Italy 2016 – Ravenna and her mosaics

Posted on May 20, 2016 by herktrav

Day 3 – Ravenna, Italy

Saturday’s adventure was a day trip to Ravenna to see the Unesco World Heritage sites. The sites are mosaics dating back as far as the 5th century, when Ravenna was the capital of the Roman Empire.

The day started off easy enough. Up early, breakfast and then across the canal to the train station. We took a train to the town of Ferrara and then transferred to another train to get to Ravenna. Everything went smoothly and in no time we arrived. We made up a little sign with the name of our Tour guide – Manuela, so we could find each other easily.

Her train arrived and we easily connected. We found Manuela through ToursByLocals. They have tour guides available just about anywhere you would travel. Prices are reasonable too!

For our tour we chose a six hour tour of Ravenna. We visited the Unesco sites, which were mainly churches and a museum, then Dante’s tomb and Theodoric the Great’s mausaleum. Manuela provided us with a great history and art lesson and enough walking exercise to last a week. Yikes!

In addition to my narrative, I hope the pictures will give a glimpse of how marvelous the mosaics actually were. Keep in mind that the mosaics are made up of thousands of multi colored tiles and sometimes jewels. No paint, just stone fragments.

Our first stop was at an Arian Baptistery which dated back to around 525 AD. The Arians were a Christian sect that stressed the human side of Jesus rather than the divine side. The mosaics show Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. The unique quality of this mosaic is it shows Jesus’ partially obscured genitalia – which is never seen in Roman catholic images. The Arians were eventually branded as heretics and wiped out by the Roman emperor Justinian.

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Baptism of Jesus – Arian Baptistry Ravenna

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Ravenna – Arian Bastistry

Continuing on our journey, we headed to the Church of San Francesco. Just before reaching the church, we pass by the tomb of Dante.

As you may remember, Dante was famous for writing The Divine Comedy. Unfortunately, Dante fell out of favor in Florence for his political beliefs and lived out his life in Ravenna. Posthumously, Florence forgave the now famous poet, and wanted to bring his bones back to Florence. Ravenna said “No” and hid the bones inside the walls of the San Francesco monastery.  They stayed there for three centuries before being rediscovered and placed in the tomb.

There is also a burial mound in a small cemetery where the bones were buried during WWII to protect them.

We made a quick stop at the Church of San Francesco.  Over the years it has sunk and its tiled floor has been submerged by the ground water.  There are now fish that swim there and I guess they get to enjoy the mosaics too!

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Floor mosaic and fish at the Basilica of San Francesco

Next up was the Basilica di San Vitale. It’s 540 AD, Rome has been looted by barbarians and Justinian is emperor of the eastern Roman empire. Ravenna is now the capital of the empire under Justinian with close ties to Constantinople. The mosaics portray Justinian as the leader of the church and the state. On the opposite wall was his wife Theodora with her entourage. Theodora was a “dancer” who became Justinian’s wife and then empress. Make’s me wonder if during our youthful days of going to the Canadian ballet, if we had seen a future empress?

Next was the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. It is a small, humble looking building that contains the oldest and most precious mosaics. They are 95% original and absolutely beautiful. One interesting aspect of the mausoleum is that Galla Placidia is not buried there. She died in Rome and was buried there.

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Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

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Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Next came the Neonian Baptistery and the Archbishop’s museum. Besides the mosaics, the museum, which has been re-purposed, contains the small chapel of Sant’Andrea and an ivory chair that was used by the bishop when attending mass.

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Neonian Baptistery

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Sant’Apollinare Nuovo was our final mosaic stop. It’s a beautiful 6th century church that features mosaics that show a procession of haloed virgins on one side bringing gifts to the Madonna and Christ child. On the opposite side, Christ is on his throne with four angels awaiting a procession of 26 martyrs. Visually stunning and made even better with glints of sunshine reflecting off some of the pieces.

Since Manuela thought we were good walkers, we finished off by taking a long, hot walk to see the Mausoleum of Theodoric. After the beautiful mosaics and artworks, this was a little less interesting. It was just a large stone structure – not ornate at all.

