Visiting Bengaluru

{trees from the IISc campus}

This past weekend I flew down to Bangalore for a short 30-hour visit. Prior to the trip, I had done some asking around and Googling to see what there was to do and see in the city and decided that with the time I had, I would prioritize spending time with my cousin who lives there, whom I hadn't seen in five or so years, and forego visits to palaces, gardens, and the like. But in a short amount of time, we manage to fit in an amazing amount of beautiful things to see and eat.

{insanely beautiful sunset from the rooftop}

I got into Bangalore Saturday afternoon and after a quick bus ride from the airport, I met my cousin for coffee at a place called Anand Bhavan. While most people around us were there for lunch, neither of us were particularly hungry and the perfectly sweet, hot South Indian filter coffee was enough to satisfy us. After coffee, we took an auto to her apartment, an adorable place with plenty of windows, a balcony, and access to a rooftop, which provided us a stunning view of the sunset, stars, and bats flying around. After some tea and toast and the stargazing that followed, we headed out for dinner at a microbrewery called Arbor Brewing Company.

Arbor was heaven. The ambiance alone was amazing; think long wooden tables, hanging lightbulbs, and plenty of cool signs lending to an industrial-chic sort of vibe. And it just got better from there. Their beer menu is extremely diverse and well-crafted (pun sort of intended), and I first opted for Smooth Criminal, an ale brewed with lavender and honey that managed to be perfectly smooth and light rather than overbearingly sweet. Later in the evening, I got a glass of Michael Faricy's Irish Stout, which tasted more like delicious black coffee with undertones of dark chocolate than actual beer. And their music selection was on point, too. I couldn't pick out more than bits and pieces from the size of the crowd that had gathered on a Saturday night, but every now and then my cousin and I found ourselves commenting on the songs playing. Speaking of the crowd, it really seemed like the place to be. The girl sitting next to me assured me that this place was well-known for their pizza, and my friend from GW, who is from Bangalore, seemed impressed that I had gone there as well. And if you couldn't guess from the fact that this post sounds more like a restaurant review than an actual travel post, I was in heaven.

{my beautiful cousin!}

But wait—I haven't even gotten around to the food yet. I'm a huge foodie, and that combined with the fact that I grew up in North Jersey has made me quite the pizza snob. I won't touch any of the garbage that considers itself pizza in DC (with the only exception being Pete's New Haven Style Apizza) and have very strong opinions on sauce consistency, sauce-cheese ratio, and crust thickness. After a plate of seriously satisfying nachos, my cousin and I ordered the Garlic Goat Cheese pizza. Instead of sauce, it came with plenty of goat cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, roasted garlic, green onion, roasted sunflower seeds, and a hint of honey. And honestly? It was good. I'm not going to go out and say it was the best I've ever had. I've been to Italy and my region of New Jersey knows what its doing when it comes to pizza, but in a country where Amul has an apparent (and in my opinion, undeserved) monopoly over the cheese industry, I was damn impressed.

I also seriously appreciate attention to detail. I've been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter twice, and possibly my favorite part about the place, even beyond the rides and roller coasters, is the attention to detail. I'm not going to describe too much and spoil things for those who haven't been yet, but to give you an idea, everything in Diagon Alley IS DIAGONAL. DIAGONALLY. Isn't that great?! Anyway, so another thing I loved about Arbor is the attention to detail. Their menu is loaded with references to historical periods, TV shows, music, movies, and more. It's seriously witty and I actually sat down and read through the entire thing. Very dorky, yes. But when a menu is written better than some of the crap you've read for class, you appreciate it.

My cousin and I started Sunday very leisurely, the way all Sundays should be spent. We had a breakfast of toast and tea, along with a slice of cold pizza each, and headed out into the city for some souvenir shopping. We then had lunch at Burrito Brothers—the tortilla was undercooked, but overall the burrito did not disappoint—followed by ice cream at Corner House. I got Rocky Road and Caramel Crunch, and my cousin picked up Fig + Honey and Chocolate Europa. And after the scooter got a flat-tire (and was fixed in a quicker and more cost-friendly fashion that I think one would have to deal with back in in the U.S.) we drove through the campus of the Indian Institute of Science, which was much more beautiful than either GW or HCU can claim to be.

