fields of tulips...

Definately not natural, but less manicured...



Took these pictures for my grand children before it all goes under water ...

keukenhof

some pics ... from the 'most beautiful spring' garden of the world ... are there any summer or winter gardens any more beautiful .... i wonder!!!!


The view near the main entrance. The first glimpse is always beautiful, but after a few minutes of tulips, they do get a bit boring. I had a few questions for the head maali, why are contrast colours more the fashion (read blue, yellow, red) and are checker board tulips more enticing than seas of colour?




And how did you get the frilly edges??

Phew! Its a long time since I went blogging. Guess the grey and rain and sleet in Holland wasnt really inspriing. But Spring's sprung everyone (and me) into action...
This weekend was spent in Keuenhof ... some super touristy pics from there - actually I cant post them due to an 'internal error'. Will try again later ...
On keuenhof itself - It nice! but not worth all the hype and the money! seriously! you are better of in the fields...
Take a bike and a sunny day in holland (not too many of those) and bike around the canals and tulip fields and the country side dotted with windmills and seagulls - its a lot more refreshing than walking through manicured paths with teeming other tourists. Ofcourse if you can ignore the people, which any normal desi can, it might be worth it ... so go ahead, trudge all the way to keuenhof, and then do take the bike trip!
till the next pic ....

Biggles!!!!!!!!!!

The biggle association's stall in the Deventer book fair.

The adventures of Biggles bring on fond memories - of adventure, of aviation, or adversity, of admiration, of many other childhood charms. The stories cronical the adventures of James Bigglesworth, his flying companion Algy (the Hon. Algernon Lacey) starting out in the 'white fokker' from the Gobi to Antartica and even India. My favourite character in the series is Ginger (Hebblethwaite) who charmed me from his first appearance in Biggles and the Black Peril. In all about 100 stories were written by Capt. W.E Johns and they continue to fascinate people (like the members of the international biggles association) even today.

a story of flamingoes

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Phoenicopteriformes
Family: PhoeniPhoenicopterus
Genus: Phoenicopterus
Species: Roseus



Greater Flamingos in the Cabo-de-gata - Nijar natural park in the Almeria, Spain. of . By August the whole place if full of flamingos migrating from northern Europe to Africa.
The Salinas, the Mediterranean and the desert combine to form a unique landscape.

Dresden Shepherdess

Any one familiar with Georgette Heyer or for that matter Jane Austen would have come across the Dresden Shepherdess often. The small porcelein figurines decorated dinning tables and shelves and were much admired in the regency period. The Dresden figures were one of the first forms in which European porcelain had appeared. They were first made in the small town of Meissen, near Dresden. Meissen and later Sèvres were the most important porcelein factories in Europe. Interestingly, Auguste Rodin was employed at Sèvres for a short time butapparently did not leave any enduring marks of his presence. The dresden figures still adorn some living rooms.

vlieland

Vlieland
Vlieland is one of the West Frisian Islands, lying in the Wadden Sea. Its sand stretches are worth a few days under the sun (if any...). Its flag is white (of the sand) and the green (of the grass)... sign of vlieland's varied landscape!!!!

seagull

now i know what jonathan livingston seagull meant by hovering around a ship for ship...

marseille a la realviz

the view from the balcony ....

marseille panorama

the next post better be about repeated stress syndrome -- thats what i suffer from right now and cant post further ....

callonque de marseille

Marseille - one of the most fascinating places i've been to in a while --- a trail through the haughty calanques, some climbing and scambering and you have your own rocky beach in the mediterranean!! Ofcourse to pamper the lazy gene, dont forget to take along some pastis, Pissaladière and 'swimming slippers'...

weinheim

At the Weinheim Castle - its a nice walk up and theres always a nice beer at the end of it!!! The town itself is pretty and the rathaus a nice place to sign the vows .... if you are stuck somewhere close to mannheim and dont know what to do - definately take a day trip to weinheim. Its worth it even for a lazy desi!

This picture was clicked at a Orchid exhibition, Gangtok, Sikkim, India. But this isnt an orchid --- any idea what plant/flower this is? My new camera is really making me learn some more about the flora around me ...

Daffodils

The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

---------William Wordsworth

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
lass: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Lilium

The Star and the Wheel...

Two sides of a barbed wire......................

DIY Chinese

Some quick chinese tips on the way to nathu-la. In case you want to hop over the border or in case they decide to do so ... I wonder if any one ever used the tips on the board. And, is there a corresponding board across the border? What do they teach ? Hindi? Nepali? Tibetan? Bhutia? Lepcha? If you know, do let me know...

wheat fields forever

Ready for harvest ... pic from the fields near Ramnagar, Uttranchal, India.

Datura

In most parts of India, Datura grows as a wasteland weed though it is also cultivated in some parts. This picture was taken in the buffer zone of the Jim Cobett National Park. The word Datura probably comes from Hindi dhatūrā (thorn apple). The highest species diversity of the plant occurs in Mexico. Datura contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine and has long been used as a poison and hallucinogen. The seed is also considered to have a strong aphrodisiac effects.

A really lazy desi is back ...

One year and one new camera later ...

I dont believe it!!!! It has been one year since my last post --- am getting even lazier than i thought i was!!!! Achievement indeed!!! The past year hasnt been particularly taxing, tiring or stressing. Its included an average number of holidays, a unusually low number of photos, and extremely long hours spent in trains!!! I guess not much incentive for taking snaps ... The last month in contrast was spent fully holidaying in the incredible land ... here are some of my latest pictures on a FX07....
In between Changu lake and Nathu-la ... It was a misty and cold day with showers later in the day. But the view was breathtaking and breathing not so easy... The picture is of the Twin lakes - one is completely frozen and the other completely melted! Since the two lakes dont appear to be connected, the systems are independent and therefore the existance of the two phases fully possible, but still a wonder by itself!

A lazy desi's guide to huenebedden

It was a semi-sunny, semi-rainy day in the province of drenthe - one of the least known in netherlands. We packed a lunch of meat cooked in wine and garlic and headed down on the country roads from Groningen towards Harem and continued towards Zuidlarden with the final destination Annen. 53 of the 54 known hunebedden in the netherlands are in the province of Drenthe. In Annen we saw three ourselves and the site of yet another one which has now been dismantled. These rock structures were built as burial sites along with the ones which are now below the ground and appear just as mounds. Today they are just popular day trips for all the bored dutch in and around Drenthe.

For all lazy desi's stuck in groningen here is a list of can do options:

1. Take a trip down to these hunebedden. You could either take a bus down, or drive down or even bike down. The flat dutch bike tracks will not tax even the laziest of people!!! Some of these stone structures are in some forest-like area. Take the chance to have a nice picnic lunch. some others are in present day towns. Take the opportunity and visit a local cafe and sit down with some nice coffee.


2. Paterswoldemeer trip. Take a bike and just head towards the south of the city. Instead of doing the official paterwoldemeer weg which covers not just the lake but also nearby towns like harem, just head down towards the lake. You could either take a swim in the sandy (man made) beach or a coffee in the cool blue(!) cafe, sit near the old windmill or even go rowing.

3. Zuidlardenmeer. Further south of Groningen is the Zuidlardenmeer. One could go surfiing, or rowing, or take a cruise in a boat, or simply just sit around there and ejoy everyone else doing things...


4. Drink Genever
5. Many many more ideas to follow as and when I try them out and like them :)