The park is about 40 minutes train ride from the main city and is a whole new world in itself. Its divided into three parts viz. Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios and the Disney Village. The Disney Castle is the main attraction in the Park and the kids throng to see the well dressed princes and princesses and other royalties...adults are no less enthusiastic about meeting and getting photographed with these characters here. There are many theme based rides here which all are different and exciting in their unique ways.Since Halloween was around the corner when we had gone there, the entire park was decorated on that theme and one could see a lot of colored pumpkins around which gave the place an air of joy and festivity.
In the Walt Disney Studios, there are various famous Disney characters milling about and children and adult alike line up to meet them and get photographed with them. It was thrilling to meet Goofy, Ratatouille etc. As a 25 year old adult, I may be sounding silly but people older than me were as excited as the kids there...such is the infectious atmosphere of the place. Theres also the toy train ride which takes you on a tour of the Disney Land and all the famous action scenes of famous Walt Disney Movies like Titanic, Pearl Harbor etc are depicted here....sitting on the train you can experience a bomb blast,torrential rain and fire all around...all seems so realistic that it leaves you spellbound and amazed.
Disney Village is more inspired with the Hollywood theme and there are lots of restaurants and souvenir shops here. We also bought some for friends and family although they are a bit expensive and over rated but then souvenirs always are.
On our last and final day..we went to Louvre in the morning. Louvre is one of the biggest museums in the world and is famous for the artwork it has notably Mona Lisa and Venus de milo. The entire museum is vast and is divided into sections and its easy to get lost here...though 6 hours are never enough for this place which houses so many artistic treasures of mainly Gothic and Renaissance era, we completed the tour nevertheless and proceeded towards the famous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame....it is well maintained and preserved and some of the best artworks of the Gothic era is visible on the church walls and the ceiling. In the end we took a cruise on the River Seine. It was very romantic sitting on the top of the boat in the breezy afternoon with the tour guide telling about the places on our left and right and about so many bridges that we passed under...it was very informative and I was surprised to find so many bridges and each had its own history.
Finally we scrambled to catch our planes as we had got very late and thought we might miss our flight. But thankfully we reached right on time and a friendly airport official got us our boarding passes very quickly than expected.
The last image I saw was from the plane after the take off was of the Eiffel tower lighting up the city and proudly adorning the Paris Skyline. It was a wonderful and an unforgettable trip...one I will cherish forever.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Majestical Paris.....
I have been meaning to write about this trip for a long time now.... Paris trip was fascinating for many reasons....this is one of the oldest cities in the world and one of the most important and major cities even today.....its a great combination of the history and modernity in the sense that there are well preserved symbols of its both glorious and tumultous past and of the present.....
Paris is like any other major city...I saw a lot of traffic and a lot of people of different colours and nationalities rushing to their work....rush in their steps....stern expressions...clipped sentences....all the typical signs of big city dwellers.....also there were lots of beggars and con men and con-women....unclean streets....overflowing garbage cans.....it will be suffice to say that it reminded me of Bombay in more than one way...but ofcourse its cleaner than bombay and the transport system is more efficient....
Our first stop was the Sacre Coeur....this big white monument of christianity reminded me of Taj Mahal and its huge from inside...after this tour we headed towards Eiffel Tower and indeed this great monument lives up to the fame it has been accoladed with....although the queue was long and it was chilly and windy but after getting to the top it was worth the wait as the view is breathtaking. The entire city of Paris stretches out in all directions. A funny incident happened while getting down....we thought of climbing one floor down by steps as there was a huge queue waiting for the elevator, and after coming down one floor which was "too down" than we had estimated we found that the elevator only started from the top and that its not available now. So gamely we decided to climb all the way down by steps and although my feet hurt a bit later...it was lot of fun. Next stop was Arc de Triomphe and this huge monument built in honor of French people who took part in the Revolution is very much like our own India Gate in Delhi or Gateway of India in Mumbai.....there was again a climb here and my darling husband had to literally drag me upstairs and again the view from the top was amazing. We finally ended our day by spending the evening roaming in Champs de Elysees..the fashion street.....I bought some clothes for myself as I couldnt resist the amazing styles offered by Zara.....the store I always wanted to shop at.