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Mausoleum of Theodoric

At this point we said our goodbyes to Manuela and had a little time to rest up before our train arrived. Nothing says rest in Italy like some Gelato, and we just so happened to be standing in front of a geleateria. Such luck!

Our train arrived about 15 minutes late, but we were back on the tracks to Ferrara. Arriving, we noticed our connecting train to Venice was already gone. Ruh – roh!

Luckily, there was another train in two hours so we’d just grab a little something to eat and find a happy place to sit. If anyone tells you that the best place to be at night is the train station, you can tell them you know someone who disagrees.

Night train people on Platform 4 in Ferrara are the people that weird songs are written about. We were waiting with people who pace back and forth while arguing loudly on their phones, people who were talking to themselves and an assortment of others who we normally don’t hang with. When the train finally arrived, we were very happy to be on our way back to Venice.

We finally got back to the hotel a little before midnight. The worst part was we didn’t get our evening prosecco.

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Italy 2016 – Venetian Sunshine

Posted on May 20, 2016 by herktrav

Day 2 – Venezia, Italy

So yesterday’s clouds and rain departed and today was beautiful. Nice temperature and bright sunshine all day long meant lots of walking and sunglasses.

Started with breakfast at the hotel. It’s a nice standard breakfast with lots of choices and fresh breads and pastries. While Sue tends to go for the granola and yoghurt, I found my way to the ham, salami and cheese. Small rolls, some orange juice and a cappuccino and I was buzzed and ready to roll.

Our first stop was right next door at the Church of San Simeon. Just a small little church, but very nice and spiritual feeling.

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Church of San Simeon (L) – Antiche Figure (R)

Next we zig-zagged our way over to the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (St Mary’s of the Friars). The church is very large and contains many beautiful pieces of art. The main object that most people visit to see is “The Assumption”. It is huge and it is beautiful. Some say that it is one of the most beautiful paintings of all time. In addition, there were masterpieces by Bellini and Veneziani that were also beautiful. And overall, it is quite a bargain at 3 Euro.

Back out into the sunshine as we made our way over to the Rialto Bridge area. Walking through the passageways and along the canals was very relaxing, even though the cruise people were out in full force along with the day-trippers. We were told that the crowds are nothing compared to the high season. I wouldn’t want to be here during the high season.

Finally made our way over the bridge and started winding through the small streets until we found our destination – Santa Maria dei Miracoli. If Groucho Marx was with us, he’d say “it was a miracle that we found it”, but he isn’t. It’s just a small church again dedicated to the Friars, but very beautiful. Feeling determined to become holy, our next stop would be the Basilica of San Marco.

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San Marco Cathedral

The streets are fun to walk down, very narrow, very twisty, lots of shops and signs that point to your destination in both directions. It only took about fifteen minutes to get to Piazza San Marco. Turning the corner, we could see the lines of people waiting to get into the Basilica.

Being gentle lemmings, we got in line and then noticed a much shorter line. Checking it out, we were in the line for people with reservations. When we moved to the line for people and groups without reservations, we walked right in. Good thing those people paid their fee to skip the lines.

This is a no pictures allowed inside location, but pictures would not have done it justice anyways. The ceiling is done in a Byzantine style with a gold background and mosaics that jump out at you. The domes feature the same gold background with scenes painted around the inside of the dome. Absolutely beautiful.

By now, we were a little tired of walking and decided to head to the waterfront to catch a vaporetto back to the hotel. The breeze coming off the lagoon felt great in the sunshine. The skies being clear, we were able to take some pictures across to San Giorgio and along the shore before we headed into the canal. All the boats were full to the brim with people heading towards the train station and the cruise docks.

Across the lagoon to San Giorgio

With a few hours until dinner, we found a nice shady spot outside of the hotel and enjoyed some prosecco while people and canal watching. Nice way to spend an afternoon.

One of the gentlemen at the hotel desk recommended a place for dinner – “La Rosa Dei Venti” and made reservations for us. In the meantime, we headed upstairs to clean up and relax.

