Ooty: A day at Bethlehem

If Fern Hills Palace reminded me about the gone away royal glory, Glyngarth villa took me to the mountain of serenity. Who doesn't love the peace and silence? I love it and I enjoyed it at this place - that too on a Christmas Day. That's an awesome blend, correct?

People from Kerala might trace this place back to the movie - Summer in Bethlehem. I really wanted to visit this place, when I watched that movie years back. And it happened.

A very different and mixed feeling to stand in front of this place and by the by - I was tweeting the experience live :)

The lunch time was over when we reached the villa. Then decided for a tiny snack time.

Organized, clean and royal dining room

Relax to the core...

Fire place...

Keralites will remember this stair case forever :)

So silent and serene....

To chill

Ani examining each and every items in the room

Adding some sweetness to the evening..

Miles to go before I sleep :)

Always welcoming and wonderful hospitality...

Ready for a small ride...

Time to hit the road again

The cottages....

Mysore Palace & Dasara Memories 2013

The heritage city of Mysore is at its vibrant best during the 10-day Dasera festival, which continues a tradition started by the Vijayanagar kings in the 15th century. The festival starts with a procession of decorated elephants led by the Maharaja of Mysore – a grand spectacle. Every evening, the Maharaja’s Palace is dramatically lit up, while the town is transformed into a gigantic fairground, with concerts, dance performances, sporting demonstrations and cultural events. On the last day, Vijayadashami, the celebrations are capped off with a dazzling torchlight procession.
- Lonely Planet 

I wanted this travel for many reasons. And this time I didn't want to miss the festive moments at Mysore. Called up Nadheem and we decided to make the move. Ani didn't join this and she wasn't comfortable with the crowd during Dasera. 

We started from Bangalore by 5 in the morning. Took the route through the KR Market and headed on to the Mysore Road. After an hour and a half, we had a halt at one of the high way hotels on the way. That nice coffee and Iddaly made our day. So tasty it was. Yummy.

I was watching the traffic from the restaurant. Almost all the vehicles were commuting at a speed of 100 kmph. I felt like they are after some treasure hidden in Mysore. After 30 minutes, we got back to our road to Mysore.

Reached Mysore at 9:30 am. But the palace will open only at 10:30. We thought of spending time around, by having one more breakfast. We parked the car at that hotel and went for a walk. Took some pics walking around, took a horse cart ride, small shopping and then headed towards the hotel where we parked the car.

Got inside the palace by 10:50 in the morning (INR 40/head. No camera charges as they will not allow the camera inside the palace. You can click around the premises).

The Palace got the same old glorious look and feel. It shined like never before as a part of the Dasera preparations. Around a couple of crores are spend towards the maintenance of the palace every year. And it shows. 

Cultural shows, fun loving crowds, curios kids, royal processions and 1 lakh bulbs illuminated palace - everything together made our day...

The very first breakfast. Can you see that single spoon of butter on the iddly? He does a magic in the mouth...

Runaway Vacation - The Mysore Retreat

That was one wonderful trip all together. The best part was the UNO game sitting in front of the great Mysore Palace :) The stay at the hotel was wonderful. Clean and nice service.

First we visited the Mysore Zoo. Chettan being an Animal Planet fan, he enjoyed the visit. The next venue was the Mysore Palace. We dropped the plan to get inside the palace due to heavy rush of people. The whole Bangalore was in Mysore I believe. We were at the palace grounds till the palace was completely lit with light decoration. Tired of walking around for the whole day we went back to the hotel. Spend the whole time with Isaac: playing with him and loving him.

The next day straight to the Brindhavan Gardens. That was a nice place to visit. That was one good silent place. We spent some time there. By around 3 PM we started back to Bangalore.

Just getting ready for a game

Behind me: The Palace Gate

                                            Behind the cards: The Mysore Palace