Running September

Two highlights. 

I ran my first half marathon this month. Just like a lot of other things in life, it seemed initially unsurmountable, but with practice, help from a running club and a schedule of weekly runs, became something I was able to ultimately do, even with a bit of a huff and a puff. It was an awesome experience on the run day, with people around the borough coming out of the houses to encourage us runners and a complete carnival atmosphere. I finished the run in 2 hours and 5 mins, which experienced peers believe is a good start.

Second, my folks came down with Covid. Despite being double vaccinated, my dad tested positive and came down with a fever. It threw us into a bit of a panic as we tried to figure out help remotely. Ultimately, it was a mild infection and within a few days both (including my mom, who never tested positive, but showed symptoms) recovered. It was a scary experience while it lasted, but we are grateful that it passed without major issues.

Augustus

August is a month of vacations and recuperation. As schools break for summer vacation and as office folk take time off from work to travel, it is usually a time for most to relax. 

This year, the ongoing pandemic, though in its waning phase has had an impact on plans. In the UK, given the high vaccination rate, travel has opened up. But folks are still hesitant, as there are varying lockdowns in the rest of the world.

We took a week’s vacation in the Welsh coast within the U, which was a welcome break despite the bleak weather. 

Most people not from the UK do not realise that Wales is a semi-autonomous country within the UK, with its own unique mores, customs and even language. Till we went there, we didn’t realise that a number in people there don’t even know English! But it is a beautiful area, with a mountainous geography, a vast coastline and some unique food.

We spent half our time near Swansea, at a place they call the Mumbles. It reminded us much of Goa in India, with its laid back culture, narrow roads running the coastline and touristy atmosphere. There is a long coastal walkway that hugs the cliffs along the sea, and we spent many a day taking in the sea views and relaxing in the beaches (for the minimal time that the sun showed its face). A local brand of Ice-cream called Joe’s is rather popular, with its creamy texture and its variety of sundaes was a worthy eat. 

We also spent a few days in a rather comfortable BnB in Avergavenny, at the foothills of the Brecon Beacons national park. The city itself is rather quaint with a pretty market, but has a lot of walking trails nearby. However, a car is much needed to explore further around, which we didn’t have access to (courtesy of much delayed driving license issues due to covid). Yet, a very restful and calm place. 

We returned home to news of Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban and consequent mayhem all over the media. It’s sad to see a country fall into such chaos due to decisions of people in far and high places. 

On the weather front, it seems as if winter is approaching early this time. London has hardly had a summer this year, with just a week’s sunshine and rainy weather most of this month. Already the days are getting shorter and cold winds have started blowing. Hopefully, if we keep the virus at bay, it should still be a better winter than the last. 

We closed the month with a trip to Dover on the bank holiday weekend. The White Cliffs were quite a climb, but the sun and weather were surprisingly glorious, and we got a beautiful view of the sea, the flow of the ferries and the Calais coast on the far side.

June solstice

After being locked in with a prolonged winter, June was the month the Sun decided to show its face. It wasn't for long though, as a week of soaring temperatures brought along 2 weeks of thunderstorms. 

June is usually a fun month for us. Both M and I happen to have our birthdays this month. But we had a quiet celebration, much like the last year. London is still yet to unlock fully - even though restaurants and malls have reopened, indoor events are restricted. We decided to keep it a low key affair, which was a slight disappointment to M (who wanted her friends around), but she took it in her stride.

And this month I scaled my run duration too. Till the last month I had gotten close to a 10k. This month I doubled it. I also managed to use the runs to see more of London - ran all over Ealing and then did 2 weekend runs all the way into the City, to see the Palace and Westminster. London is gorgeously beautiful in the early mornings, when few are around and then greenery is fresh. I love running around Kensington gardens and St. James Park. If only India had such greenery in its cities.

We also got our second jabs this month, to become fully vaccinated. yay! No side effects this time around. Just waiting for the vaccines to be available for M. 

As the lockdown lifts and life starts going back to normal, firms have started calling employees back to office. I expect to go back in sometime next month. A lot of peer banks have already gotten back in. It usual now for calls to have a mix of in-office and remote teams. July should also see most of the US folks back in. It will be a welcome return to some semblance of normality after nearly a year and a half. But the virus hasn't disappeared yet, and that worries those of us who have to use public transport in.

