Kumarakom Lake Resort

Do you want to enjoy a heritage retreat in a paradise in God’s own country? Kumarakom Lake Resort is the place to be. It’s one of the most beautiful resorts that that has a blend of south Indian architecture, lush greenery and the stunning view of the Vembanad Lake. I was just blown away by the beautiful waterscapes. And there was tranquility everywhere. The most interesting feature of this resort is the meandering pool that links to all the cottages.

Here are some pictures that I managed to click during stay there

Meandering pool

Vembanad Lake

Loved this beautiful flower arrangement

View from our cottage

 

 

Ethnic décor



a small shop full of traditional treasures

This is a restaurant reassembled from a 300 year old kerala home, which is an eight sided mansion

In the restaurant you will find these beautiful pillars and wooden carvings

Beautiful paintings adorned the resort

Stunning Waterscapes

Loved this mural painting in our room

 

 

 

Intricate designs on these traditional door locks

Images are clicked by me



 

Cochin Files

I am back after my short vacation.... the holiday blues continues but excited to be with you all... My each visit to Kerala always offer something different to experience...The recent vacation to Cochin, was something to remember. It had a bit of everything... a traditional Kottayam Christian wedding, an unexpected funeral of a great man who left a legacy to remember, a baptism...  quality time with family, catching up with some crazy cousins, a getaway to a resort on the backwaters, hogging on yummy food like appams & stew, beef fry, karemeen fry (pearl spot fish fry), ethakka fry (banana fritters) and to top it all ... Hot chai and rains.... it was just perfect!

Here are some pictures that summarizes my vacation

beautiful aerial view of Cochin

backwaters

Wedding house in Kottayam

 

 

Cherpunkal Church

Kumarakom Lake Resort

 

Beautiful Table Décor for Jayden's Baptism

Miss the rains!!

 

Beautiful paintings from a Delhi based artist

a walk in the clouds.... back to Muscat

Images are clicked by me


 

Amsterdam: definitely a Happy Place

After a fantastic holiday in Paris, our trip to Amsterdam started on an adventurous note by taking the Thalys train ride, which we nearly missed had we not reached on time! Amsterdam is another beautiful walking city with art, architecture and a rich history, cycling culture, interesting choice of pubs, restaurants and shops and beautiful buildings and streets.  I experienced the nightlife, the canal cruise, red light district tour, countryside tour during our short stay there and saved the rest for our next trip in the near future….. And I completely fell in love with the Dutch! They are so inviting and warm to all the tourists and I call them “the happy people”.

Here are some pictures to browse through to feel this happy place.

Heart of Dam Square

 

 

 

the constant buzz at the square was fanastic

interesting t-shirt... had to capture this :)



Dutch delicacies... smoked eel, raw herring, waffles, poffertjes(mini pancakes), Dutch bitterballen (a popular dutch meat based snack..... loved everything

Countryside tour

 

Volendam Museum

 

one of the main attraction of Volendam Museum is the mosaic pictures made from 11 million cigar papers

a picturesque garden

Cheese factory

excellent variety of cheeses

Clog Factory

Beautiful wooden shoes

the canal cruise is supposed to be one of the best way to view Amsterdam but I prefer walking... the cruise was too slow for me

the hotel that I stayed in had a traditional interior especially the lobby area



Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, right at the heart of Dam Square



Loved this work on the staircase wooden rail in the lobby area

 

Images are clicked by me