51 countries in Europe and its Capitals

The continent of Europe has always been my fascination.
There are total of 48 countries in Europe and I would love to go visit their capital cities.
I have visited some of them already in 2012 and would love to visit again.

Here is the grand list below :

Countries in Europe and its Capitals I want to visit. 

1. Iceland - Reykjavik
2. Norway - Oslo
3. Sweden - Stockholm
4. Finland - Helsinki
5. Denmark - Copenhagen
6. Latvia - Riga
7. Estonia - Talinn
8. Lithuania - Vilnius
9. Russian Federation - Moscow
10. Belarus - Minsk
11. Poland - Warsaw
12. Serbia - Belgrade
13. Ukraine - Kiev
14. Moldova - Chisinau
15. Hungary - Budapest
16. Slovakia - Bratislava
17. Czech Rep - Prague
18. Romania - Bucharest
19. Croatia - Zagreb
20. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Sarajevo
21. Bulgaria - Sofia
22. Macedonia - Skopja
23. Albania - Tirane
24. Greece - Athens
25. Turkey - Ankara
26. Cyprus - Nikosia
27. Armenia - Yerevan
28. Georgia - Tbilisi
29. Azerbaijan - Baku
30. Malta - Valletta
31. Italy - Rome
32. Vatican - Vatican city
33. San Marino - San Marino
34. Slovenia - Ljubljana
35. Austria - Vienna
36. Liechtenstein - Vaduz
37. Germany - Berlin
38. Luxembourg - Luxembourg
39. Belgium - Brussels
40. Netherlands - Amsterdam
41. Switzerland - Bern
42. Monaco - Monaco
43. France - Paris
44. Andorra - Andorra
45. Spain - Madrid
46. Portugal - Lisbon
47. United Kingdom - London
48. Ireland - Dublin
49. Montenegro - Podgorica
50. Kazakkstan - Astana
51. Kosovo - Pristina

Feel free to comment the cities you have been or your most favourite European city.

MY TRAVEL MAP !!

Today my friend Laurent Floch shared his travel map in Facebook. I was very curious to see how my travel map looks like. So I immediately started ticking boxes against the countries to get my travel map.

Now I have a travel map and the count of countries I have been is 30.
Oh yes, it is beautiful.

SHARING IS CARING # 3

 It is a brand new day and my exploration through my computer is on.
After a busy morning, I found some time in the afternoon to hop a little in youtube and the travel websites. I am reading a lot.

I see most of them on my Facebook wall, then one leads to another, I always have a bunch of posts to read and after screening them I share the ones which is really striking. Also I try to share the posts which are most appealing  for its honesty.

The pick of the day is from Lee Abbamonte. A traveller who is the youngest to travel all the countries in the world. I do not know how that is calculated but it is true as I google. His website is www.leeabbamonte.com.

His post is about 30 best man made sites around the world. The list is below and it goes from 30 - 1 as per the importance of the place. http://www.leeabbamonte.com/30-best/30-best-man-made-sites-in-the-world.html

30 Borobudur in Java, Indonesia
29 Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
28 Old City Sanaa in Sanaa, Yemen
27 Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England
26 Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
25 Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar
24 Polonnaruwa in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
23 Red Square in Moscow, Russia
22 Acropolis in Athens, Greece
21 Teotihuacan near Mexico City, Mexico
20 Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Singapore
19 Sydney Harbour in Sydney, Australia
18 Prague Main Square in Prague, Czech Republic
17 Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, USA
16 Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
15 Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland
14 Colosseum in Rome, Italy
13 Machu Picchu in Aguas Calientes, Peru
12 Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia
11 Tikal in Petin Basin, Guatemala
10 Djenne Mud Mosque in Djenne, Mali
9 Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE
8 Great Wall of China in Eastern China
7 The Vatican in Vatican City
6 Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet
5 Taj Mahal in Agra, India
4 Pyramids at Giza in Cairo, Egypt
3 Petra in Petra, Jordan
2 Moai on Easter Island, Chile
1 Tigers Nest Monastery in Paro Valley, Bhutan

I really like the classification because it very true. A big vote of appreciation to this great traveller as I like that he has considered both the new and old structures, the way he explains that he considers Tibet and China two different countries and his logic to include only one site per country. All this acclaims his honesty as a traveller.


Besides all the above I have an itching to mention that even before I read about this post today, I knew about him from Instagram. It happened one day when he had liked one of my pictures. I have been to 10 of the sites out of 30 which is 30% percent and 13 countries in the list.

Today I feel proud and it is very motivating. 

WOW!! IT's 30!!

Today is the day of making lists.

Its a big coincidence as my count of countries to travel is 30 and the countries I have been is 30. So the immediate wish was to make a list of countries I have visited.

1. India
2. South Africa
3. Qatar
4. Thailand
5. Vietnam
6. Cambodia
7. Indonesia
8. Sri Lanka
9. Malaysia
10. Laos
11. France
12. Switzerland
13. Italy
14. Germany
15. Portugal
16. Spain
17. Turkey
18. Jordan
19. UAE
20. Brazil
21. Argentina
22. Chile
23. Uruguay
24. Bolivia
25. Peru
26. Equador
27. Colombia
28. Singapore
29. Philippines
30. Myanmar

So,  Wow!! Its 30!!

MAYRIG

12 Noon

It was when I was swapping channels. I was at Zee MGM when I realized that they were showing a french movie. Its always a curiosity for me watch classics in foreign languages, plus languages always fascinate me. Another point of interest when I realized that the kid in the movie is called Azad. 

The movie was already raising my interest as I thought this could be about a family that migrated from the Arab world to south of France. I was right it was Marseille in the South of France but the family is not from the Arab but one country called Armenia, where I would love to go one day. 

Azad is a Hindi word which probably came along the persian migration to the then Indus basin or maybe from Urdu to Hindi with the Mughal invasion. It is hard to tell and I have no mood to google it. But the name of the little boy Azad means free and is very symbolic in this movie. 

My friend Narine from Armenia had always told me that there are many similar words between India and Armenia. While I invited my mother and her nurse to accompany me for the movie, I also simultaneously wrote her that am watching this movie based on an Armenian family which exiled from Armenia to make a life in the south of France. 

It is family of three sisters: 

Anna the eldest who did not marry to keep a promise to her dying mother that she will always take care of her sisters. 

Mayrig who is married with one son called Azad. 

Gayanne who decides to be a spinster as she lost her love interest Zasken to death. 

There is another character called Apkar who escaped the massacre by the Ottomans, survives with the help of a Kurdish herd to land up in France and later helps the Zakarian Family from Armenia to find a home in France. 

The entire Zakarian family fuels bit by bit their sweat to build Azad and make him an Engineer. 

Half way through the movie my friend had wrote me back that this is the movie which she watch every year on 24th April. The same day to which she has lost some of her ancestors in the genocide planted by the Ottomans. She also tells me Mayrig in Armenia means Mother, which made the movie more emotional for me and my mother. 

Its incredible for me how I am watching a French movie with English subtitles about an Armenia family sitting in my hometown in Bhubaneswar, India. More than that I am translating it into Oriya for my mother and her nurse. My mother is also fascinated by the old France they show in the movie. 

Sometimes we travel a lot across countries, cultures, languages and people. Thanks to technology it is possible even if while we are watching a movie in our bedroom. 

WEIGHT OF LOVE!!

In Paris, everything is a monument. Everything that exist has some significance. 

The french bridge, Pont des artes, has a great significance. Tourist and the locals both celebrate a tradition to lock their love using padlocks on the bars of this bridge. This beautiful tradition is considered as a vandalism.

It is really sad that a section of this bridge broke on the morning of 9th June. But its not the first time. This historical bridge was damaged by the German bombs in world war I & II. This time it broke for the weight of the padlocks. 

The pont des artes on the river Seine gives beautiful views of Paris. But the beauty of this bridge is due to golden and colourful locks.

Lets hope that the weight of love does not call for end of this tradition. 

MISSING PARIS!!

It was 2012, I had my first little steps to Europe. To begin with Paris was my first stop. One of the most beautiful cities of the world.

From that day till date, the city always lived in my memories. Today when I went to pick up a cake for a family gathering to COOKIES, I saw what is below.

A collage of the beautiful monuments of PARIS on one of the walls. In a flick of the second, like a bullet train I ran through my memories in this grande destination. The CDG(Charles de Gaulles Airport), the walk around in the city, the extravagant Champs- Elysees, Arc the Triomph, Sacre Seour by night. The strongest was the Effiel Tower with the glitterati sharp at 9 PM.

 Excuse-me Sir! Sir !

Sirrrrr!!
Please pay the 650 ruppees.
It was in a dream at the counter with open eyes. I woke up from my day dream and got down the bullet train.
 
PARIS, I miss you!!

20 + 12 = 2012

I like numbers. Numbers are magical and there is a meaning to each and every one. We just have to make the connection.

2012, for example. A year full of travels, experiences and so many stories.

During the 12th year of the new century, I stepped into 12 new countries:

01 | Sri Lanka
02 | Malaysia
03 | Laos
04 | France
05 | Switzerland
06 | Italy
07 | Germany
08 | Portugal
09 | Spain
10 | Turkey
11 | Jordan
12 | UAE

Beside the above, I found another fun fact with numbers and countries: if I add everytime I crossed a non-indian border, no matter if its a new country or not... let's see what happens.

1 time into Sri Lanka;
4 times into Malaysia;
1 time into Laos;
1 time into Indonesia;
1 time into France;
3 times into Switzerland;
1 time into Italy;
1 time into Germany;
2 times into Portugal;
1 time into Spain;
1 time into Turkey;
1 time into Jordan;
1 time into UAE;
1 time into Thailand.

Adding all these entries... the number of times I visited another country outside India was 20, this last year.

Hence the title:

20 + 12 = 2012