We have taken advantage of the last of the lockdown days to get busy with board-games at home. Blokus is great fun. So is 3D labyrinth. Cluedo not as much. And we've got 3 sets of Legos and multiple puzzles yet to solve. Ah, the simple pleasures of home.

Mayday, Rainy Mayday.

For a month that was supposed to herald the beginning of spring, it was anything but. It drizzled, it rained, it poured, it hailed. The sun played hide and seek behind perpetual clouds.

Yet May had some fun moments. 

M learnt to cycle. I learnt how to run longer distances. We went on long walks. 

Work wise it was hectic. Quite a lot of interesting and good work

I read a couple of good books. One was the Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. A small one, particularly by Brandon's standards. But a well written one that kept me engrossed. I have begun to love his books (particularly the Stormlight series, that is rather epic). 

Read/ listened to another on Audible - Steven Johnson's 'Where Good Ideas come from'. By far one of the best books on innovation I have consumed. I love it's vast foray into the history of innovation, and how he weaves common threads around adjacency and serendipity to highlight how one truly innovates. Something for repeated reading. 

Riding high

Yesterday news a momentous day. M learnt to cycle without balance wheels.

She has been cycle with supports for a few weeks now. And we had been hesitant to remove it.

But a stray jibe from a friend bought out some rage. And provided the incentive for her to try.

We thought she would take a few more weeks of practice. But didn't.

I held the seat behind for her to get on. She gave a little kick on the pedals. And off she went!

She didn't realize at first that I had let go and was just running behind. But soon was confident to go cruising on her own.

Bought tears to our eyes. A milestone reached. Yay!

Of springy steps. And breathless despair.

First, the good.

It's spring time here in London. The sun plays hide and seek, but shows more of its face than before. Temperature remains in the single digits, but early double digits are here.

The parks are green. The restaurants have opened for takeaways. People have started meeting up outside. Workplaces are slowly reopening with limited capacity. 

We did a short visit to Windsor. It was a beautiful and verdant 'long walk' beside the palace and the quaint town. It was great to get some travel-bug back. 

Puppies are M's new obsession. With her friends she has been playing with quite a few. G and I are far from being comfortable with one in the house though. 

Then, the not so good.

India is in the throes of despair from covid. Widespread struggles for oxygen and medicines. Lost of friend, a batchmate who I once shared many a laugh with. Many colleagues down. Trying to support while being remote, but it's hard to see the despair. We pray for better days.

Past the Ides of March

It's hard to believe we are already a quarter down this year. 

Spring seems finally here. After much hide and seek, the Sun showeth its face. Or maybe not. One can never be sure in this weather. 

But carpets of daffodils and crocuses are here in the parks. Fresh leaves blooming slowly in the trees. Animals and insects slowly coming out of hibernation. 

And hopefully so are we. Out of lockdowns, that is.

The schools have reopened. To the delight of the kids who have hated being cooped up at home. To the mixed delight of their multi-tasking parents, who have yearned for some quiet, but also find it a little disquieting without the little cackle.

The vaccines are here. Slowly everyone we know is getting one. They do have some pretty strong side-effects. But hopefully are worth the stronger pains avoided.

At work, everyone seems overworking. This blurred boundary between home and work time has made life a little crazy. Anxiety is an equal epidemic. For those at work. And for those without.

Ah, what would we not give for a semblance of normality. The simple freedoms of the past. Little appreciated when we had them. Much wished for without.

Ah, February. With a hope of spring.

 It's hard to believe it's February already. And its coming to an end too.

The lockdowns in the UK seem to be finally coming to a close, with schools reopening in early March. M is so looking back to restarting her school session in person next week. She misses playing with her friends in person; online sessions are a substitute to learning, but perhaps not to the fun!

However, travel seems held up till April or May. Sad, since we were hoping for some Easter travel. We also had to move our planned India travel to later in the year. Hopefully, that should work better with the vaccination schedule. Have moved our travels three times now - hard to believe that it's soon going to be 2 years since I left India.

Spring is here at last. Yellow daffodils are blooming. Purple crocuses are everywhere. The Sun is showing its shy face from the clouds at last. It's great to see it back! We have started doing picnics in the park, albeit socially distanced and with adequate precautions. 

