Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Travel: Verona, Italy

City of love We are in Verona, it is a sunny day and we are set to go gawp at Juliet’s house. Gulietta, daughter of the house of Capuleti, who happened to fall unsuitably in love with a certain Romeo, remember? Even as I try and call to mind lines from the play dealing with…

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Travel: Assisi, Italy

A Medieval wonder   Assisi, the hometown of St Francis, is the prettiest hill town ever, according to Sheila Kumar. It is a grey day, leaden clouds scudding over dull skies, a threat of rain in the moisture-laden air, the day we visit Assisi, in the Umbrian region of Italy. I refuse to be cowed…

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Travel: Rome, Italy

  A Roman Odyssey Rome isn’t just the Vatican City. Sheila Kumar travels across the heart of the city and still has energy left over to gasp in awe and delight.  Our hotel is just across the magnificent Collosseum. Rome that morning, is a balmy 18 degrees Celsius, brilliant sunshine, fluffy white clouds scudding  across…

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Travel: Stresa, Italy

Sojourn in Stresa Discover a delightful resort town by the splendid Lake Maggiore. Every corner I turn affords me yet another glimpse of the lovely lake, brisk moisture-laden winds playing on its surface. I AM looking at a landscape in blue. In fact, I am in a landscape of blue, the blue used by Tiepolo…

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Travel: Burano, Italy

    Drenched in colour SHEILA KUMAR drinks in the sights on the gorgeous Italian island of Burano The profusion of colour in Burano seems to follow no set colour codes; it just celebrates something intangible Sometimes, Venice tends to overwhelm with its sheer uniqueness, its grandiose, decaying beauty. You visit Venice and feel it’s a sort…

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Travel: Venice, Italy

Photo: Yaj Malik Magic, pure and simple Venice is so breathtaking, it is impossible to be objective about it ALL of Venice is ablaze with lights at night. The dark emerald waters of the lagoon lap against decrepit walls. As our vaporetto (water taxi) glides past old palazzos, open windows permit us to look directly into…

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Travel: Florence, Italy

  Tricks of the eye In Florence, what you see may not be what you get. In fact, Florence had pulled a number on me but I’m not complaining. The city lay spread out at my feet, looking more than a trifle dull in the mid-morning haze. I am on Piazzale Michelangelo, atop a hill on…

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