we had covered most of the sights we needed to visit. We had marked out a cathedral that we wanted to go to and got there. Few minutes too early. Once the door swung open we went in to be greeted by the organ music. It was loud and surreal. The music felt like it was emanating from the building rather that from one corner.

I had been to many cathedrals before and had seen this large three storied instrument before, but I had never seen one being played. All we had to do was look back and see this one man play an instrument seated in a high chair exercising all his limbs. Though he was of an average size the sheer size of the instrument dwarfed him. Engrossed in the music that reverberated through our body we spent half hour in there soaking up the magnificent architecture.

The one thing about cathedrals is , if we have been in one it feels like we have been in all, but to the eye that pays attention to detail there is lots to pick up.
Next stop, SBB (central station) We took the trams to Marketplatz and the word says it all. It was the main market area with loads of  options for all kinds of shopping. We did get inside an interesting old building, we still don't know its significance, but it did provide us some good clicks. My better half gets excited about the activity of shopping.

Walked into few stores and did come out with the same pace as we had walked into. Stellar prices! We found some that suited our budget and we shopped few items for family. The area was pock marked with shops for luxury watches. Each of the top brands had their own outlet. That speaks much for the fine watch making legacy that the swiss had. The prices of some of them ; to be disclosed on request only.

I will leave that to your imagination. A short walk from there, we were at the water sculpture park. mechanized contraptions powered but water pressure made for some interesting work of art. Pictures would not speak much hence took a short video. The free trams for us in Basel meant we could go anywhere , anytime , any number of time. So we identified an other land mark which was a park. St Alban park was a silent park with nothing much mentioned off it in the tourist guide. But we dared to explore and we found that it had a river running across it and there was an old fort wall . Not a soul around so we pretty much had the place to ourselves for posing and picture taking.

The day finally was drawing to a close and we had to head back to the airport. To round things up, Basel is fantastic city in terms of safety and convenience. One could walk out to any place at any time and not be worried. The fact that transport being made free to tourist was simply amazing. The local trams stood  out as a highlight. We only realised how good it was after we reached back home. They were extremely frequent, connected every part of the city, they were on time, all the time. They occupied the roads more that any other automobile; in fact the only traffic jam we saw once was that off the trams at a junction! Wish every city had such fine, zero pollution infrastructure. A city dweller never needs to think about individual transport.  That being said, this city is not much of a tourists' city. On weekends the entire city is shut down, that includes everything. One of the locals said, its a mandatory shut down for all so that people are forced to take a break from work and chores. That even means Department stores being closed! The city is not English friendly, One would not find a single sign or board in English. People do speak English but the native tounge or German is what would get you by more easily. Even the airport had a quirk of its own, because half of the airport is on to the french soil and the other half is Swiss. Upon arrival or departure we have to be careful which way we want into or out off! That all being said, The experience was unique and soothing. The memories full of a cool, calm place where the policy about living life is "Take it easy". As the giant steel bird lifted us into the air, the thought that crossed my mind was, If I am going to look for a job next, in Basel it must be. For all I have now, Is that Rock on my work Desk to give me some hope.

Visit to Amsterdam

My better half had some issue with her visa .She was forced to reside in Ireland, so she was locked down to stay in Dublin for seven months with no option to travel any where, that includes even going back to motherland. Anxious weeks they were. A day came when the issue was resolved and the feeling of being unleashed hit me. Now its time to travel. Go to places where I had not been before, stretch my legs and give my camera a good field trip. Easter holidays were staring at us and with no hesitation booked the tickets and accommodation.  Destination "Amsterdam", here we come. The embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands was kind enough to give us Shenegan visa for eighteen months. This is something we have never heard off,  but greeted with open arms. Half day at work, packing done in a furry and half five was the flight from Dublin. We had the directions to get to our accommodation and straight out of the airport getting to the Hotel MAX was no hassle. We were cautioned by my mates here not to stray into any coffee shop, we stayed clear of that. Pizza was on the menu that night.We went to a small eatery near by . The pizza was made from scratch. Quite literally, he made the dough , spread it out and made one fine pizza.
My Mrs being diligent about our holidays had done some ground work before we left for Amsterdam.She  did find out about "Holland Pass" which offered several free passes and discounts on several other touristy items. Since we had that and 72 hours to roam about, we prioritized the things we could cover day by day. On day one, given the weather was a bit damp. Museums it was.

To talk about the city, this is one place that has amazed me. There are more canals than roads. It looked like the entire city was planned with the canals in focus rather than the roads. Concentric semi circles cut by roads and bridges. Imagine a spider web; the circular lines being the canals and the lines that connect the curvy lines being the road. That is how it was designed and what an impressive city architecture it was!
The famous Rijksmuseum and several other was just 10 minute walk away from where stayed. Straight after breakfast we headed to this grand museum. After ten years of renovation and restoration this place opened up for tourists in 2013. The scale was grand. The beautiful paintings, the fine tapestry, luxurious crockery and cutlery, grand furniture , timeless clocks kept us on the move for 5 hours. Some of the clocks, 150 years old still worked and played music for the hour and twelve different types at that! Our feet had tired but not our spirit to see this place. Stepped out to grab a quick wrap. Mueseumplatz offered several other museums and the next highlight was the Vincent van Gogh museum.