We also started walking more as a family. We did a 15 km walk this past weekend to the Gunnersbury park down in Acton. It's incredible how M has become comfortable with long walks. We have also started coaxing her to get onto her cycle, which she has been avoiding for long. Hopefully a new helmet and guards should help. 

An uplifting start

I have decided to write at least one post per month this year. This is the first in its series. Beware, writing can seem incoherent. That is just me, being me.

The new year has begun to a busy start. 

At home, a new lockdown that has shut schools and made learning remote, means a packed home schedule now. I am stumped by how hard school teachers work, all the more when managing unruly kids via an online medium. But all are learning - the kids, the teachers and the parents.

The kiddo has started reading books actively. Both her mum and I are secretly hoping she will turn into a book worm. Like us. That said, she also read Harry Potter 2, and got scared of the notion of a monstrous snake hiding behind walls; which resulted in many a sleepless night.

At work, a flurry of global announcements easing up crypto markets for banking access has everyone is preparing for an institutional rush. That means a packed work schedule. Thankfully, I am lucky to have an uplifting start to this year. There is much to be grateful for.

Vaccine rollouts for covid have begun in the UK, and globally. The start seems slow, but the governments seem to be working hard to increase the pace. The third lockdown, as is currently ongoing, seems to have moved everyone into a post-fatigue state. There is fatigue from nearly a year of lockdowns, but also hope for a semblance of normality as vaccines rollout.

Also the last month of the Trump Presidency in the US. The attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol at the time of the certification has defined the end of a crazy tenure. Everyone is just happy for the tide to be turning with the Biden Presidency - and he seems to have kicked-off putting a hold on most of his predecessors shenanigans across covid responses, climate change and immigration.

Weather wise, we saw the first snow in London, since we arrived here 18 months back. Ah, what a delight. Making snowmen is fun. Even if they melt away the next day. 

 

2020. Things I am grateful for.

Ah, what a crazy year this has been. Yet, there are many things I am grateful for this year. Here are three.

a. The time I got to spend with my family. 

In a normal year, we would have spent a lot of time shuttling to our offices and the school, and seeing each other much less. Even if in lockdown, we had the unique opportunity of getting to know each other in the family better. 

The board games we played, the new recipes we cooked, baked and savoured, and all the running & catching in-door shall remain etched in memory.

b. Keeping safe and healthy. 

I am grateful that my near and dear have kept safe and remained healthy. We have had our bouts of coughs and fevers, and covid-like scares; but it could have been worse. I am thankful that we keep our health, and live to experience another day. 

Along the way this year, we also picked up new habits. Indoor workouts, running along the parks, and the long walks will stay with us, and make us better.  

c. Interesting work.

I say this particularly because it has been rare. After a long time, this year, I have had the privilege of truly doing some interesting work. In a year where millions have lost their livelihoods, I am grateful to have been able to remain engaged and focused on an area of my interest.

Of course, I haven't produced anything earth-shattering or career defining. But I have kept plugging away; many a time in a state of 'flow'. That I am grateful for.

A trip to the Scottish highlands

Having spent the past five months locked-in at home, we were itching to step out. With the Covid situation in seemingly better control in the UK, we decided to take a break up north to the Scottish highlands. 

The first leg to Glasgow was by flight, and we were rather worried by the risks we would face. (Had to take the flight as the driving license agency in the UK hasn’t yet reopened, preventing me from renting a car, which would have been a better option). However, the trip via Heathrow was well managed - there were enough distancing and masking controls in place, and we were quickly whisked across security checks. It was a surprise to see the crowds travelling along though, as the terminal seemed rather crowded; most seemed to be taking European trips. 

The flight to Glasgow was about three-fourths full, but there were lots of sanitary measures in place, including the need to wear masks through the journey. The weather was glorious and sunny as we left; I was glad to be back on a flight after a year of staying away.

We had booked three nights in Glasgow, and in a hotel right in the centre of town. In retrospect, I wouldn’t spend as much time in the city, and for sure not stay at the town centre. For one, most of the museums, travel attractions and even good restaurants were still shut. For another, central Glasgow is a rather compact area and can easily be covered within a day. However, we made good use of the time and walked all over the centre and the West End. The western side is clearly more verdant and prettier - loved the areas around the University of Glasgow, the Kelvingrove park and the botanical gardens. Those visiting Glasgow are better served being based on the Western side, as a lot of the attractions are nearer.

On one of the days, we took the train to Balloch, on the shores of Loch Lomond, among the largest lakes in the UK. The day turned out to be sunny, with the result that the town was rather crowded with visitors. It is a small, yet beautiful town with an incredibly pretty walking trail around the lake and bordering the castle. M loved playing in the park around the castle grounds. We also took a boat ride on the lake; It was interesting to hear that the lake spans both the lowlands and highlands, and that it has played a historic role from the times of the Vikings to William Wallace to the recent past with Michael Jackson and other celebrities visiting hotels on its shores. Balloch is definitely a neat little town, and it has enough to spend more than a day in.

The next leg of our journey took us to Inverness - a town we have come to love - through a 4 hour pretty ride across the verdant Scottish highlands. Set at the mouth of the Ness river, Inverness is a compact, yet rather pretty town. It’s often used a stepping stone to stays and explorations across the Scottish highlands, but given our lack of access to a car, we had to be based here and make use of public transport to explore around - not a bad idea in retrospect. 

We had originally planned to spend three days here, but ended up spending five - due to a combination of inclement weather and a rail accident related disruption which made us ditch our planned trip to Edinburgh. 

We made a number of exploratory trips within Inverness and beyond. The Whin park and Ness Island, which are situated on the river present a beautiful walking area and garden - M loved it particularly because it had a neat kids park. 

The cruise on the Loch Ness river, in search of Nessie, is a must do - we loved the natural beauty around (but it got M rather bored). We did a day trip to Rosemarkie and a walk up to the Fairy Glen - a really pretty area of woods with waterfalls, which M loved; it also has a beach and a kids play area - so enough to keep the kids occupied. 

On another day, we did a walk up a wooded area called Craig Phadig, which is a 30 mins bus ride from central Inv, but has a great walking trail up to a fort, and presents great views of the sea. Finally, we closed with a train ride to Aviemore (a 45 mins ride from Inv) and an hours walk up to Craig through a nature park. 

Whew that seems a lot in retrospect! Walked about a 100 kms too!

In sum, a great trip and much needed break up to the hills. Got us to disconnect from work for a while and reconnect as a family, discovering a new love for hiking in the process. Flights and public transport are not probably the best means to travel Scotland (there is a lot where a car can help), but its very doable and there are some really great places to explore.

In a House of Lies - Book Review

Author - Ian Rankin.

This book was recommended to me on Amazon. I read it as a Kindle read over a week's time.

Situated in Glasgow, the story covers a reopened missing person investigation, due to the discovery of a body. 

What is interesting are the shades of grey within the police force, even as the investigation progresses through twists and turns. 

The pace is closer to a Hercule Poirot than a Tom Clancy, so one needs patience. But it is an intelligent narrative and keeps one hooked till the twisty end.

Overall, a worthy read to those interested in detective fiction, and likely contextual to folks who have visited Scotland or live near.

Skyward - Book review

A review of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.

I chanced upon this book based on a recommendation from Goodreads. 

Initially it seemed like yet another science fiction story, but the story picked up pace within a few pages. Once I got engrossed, it was unputdownable. I finished it over a day, staying up to read late into the night and early in the morning. It has been some time since a book got me so engaged!

What is interesting about the book ...

The book felt like Ender’s Game, but with an interesting underdog twist. Liked the way in which they built up the character arc of Spensa from being an unwelcome girl with enormous angst at a missing and disgraced father, to becoming a fighter ace. 

I also loved the construct of the talking spaceship M-Bot, with its own sardonic and wacky personality. The banter between the ship and Spensa clearly is once of the best parts of the story. 

What could’ve been better ...

I thought that the climax came a little too soon and with too little a build-up. It almost seems like a story written with a second part book in mind. (which I guess was intentional)

Could have also developed the character of the spaceship a bit more. It is clearly a core character in the story, and it could have played a better part as Spensa evolved. In fact, in the theme of character sequels, I think M-Bot could have its own series.

Who would love this book …

All those who love science fiction, and a good adventure story.

York-ers

TLDR; York is quaint, historic, picture pretty and laid-back. Wealth of stuff to see, clustered in a small area. Chocolate hub - home of KitKat. Spend at least 2 days.

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York was a brief weekend trip from London, to close off an eventful year.

Located about 200 miles north of London, it is one of the most tourist-ed cities in the UK.

