Travelogue : Corfu - Days 2 & 3

The Workshop was being held at the Holiday Corfu Hotel, which easily one of the best hotels in Corfu. The schedule was from morning 10-ish till late afternoon 5-ish. My talk was scheduled on the first day post lunch session. After the days proceedings completed, all of us headed to the beach close to the Hotel - some for swimming, some for sun-bathing, while some like me for photography. The organisers had held a dinner that day for us, so we had to re-convene around 8 at the dinning hall. Apart from the locales and the beaches, the other thing which is amazing about Corfu is the food. I guess its the same about the Greek food all over Greece, but since this was my first experience, my taste buds were enjoying all the exotic Greek dishes - grilled fish, roasted potatoes garnished with spices, olives, the various salads, desserts especially Baklava - its a food gourmets' paradise. Social dinners like these always tend to go late into the night. We had a good group on our table, discussing all types of stuff, sitting in the lobby of the hotel facing the Ionion Sea under the cool moonlight of a full moon. Then all of a sudden we felt the whole lobby sway for a few seconds and our perplexed looks were answered by the Hotel staff that its a mild tremor of an earthquake. Later in the night I had felt another such tremor in my hotel room as well. I dont know how normal it is for people in Corfu, but for me atleast earthquakes give a feeling of goosebumps. Well after all the topics in our minds were discussed we retired to our rooms.

The second day of the workshop was also too busy. After it concluded, we had not much time left to go to the beach we all were planning to go. Since most of us were flying out the next day, we all had plans of our own to utilize the evening in the best possible way. I was interested in taking the snaps of the famous monastry in the moonlight of the full moon. I collected my lenses and ventured out alone on the part of the town I didnt intend to visit the other day. I started to walk along the coast with the hope of coming across some photogenic beach or enclove. And I luckily found a small patch of pebbles and sand literally cut off from the road and hidden behind some large bushes. I spent some good amount of time there sitting all alone looking out at the sea. It was a great place to be - either all alone with yourself, or with someone you loved the most. The only noise one could hear there was the gently splash of the water on the pebbles. I love places like these - they present you moments of absolute calmness and serenity. On my walk back, I had some roasted Salmons with fried potatoes and bread. The night was a full moon night and the moon was a complete golden yellow rising above the sea. I have managed to click some snaps, which I would filter out and upload them on my Flickr gallery.

I have another complete day to spend in Corfu tomorrow before I leave for Athens. I plan to go to the Barbati beach and its neighbouring locales. Lets see how the plans finally end up in effect. So untill the next log of activities, I am signing out.

Travelogue : Corfu - Arrival

I landed in Corfu last evening to attend a workshop on Personalization in Digital Libraries. Corfu is an island in the north of Greece, in the vicinity of Albania and popular attraction among tourists who love the Mediterranean sea. If you are planning for a good vacation along with your family or your loved one and hoping to have lots of sun and sand then Corfu is the must-go for you. The island has some exotic beaches - sandy, rocky, pebbled - all kinds, with clear waters which are as pristine as they can be. I could'nt find a direct flight to the island from mainland Italy, so had to take a transit from Venice-Athens-Corfu. I hadnt flown out of Italian airports so far, so when I arrived at the Marco Polo International Airport at Venice, the chaos was quite out-of-normal for me. There was no information displayed about the check-in counters for our flight to Athens. And when we finally checked in our baggages and waited at the boarding gate to depart, we had to wait for an agonizing hour for the flight attendants to show up. On asking we were informed that the flight was delayed. The least they could have done was inform the passengers about it, rather than leaving them high and dry with no clue about whats going on.

I have had some bizarre experiences before in my life, but this one was out of the blue. My fellow passenger, sitting beside me was also traveling to Corfu to attend the same workshop. We were both pleasantly surprised. I mean what are the odds to meet someone like that. So we had both found good company, rather than having a boring flight. Athens Airport is quite good, but the first thing I noticed on landing in Athens was the immense heat there. Thankfully we were inside the airport and had to change our flight to Corfu. To our ill luck the flight to Corfu was also delayed. Luckily we both had enough things to talk about to keep ourselves occupied.

When we were airborne we learnt the reason for the delay was due to a fire in the woods on the outskirts of Athens. The flight to Corfu is small and sweet. The island looks great from the flight above. After checking in my hotel, I couldnt spend much time walking around the city, as I was having some body pains (owing to the tasking 8-hour climb on the Monte Bondone in Trento, I had done a day before). So I had some quick dinner in an Italian restaurant and went to bed early on a dose of pain killers. I saw some good restaurants along the coast close a historical monument. I hope to see around parts of Corfu in the evenings after the workshop proceedings close and am looking forward to capturing the beauty of the island on my lens.

A theory behind LOST

This one is for those of you who are passionate LOSTies. There have been numerous forums, discussion pools and conspiracy theorists trying to explain the logic and philosophy behind the concept of this show. Today I stumpled upon this good article explaining one possible theory behind the events of that fabulous island. We cant be sure, if its the exact thing running in the minds of the creators of the show, but in the absence of any refutations, we might as well agree with this line of thought. So, all those LOSTies amongst you, check out this good attempt to put together the events of the island from a different perspective.

Travelogue : Dublin

Last week I was in Dublin for a brief period on some official work. My first impression of the city was quite good. The day I landed there was a typical Irish grey weather with lots of clouds and heavy gusts of wind blowing. I found the people to be very fun-loving and jovial sort. The city as such is not that crowded, even though its a capital city, it has an ambience of a laid-back peaceful town, without any hustle-bustle. Weather wise I found it too windy, or maybe its because the most northern city I have been to I found it a bit cold for a european summer. As a photographer, I was not very much excited with the city architecture. The Irish landscapes are renowned, but the urban side of the city was not very photogenic. Food wise, there are plenty of restaurants to dine in and around the Grafton Street, Dame Street and along the Quays - predominantly Italian but there are quite a number of restaurants which serve Continental and Asian food as well. Well, ofcourse you have the traditional Irish pubs and kiosks where you could munch on some fish-n-chips or have a shot of Irish beer. Ireland is home to the Guinness brand and you see its prominence all around the city pubs. For shoppers in Dublin the major attraction is the St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre. There are plenty of shops on the Grafton Street and the O'Connell Street as well. Though my stay was for a very brief period, I very much liked the people and the general ambience in Dublin and I am looking forward to occassion when I could get a chance to see the beauty of the Irish landscapes. I have uploaded some of snaps on my Flickr page.