Right after we left, a guy with an accordion stopped to serenade the folks outside. We ended up listening and watching from our window and leading the applause section. Sue ran a tip down to him, I thought we could have just tossed it, and told him how much we enjoyed it. Somehow, the translation was missed and he ended up playing Happy Birthday to me. Who was I to ruin it, it would eventually be my birthday.

Dinner was interesting. The restaurant looked like it was a tourist joint, especially when we were shown to a table in the back room. But the meal ended up being awesome. Fresh fish with a medley of vegetables, a liter of house wine and two very happy people strolling along the canal back to the hotel.

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Italy 2016 – Venice in the rain

Posted on May 19, 2016 by herktrav

Day 1 – Venice, Italy

We arrived in Venice safely and a few minutes early. It was raining when we landed and was pretty much overcast and rainy all day. No worries though, it’s still Venice. Breezed through passport control. Our bags arrived with us this trip, though one was just about the last one off the plane just to get our hearts pumping.

Just needed to buy our bus ticket and we’d be off to the islands. Passed my first Italian test buying the tickets and off we went. It actually takes about twenty-five minutes to get from the airport to the bus drop-off at Piazzale Roma.  You can hire a water taxi and pay a fortune or just take the bus.

Our hotel – Hotel Antiche Figure – is only a five minute walk from the bus stop. Two small bridges, made harder by dragging along our bags, and we were there.

The hotel was just like we remembered it. The people at the desk were just as friendly as the last time and our room was just as nice. This time they bumped us up to a king size bed too. Since we were a little early, they offered us a glass of welcoming prosecco and we didn’t say “No”.

Francesca, our new long-lost friend, chatted with us about dinner places and things to see while we were waiting for the room. We also met an Australian couple, Brad and Sharon, who are on the last leg of a 24 day cruise holiday. Very nice people.

When our room was ready, we headed up to wash up and take a little nap before the concert this evening. Neither of us were excited about sightseeing in the rain and the rest would be welcome.

We were able to buy a 24 hour Vaporetto pass at the hotel desk. Since there are no streets in Venice, the vaporetto is a water bus. You can get from one end to the other of the grand canal in about a half hour, which is what we needed to do to get to the concert.

With about five stops left before we reached ours, the skies opened up and the rain poured down. A little thunder and lightning was added in for effect and we hoped it was just a cloudburst – It wasn’t!

Had to make a mad dash to the Chiesa San Vidal and we all know I don’t dash like I used to. Absolutely drenched by the time we reached the doors. Yuck! The good news, if you can call it good, was that there were others arriving at the same time who were equally soaked. Oh well..

The concert itself was delightful. The group performing is called Interpreti Veneziani and they were awesome. They perform regularly in Venice and on this night they were performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.  And very well I might add.

The ride back home after the concert was nice and dry. We stopped to pick up a quick sandwich before heading back to the room for the evening and had our own little Venetian picnic. Then off to bed to try and catch up on a little sleep.

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Italy 2016 – And away we go..

Posted on May 18, 2016 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Eighteen months of planning and coordinating and the day has finally arrived.

We’re packed and are just waiting for the taxi to arrive to head to the airport. Leaving early since the reports are that the security lines will be long. Hopefully things will be smooth as the travel day will be long enough. Airport check-in went smooth and the security line, while somewhat long, went quickly. No hassles, now we just have to get through JFK.

Flight from Buffalo was on-time and before long we were in JFK. I should have bought a lottery ticket. We landed in Terminal 4 and our flight is from terminal 4 – no additional security lines. Woo hoo!

Tried to get into the Delta Sky Club, but they wanted no part of riff-raff like the Herkeys. Instead, we ended up at a restaurant called Uptown Bistro. It’s the Marcus Samuelsson (of Aquavit fame) restaurant and was some of the best airport food we have ever had. Simple, delicious and actually, reasonably priced.

Our flight to Venice is scheduled to leave on-time. Looks like it’s gonna be a full flight. It also looks like an AARP flight. Jeez – don’t young people fly? Boarding and leaving as scheduled – I definitely should have purchased that lotto ticket.

