Urge to Fly - travel

Art and History

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:15:00 +0530

When I had visited Agra two months back, I had lamented the fact that we Indians have no respect for our national heritage and have no qualms about desecrating historical monuments. After visiting Italy this week, I'm wondering if I can generalize this to the whole world. That may be a bit too much, but I witnessed exactly the same thing in Italy as I did at Agra. Whether they were the 2000 year old ruins at Rome, or the precariously tilting walls of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - all bore witness to the regrettable proclamation of love by irresponsible lovers.

Anyway, I had a great time at Italy. I have always been fascinated by history, and what better place to witness history than Rome. I can't think of any other city with such a rich treasure of history - from ancient to medieval to modern. Every street corner, every piazza is so steeped in history that you really need a lifetime to see everything that Rome has to offer. Given the fact that I had less then 3 days to explore the Eternal City, I'm sure there was a lot more I didn't see. However, I still managed to see the usual touristy stuff - Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, Colosseum, Vatican city....

If I were to pick up a few of my favourite places in Rome, they would certainly be Fontana di Trevi and St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican. It was quite…

Weekend at Agra

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 20:35:00 +0530

I love to travel. And I love history. So when I got a night's stay at a hotel in Agra as the prize for winning a quiz, I was ecstatic. While I had been to Agra before, this would be my wife's first visit. Obviously then, she was as excited as I was. For me it was an opportunity to get a 'refresher course' in Mughal history, while for her it was the excitement to finally get to see the Taj.

Anyhow, we went to Agra over the weekend. Needless to say, we had a great time. My intent here is not to give a description of our itinerary or to go gaga over the beauty of Mughal architecture. There are two things that I want to write about - one quite serious, and the other quite funny actually.

Let me start with the funny bit. I found the tourist guides in Agra quite amusing. Forget the fact that they try to impose themselves upon you (they're notorious for that anyway). What is truly amusing is their twisted version of history, which they narrate with truly remarkable conviction. In their accounts, history seamlessly integrates with folklore, myth, and even outright lie. This can be a cause of concern when they dish this khichdi out to unsuspecting foreigners, but I take great delight in it. When we visited any of the historical places at Agra, I made it a point to hire a guide just to get a thrill out of it…

Barcelona - Una Ciudad Interesante

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 18:00:00 +0530

Estaba en Barcelona la semana pasada. Había ido allí para trabajo, pero tuve algún tiempo libre en mano para explorar la ciudad. Yo me enamoré de la ciudad, especialmente su arquitectura.

Well, enough Spanish! Let me continue in a language I know…

I was in Barcelona last week. I had gone there on work, but had some spare time on hand to explore the city. I fell in love with the city, particularly its architecture.

At one level, the architecture of the city is so diverse that it almost gives it a confused character. That's what my first impression also was. But as I explored the city more, I realized that it is the diversity of its architecture that gives the city its unique character. From Medieval to Renaissance to Modernisme/Art Nouveau to contemporary – the city has it all.

I was particularly impressed by Antoni Gaudi's work. Whether it was the surrealistic and seemingly 'deformed' Casa Mila or the extremely ornate and colorful Casa Batllo, or his magnum opus – La Sagrada Familia, one couldn’t help but get awestruck by the magnificence and brilliance of his work. His style is very different from anything I’ve ever seen. It breaks every single convention of architecture that I know of. What you finally get is not a building but a piece of Art. The two facades of Sagrada Familia are a study in contrast. While the Passion façade is characterized by strong angular images (very uncharacteristic of Gaudi's style), the Nativity façade…