Shruthi Geographic

Daffy Duck at Washington Monument

]]> Found this cute little fella drying his (or her?) feathers on a warm fall evening near Washington Monument.

Restaurant Mostrose Da Ernesto

]]> This is the Restaurant Mostrose Da Ernesto in Luzern, Switzerland. One of the well-known Italian restaurants in town, it's near the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) across the Reuss River.

The photo was taken with my Nokia N73's 3.2 megapixel camera!

Photo Friday: Loud

]]> Nothing defines loud as well as a Formula 1 car! (Well, not really.)

(Photo by my partner-in-crime at Grand Prix du Canada)

Nandi at Chamundi Hills, Mysore

]]> This is the Nandi bull at Chamundi Hills, Mysore. Quite a picnic spot, some would say. Commonly seen at temples of Lord Shiva across India, it is a custom to seek Nandi's blessings when you visit the temple.

Lord Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles

]]> At the Sharnga guest house in Auroville, we found this cute statue of Lord Ganesh, the remover of all obstacles, right in the middle of a small garden.

In case you've been going through the image EXIFs, these photos come from my new Canon DC40 DVD camcorder, and not the trusty old PowerShot A75.

Tiruvannamalai: Ramana Maharshi's Abode

]]> This is hardly what you would expect at Tiruvannamalai, a small town en route to Pondicherry from Bangalore. It is, of course, well known for the Ramana Maharshi ashram.

Pushkarni at Hampi

]]> The Pushkarni is a stepped tank in a symmetrical formation, with water being supplied from a stone aqueduct.

According to the Wikipedia article on Vijayanagara Architecture, this falls under the Western Chalukya-Hoysala style tank, seen in many parts of Karnataka.

Lakshmi Narasimha Statue at Hampi

]]> One of the finest examples of Vijayanagara sculpture at Hampi, this is the famous monolithic Lakshmi Narasimha (the fourth incarnataion of Vishnu). Narasimha is seated on the giant coils of Adishesha, the guardian snake of Vishnu, with its seven hoods acting as a canopy.

The statue is 6.7m tall.

Photo Friday: Angry

]]> That's one angry little monkey who was convinced someone's out to steal its mango.

This pic comes from a weekend trip to Chamundi Hills, Mysore.

Why Paris is called the City of Love

]]> This photo is from a good old film camera, taken from a tour bus in Paris on our trip.

When we were in Paris, we could not go to the Louvre as a movie was apparently being shot there. We were wondering if it was the The Da Vinci Code - it had started filming around that time.

Photo Friday: Four - Statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt

]]> The obvious narcissist, Ramses II, inspired many a poet - including P. B. Shelley who wrote Ozymandias.

This guy left his mark in almost all of Egyptian history. Having ruled the country for nearly 70 years, he had more than a hundred children from 35 wives.

Photo Friday: Common

]]> The most common sight in New York City - the Yellow Cab.

Okay, these things may seem expensive but if you are not into walking, this is the way to travel in New York (next to the subway and the bus, of course).

Sunset Over Cairo

]]> This was taken from a plane while departing from Cairo. You can't see the Pyramids when the plane takes off as the Giza Plateau is quite far from the airport.

Another beautiful sight is when the plane flies over the Sinai peninsula and the Red Sea. Yummy is one word that comes to my mind!

Tulips at Pier 39

]]> Taken during a display of tulips at Pier 39, San Francisco.

Zürich Hauptbahnhof

]]> This is the Zürich Hauptbahnhof, or main train station, where you can get trains to almost all parts of Switzerland as well as the neighbouring countries of Germany, France, Italy and Austria.

The statue you see on the left is that of Alfred Escher, responsible for establishing Zürich as a major banking centre. He was one of the founders of Credit Suisse.