Here comes my post after a long time. It was my new year resolution to write more often but you know, new year resolutions are made to be broken. Past few months have been extremely busy while doing nothing and as always, there is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do. Over the last one year, I moved to another assignment in Qatar, which is turning out to be a great learning experience. While the monotonous camp life left me craving for some normal human life in a normal human urban agglomeration, the shift rotation of six weeks on and two weeks off gave me the much needed time to travel around.
I used this opportunity to travel to Turkey, which was a tremendous experience. Having lived in an Islamic state like Qatar, I was amazed to find the liberal attitude in Turkey. A perfect blend of modernity with traditional values. I traveled to Istanbul, Fathiye, Cappadoccia and Antalaya. The cultural heritage in Istanbul was impressive whereas the natural beauty of Fathiye was breathtaking. One remarkable thing I noticed was that the average beauty of Turkish women is highest amongst the countries I have visited so far.
Later in the year, I had a two week long eurotrip. Going back to Europe after so long was real nice and I enjoyed every bit of it. I traveled to Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Venice and Athens in that order. While Barcelona was really a beautiful city, Madrid had its own charm. Watching the works of likes of Picasso and Rafael during the day and the happening nightlife is all what a person can ask for during a holiday.
Similar was the case with Rome, which had so much to see that 3 days were just not enough. Managed to attend the Sunday mass at Vatican, where I saw and heard Pope during is weekly appearance. The museum at Vatican was amazing with real ancient antiquities belonging to several civilizations. Venice is definitely not an ideal city for two single guys and clubbed with a rainy weather, the whole two days definitely could have been spent better. Though quite beautiful and culturally rich, Athens didn't impress me much. The place was real nice but just after my visit to Rome, it just didn't look that much special anymore. The Acropolis and other millennium old monuments were ofcourse the highlight of the trip.
Through out the two weeks of exploring some very fascinating cities, the most interesting aspect was the people I met. Met a very charming and real smart business journalist girl from Sao Paulo, Brazil and almost fell in love with her. Hey Juiliana, by any chance you reading this? :) Another interesting character I met was a peculiar middle aged man from California, USA who was bag-packing across Europe. Have never met a more interesting character then him, particularly of that age. This trip was real fun and now I eagerly await for my impending trip to Brazil. Rio Carnival, here I come ......