The crowds there was unbelievable. In-spite of the rains people gathered there in hundreds. After a good forty fine minuets under the umbrella we managed to get in. Photography was prohibited. The pictures did make us realize that this great painters style was quite different. If a couple like us who have very little awareness of art could find a difference in his style of Art then it does mean that he indeed did set about a significant deviation for any other art out there back then. Apparently he marked the start of the modern art and it was evident from all the exhibits there. Some of them were really outstanding. In his short life span of 38 years what he offered to the world. So much that, even after 110 years his work is still drawing the crowds in thousands everyday. That means a lot. We did make it a point to purchase a print from the shop. A memorabilia to remind us in our old age that we had once been to see the works of the greatest artist of the twentieth century . The noticeable feature of his style of art was individual section of the art looked like it was just random and there is no way we can guess what would be in the rest of the picture. But only when viewed as a whole it was beautiful and it conveyed a message. Quite powerful at that. As we exited the building, we realized we had no more strength to carry on. Headed straight back to the room, rested for a while and we stepped out to get some fresh air and dinner.
Day two was even more packed the day before. As tourists we were quite lame in doing our research work about the destination, but as individuals we were quite lucky because we had landed into Amsterdam bang at the start of the Tulip festival. We booked two tickets for a day tour to a Tulip farm and then to the famous Keukenhof tulip gardens.

Several fully packed coaches headed out of the city for a 45 minute ride to the farm. We were allowed to walk midst the beautiful tulip fields. This exactly was like how it was in the bolloywood songs.  We never realized what beauty of nature were we about to witness when we stepped into the coach. The season is only between April and July and 10 million tourists visit Amsterdam to make it to this garden alone each year. The farmer explained the process and we were disheartened to know that the flowers are only grown from the bulbs to be chopped off. The flowers are no income to the farmers,its only the bulbs he is after. After visiting the farms, we were taken to the actual Keukenhof gardens. Back at home in Bangalore, my father had brought a massive picture years ago.It was a scene of a garden.Its now hung in the living room. Even in our distant imagination we did not know that we were going to walk into scene, the real scene.This garden was the ultimate heaven made of flowers.

The sights , no matter which way you look is something we would have seen on wallpapers, or desktops, or on greeting cards. Eyesight always landed on something that's worth a picture that deserved to be printed. That is how pretty and mind blowing beautiful the garden was. A flurry of all possible bright colour combinations that will put the best computer generated creative work on a PC to shame. Millions of flowers carefully manicured kept us walking for five hours. Yet we could not get to all corners of the Garden. We had to say good bye to the garden with a heavy heart when our coach arrived. Just a packet full of Tulip bulbs we had in our hands to let us seed one of finest natures creations to make it a living souvenir.
Back to the city now and we had a few more hours worth of power left in us, so decided to use the boat tour of the city. It was an hour long tour via the canals of the city. The electronic guide explained why the city was laid out this way and why none of the houses in Amsterdam are vertical, they either sway forward or lean backward or tilt one way or the other. More than half of the city was reclaimed from the sea, thanks to the thirty thousand wind mills that once dominated the landscape. They pumped the sea water out and dykes kept the sea out. The soggy soil did not make strong foundations for the buildings. Hooks at the roof top of every building to lift large household articles from the boats to into the house was a norm. The guide also explained why Amsterdam was famous for the Red light district. Amsterdam was famous for its maritime legacy. Sailors who stayed out in the sea for several months at a time, needed some sort of an entertainment when they returned thus allowing the oldest profession in the world to flourish. The sailors are long gone, but the profession never went away.  Day two came to a close.
Day three began nice and early and we headed straight to Amsterdam central to take the bus city tour. The bus picked us up and we were taken to the Diamond factory. That is when we were made aware that Amsterdam is also known as the city of Diamonds.

There is a vibrant diamond polishing industry in Amsterdam. We were educated quite well about how diamonds are polished and what to look for in a diamond. The four C's,which stood for Clarity, Carat, Cut, Colour. The price tags on some of their work of art purely designed to draw the females dropped my jaw to the floor. My good wife, knew quite well that my pocket was not that deep. We got to see Anne Franks home and the royal palace from the gates. After grabbing some quick lunch we made it to the next attraction. The Avoca maritime museum. The history of the Dutch with the sea was well laid out. Its rich whale oil industry and trade with India stood out. The highlight was the "Dutch east India" tall ship. This was a replica of the ship to scale that once traded spices and good with India back in the sixteen hundreds. I was delighted to see how such a vessel made of wood initiated the move to make the world a smaller place that we currently live in. We then walked on to the terrace of NEMO, the science museum. We could see all of the city from there.  A horizon to remember. The packed backpacks which stared at us often was reminding us that we have a home to go back to.
Like the elders say, A well traveled man , will live as a wiser man. I realised that even more on this tour. Never knew about Tulips, Never knew about Diamonds, Never knew about so many other things that this short visit has thought me. I cannot end this without mentioning one feature of the city slickers of Amsterdam. Their absolute obsession to bicycles. Everyone , young and old, mothers and executives all of them on the move and not in a gentle cautious manner. Even the prime minister of Holland can been seen on a bike, cycling away to his office some days. Everyone on their own bike at a brisk pace like as if the bike is an extension of the body. A city of eight hundred thousand inhabitants has 1.6 million registered bicycles . The cycle lanes well laid out made it all look so seamless and effortless. I so wish every other city embraced to the most efficient transport machine man has ever created.
One last closing quote, "Amsterdam; you Rock!"

For more pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/110909333838706695436/albums/6004684824655293265?authkey=CPnDnPDxu5umpAE