Monterey, CA

We live San Francisco Bay Area, and there are a lot of weekend getaways north and south. So when we finally settled in Sunnyvale, it was the time for weekend getaways and hikes. To start with, we decided to drive south to the Monterey Bay. Monterey is famous for its bay aquarium, beach, whale watching and of course the natural beauty. But remember, our all travels have a dramatic story and that I'll discuss later in this post. This was a two day trip which included The Monterey Bay Aquarium & walks in the city the first day and Whale Watching in the Pacific Ocean the second day. 

the entrance of the aquarium

these Jelly Fish, I was just stuck to them...these were amazing. 

Watch the video below.

the beautiful color palette and textures from these lovely underwater friends!

watch the video :)

I was already imagining beautiful silk fabrics with these textures and colors! OMG! the imagination was beautiful. I wished I could create it right there!

baby Sea Horse

here comes the Flamingos!

and even the little Penguins! 

beautiful view of the ocean

we took Princess, Monterey Whale Watching

lots and lots of Seals, Pinnipeds

Now we started our 3hrs journey into the deep Pacific Ocean to see whales. It was all exciting till about an hour, but after that the excitement was all gone. I have a common problem of motion-sickness and since our Princess's vessel was little small and waves were huge, the combination was bad for my situation. We did see the whales, huge ones and beautiful, but there was no interest left to click them. After 3hrs, all was well :). I was all ready for the next vacation! 

Smallest kingdom of the world: monaco

July 2010...MONACO the smallest kingdom of the World,  lies in between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by the French Riviera to the west and the Italian Riviera to the east. Monaco is well known for the Casino Monte Carlo and Monaco Grand Prix (world famous Formula 1 circuit). 

via www.france-for-visitors.com

I have to share how dramatically we reached this Kingdom. It was early morning in Paris from where we had to catch TGV, train to Nice (France's southern most city). Due to heavy rainfall, we reached TGV station 2hrs late and thinking  we missed our train were looking for other alternatives to reach Nice. Suddenly we realized that even the train got late and was just about to depart in 2min. I thought this happens only in India ;) . Well after so much of running real fast with luggage, we managed to catch our train. TGV, world's fastest train with beautiful views inside and out. Story doesn't ends here. We had to change our train in between from TGV to SNCF. Here again there was little confusion with the train number and if Gaurav had took 2 more seconds to enter the train, he would have missed the train and I would be in the train without tickets & passport! That was scary! Hence a lesson learnt. Finally we reached Nice! To surprise me, Gaurav booked a beautiful hill top suite for two days in Vista Palace Hotel, and then rest of the days at a sea front Hotel Beau Rivage. And this hotel was just above Monaco, hence we visited Monaco!

beautiful view of Monaco from our room

Casino Monte Carlo!

Monaco Grand Prix

evenings in Monaco

another beautiful angle of the Kingdom

the yacht land

clear water of Mediterranean Sea

little glimpse of Italy from our Hotel Lobby

beautiful Kingdom!

most romantic city and our first destination together: Paris

July 2010
Bonjour!
Our first destination to start our new life. We were thinking a lot about that. Finally we chose Paris, the most romantic city in the world. Paris, France situated on the river Siene. City of Light and Capital of Fashion, it is home to the world's finest and most luxurious fashion designers and cosmetics.  Believe me, its the most beautiful city with historic associations and vastly influential in culture, art, fashion, food and design. 

tourist map of Paris, via Google Images

city glimpse

beautiful roads along with the river Siene

Arc de Triomphe, the Design of the arch is based on  Arch of Titus in Rome

The Louvre, one needs a lifetime to understand Louvre. We just had a day!

another beautiful view of the city

finally, The Eiffel Tower. A must see place.

Climb up the stairs or take the elevator after waiting in a along queue. 

But the wait is worth it.

infront of the Eiffel Tower

under the Tower

view of the city from up the Eiffel Tower

not to be missed the Boat Tour of river Siena

view of  Pont Alexandre III bridge from Siena river

a worth boat ride!

visit Paris and enjoy beautiful history!

pyar ka after effect, Shaadi...and shaadi ka side effect, happiness

Brazil and Jaipur, were our last trips as singles. 

So before moving towards our trips (together trips), 

I thought to share some of our memories with all.

After a long-long distance love, finally we are together :)

our personal evite for family & friends

we got engaged!...yayy! 23rd oct. 2009

now we have exactly 8 months for wedding :)

invite from Lucknow (bride's side)

invite from Jaipur (groom's side)

Happily Married! :)

BRAZIL...dhoom machale in Talli-Land

BRAZIL,  world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 190 million people. Powdery white-sand beaches, lined with palm trees and fronting beautiful blue Atlantic Ocean. Brazil offers amazing sights of waterfalls, red-rock canyons, and crystal-clear rivers, all just a small part of the natural beauty. The most famous attraction there is Amazon Rain Forest with outstanding wildlife and adventures like kayaking, rafting, trekking, snorkeling, surfing and more.

Gaurav and his friends chose this adventurous place for their 2008 year end vacation, fun and party. "dream aroused from my geography lesson in class 8th to see the mighty amazon and the rain forest which us determined to feel the mystery land..." says Gaurav. They covered Manaus, Amazon Rain Forest, Rio De Janeiro and Iguazu Falls.

Architecture

Friends & Fun

Food, it included Crocodile as well..!!

On the way and In Amazon

New Year's Eve in Brazil

Fun in Forest

and the famous Jump!

Beautiful Sights

Colorful Nature

the great Fall