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DocDivaTraveller

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Aah! The Dutch countryside!

I could stare at this view forever!
From all what I had researched, I had really high expectations from the countryside of Netherlands. Since we were visiting in summers, there was no chance of tulips but the tall grass, the lakes, Dutch houses and the windmills had my heart racing. I was dying to visit them!
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We were really on a whirlwind trip in Holland. I mean we had just fourteen hours and we had to extract the maximum out of it. We followed the cardinal rule..the farthest should be covered first. So after the immigration checks, we bought the I am Sterdam card which was an all day bus pass for 13.5 euros each. However buying that card took two hours. I mean even after all the research we had done beforehand as to which pass would be the best for us, we simply did not know what to do when we landed there! 
Just outside the Schiphol Airport...fnally got to breathe Dutch air!
There were many reasons. Firstly we needed a pass that had access to the countryside and not only in Amsterdam city. Secondly we had intended to use the train to go to Zaanse Schans, the nearest district in the countryside. The train pass was of 15 euros. Unfortunately on that very day, trains were not operating from the airport. Now we never thought this way and did not have a Plan B!! Moreover the kisoks at the airport accepted credit cards only and hubs was sceptical in using his card at the very first go. We had a long vacation in Italy ahead. With so much confusion, we lost two precious hours. Also the girls at the kiosks knew about Amsterdam only and no one could guide us about Zaanse Schans. Finally we bought the bus pass for 24 hours outside the city and stomped out of the Schiphol airport.
getting into the Airport Express
Walking in the Leidseplin area towards the Amsterdam Centraal
The Airport Express bus took us to the centre of the Amsterdam city. From there we were supposed to take another bus to the Zaandam district. Our Airport Express bus dropped us at the Leidseplein stop from where we walked to the Amsterdam Centraal station. In between we got a glimpse of the canals and the wide IJ river. After that were a lot of escalators up and down, some running and hopping in my heels and gusts of chilly wind to reach the bus stop. There we waited for the 891 bus to take us to the countryside.

Our bus to Zaanse Schans...the IJ river in the backdrop. It was too foggy and misty for clear pictures!
It took around 25 minutes to reach Zaanse Schans. The entire bus was empty except for us and a couple who were hungrily making out! Once my partner remarked that they were so much into the act that the man had to repeatedly adjust his pants :D
The chilly wind at Zaanse Schans!
Once we reached, I was overjoyed by the greenery of the Zaandam district. It was a 10 minute walk from the bus stop to our destination.

Zaanse Schans is an open air museum that has eight working windmills at one place with a lake and beautiful Dutch neighborhood all around. We selected this place to get a feel of the countryside as this was where we could see so many windmills at a single place.
Following the trail..
Tall and itchy grass..
We took the trail and started walking on the grass. The grasses were tall and itchy and the surface wet. After we made almost to the end, we realised that we had gone quite far from the windmill area. We again walked all the way back.
Picnic by the lakeside..Recharging ourselves by gobbling some knick knacks.
All the running and walking had made us hungry. We sat by the lakeside and gobbled whatever knick knacks were there in our bag. Energised, we walked to the windmill area. I was overjoyed by the sight of typical Dutch houses and of course the windmills.
The gorgeous Dutch countryside
The iconic Dutch windmill...this one is a small model, though a working one




Dutch houses, lake and windmills...the scenery could not get better...
Skirt: Next
Top: Dresslink.com
Neon Pink Purse: from Dubai
9/30/2017 3 comments

I dont know about you but I have grew up reading Enid Blyton books. I had been introduced to reading at a very early stage by my Mom and I had been a voracious reader ever since. Of course my taste and level of books progressed over the course of time. However I had been hooked to Enid Blyton for a very long time. I mean I have read Famous Five and The Secret Seven way till late than I  should have. There was no book of hers in my school library left! What can I do, I was determined to finish them up all!

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A fairytale house..
One of the very reasons I used to love her was the setting of her stories..Yes the English countryside. The lighthouses, the slopped roof homes with fireplaces....etc etc. The English countryside had long been on my bucket list. However visiting the UK won't be very soon. I have lots more interesting places lined up before that!
My childhood paintings used to be like this picture ...of course sans the windmills. A sloping roof house with a tree and lake and grass all over!
When I was researching for Amsterdam, I was smitten by the pictures of the Dutch countryside. They looked simply out of the pages of a fairytale book. So I coaxed my travel planner to include a short excursion to the countryside. Since we were very, very short on time, we tried to squeeze the district nearest to Amsterdam, Zaandam. Our first very stop in Netherlands after was Zaanse Schans and the Dutch countryside impressed us more than we could have imagined! It was even more beautiful than what I had seen in the pictures!
Beautiful gardens.
After arriving in Zaanse Schans, we walked all over the meadows. We saw the windmills and breathed the chilly air. Then we saw the houses. Ah! The quaint houses! They were red or green coloured with slopping roofs and chimneys. I still don't believe my eyes that people actually live in them. Every house had a pretty flower garden in front of them. These houses looked as if they were part of some exhibition! 




Look at the cute wheel barrow!
I bought a porcelain windmill souvenir for 5 euros! 
Stopping at a cute restaurant for a cuppa
I had told you about the gorgeous wooden houses!