Next Day was scheduled to be spent in Disneyland and indeed even a week would be less for Disney enthusiasts because its huge......
To be Continued......
Paris is like any other major city...I saw a lot of traffic and a lot of people of different colours and nationalities rushing to their work....rush in their steps....stern expressions...clipped sentences....all the typical signs of big city dwellers.....also there were lots of beggars and con men and con-women....unclean streets....overflowing garbage cans.....it will be suffice to say that it reminded me of Bombay in more than one way...but ofcourse its cleaner than bombay and the transport system is more efficient....
Our first stop was the Sacre Coeur....this big white monument of christianity reminded me of Taj Mahal and its huge from inside...after this tour we headed towards Eiffel Tower and indeed this great monument lives up to the fame it has been accoladed with....although the queue was long and it was chilly and windy but after getting to the top it was worth the wait as the view is breathtaking. The entire city of Paris stretches out in all directions. A funny incident happened while getting down....we thought of climbing one floor down by steps as there was a huge queue waiting for the elevator, and after coming down one floor which was "too down" than we had estimated we found that the elevator only started from the top and that its not available now. So gamely we decided to climb all the way down by steps and although my feet hurt a bit later...it was lot of fun. Next stop was Arc de Triomphe and this huge monument built in honor of French people who took part in the Revolution is very much like our own India Gate in Delhi or Gateway of India in Mumbai.....there was again a climb here and my darling husband had to literally drag me upstairs and again the view from the top was amazing. We finally ended our day by spending the evening roaming in Champs de Elysees..the fashion street.....I bought some clothes for myself as I couldnt resist the amazing styles offered by Zara.....the store I always wanted to shop at.
Next Day was scheduled to be spent in Disneyland and indeed even a week would be less for Disney enthusiasts because its huge......
To be Continued......
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil....
Again a wonderful read...this book by John Berendt amuses, scandalizes and captivates. A mesmerising account of the writer's stay in Savaanah and his description of the people and places there is fascinating.....
A gripping story of a decadent society,its people and how they anyhow want to maintain their ties with the past and their resistance to change.... the social parties...scandals and the old world charm keeps you thoroughly entertained.....the amazing part was how learned people still believe in voodoo and black magic and inspite of the integration,there is a thin line of demarcation between the blacks and the whites and theres segregation between blacks themselves where the lighter skinned are getting more preferences....guess black isnt so beautiful afterall and then there is the interesting murder trial of antique dealer Jim Williams which again goes on to show the way of life in Savannahians where money and social status means everything....homosexuality and aany other free world thinking is abhorred and gossip and scandals rule....
Its an interesting read which will keep you turning the pages till you get to the end.....
A gripping story of a decadent society,its people and how they anyhow want to maintain their ties with the past and their resistance to change.... the social parties...scandals and the old world charm keeps you thoroughly entertained.....the amazing part was how learned people still believe in voodoo and black magic and inspite of the integration,there is a thin line of demarcation between the blacks and the whites and theres segregation between blacks themselves where the lighter skinned are getting more preferences....guess black isnt so beautiful afterall and then there is the interesting murder trial of antique dealer Jim Williams which again goes on to show the way of life in Savannahians where money and social status means everything....homosexuality and aany other free world thinking is abhorred and gossip and scandals rule....
Its an interesting read which will keep you turning the pages till you get to the end.....
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Scotoma for Marketing Intelligence.....
Scotoma.....mind sees what it chooses to see....dont believe it???...but its true.....when I first heard it I thought it was some kind of disease but this phenomenon is true for every human being and plays an important part in Marketing Intelligence.....
Consider the portrait of Mona Lisa...some say she is smiling some say she is not a she but a female version of Leonardo himself....consider the controversy behind the famous painting of Leonardo "The Last Supper"....whether the person on left of Jesus is a male or female..and if she is a female and Mary Magdelene herself is she and Jesus making a shape of chalice together symbolozing the holy grail....why there are 13 glasses of wine when there should be one.....all of this....Scotoma....mind sees what it chooses to see....
