UTAH: The Land of Canyons

Arches National Park

Home to some of the world famous canyons, Arches National Park is located in Moab. The Delicate Arch and the Double O arch are the most trending landscapes. The hikes are pretty long and moderately difficult, but its worth every penny. (See NPS website)

Island in the Sky - Canyonlands 

The Island in the Sky is home to the beautiful Mesa Arch. Every overlook from here offers a different perspective on Canyonlands' spectacular landscape. This park is perfect for a short stay and it offers many pullouts with spectacular views along the paved scenic drive. (See NPS Website)

Goblin Valley State Park

The Gobblin Valley State Park is a state park located in Utah which has some of the highest occurrences of hoodoos in the world. These hoodoos are referred to locally as "goblins." It's a small state park and is worth a short visit.

 

A short trip to Italy

Europe has always fascinated me and has been a top tourist destination for ages. I had the chance to get a small taste of that in 2014. It was during the summer of 2014, around the 4th of July weekend. It was a very short backpacking trip. I visited three places: Venice, Florence, and Rome. This blog is an attempt to summarize my experiences in these three cities. 

Venice: a city of canals

Venice: A city of canals 

Venice was our first stop in Italy. It is a city of narrow and crowded streets, surrounded by canals. It's a very romantic city. The gondolas with couples reminded me of the famous Bollywood song: "do lafzoon ki hai dil ki kahani ......"

Gondola in front of Rialto bridge

Piazza San Marco or Saint Mark's square is a famous plaza right at the heart of the city. This place is located right next to the Basilica. The plaza at San Marco is full of restaurants and there were live music all around. It was an unforgettable experience to sit here and listen to live music, with some traditional Italian food and a nice Italian wine. 

A view of the Basilica 

Transportation in Venice is through the canals. They have water bus or vaporetto that takes you from one  station to another. Although Venice is small city and you can basically walk throughout the city, these water buses are nevertheless very effective and it saves a lot of time. It is also your best bet for traveling to places like the Murano island. 

Glass manufacturing in process (Murano island)

Murano is a small island which is famous for glass making. It has many glass factories which manufactures glass items for export all over. If you are travelling to Venice, this place is a must see. It has many guided tours of the glass factories. It's also a good place to buy Murano glass souvenir item.

A glass made structure at the Murano island

The Murano island was our last stop in Venice. After this we headed for the city of Florence.

The City of Florence

Florence is a city famous for its architecture. The short stay at Florence can be summed up by a visit to Galleria dell'Accademia which house the famous statue of David, and a visit to the Duomo. 

After waiting in the queue for about an hour and a half, we finally got to enter Galleria dell'Accademia. Although there is a collection of other statues of Michelangelo, and a variety of other sculptures and paintings from the 15th and the 16th centuries, the star attraction of the gallery is the statue of David. The level of details in the statue of David is beyond imagination.  

Statue of David

Face of the statue

Level of details in the statue, down to the veins

After Galleria dell'Accademia, we headed for the Duomo. The dome of the cathedral is adorned with paintings which is a representation of The Last Judgement.

The dome of the cathedral 

Paintings on the dome of the cathedral 

Paintings on the dome of the cathedral

We climbed up to the top of the Duomo, and from there you get a view of the entire city of Florence.

View from the top of the Duomo

View from the top of the Duomo

Next we headed to Rome, which was our last stop for this short trip.

Rome and the Vatican City 

The capital city of Rome is a busy and populous city when you compare it to the city of Venice or to Florence, which is very calm, peaceful, and relaxed.

Our tour of the city started with a visit to the Colosseum. The oval amphitheater located at the center of the city and constructed with concrete stone is one of the greatest and world famous piece of architecture. Scenes from the Russell Crowe starrer Gladiator comes to mind once you are inside the Colosseum; someone there shouts: "Are you not entertained?"  

Colosseum

On the last day of our trip, our destination was the Vatican city. The Vatican city is an independently recognized state which is ruled by the Pope. Inside the Vatican city we went to the Vatican city museums and also inside the Sistine Chapel. Shown below is a photo collage with some sculptures and paintings from inside the Vatican museum. 

It all ended with a stop at St. Peter's Square, a plaza located right in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican city. 

St. Peter's Square in front of St Peter's Basilica

With that ended the short trip to Italy. However, the blog would be incomplete without acknowledging my companion for the trip, Arindam, who made this possible. 

Me and Arindam, somewhere in the streets of Venice

Hobart, Tasmania (Australia)

The summer of 2009 turned out to be a winter for me. It was an internship opportunity that made me take a flight to Tasmania. I got an offer to work on a research project in the Marine laboratories, CSIRO, in Hobart. Here I would take the opportunity to share some of the experiences of to my short stay at the Tasmanian island.

Salamanca Market Place:

One of the attractions of Hobart is the Salamanca market place. Every Saturday morning this place is filled with stalls by merchants from different parts in Tasmania. Fresh vegetables, new clothes, second hand books, tourist souvenirs, CDs, antiques, food—everything is in there. There are also road shows which are great to watch. On Saturday morning, the place gets crowded with local residents and tourists.

During my stay in Hobart, I went to the Salamanca market place every week except for one or two occasions. It is a good place to walk around. The foods there are really “yummy”. My personal favorite was "chicken satay," and "chicken curry" (not the Indian style curry). I also tried some of the pies and the donuts (or doughnuts). I didn’t buy anything from there but it's a good place to get souvenirs. I really enjoyed walking around the place, amidst all unknown people, with diversified cultural background.

Peppermint Bay—The ultimate Tasman experience:

Hobart is an island state in Australia and there are a lot of opportunities to go out on a cruise. Going out on a cruise is a must if you are travelling to Hobart. I decided to go out on a cruise on a fine Saturday morning. I got a ticket for a cruise to the Peppermint Bay. It was a really nice experience to take the cruise. It was a scenic drive, just south of Hobart. The guided cruise provides sort of a connection with the Tasmanian lifestyle, history and wildlife. We were lucky enough to see a couple of sea-eagle. Underwater camera footage of the underwater surface was a treat to the eye.


Bonorong Wildlife center:

To go to Australia, and not see any Kangaroo would not have been good at all. Unfortunately, Kangaroos are not very common in Tasmania. Wallabies are the breed that’s native to Tasmania, but I didn't get to see any Wallabies near the place I lived. I was eager to experience the wildlife in Australia, the likes of Kangaroo, Koala and yeah, the Tasmanian devils (now that’s native to Tasmania). I asked my project supervisor about some wildlife center and he referred the “Bonorong Wildlife Center.” He not only referred it but agreed to take me there. It was on a Saturday morning that we went there. As we went a little bit uphill we saw a few Wallabies. Finally, I did see some Kangaroos, a Koala, and some Tasmanian devils as we entered the wildlife park. There were also a few other animals in there, but for me, the major attractions were these. It was an awesome experience.

Sight scene around Hobart:

Hobart is a city which sits at the foot of mount Wellington, and on the banks of the Derwent river. The city is amazingly diverse and has a stunning beauty. The suburb of Battery Point lets one have a glimpse of the historic grand mansions and some tiny mansions. The views from the top of mount Wellington have a lot in offering for the photographers. These views are something that cannot be missed (but don’t go there on a foggy day).