Seoul, South Korea - 2015

Seoul reminds me so much of the times spent in Chennai, India. Both have similar city layout, lots of people everywhere, trains, buses, bikes, bicycles, etc., Well, the food is different though. My three year old enjoyed trying this new cuisine for the first couple days but later she started craving for mac n cheese and pizza :) Silly little one! Pictures from our 7 day trip to Seoul -

Gyeongbokgung palace

Gyeonghoeru (Royal Banquet Hall) near Gyeongbokgung palace

Savored Korean Buddhist cuisine at TempleStay near Jogyesa Temple in Insadong. One of the dishes in the 10 course meal is yeonip bap, or lotus leaf rice - Freshly harvested sticky rice is steamed in a lotus leaf with Korean dates, pine nuts, chestnuts, gingko nuts and beans to produce an aromatic steam bath of flavors.

Another dish from the 10 course Korean Buddhist cuisine - crispy vegetables and fruits served along with lemon cinnamon ginger tea

Entrance to the Jogyesa Buddhist temple

Korean traditional village within Seoul city - Bukchon Hanok Village

View of Seoul city

Soft tofu soup with Kimchi on the side at Korean folk village in the city of Yongin

Colorful lanterns at Jogyesa temple

Pottery shop at Insa-dong

Korean script at the entrance of Gyeongbokgung palace

Traditional house at Korean folk village

Small creek/river at Korean folk village

Beautiful piece of architecture at the Jogyesa temple

Artwork on the walls of the Jogyesa temple

Metal sculpture at the entrance of the Jogyesa temple

SSamzigil at Insa-dong - attractive, arty four-storey complex built around a courtyard is a popular stop for one-off clothing, accessories or household goods

Victoria BC, Canada - 2014

It was the weekend after a long weekend and we were looking for a destination that's close by with something new to explore. We agreed upon Victoria, BC. We planned to minimize the drive by taking a ferry from Port Angeles, WA. We started on a Friday evening and drove from Seattle downtown to Port Angles, WA. The ferry to Victoria was scheduled to depart at 09:30 pm, and we reached Port Angeles, WA at 08:30 pm. Ferry ride was pretty smooth. Reached Victoria at 11:30 pm.  The itinerary for our trip was to cover Nanaimo, BC on day 1 and then explore Victoria museum, and Butchart Gardens on day 2. The drive from Victoria to Nanaimo (200 kms overall) was good but it was not the best. We did stop at Cowichan bay for a bit, to have a cup of coffee and some croissant from an organic bakery. Nanaimo is a small town with a harbor and some neat views of the Fairway Channel. We spent an hour or so strolling around this town then returned to Victoria. We did manage to cover Butchart Gardens on the same day. My little one enjoyed walking around this "big park" with lots of flowers and a softy cone in her hand. There was a carousel in the garden that she enjoyed riding. We started Day 2 with breakfast at Starbucks and then headed straight to Royal BC Museum. Our main focus at this museum was Natural History. The Mammoth in this gallery is really huge and looked very realistic. We ended our trip by watching Island of Lemurs: Madagascar at the IMAX (in Royal BC museum). Few Pictures from this trip -

Friday evening Traffic on I5

View of pier at Victoria, BC from Coho Ferry

View of Fairmont Empress (famous for its tea time!) from Coho Ferry

Piece of Art at a shop in Cowichan Bay

First People's Gallery at Royal BC Museum

Mammoth at Natural History gallery in Royal BC Museum

Sea lion at Natural History gallery in Royal BC Museum

Fairmont Empress - missed the afternoon tea time!

Fairmont Empress (rear view)

Butchart Gardens

A fountain inside Butchart Gardens

Cute little froggy in Rose Garden at Butchart Gardens

Rome, Italy - 2014

7 days of roaming around in Roma (italian!) wasn't enough. But we did manage to visit "must see" sites in this one week. Pictures -

St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican City - 45 min in the waiting line but totally worth it.

At St. Peter's Square

Swiss Guard

The dome inside St. Peter's Basilica

Fontana di Trevi

Arch of Constantine - next to the Colosseum

The Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

Arch at Roman Forum

The Pantheon

Pompeii, Italy - 2014

Yes, it's Pompeii and not Pompei. "Pompei" is the name of the current city and "Pompeii" would be that of the ancient city (Roman ruins). We visited Pompeii via a guided tour covering part of Naples as well. Naples was a brief stop (couple of hours) in the 13 hr day trip from Rome. Pictures from the trip -

Forum at Pompeii

Theatre at Pompeii

Ruins of shops by paved roads

The Garden at the House of the Faun

Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the background

City of Naples

Narrow streets in Pompeii

Plaster cast of a dog

No :) this was part of the ruins but not from AD 79

Moclips and WA Coast, USA - 2010

This was one of the trips during summer of 2010 with few of our friends. We rented out a vacation rental by the pacific coast (Moclips, WA). We flew kites, played Frisbee by the beach, watched Soccer at a diner!! A well-spent weekend!  Pictures -

View of Lake Quinault

Flying kites by the beach was fun!!

Sunset at the Pacific Ocean

Hoh Rainforest

Spikemosses on trees in Hoh Rainforest

More mossy trees!!

Mushrooms :)