The LNER train line got us there in a comfortable 2.5 hrs from Kings Cross.

The historic town center has remained structurally unchanged for thousands of years since it was laid out by the Vikings and the Romans before them. It's picture perfect. Even on a post Christmas bleak wintery day, the town was crowded and the shops bustling with activity.

Highlights:

A. The tour of the Chocolate museum. A well spent hour covering the history of chocolate and York's part in it. Did not realise till date that York is the home of KitKat. And Polo. And a lot of other chocolate brands that we take for granted.

B. The Shambles. The narrow streets may once have been used by butchers to sell their wares, but today they are bustling with Harry Potter trivia. A real world Diagon Alley with potions and wand shops. 

C. A walk along the walls of the city. A walk around the longest standing walls in the UK is a good perambulation around the historic areas. And great fun for the kids.

Londonium

We moved London-wards in 2019.

Ah, what a year it has been.

Even for someone who grew up moving to a new town every few years, and being used to a travel heavy consulting career, this was still a heavy lift. For we were comfortably pampered with familial comforts in Bangalore.

We have been lucky that things have worked professionally and at school. For that we are deeply grateful.

And London has been kind. Well, in most.

Society has been welcoming. There is an incredible multicultural diversity. Indian food and cultural activities are widespread. Infrastructure is comfortable and modern. And there is no dearth of places to see. Or parks, which the kiddo loves.

But, we do miss India. Family and friends. Sounds and smells. 

As they say, change is never easy. We will adapt. We are (if M's emerging Brit accent is any indication).

Onward and forward.

Good things come in threes

Ah, so the time has flown. It just seemed like yesterday that she was born. Or was it just yesterday that she turned one?

Three. It is hard to believe how fast time flies.

It has been a delight to see her grow, lost as we are in her smile. Started as it did, with a grin we caught in the X-rays. Then, a sly smile from within her covers. The shrill cry that turned the next moment into a wide smile of happiness. Now, a toothy gregarious laughter that keeps us enthralled. It has been a delight.

Last year, the worries were of her getting to a play school. Thankfully, she loved the one she joined. So much, that she missed it over the weekends. Did I ever miss any of my schools as much?

This year, the worries were of her joining a bigger one. Lucky as she is, a school that she likes has come by. Now we worry how she would take to this. I guess, this too shall pass.

A born traveler she is. Loves the planes. Loves the seas. Loves the cold. Loves the gardens. Loves the zoos.

Ah, the zoos. Bangalore's Bannerghatta. Mysore's impressive spread. Trivandrum's humid trail. Tirupati's drive in wonder. Chennai's Vandalur. Singapore's Zoos, Safaris and Bird parks. Berlin's Zoolischer Garten. Munich's Hellabrun. Innsbruck's Alpenzoo. Here is a zoo-logist in the making.

A non-stop chatterbox. With a vocabulary that has us impressed. Courtesy of Peppa Pig and Mickey.

Born digital. It is hard not to wonder when a small hand deftly scrolls touch screens. "YouTube!" she says, asking for her favorite videos. Wondering why TVs don't have touch screens yet.

Why? O' Why? It is the season of why's. Why do we see through our eyes? Why do we breath only through our nose? Why are leaves green? Time it is, to dust off our books to answer her.

A wonder it is, to see her grow. Time flies, but it is a wonder indeed, to see her grow.

Updates from the Gartner IT Expo

I attended this year's Gartner IT Expo in India, held in the beautiful sea side town of Goa. It was a rather large gathering (1200+ participants as I hear), blocking the capacity of most Goa hotels already in holiday season.  The talks were rather interesting and engaging (including one by Guy Kawasaki), but I guess the opportunity of catching up with technologists from peer companies and other industries was the high note.

Here were my major takeaway themes.

User experience: Digital UX is increasingly becoming conversational, immersive and ambient. As AR-VR tech (Google Glass equivalents) merge with conversational interfaces (Amazon Echo, Google Assistant, MS Cortana) and messaging, we are seeing the emergence of a new set of rich UX channels. This will require new "shared state services" in the back-end to synchronize journeys between channels while managing complex context. For that matter, "context" management - sensing, modeling and applying context information intelligently - seems to be an emerging holy grail capability in addressing these evolving user experience channels.

