Rajasthan is full of vibrant paintings, sculptures, and architecture at every turn. These are some of my favorite Mughal and Radha/Krishna Hindu paintings from a recent trip there.
Mughal Painting at Patwon Ki Haveli (left), Radha/Krishna Painting at Umaid Bhawan Jaipur (middle), Mughal Painting at Mandore Guest House (right)
Hidden in the mountains of Vermont, as you traverse the winding and sloping roadways, are some of the best farm-to-table eats and a brewery that makes world-famous IPAs. My foodie road-trip to Vermont did not disappoint.
On most of my travels including my road-trip to Vermont, I try to stop by a house of worship. This time it was a visit to the Tibetan buddhist monastery, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, the epitome of peace in the Catskills mountains of upstate New York. The monastery is drive up from the town of Woodstock, NY. You enter through the courtyard and walk into the building on the right to the main prayer room that holds the larger statue of Buddha. A great road-trip stop to bask in the serenity of the monastery and its scenic surroundings.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of nature’s great wonders. The scenic drive starts from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. We began our journey through the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, North Carolina. The city of Asheville is central to the many scenic lookouts of the Blue Ridge Parkway including the many forests and mountains that surround Asheville like Pisgah National Forest, and about an hour and half from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains in Cherokee, North Carolina which is where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends. This part of the Blue Ridge Parkway offers many opportunities to see wildflowers in the mountains depending on the time of year of your visit.
Mount Soma, North Carolina is about 45 minutes northwest of the city of Asheville, North Carolina. The slow and winding roads lead up to breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the only Shiva dedicated temple in mainland North America. I try to visit at least one place of worship during my travels no matter the religion or spirituality, and on this visit to Sri Somesvara Temple in Mount Soma I was in awe, not only did I feel such serenity, but the natural beauty and peaceful surroundings just made it all that more special of a visit.
Asheville is a city on the northwestern part of North Carolina that sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This quaint and charming city with spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains has been gaining popularity recently due to its proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway, as a farm-to-table foodie destination, and as a beer paradise with the most breweries per capita in the United States. There are two ways to get into Asheville: by car or by plane into Asheville Airport. If you decide to fly in, I would recommend renting a car as the city does not have a lot of public transportation and you will need a car to see the Blue Ridge Parkway. The best time of the year to go to Asheville is either late spring or early summer when the temperatures are mild and the highways are full of vibrant wildflowers.
If you’re familiar with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, you have already gotten a taste of one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpieces. Fallingwater House in Mill Run, PA, about an hour and a half from Pittsburgh is one of the most serene of his houses. The house is like pieces of Jenga (game of wooden blocks) put together ever so carefully on top of a 30-ft mystical waterfall. Built in 1937, the house was for Mr. and Mrs. Edgar J. Kaufmann, and purposely placed in the forest location over the waterfall because Frank Lloyd Wright wanted his occupants to be close to nature.
Manhattan’s East Village is located east of Greenwich Village and NoHo (North of Houston Street), and close to SoHo (South of Houston Street). While the East Village is not as well-known as its more famous western neighbors, this Manhattan neighborhood makes up for it by being charmingly hip at a bargain compared to most places in Manhattan. As you walk through the village, you will find several multicultural eateries (fast food and dine-in), dessert shops, coffee shops, art galleries, and entertainment venues. For this foodie stroll through the East Village starting from East 1st Street, I sampled some mountainside Himalayan momos with a side of Bollywood oldies music (think ‘Aashiqui‘ (1990) which means romantic love in Hindi), snacked on some traditional Punjabi aloo tikki, bought some cupcake treats at the new Cupcake Market, stopped in for some tropical taro ice cream at an Asian-inspired ice cream shop, and ended my stroll with some Taiwanese bao while listening to old school R&B and Hip Hop music.
One of my favorite culinary neighborhoods in Manhattan is the Lower East Side (LES). LES is known for its tasty, cheap food made from quality ingredients. Most of the food shops are not big restaurants, but smaller cafes and little shops that line the streets with other unique retail shops. On this visit to LES, I took a foodie journey from the basement-level Milanese-Italian cafe reminiscent of the little cafes in Italy, to an experimental craft ice cream shop, and finally to a New Orleans cuisine inspired shop that serves sandwiches with a side of Southern hospitality.
The neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights is located in South Brooklyn between DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and Red Hook. The harbor front, a photographer’s delight, offers spectacular views of the lower Manhattan Skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. From there you can watch the sun slowly disappear as the sky turns various shades of orange and yellow behind the iconic skyline, and set against the sparkling lights of the high-rise buildings getting ready to greet the dark, night sky.
Doaba Deli on the Upper West side of Manhattan is a Punjabi dhaba style restaurant named after the Doaba region of northern Punjab. It is a small space and the decorations sparse, but what the dhaba lacks in ambiance it makes up in its tasty, very affordable food. In India, dhabas are roadside restaurants while lacking ambiance, serve up quick, delicious and cheap food. They are great stops for the truck drivers, cab drivers, and pretty much anyone else taking a road trip, similar to diners in the United States. Doaba Deli on the Upper West side near Columbia University reminds me of an Indian dhaba, and just like in India, New York City cabbies go in and out of the dhaba, grabbing tasty morsels of the all vegetarian menu. The food here is as authentic as it can get outside of India. While I haven’t been to Punjab yet, I have to been my share of dhabas in India and Doaba’s flavors are close to enough to those in India.
Travel Muse Moumita 