Vieux Montreal and Hotel Le Saint Sulpice

I had been to Montreal once before in 2007 for the Canadian Grand Prix (separate post here), and one of  favorite things to do during my earlier visit is to walk around Old Montreal exploring all the little shops, cafes,galleries and trying out great dinners at the fabulous restaurants there.  As the name would suggest, this portion of the city is very old. One-lane...

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Street food in Amsterdam

But before we go on, let’s get oriented a bit. A couple hundred years ago, in what is now Belgium, some genius decided to slice up some potatoes and then deep fry the slivers. The Brits call them “chips,” the French call them “pommes frites,” and for some reason the Americans call them “French fries.” But in the Netherlands and Belgium they call them “Vlaamse frites” and they eat them like...

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Amsterdam's flower market (Bloemenmarkt)

The Bloemenmarkt, or Flower Market, in Amsterdam city centre is the World’s only floating flower market. The market sits along the singel canal with the flower shops held in berges forming a row of fantastic displays of flowers, orchids, tulip bulbs, seeds,etc. If you're a flower lover or not, this place is a must see for its colorful spectacle even if you are not intending to buy. Not too...

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Amsterdam visit

I happened to visit Amsterdam during Feb this year. Was able to squeeze couple of afternoon off my schedule to do some sight seeing to get the feel of the city. Of course you may all know that Amsterdam is surrounded by canals. But I was quite surprised by the number of canals, I didn't expect Amsterdam to have so many. The other thing that stood out about Amsterdam was the number of people riding...

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Sydney Day Trip - Blue Mountains

After spending the first week in Sydney's hustle & buzzle, we decided to venture our way out of the city and into the Blue Mountains. Blue Mountains is about 2 hour drive west of Sydney.This area of New South Wales is well worth a visit as you get a different perspective of the australian wilderness. And so there we were back out on the highway driving on the left side of the road.  The...

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Bondi Beach, Sydney

Bondi Beach is probably the most famous beach in Australia. Its crowded, pretentious and very touristy, not necessarily the best beach that you might have been to, but it still should be on your bucket list when visiting Australia. Since everyone has a different take on what makes Bondi Beach so unique, it's definitely a once in a lifetime experience to check out. That said, Bondi is the nearest...

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Visiting Down Under – Sydney

I was lucky enough to take a 10-day vacation to Sydney, Australia. My flight from San Francisco down to Sydney was a travel highlight in itself. I had the window seat on the upper deck of a B747. As we came into Sydney around 6am, I got a birds-eye view of Sydney Harbour and it’s two famous sites the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Exploring the city by foot in my first choice. Since this...

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Eating in London - Wagamama & Masala Zone

I have visited London many times and my trips to London tend to be rather spontaneous and pressed for time. Still,  when in London, nothing beats a great meal. This post is about my two favorite restaurant chains in London - Wagamama & Masala Zone! The restaurant scene in London can be overwhelming, especially for a visitor. These two restaurants,  with a casual...

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New York in a non-touristy way

It was my third visit to new york city. This time we decided to stay in Chelsea area to avoid the tourists and we ended up getting a great deal online for a nice hotel in Chelsea right next to the flat iron building. It was the weekend after christmas so all the main streets were packed with locals and tourist shoppers looking for the after christmas discounts. We started our day with...

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