Data: As Big Data becomes the state of the play across industries, the value of metadata becomes more prominent. Particularly in an era where the boundaries of analytical insight span data sources beyond the enterprise, the value of metadata in establish trust is rather immense. We no longer "collect" data, but rather "connect" to it from multiple sources to create temporary data structures to run analytics (with mechanisms such as data virtualization).

Blockchain: Given that this was a cross industry event, I was surprised by how much everyone was talking about this topic. It was not just the bankers and insurance teams, but everyone from manufacturing to agriculture-tech was talking about its potential in enhancing trade across industries and managing assets more effectively. Every industry seems to be running a pilot and exploring its practical potential.

Digital Platforms: While the concept of platforms has been around for some time, the value from the platform model is becoming more apparent (as Gartner mentions, a majority of the largest capitalized companies in the world today are platform heavy like Amazon, Google and even GE with its Predix). In addition, the construct of digital platforms is itself becoming more complex. Platforms are moving from being two-sided (buyer and seller) to becoming N-sided (including aggregators, advisors, service providers and brokers), and spanning multiple industries. For example, take the case of Uber financing car owners or Starbucks with its loyalty cards.

Connected ecosystems and IOT: This was a big theme, particularly for the manufacturing, automotive, industrial and consumer industry areas. The 7 Billion connected people and 30 Billion connected things (as Gartner projects by 2020) will create a huge potential for a new services. An interesting presentation was on connected cars, where they highlighted the case of a fully autonomous car of the future with all seats were turned inwards - resulting in the need for new forms of entertainment and allied services to engage commuters. 

I also picked up some interesting FinTech statistics along the way.

• The total valuation of Fintech startups firms is already at 30% of valuation of global banks! That was news.
• A huge number of non-banking entrants to banking: For example, Starbucks which currently processes $9-10B in quarterly float due its loyalty payment solution (and without any associated financial regulation)

Overall, a rather useful forum, not just to pick up these nuggets, but for meeting interesting people.

Chilly Philly

Philadelphia was on my travel target list for quite some time, and so when I had a weekend available amidst travels to NYC, I decided to do a quick trip.

And what impeccable timing, as a colleague put it. Apparently one of the coldest days ever for the area, with temperatures touching -15 degrees Celsius. 

The early bus from NY deposited me near the Philly station in the morning. Freezing, but sunny. I strolled into the station and was kindly directed to take the metro to the old town center, to start my itinerary. By the time I had reached the Independence mall, it had started snowing, rather heavily. After a leisurely stroll through the exhibits in the visitor center, I hit the National Convention Center first, to keep warm from the freeze.

I wasn't expecting the Center to amount to much, but I was impressed. The Center has one of the best exhibits on American history, the creation of the constitution, and its subsequent evolution that I have seen. They had a multimedia presentation called "Freedom rising", which introduced the historical context of the creation of the US constitution, and was quite insightful. Since it was close to the President's day weekend, they also had an exhibit on the US Presidential elections, which was rather neat too - a good layman's overview of the process of Presidential elections, and cleared quite a few questions I had as an outsider.

Next stop was the Liberty Bell Center. It had quite a large line before it, and I walked around towards the end, only to realize that I could see the "bell" up pretty close from the glass panes. Saved me time in standing in line in freezing weather.

I spent the remainder of the day walking around Philly's old town. A lot of historical places and really well documented exhibits. Interesting to see how well some of this is preserved, and how pretty the area really is. A notable point was close to the river, where the inscription indicated a point where the US Marine Corps was founded (a tavern apparently, that no longer exits).

After wandering around town as much as the chilly weather would permit me, my last port of call was the Reading Terminal market. Loved the bustle. Quite a wide variety of food and non food items. Even found a shop selling Indian food (even had Britannia biscuits, Maggi and Lijat pappad!). Spent so much time engrossed in the time, that I almost missed my bus back. Had to make a hasty run to the metro and head back, just in time for the bus.

Overall, loved Philly's old town - so much to explore and see. Almost like Boston, with so much history and culture. Would love to go back and spend leisurely time exploring the place in a more sanguine weather.

A week in Berlin

We spent the last week of October this year in Berlin. This was M's first international vacation, and we wanted to do a week of slow travel. We had heard a lot about Berlin from friends, about how modern and kid-friendly the city was, and so the choice.