Look at the curtains of the windows!
The Dutch settlement on the other side of the lake..
It was rainy and windy so we could not take as pictures as we would have liked. However I treasure the ones we took! I feel we have not done justice to our trip to Holland. I would definitely love to come back here (not that we have the money to go for repeat travels but would still like to think of a possibility)
All set to take the bus back to the city
The Amsterdam Centraal station was quite big!
I have pledged to click photos with these Hop On Hop Off buses in every possible city in the world!
The area of canal cruises..
Contemplating whether to take the canal cruise or not!
We then took the bus back to Amsterdam Centraal. We walked around the canals contemplating on whether to take the canal cruise or not. More on that in the next post. The countryside remains my most favourite part of our Dutch trip.

Denim dress: Only
Purse: from Dubai
9/30/2017 3 comments
So its the most exciting time of the year! If you are a Bengali or related to a Bengali (like my husband) or brought up in a Bengali environment, then Durga Puja is the most awaited time of the year! This six days long festival or party time I would rather say, are the most enjoyable days of any year. Watching live concerts and shows till midnight, hogging on every possible cuisine (especially non veg), buying at least ten outfits and of course pandal hopping are the activities that we look forward to every year. This year was no different. In fact since my daughter has become old enough to understand wardrobe, I have one more person to dress up nicely apart from myself!
Yesterday was Saptami and the husband took an early leave from the hospital to go for pandal hopping. He has made this ritual that he takes out time from his crazy schedule for Durga Puja so that I can never feel the void of not marrying a Bengali! He He! Yesterday we did Noida and Indirapuram and all of them were nothing short of spectacular!

The Prantik Durga Puja of Indirapuram is relatively new but the Puja has been absolutely gorgeous since the past three year! This time what I loved most were the artefacts that were kept inside and the old world Kolkata theme.



The Saptarshi Sangha Puja at sector 50 has always been my favourite apart from our own sector's of course. The campus is huge, the crowd is polished and the pandals are beautiful. Not to forget, the food court is simply the best!

This year according to me , the best pandal in Noida has to be the one at Jal Vayu Vihar. They are celebrating 25 years of Puja celebration and the idol as well as the Pandal is jaw dropping! The theme is all the different forms of Goddess Durga. We reached there at midnight and I don't at all regret losing my sleep over pandal hopping!


Like every fashionista, this year I curated a wardrobe of about twenty outfits..I know....twenty! I am a fashion blogger after all! :D I bought a couple of summer dresses from Rosegal and I really love them! When you have a naughty kid, all you want is wear maxi dresses like this chevron one!
Wish you all a very Happy Durga Puja!




Dress: Rosegal
Purse: Rosegal
9/28/2017 1 comments
Manarola and Riomaggiore are the two most frequented towns of Cinque Terre. The reason is very simple. Manarola is the nearest town from La Spezia. Just a five minute train ride. And if you want a taste of hike, the easiest hike was present between Riomaggiore and Manarola. Supposedly the hike is so smooth and easy that a baby stoller could also be taken along the path. Its called Via del amore meaning the Lover's Lane. However the devastating flood of 2011 destroyed this trail. It is still under restoration and would open in 2017 end. However you can enjoy for a little part and you have to buy tickets for the trail.
Trip Expert Award Badge 2017

I nominate fellow blogger Manoj to write for the Tripscam Trip Expert Awards 2017. He could see the rules here.

 Now it was our second and last day in Cinque Terre. We started the opposite way; visited Monterosso first (the previous day) and left the two accessible villages for the end. Also we had plans of hiking from Manarola to Riomaggiore. Now since the Lover's Lane was closed, there was another hiking trail which was notorious. It was called the Via Beccara. Via Beccara dates back to 1600s and was the only connection between these two villages before the Lovers Lane was built in the 1920's. It is supposedly for expert excursionists.
So after our sumptuous lunch in Manarola, we left for the hike. We literally gobbled down our food so that we did not become late. We had heard it was a tough trek and would take time; though the distance was not so much. It was already six in the evening and I was sad. I wanted to reach Riomaggiore in daylight but it seemed distant. We started asking people for directions for the trail. Half of the locals said it was closed (thinking it to be the Lover's Lane). Then I specifically started asking for Via Beccara. Some of them laughed at our audacity; some tried to warn us from its inaccessibility.
We were discouraged a bit but had to hike. After walking quite a lot, we spotted a flight of never ending stairs. They should not be called stairs even. They were rocky steps; full of loose rocks and dust. Welcome to Via Beccara.

We climbed and climbed; climbed and climbed. The steep ascent never seemed to stop. The only good thing was that we were surrounded by grapevines all over and the Ligurian Sea offered refreshing views. The entire surroundings were vineyards. All of the vines bore grapes. Out of curiosity and tiredness, we tasted a handful. I promise we did not touch more :D 
It was around 1.2 kms in total but halfway steep climb and then halfway steep descent. The so called stairs (broken rocks) literally drained all our energy. All the people we met were panting. Everyone was dead tired but the views kept us going on. After about 45 minutes of steep climbing we reached the level land. We realised that now the descent would start.
The descent was not too simple either. It was so steep that it was a real challenge for our knees to stop us from falling down. I was wearing loafers; most of the hikers had pointed out my choice of wrong footwear 😁
Finally as we started seeing glimpses of the village of Riomaggiore, our energy levels started increasing. The Via Beccara had been the only path of communication between these two villages for 250 years before the Lover's lane was constructed. We finished the trail in 1.5 hours.
It was dusk when we reached Riomaggiore. I was sad as there was no natural light. But we had made it finally.

 Riomaggiore at night...The fisherman's wharf.


9/26/2017 14 comments
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