One would say this is only applicable to art...music and religious beliefs but its not....this phenomenon plays an important part for marketers and creation of product image in the minds of consumers which ultimately not only decides the product performance but also shapes the consumer perception on the whole genre of product line, brand identity and the product life. One very interesting example in this context would be the QWERTY keyboards (named so after the first six alphabets on the keyboard)....it was first designed by Christopher Sholes in 1870s for typewriters and the alphabets were placed haphazardly to actually slowdown the process of typing as fast typing stuck the keys!!!......they are used to this date and inspite of ll other revolutions in personal computer, QWERTY is still the preferred keyboard and what more majority of people dont find anything odd about the placement of alphabets!!!....again mind sees what it chooses to see..... this phenomenon plays an important role for the marketers in terms of packaging and presentation because even though different brands may boast of superiority in majority of features but there are some basic components which need to be kept consistent and that is why even though Apple, Dell, Compq etc may boast of differences in their computer models but QWERTY lives on :)
Consider the portrait of Mona Lisa...some say she is smiling some say she is not a she but a female version of Leonardo himself....consider the controversy behind the famous painting of Leonardo "The Last Supper"....whether the person on left of Jesus is a male or female..and if she is a female and Mary Magdelene herself is she and Jesus making a shape of chalice together symbolozing the holy grail....why there are 13 glasses of wine when there should be one.....all of this....Scotoma....mind sees what it chooses to see....
One would say this is only applicable to art...music and religious beliefs but its not....this phenomenon plays an important part for marketers and creation of product image in the minds of consumers which ultimately not only decides the product performance but also shapes the consumer perception on the whole genre of product line, brand identity and the product life. One very interesting example in this context would be the QWERTY keyboards (named so after the first six alphabets on the keyboard)....it was first designed by Christopher Sholes in 1870s for typewriters and the alphabets were placed haphazardly to actually slowdown the process of typing as fast typing stuck the keys!!!......they are used to this date and inspite of ll other revolutions in personal computer, QWERTY is still the preferred keyboard and what more majority of people dont find anything odd about the placement of alphabets!!!....again mind sees what it chooses to see..... this phenomenon plays an important role for the marketers in terms of packaging and presentation because even though different brands may boast of superiority in majority of features but there are some basic components which need to be kept consistent and that is why even though Apple, Dell, Compq etc may boast of differences in their computer models but QWERTY lives on :)
Veronika decides to die!!!.....
Read this mind boggling book by Paulo Coelho....Veronika is this good looking girl who is living a decent life and has nothing to complain about and yet she decides to end her life, she takes sleeping pills and survives but she is told by the doctors that her heart is irreparably damaged and that she only has 7 days to live.....she spends these 7 days in this mental institution where she re-discovers herself ,falls in love with another schizophrenic guy,elopes with him and wants to live again counting everyday as a miracle where actually the doctor has lied to her and she can actually live as there is nothing wrong with her heart.....Doctor hs lied to her because he is experimenting on her and wants to see the effect of this news on her.....
Well...all of the above sounds like a whole lot of crapola and thats what I thought when I began reading this book...I was bored and couldnt sleep one sunday night...but when I started reading it, I couldnt put it down...
For one, everything in this book has been described in a very matter-of-factly way as is the style of Paulo Coelho....plus its also a true story and presented in such a vivid fashion that one can actually understand the madness which leads a person to commit suicide....Nowhere in this book the author has made any attempt to create sympathy for Veronika or any other character......its a must read for those who are really interested in understanding the human psyche.....
Well...all of the above sounds like a whole lot of crapola and thats what I thought when I began reading this book...I was bored and couldnt sleep one sunday night...but when I started reading it, I couldnt put it down...