The top three highlights of our trip were:

a. The Berlin Zoo: M loved it. While the zoo is a fairly small area relative to Indian zoos, the collection is quite diverse. The giraffe's, the chimps, gorillas and rhino's were particular hits. It was also pretty great that one can get very close to the animals, due to the glass-based cages rather than the traditional metallic ones. A big hit with kids.

b. The Reichstag building; The refurbished glass dome structure is beautiful. By far one of the best monuments we have ever been to. Provides a panoramic view of Berlin. We reached near sundown and the views were spectacular. M slept through half of the visit, till we reached about the top, and then woke up to start bawling; so we had to beat a hasty exit. A must visit in Berlin.

c. Potsdam - A short 15 min ride from Berlin, this historic and quaint town with cobbled streets was a gem. The Sanssouci palace is rather impressive and the multitude of cafe's cook up a rather yummy fare. Took us about a day to cover, but one could easily spend more time here.

Other things we loved - the Brandenburg gate (one can't spend enough time staring at Irene and all the history she has presided over), the Museum Island (one of the most impressive museum quarters anywhere), the Alexanderplatz station area (one can spend an entire day people watching here), Gendarmenmarket square (and the chocolateers nearby to binge at), the Wall (the paintings, and the Trabi museums around), and of course the Sunday market at Maueurpark (what a festive atmosphere!).

When we headed to Berlin, we received advice that perhaps a week in Berlin was too much time spent. With a toddler in tow, nothing could be further from the truth. One needs a week to cover a small town, let alone a city the scale of Berlin.

Berlin has an incredible variety of things to see and do. For vegetarians, the vegan restaurants offer a great solace and of course, the waffles, stollen and chocolates everywhere are a gourmet's delight. It also helps that Berlin is so incredibly kid friendly - people everywhere lend a helping hand and a kind word, and there are enough things to do to keep the little energies occupied.

Awe, a New York feeling

Awe. My first feeling when I saw NY city.

I have traveled around a bit in this small planet of ours. But rarely have I come across a place that has left me as wonder struck. London, maybe, is the closest I can recollect.

I landed up in NY after a rather comfortable bus ride from Boston. A neat and moderately crowded highway running along bustling towns. The bus deposited us right outside a rather crowded Penn station, giving me a first experience of NY's swarming crowds.

Manhattan seems like one large and bustling 'mela'  (a carnival), as we call it back home. I loved the energy of the streets. In the perpetually moving crowds, in the incredible skyscrapers, in the street artists, in the hawkers, in the painters, and even in the rushing yellow cabs.

And oh Central Park. I cannot believe that man would leave such a beautiful park alone amidst the concrete jungle of the city. The perpetual joggers, cyclers, picnickers, playing children and the verdant greenery are another world altogether. A stark contrast with the skyscrapers dotting its boundary.

Times Square. Now that's a crazy place. Despite all that is spoken about it, one can't deny a certain capitalist energy, which I found rather unique.

The Liberty Statue. I took a Staten Island ferry and got a few quick and nice pics instead of going to the island itself. Saved good time, and the ferry ride amidst an overcast weather was gorgeous. New Yorkers don't seem to rate the attraction too highly, but I thought it was a worthy view.

Atop the Empire State. Well, its ain't all as romantic as it seems in the movies, but yeah, it still would give the Burj Dubai a run for the money.

The High Line. What a beautiful way to reclaim an old railway line and create an art center out of it.

Now, there were things I was a tad disappointed with as well.

The Met. Even after spending a half day here. Maybe, it was all the build-up in the Lonely Planet articles of this place. Maybe, it was because the last Museum I visited was the Louvre, which set an incredibly high bar. But I missed the 'story' to guide me around. Yes, a great set of collections, but seemed more for the connoisseur than the bourgeois.

Wall Street. For some reason, a lot of people asked me to go here. Yes, possibly the richest square footage on the planet. Yes, busy suited people and some old architecture. But for a traveler, I missed the 'so what'.

Closing on a high note, a rather underrated but integral part of the city - the Subway. I spent the most time while in the city, in its labyrinthine maze. Local people seem to have a love-hate relationship with it (for those who say it is crowded, I would say "come see the locals in Mumbai, my friend"). Quite the artery of the city. Indispensable for the traveler. And a great place to people-watch.

I wish I could have spent more time in the city. Inspiring and awesome.