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Italy 2016 – Lots of preparation for a month long trip

Posted on August 19, 2015 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Sometimes planning for an extended trip can be an arduous task. For me, it is fun. I like to research all the places we are thinking about and then put all the pieces together like a huge puzzle. And just like a puzzle, it’s always a treat to see the finished picture. In the case of travel, the result is to go and enjoy each step along the way. Though, unlike a puzzle, you can make changes along the way and still have a terrific finished picture.

On this trip we will be meandering our way through Italy. The plan is to spend a little over a month moving from north to south. We’re going to fly into Venice, then take the train to Perugia, pick up a car and drive to the town of Gubbio in Umbria. After a few days, we’ll drive to southern Umbria and stay in the town of Todi. We drop the car off and then take the train to Sorrento. We’ll explore a bit of the Amalfi Coast before heading to Positano. From Positano, we’ll travel to the Isle of Capri before heading to Rome to conclude the trip.

There’s no John Candy and Steve Martin, but we will definitely be using planes, trains, boats, buses and automobiles throughout our stay.

So why are we going to the places I mentioned above?

While we have been to Venice before, we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to see. We only made it a couple day stop because everyone had told us negative things about it. When we got there, we loved it. So we’re starting there so we can see some things we missed the last time.

Umbria is Tuscany’s neighbor to the east. Everyone wants to go to Tuscany, but Umbria is equally beautiful – just not as well known. We have decided to base ourselves near the town of Gubbio – a small town in the northeast quadrant of Umbria. If our timing works out, we will be there for a local festival where the people dress in Medieval garb and compete for community honors in a competition of crossbow archers. It is similar to the Siena Paleo, but no horses.

We’ll travel through the “green heart” of Italy for a few days before heading down to the town of Todi. We selected Todi as our southern Umbrian base town because it will give us easier access to Orvieto and Assisi.

Next will be a train journey to Sorrento. We’ll have to travel through Rome and Naples to get there, Once there, we’ll explore the city a bit, see some small Amalfi Coast towns, venture back to Naples, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

After Sorrento, we get a little water time as we travel to Positano and then Capri. Looking forward to the Azure blue seas, boat rides and beach sights.

Afterwards, we’ll head to Rome to explore it’s rich history, arts, food and the Vatican. At that point, we should be full of more culture then we can stand and will be ready to head back home.

There are many items to coordinate and I can’t wait to start coordinating.

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Reflecting on our trip to India

Posted on October 20, 2014 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Wow, where to begin? India was such a fascinating place to visit. It far exceeded my expectations, mostly because I didn’t have many expectation when we left. I wanted to see the Taj Mahal and everything else I would learn as we went along.

Despite reading prior to leaving, I was still shocked by the way people live. There are the rich people, who enjoy all the finest things. A middle class who get to reap some benefits and then there are the poor people.

There are just so many poor people struggling to eke out a living. Not to pay their mortgage or car payments, but to actually survive. No homes, not enough food and no real jobs to be had. That was difficult to deal with and accept. People said “you can’t fix it, so you have to accept it for what it is” – that’s not easy.

Even more interesting are the children. They are growing up in such difficult conditions, yet you still get smiles. As we passed by on the train, I would sit there and get waves and smiles from the kids and I would wave and smile back. Sometimes it would be the whole family waving – I’d wave, but I felt sad.

I wondered what they were thinking when they saw us. I hoped that they saw us and the train as a bit of a boost to the merchants and the town. We did our best to present ourselves as friendly, appreciative people; respectful of their culture. We didn’t judge, we learned and tried to understand.

The architecture of the buildings and the various monuments was all spectacular. We have seen many buildings, palaces, castles and churches in our travels, but this was different. We’ve never been exposed to the Hindi – Muslim style buildings and I found them to be wonderful. The things I liked the best were the intricate carvings, the domes and the curved arches.

I loved the blend of people and cultures too. Arguably, my favorites were the Sikhs and Rajputs with their huge beards and mustaches. When paired with their colorful turbans – let’s just leave it at Cool!

Have I mentioned the chaos on the streets? Cars, trucks, buses, rickshaws, bicycles, camels, cows and people all seeking to get where they need to go. Horns constantly being blown as people try to merge, try to pass or want to go faster. I promise all who know the area that I will never complain about Transit Road traffic again.

