The 3 Vs Tour: Verona, Venice, Vienna

ABC Wednesday. I'm posting early for V coz I'll be out of town and away from my main computer (with my pix) until after next Wednesday. Check out other entries at mrs. nesbitt's on Wednesday.

Last summer (2008) my husband and I did what we called our 2Ms and 3Vs tour: Manila (where we live), Milan, Verona, Venice, Vienna and back (via a faboulous town called Bergamo, near Milan, but that only happened because our flight from Vienna landed there rather than in Milan).

Verona is a beautiful old city steeped in history and culture, which come together in the annual summer opera festival held at the Arena, a Roman amphitheatre which becomes an immense open-air theatre. An opera such as Aida is such a visual treat in this fantastic setting that one almost forgets to enjoy the music! Verona is also the city of Dante (who wrote the Divine Comedy) and the setting for two of Shakespeare's plays.

Venice is known for the beautiful buildings on the Grand Canal, and the naorrower canals navigable by gondolas. But above all, it is a city of water, with its buildings anchored in the ocean, its beautiful churches and companiles (church towers) built on tiny islets.

And Vienna - a city of music, of opera, of beautiful old architecture. The city of Johann Strauss and the Vienna waltz.

The city of the Hapsburgs and their palaces, such as the Schönbrunn, built by Emperor Leopold I in the 17th century as a hunting lodge, with over 1,400 rooms! Austria’s much-loved Empress Maria Theresia had it expanded and redecorated in French Rococo style in the 18th century. The palace’s prominent visitors included Napoleon, who married Maria Theresia’s grand-daughter Marie Louise (as his second wife).

Sun, sky, squirrels and sunflowers

It's ABC Wednesday over at mrs. nesbitt's and the letter this time is S.
S is for so many wonderful things...
Like the sun setting behind Buddhist stupas in Bagan (Myanmar/Burma)...

a sunflower in Cameron Highlands, a tea-growing area in Malaysia...

or another sunset - this time over Lake Inle, also in Myanmar/Burma.

S is for the colourful skies one often seas over Australia - this one in the Blue Mountains.

Back from my travels, S is for the squirrel that visits me every morning at 7 o'clock just outside my window at my home in the Philippines - even though, I'm told, squirrels are not indigenous to the Philippines.

R is for Rangoon, Rani Lakshmibai, and more...

Join Abc Wednesdays with R today - over at mrs. nesbitt's place.

I like R. It stands for some wonderful people and places and, through some of them, for some great childhood memories too. R is for Raju, my husband and life partner. R is for Ranikhet, where I had 3 fantastic vacations as a kid with my oldest friend in this world, my cousin Abhilash. R is for Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, my childhood heroine. Here's what I've written about her on my Pamposh Dhar blog:

A 23-year-old woman on horseback, sword in hand, her young son strapped to her back, leading an army into battle against a mighty but unjust empire.What’s not to idolize? Lakshmibai had everything I could possibly want to see in my hero/ine: courage, strength, leadership, a refusal to be bound by convention, and a determination to fight injustice both in her own behalf and on behalf of others.
Read more about her here.

Also tied up with my childhood are my memories of Ranikhet, a beautiful town in the Himalayas, commanding a fantastic panoramic view of a whole range of snow-clad mountains. These include Nanda Devi (or Godess Nanda) and the three mountains that together make up Trishul (which means Trident, a weapon with three points, associated with Lord Shiva). My uncle and cousin lived in a large, double-storeyed wooden house atop a small hill – I think it was the highest point in the town. I remember waking up early, before 6 a.m., to get a clear view of the mountains from the balcony before the mountains got shrouded in mist. Go here to see a photo on the Net.

R is for Rangoon, also known as Yangon, which I visited for the first time in 2005. Rangoon is the capital of the unfortunate country of Myanmar, formerly Burma. A beautiful country with a long history, it is now ruled by a ruthless military junta.

The country's most famous political prisoner is Aung Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 13 years and is now threatened with a prison term. Suu Kyi (pronounced Su Chi) leads a peaceful movement for democracy. She is charged with "receiving an unauthorized visitor," reports the New York Times.

Rangoon is known for its gilded stupas, its Buddha statues, its wandering monks and nuns, its gem bazaars (fabulous rubies and emeralds), and its gentle, peace-living people - all except the murderous generals in the junta that is.

Buddhism is very much a part of daily life. And monks have to eat too, you know: