I Want to Be a Part of It, New York, New York

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York, sings Frank Sinatra and for sure is real. I’m asking if there is a better place to be on New Year’s Eve on this planet. No, the best place is Times Square where the light ball drops in the last seconds of the year. This square from the heart of Manhattan is called Times only from 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters there. It is formed at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Broadway and it is a cascade of light and sounds and sings and information, it is everything important. I think that when you go outside from the Times Square – 42nd Street subway station in the middle of the night you have a WOW sensation. The postcard is from Ruxandra, a new Postcrossing friend from Montreal. She bought it when she traveled there this year.

40.75773,-73.985708  Click for Google Maps or use numbers on your GPS to navigate.

Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
United States For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

I just got this card via Postcrossing :D

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York, spunea Frank Sinatra şi spuneţi voi dacă nu e aşa. Oare e un loc mai bun pe planetă să petrecem revelionul? Eu spun că nu, e cel mai tare să fi acolo în Times Square şi să urmăreşti globul de lumină la trecerea dintre ani. Piaţa din inima Manhattanului se numeşte Times doar din 1904 când celebrul ziar The New York Times s-a mutat acolo. Piaţa este la intersecţia Seventh Avenue cu Broadway şi este o cascadă de lumină, milioane de luminiţe, rânduri cu tot felul de informaţii. Cred că atunci când ieşi de la metrou, staţia Times Square – 42nd Street, şi e noapte ai acea senzaţie de WOW. Vederea este de la Ruxandra, o prietenă nouă, o cunoştinţă ce o datorez Postcrossing, o româncă din Montreal. Ea a fost acolo şi mi-a povestit cum e.

2011 Flashback - Revisiting Nilgiris

One of my earliest trips in 2011 was a solo trip to the Nilgiris - to Ooty. Coonoor, Kotagiri, Lovedale, Mettupalayam and it sent me into a wave of nostalgia. Nilgiris has always been my favourite destination from childhood and I must thank Nokia for sponsoring this trip. One of the best moments was to visit the Toda Mund high up in the Botanical Garden.

 I did a post on the Nilgiris a while ago - Why the Queen of Hills should be on your itinerary..and this post was well appreciated by many, including Old Lawrencians from Lovedale, my dad being one of them . It so happenned that an old Lawrencian, Nick Horsburg, an author from Oxford University Press did read the post and wanted it to be included in a text book for students that he was penning. Thank you Nick and OUP. I look forward to seeing the book

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2011 Flashback - Saklespura

It was one of those moments when we followed our minds rather than the roads and changed the course of direction on a whim and landed in Manjarabad Fort, Saklespura.  Here is my post on the unplanned trip.

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Shalom Jerusalem

I dream to travel to Jerusalem and to be safe like every other European city, but because of the religion this place is holly for Christians, Jews and Muslims, and this is why it is guarded by armed to the teeth soldiers. Also because of the problems some places are not for visiting and I will go there only when I can see the beautiful Dome of the Rock – I think that when this site will be open to everybody is the moment that peace in Israel will be a real thing. Why Dome of the Rock? You have to read the history of that gorgeous place and find more about the sacrifice of Avraam and the place from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. The walls of the today city were built in 1538 by ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and those are also included from 1981 to UNESCO World Heritage List. One of the postcards is showing a photo of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built on Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified. The site of the present Church had been a temple of Aphrodite. Emperor Constantine I ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be demolished and to be built a church. The beautiful cards are from a dentist friend, Irina; actually her mother traveled to Jerusalem and bought those to me.

31.778444,35.22975  Click for Google Maps or use numbers on your GPS to navigate.

Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
Israel For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

Mi-ar plăcea să mă plimb prin Ierusalim ca prin orice oraş din Europa, din păcate religia face ca acest oraş sfânt pentru creştini, evrei şi musulmani, să fie păzit tot timpul de soldaţi înarmaţi până în dinţi şi tot din motive de securitate e interzis să vizitezi anumite locuri. Eu aştept acel moment în care şi creştinii pot vizita Dome of the Rock (Cupola Stâncii sau Moscheea lui Omar), căci acela o să fie momentul în care e foarte sigur să călătoreşti în Ierusalim. Acest loc minunat include piatra unde Avraam a fost pus la încercare de Dumnezeu şi din acelaşi loc s-a înălţat la ceruri profetul Mohamed. Zidurile actuale ale oraşului au fost construite în 1538 la ordinul sultanului Suleiman Magnificul şi sunt incluse alături de oraşul vechi în listele Patrimoniului UNESCO. Eu am prezentat nişte lucruri pe care un creştin le cunoaşte mai puţin şi din acest motiv, în aceste puţine rânduri am evitat să mai spun şi lucrurile arhicunoscute lumii noastre, creştine, legătura oraşului cu Isus. Una din vederile mele este o fotografie a Bisericii Sfântului Mormânt (sau Sepulcru). Se pare că biserica a fost construită pe locul cunoscut ca Golgota, dealul crucificării Domnului Isus. În acest loc se afla un templu dedicat Afroditei, dar totul a fost dărâmat la ordinul împăratului Constantin şi s-a ridicat biserica în 325-326. De-a lungul istoriei, biserica a fost dărâmată şi reconstruită de mai multe ori. Cele două vederi le am de la prietenă dentist, Irina. De fapt trebuie să-i mulţumesc mamei Irinei care a fost acolo şi a adus aceste minunate vederi.

2011 Flashback - Srilankan Frogmouths in Thattekadu

I started 2011 in Thattekadu ,walking in the forests around midnight bringing in the new year. And birding of course. It was my first sighting of the Srilankan Frogmouth and I had written about how we found this bird in the wilds in my column , The Hindu. A story on Thattekadu was also published in Gonomad.com 

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2011 Flashback - A Course in Jainism in Thirumalai

Early this year I did a short course in Jainism and the legacy of Tamil Jains , conducted by Dr. R .Venkatraman, Retd Professor of Art History, Madurai Kamaraja University and the Hayagriva study circle in Madras. And we visited a few ancient Jaina sites in and around Chennai in Tamil Nadu - Thirumalai , in Thiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu being one of them .

While the main site is referred to as Kundavi Jainalaya, after Raja Raja Chola's sister who patronised it, the ancient  site was filled is cave temples, paintings, monoliths,  temples on hillocks and carvings – all probably dated between 10^th– 15^th century, patronized by various dynasties  and rulers.I wrote my column , Inside Story for the Hindu Metro Plus early this year and here is the link .

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2011 Flashback - Nilgiri Tahr in Valparai

I was in Valparai in August 2011 where I attended Kalyan Varma's photography workshop in the rainforest. It was one of my best trips of the year. I am yet to document it ,except for some photographs of the lion tailed macaques in FB and my column on Velu, the man who has Seen God in The Hindu. Here are a couple of photographs of the Nilgiri Tahr from Valparai

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