And I will certainly remember the kindness of my new “girlfriend” – Aradhna. She made us feel so welcome when we arrived and throughout our stay at the JW Marriott. I know that it is her job as a hostess, but we thought she went above and beyond. So nice, so pretty, so genuine – Thank you, Aradhna!

Would I ever return? I don’t know. There are still many other places that I want to visit. I know that visiting India has prepared me to go to many other places. My comfort zone was stretched more than just a little bit and I liked it.

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Day 10 – Back home to Buffalo

Posted on October 19, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

We wake up, and clean up as we will need to check out by 12:00. We started packing last night, so this morning should be easier. Sue ran down for a quick bite of breakfast while I finished up in the room.

Check out was quick. We had arranged for transportation to the airport the day before, so now we just have to wait until 5:00 pm. The lobby has plenty of comfortable seats and couches, so we just passed the time away there.

I do have to say, the JW Marriott was an excellent choice for our hotel stays. Being brand new it has all the modern amenities, is spotlessly clean and has some of the best staff we have ever encountered in our travels.

So 5:00 pm rolls around and our transport is ready. It only takes about 10 minutes to get from the hotel to the airport. Once there, we get to wait as the gate agents aren’t open for our flight yet. Security is tight around the airport, in fact we had to show our passports and tickets just to get in. After about a hour, we can check in for the flight.

We passed through passport control and security in no time at all. Since we are flying Business First, we have access to the lounge. It’s great to see how the other half lives. Instead of sitting at the gate, the lounge has comfortable chairs, a small buffet, beverages, snacks, power outlets, computers, and quiet. There are even showers and changing rooms besides the bathrooms. This is a one time treat for us, so we’re going to take advantage of it.

It’s finally time to head to the gate. There is another security checkpoint at the gate. Not sure why there is the extra security or if it is just the way they handle it all the time. No matter, we are through in just a few minutes. Shortly thereafter, it is boarding time. The flight does not appear to be jam packed, there are a few seats open in first class and economy plus. Lots of upgrades available and people are being seated.

Everything is going smoothly except for the Cathay Pacific jet that is stuck and blocking our departure. They should just put horns on these things. It worked in Delhi.

Soon we are off and enjoying a smooth flight. We have a delicious dinner – rosemary lamb au jus and then settle in for the long flight. We both slept for a while, me longer than Sue. I awoke to her watching a movie. I have to say, the flat bed seats were very comfortable. Normally I might doze off and on during long flights, this time I was able to sleep soundly coming and going.

When we arrived at Newark, we zipped right through passport control. They have the new electronic passport kiosks and they really helped speed things up. It took no time to get our bags and go through customs. We actually brought back a couple things this trip, but nothing that required duty.

We had about three hours to kill before our flight to Buffalo. A snack, a beverage and it was just about time to board. The flight was on-time and went fast. Before we knew it, we were landing in Buffalo.

We grabbed a taxi home and it felt good to walk into our own house. It really is true – there’s no place like home!

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Day 8 & 9 – Goodbyes and a day in Delhi

Posted on October 18, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

We woke up early to shower and finish packing. The train was already in the Delhi train station when we awoke. After finishing up, we went down for a bite of breakfast. There were a few people in the dining car and they were talking with the staff and each other – saying goodbye, saying thanks and talking about moving on.

We went back to the salon and gathered our belongings. The porters took our luggage and loaded it into the van for us. Before departing, we caught up with the two bossmen. Mr Singh had a copy of the group photo for us and after handshakes and hugs, we were off.

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Since there was plenty of time, we would be dropped off at the hotel first and then they would continue on to the airport. Delhi was relatively quiet as we navigated our way down the streets. Not sure if it was because it was early or it was Sunday or both.

It was hard to say goodbye to our friends, but we had such a great time with them. For an out of the blue invitation, this turned into quite the life experience. Hugs, kisses, handshakes and goodbyes…

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We were early, but there was a room available for us. Pretty much the same as the room here last week, so that made it perfect.