For one, everything in this book has been described in a very matter-of-factly way as is the style of Paulo Coelho....plus its also a true story and presented in such a vivid fashion that one can actually understand the madness which leads a person to commit suicide....Nowhere in this book the author has made any attempt to create sympathy for Veronika or any other character......its a must read for those who are really interested in understanding the human psyche.....
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Innsbruck....
This beautiful alpine city is the capital of Tyrol in western Austria. The breathtaking beauty of this city made me fall in love with europe all over again.
Although very small, the city has a long history dating back to the 11th century. We took a direct train from Munich to Innsbruck and completed the journey in about 5 hours. The ICE Trains of Germany are another example of this country's amazing automobile supremacy with trains travelling for about 300 km/hr,the journey as smooth and fast as it can get. While going our train was full of the Oktober fest revelers and everyone was having an amazing time.
We reached there on saturday night and stayed in this hostel which we had booked earlier. On sunday morning we started our day with the breakfast and getting the necessary directions and passes from the information center.
The main city area is very small and can be covered by foot. We saw the Golden roof which is as the name suggests is a roof made of gold plated copper plates. Some steps away is the Imperial palace of Hofburg and the museum. We took the bus to the Ambras Castle which is located on top of the Innsbruck valley and was the summer seat of the royalty. This palace is vast and beautiful with large hunting grounds and priceless paintings,furnitures and other artifacts.
From there we went to the Swarovsky Museum where there are some 40 rooms displaying amazing crystal works and in the end of which there is the shop and although the jewellery is very expensive I couldnt resist buying a ring and pair of earrings.
After swarovsky we took the cable car to Nordpark which presents the awesome view of the entire innsbruck valley and the alps. We had our dinner at Sher-e- Punjab (yes an indian restro even here!!!) and took the train back.
It was a memorable and enjoying trip and the pristine beauty of the Alps is forever engraved in my heart. Anyone would say that the maker was biased when he was making this world for the enchanting and mesmerising beauty he gave to europe,nevertheless,I will be forever grateful for being able to see and appreciate it :))
Although very small, the city has a long history dating back to the 11th century. We took a direct train from Munich to Innsbruck and completed the journey in about 5 hours. The ICE Trains of Germany are another example of this country's amazing automobile supremacy with trains travelling for about 300 km/hr,the journey as smooth and fast as it can get. While going our train was full of the Oktober fest revelers and everyone was having an amazing time.
We reached there on saturday night and stayed in this hostel which we had booked earlier. On sunday morning we started our day with the breakfast and getting the necessary directions and passes from the information center.
The main city area is very small and can be covered by foot. We saw the Golden roof which is as the name suggests is a roof made of gold plated copper plates. Some steps away is the Imperial palace of Hofburg and the museum. We took the bus to the Ambras Castle which is located on top of the Innsbruck valley and was the summer seat of the royalty. This palace is vast and beautiful with large hunting grounds and priceless paintings,furnitures and other artifacts.
From there we went to the Swarovsky Museum where there are some 40 rooms displaying amazing crystal works and in the end of which there is the shop and although the jewellery is very expensive I couldnt resist buying a ring and pair of earrings.
After swarovsky we took the cable car to Nordpark which presents the awesome view of the entire innsbruck valley and the alps. We had our dinner at Sher-e- Punjab (yes an indian restro even here!!!) and took the train back.
It was a memorable and enjoying trip and the pristine beauty of the Alps is forever engraved in my heart. Anyone would say that the maker was biased when he was making this world for the enchanting and mesmerising beauty he gave to europe,nevertheless,I will be forever grateful for being able to see and appreciate it :))
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Kudos to Gursher :))
Heres congratulating my husband,best friend and sweetheart on completing his half marathon of 21 kms in 1 hour 50 minutes which means he ran with an average of 15 kms per hour!!!.....
An astounding achievement especially because although he is a superb athlete and sportsman, he had never run so much before and the fact that he completed this marathon within this time frame is a great achievement in itself.
Congratulations sweetheart :))
An astounding achievement especially because although he is a superb athlete and sportsman, he had never run so much before and the fact that he completed this marathon within this time frame is a great achievement in itself.
Congratulations sweetheart :))
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