Allô Chatrath

  Entry tickets to visit European museums is expensive. Last month I visited the Residenz in Munich, Germany. The ticket cost me Euros 14.50 which in Indian rupees would be around 1316. Entry ticket to the Louvre Musseum in Paris costs 17 euros or around 1543 Indian rupees.    National Museum New Delhi charges only 3.50 euros for a ticket to the foreigners which is equivalent to Rs.317. In Mathura Museum the entry ticket for foreigners is Rs 25 or 0.28 Euros. For visiting the Konarak Temple Complex the fee for foreigners is only Rs.600 or approximately 6.61 Euros.    There is a strong case for Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to increase the price of tickets for foreigners for entry into various places under administration of the ASI throughout the country. .

                                                                         Indian Thali meal.                                                                     Photo source: https://www.peacocklife.com/products/brass-thali?

         

  I have been researching the details of non-combatant Indians of World War-I whose names adorn the India Gate in New Delhi.  Recently I came across a name that aroused my curiosity and I tried to gather more information on the subject. The name was of l ate Australian Nursing Sister Letitia Gladys Moreton More than 3000 Australian nurses served  during World War I. They worked under terrible conditions and 25 lost their lives. Sister Gladys Moreton was one of those 25.                                     Late Australian Nursing Sister Letitia Gladys Moreton                                                        Respectful salute to the late nursing sister.                                                                                       RIP

                                                       Rajasthani pakoras; Photo source: NDTV

I find 'gargoyles' very fascinating. Some time back a wrote a photo article 'Gargoyles of the Milano Cathedral, Italy ( https://allochatrath.blogspot.com/2023/07/gargoyles-of-milano-cathedral-italy-by.html ) Last month I visited the Cathedral at Bern in Switzerland and was fascinated by the gargoyles there. I took photographs but my eyes got glued to one particular gargoyle:                          It somehow reminded me of Edvard Munch's famous painting 'The Scream'.                                                            The Scream by Edvard Munch I had visited the grave of Edvard Munch in Oslo, Norway a few years back and had written a photo article on that.  Originally constructed in the Gothic style, the building of Bern Cathedral was completed in 1421. Its tower, however, was completed only in 1893, and stands at a height of 100.6 meters (330 feet).  Curiously Munch painted the Scream in 1893! I wonder if Munch had visited Bern and seen the above gar

 During my last trip abroad I took 4000 photos - 1500 on one memory card and 2500 on the other memory card. On return I promptly transferred the 1500 photos to my desktop. Unfortunately while transferring 2500 photos from the other memory card, there was a glitch and after a few attempts my 'Computer Ji' (to borrow the term from Mr. Amitabh Bachhan) declared that the memory card was blank. I was very disappointed to say the least. My son and daughter in law tried to reassure me that they will get the photos retrieved from the ill mannered memory card with the help of an expert. But I sort of gave up. Then  today, suddenly while looking at folders of my hard disk I found a folder with some numerals and alphabets as the folder name. Out of sheer curiosity, I opened it and - Eureka! I  found  all 2500  of missing photos all in excellent shape. Excellent-Yes... Do take a look at 5 photos picked up at random from those 2500 and get ready to be bombarded with lots of photos out of th

On 15th July 2017, I climbed upto 4850 metres on the Cotapaxi volcano, about 50 kms from Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Climbing was difficult as the terrain, consisting of very small pebbles and sand was very slippery....and yes, at 74, I was the oldest member of the Group. A friend has asked if I climbed up to the top. Well, what a question! No body climbs up to the top of a live volcano which has smoke coming out! The authorities permit climbing up to Jose Rivas Refuge situated at 15,593 feet. Yes I did climb up to that. The board in the background reads "Jose Rivas Refuge, 15,593 feet".    

 

  Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2013. Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river. It is a cultural hub in Bulgaria and was the European Capital of Culture in 2019. Plovdiv joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016. The city was set up by the father of Alexander ‘the Great’ (?). My view is that Alexander was out and out a war monger and should not be called 'Great'.

  I visited the Cathedral of Como in Italy last month. Construction of this magnificent structure had started way back in 1396. It took 400 years to complete.    

 https://www.facebook.com/kjs.chatrath/videos/2176559392545483   One of my favourite clips taken in a lake in Atacama desert in Chile in 2019. 

I have been fascinated by gargoyles for quite a while now. A gargoyle   is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to send water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. I have been taking photos of gargoyles during my trips to various countries and also to Hindu temples in India. I would be putting up these photos separately. However when I recently visited the Milano Cathedral in Italy I saw the structure really studded with gargoyles. The Duomo has 3400 statues, 700 figures and 135 gargoyles, including 96 large ones.  So presently let me focus on the gargoyles of Milano Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) . Its construction of the Cathedral in Milan,  in Gothic style, started in 1386 by the archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo, on the site of the former cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore. Saint Carlo Borromeo reconsecrated the church in 1572. The main spire, built in 1769,