We checked in, had some breakfast and then went back to nap and rest. It was also my first good quality wifi in a while, so all the blog updates needed to be posted. We ended up skipping dinner and just being lazy – it felt good after being kept busy all week.

We are in no hurry, so we slept in a little bit, then cleaned up and went down for a nice breakfast. Beginning to think that there is a competition between the groups to get people to eat. The breakfast buffet has an Indian, Asian and Continental area and they will fresh make just about anything you would want.

This is Diwali week in India. Diwali – the Festival of Lights – is a big holiday and is celebrated by stringing up lights and giving sweets and gifts. The actual holiday is Thursday, but people are out in droves shopping for gifts at the market places and stores.

Without the holiday Delhi is somewhat overwhelming. With the holiday, we decided to limit our time away from the hotel. Besides, we discovered a Delhi Baking Co store off the lobby of the hotel with some delicious pastries to keep us happy for the afternoon.

We had our final dinner in India and celebrated with a bottle of wine. I asked for a suggestion on the wine and was surprised when a Chateau Ste Michel Riesling was suggested. Needless to say, it was the right choice with the Indian spices.

It was a fun dinner as we were being looked after by both the Tuscan and Indian sous chefs. A plate of Italian cheese, sausage and breads started us off. The Italian chef then insisted on making us a small fresh pizza. We took our time chatting with him and between ourselves before trying some Indian food.

Everything was delicious, but there was a special marinated and grilled chicken that was superb. So our new Indian chef friend then made us fresh garlic naan to go with our meal. Buried on my plate, I came across what I thought was a green bean, but turned out to be a pepper. WOW! Glad we had lots of water and wine to put out the fire from that one.

We were both full, so there was no chance that we could enjoy any of the desserts they were offering. We thanked everyone for their kindness and then headed out. We ran up to the room to grab the camera and come back down to the lobby.

I was determined to see Aradhna and get a picture with her. We saw her and she came right over to us. She is just the sweetest young woman. She insisted we sit down and just chat a little bit. She was interested in our trip and even ran to get her phone so she could show us pictures of her family and friends. She was telling us that her parents are looking for a groom for her now that she is 20, so she will likely get married next year. We really enjoyed talking with her and then took our pictures. She also wanted a picture taken on her phone. Said she was gonna tell everyone she has a new boyfriend.

With that, we said goodbye and exchanged hugs. We’ll miss her. She will be one of my fondest memories representing how nice everyone treated us here.

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Day 7 – Agra and the Taj Mahal

Posted on October 17, 2014 by herktrav

Agra, India

Our final day on-board the RROW takes us to one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World – the Taj Mahal. But first, we will see the Red Fort and have a nice lunch.

We load up the bus and start our day at the Agra Fort. The fort was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1565 and contains numerous palaces and a white marble mosque. It was a quite impressive structure.

In his later years, Shah Jahan was “imprisoned” here by one of his sons who took over the rule from his father. As the one responsible for the building of the Taj Mahal, it was sad that Shah Jahan could see the Taj from the fort, but not visit his masterpiece.

Upon leaving the fort, we went for a final lunch at a luxury hotel. Our last greeting with flower leis.

After lunch we headed to the Taj Mahal. It was exciting knowing that we would be seeing it in person. We would catch glimpses of it as we traveled nearer. We had to park down the road a bit as they try to keep the exhaust and noise away from the building. We didn’t have to walk though as the RROW provided us with electric vehicles to take us to the gates.

Entering through security, there are many items that you can not take into the area. Apparently, people have tried to chip off pieces of the marble and extract some of the gem stones. Then, the really dumb ones have tried to scratch or carve their names into the marble. Personally, I think they should have stupid detectors instead of metal detectors.

Once through security, you walk down past some guest houses to get to the main square. We were entering through the western gate, which is the main gate. As soon as you get close you can see the Taj through the opening and after passing through – there it is in all its glory.

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Words can not describe it and pictures do not do it justice. It is such a beautiful building. There is a feeling that comes over you that is hard to describe, but it is a very good feeling. Our guide reminds us that this is a building built by love.

The structure was ordered built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It took some 20,000 laborers 22 years to build the Taj, and every detail is beautiful: the gardens, the reflecting pool, the elaborate patterns of semi-precious stones decorating the white marble, the carvings.

But despite all that, there is a simplistic beauty that is striking.

The Taj Mahal is so important that more than 200 factories in the area have been shut down to prevent air pollution from discoloring the marble. To walk on and through the building you must remove your shoes or wear shoe booties to prevent extra wear on the floor and steps.

Our feeling was that it was at its most beautiful when gazed at from a distance. In that way you get the full magical effect.

The RROW arranged for a photographer to be available to take individual pictures and also a group shot. The pictures were taken sitting on the Princess Diana bench, which was the bench from which she had her photo taken when she visited.

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It was a fitting finale to what has been a great week aboard the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels.

Headed back to the train for our final dinner and to say our goodbyes. We’ll be leaving a little earlier then some others so we wanted to make sure to catch up with everyone.

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Day 6 – Varanasi and the Ganges River

Posted on October 16, 2014 by herktrav

Varanasi, India

Today we will be visiting Varanasi, the oldest living city in India, if not the world, and the holiest city for the Hindu religion. Located on the Ganges River, it is a pilgrimage site for the Hindu faithful. Cleansing one’s self in the waters is to cleanse the spirit of sins and negativity. Being cremated and having your ashes scattered in the river ensures passage to Heaven.

I started the morning with a bit of a belly ache. Not full blown Delhi belly, but rather an upset tummy from last night’s Chinese food. Unfortunately, they still use a lot of MSG here and we think that was the culprit. The good news is, with dry toast and ginger ale, I recovered quick enough to be able to go on the tour. Unfortunately, we have five or six people on-board who are down with stomach issues and can’t go out today.

Our first stop is a short distance from Varanasi in the city of Sarnath. It is here that Gautana Buddha is said to have first taught about the dharma after attaining enlightenment. There is a Buddhist Stupa and temple located in the area where Buddha first preached and lived.. They are located in the same area as one that was previously destroyed by a Mughal ruler who believed that great treasure was hidden inside – there was no treasure.

Also located in Sarnath is an 80ft tall statue of a standing Buddha. It is the result of a joint Thai-Indo effort that it was created. It was built between 1997 and 2011 and is located in the middle of a beautiful garden setting. It is interesting to note that there are no actual pictures or paintings of Buddha.  All the statues, carvings and T-Shirts only reflect the artist’s impression.

Continuing our drive to Varanasi, we made a stop at a temple to Mother India. Our guide was telling us that Hindus worship many gods, in fact there are over 30 million gods that they worship. Different groups will worship different gods for different reasons. The three main gods Vishnu, Shiva and Ram are the only ones that everybody worships.

We came across a snake charmer outside of the temple.  Not exactly as I remember being mesmerized as a kid watching movies, but still interesting to see.

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On the way back to Varanasi, we stopped at a silk weaving mill for today’s shopping adventure. We stayed on the bus with a few others who were also shopped out. Ended up watching a group of young workers carrying brick up at a construction site.

Lunch was next on the agenda and it was a good one. All of our lunches and dinners off the train have been good. Nice variety of food and the locations have all been at luxury hotels.

Since we ended up eating lunch a little later, we headed to the Ganges for our boat ride. We will take a ride on the river up to the site of the evening Aarti and then head back to the train for a late dinner.

The bus ride through town to get to the Ganges was somewhat shocking. The chaos and poverty were overwhelming and quite disconcerting. Having said that, once we were on the boat there was a whole different feeling. It was calming and spiritual.

We made our way up the river with the sun setting and had a chance to see people going through their daily activities. We stopped near to the Cremation Ghat and while it may seem shocking, it was really peaceful. We then made our way up to the temple area where the Aarti is held.

The Aarti is a nightly ceremony performed by priests to worship and ask Mother Ganges for blessings. People cram into the area, including tourists and many boats float nearby to watch. It all seems very chaotic and noisy. Not something that would help one to pray and ask for blessings.

We moved up river a little ways and participated as a group in our own way.

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