{insane trees}

After a quick nap back at my cousin's place, I headed to the airport, marking the end of a trip that was tons of fun and way too short. As I've already said, I really only went to Bangalore to see my cousin. She's incredible to talk to about anything and everything, and our time spent together was so easy-going and fun even though we hadn't seen each other in years. But even still, I really loved Bangalore. It may be more than a bit presumptuous to say so, but I definitely liked Bangalore more than Hyderabad. I love being where I am, but Bangalore has an incredible climate, tons of greenery, and plenty of places to go for good food. But as I thought that during our time around the city, I was just reminded about how I have to put in more effort into my time both here in Hyderabad and DC. I have such little time left in both cities, and hope to make the most of my stay in each. So if you have any must-visit spots, send them my way and I'll try my best to check them off my list.

 Until then, here are some more photos from my trip:

{the street my cousin lives on}

{the neighbor's house}

{view from the top}

{I made a new friend!}

{auto repair shop aesthetic strong}

 

{house built around a tree}

{look closely; there's a tree coming out of a house}

{where we sat for ice cream}

{my cousin's place is filled with gorgeous fabrics}

{cutest door I ever did see}

{sunset still beautiful even without the color}

~ V

Weekend in Mysore

Our program recently took us down to Karnataka to explore Mysore, Bylakuppe, and Melukote. I'd been looking forward to traveling after a month in Hyderabad and can happily say our trip was amazing. Rather than walking you through our (lengthy, packed, and detailed) itinerary, I thought I'd share highlights from our trip. Here's what I loved about our visit to Mysuru:

• Early flight: I don't think I can necessarily claim to be a morning person. Without a schedule, I will easily slip into near-nocturnality, and after two weeks of cancelled class, I had gotten into a steady rhythm of sleeping around 4 AM and waking up around noon. So when our morning flight to Mysore required me to wake up, rather than fall asleep, at 3AM, I was more than a little bit dazed. Our bus ride to the airport consisted of me and my roommate-for-the-weekend Rachel having a mildly-hysterical conversation about weddings and music and college roommates, and a coffee I chugged at the airport helped me to stay awake through our flight. But even though I'm not a natural early riser, I loved being able to take a early flight. For one, a sunset is infinitely more beautiful from the air, and for another, we were able to accomplish so much in our first day in the city.

• Good food: I love and appreciate good food, so when our lunch consisted of seriously fresh and presumably homemade paneer (among so many other dishes), I was stoked. And the fact that the two gulab jamuns I got for dessert were literally the best I've ever had didn't hurt either.

• Paper-cutting: A woman came to show us the art of paper-cutting and we got to participate in a cool DIY workshop. She had some stories surrounding her creations—including a peacock, a baby, her mother—that were perhaps unintentionally hilarious, but my friends and I had a fun time creating our masterpieces.

• Bus rides: Ever since Spain, busses have become my favorite mode of transportation, a fact that remains true in a country where roads are often bumpy and rides can be long. I've already written about how the bus rides gave us time to play, but I also appreciated simply listening to music, looking out the window, taking snapshots of the city and countryside passing by, and thinking about whatever.

• Palaces!: We visited the Mysore Palace, which is the most beautiful man-made structure I've seen. I mean sure, the Taj Mahal is objectively more impressive, but the stained glass doors, windows, and ceilings along with the overall decor and aesthetic of the palace reminded me of Devdas, one of my favorite Bollywood films, and our tour guide allowed us inside some areas not all guests were permitted to visit. Although not all of this was appreciated—the room of taxidermy was definitely not for me—it was amazing seeing places where kings had sat, princesses had explored. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos but I encourage you to visit yourself!

• Tibetan monastery and lunch: We visited the Golden Temple in Bylakuppe, which was beautiful, and had Tibetan food for lunch. It was fun and leisurely, and I had plenty of time to play with my camera.

• Dollu Kunitha dance: Saturday night, we got to see the performance of a Dollu Kunitha dance group, and even got to dance with them while they performed. I think for me, this and the Mysore Palace were the best parts of the weekend. I also got the chance to try out one of their drums and after dealing with sore arms, hands, and legs as well as a bruise on my lower stomach from the weight of the drum, I had some serious respect for the men who managed to keep a beat and create a loud volume with their drums, all while dancing. More than anything, I was just happy to dance with my friends and getting to try out the cool drum was just an added bonus.

• Iyengari cuisine: On Sunday, we had a traditional Iyengari lunch, and while we were served way too much food, everything we ate was delicious. We were also served on plates made of dried leaves and sat cross-legged on the floor, and I liked that we were able to add a bit more authenticity to our experience.

Overall, it was an amazing trip and I'd recommend visiting Mysore for the Palace alone. Here are some more photos from my trip:

Our trip was incredibly fun, and even though we were productive and fit in an incredible amount of sight-seeing in just one weekend, I didn't feel tired. I went to Bangalore this past weekend and have a trip to Bombay to look forward to soon, so expect more travel posts!

~ V