Winter

You walk out to your balcony on a chilly morning with a hot cup of coffee and you notice the absolutely clear blue skies and the entire city in front of you covered in a blanket of white soft cotton, the sun beaming down, following squirrel trains left on them and suddenly a chill hits you giving you goose bumps all over.

It's beautiful unless the white color gets over you; but also gives you a lot of reason for colorful mufflers and sweaters keeping you warm and as someone truly quoted "if it weren't for winter the spring would not have been pleasant".  Days are short and when the sun is out the evenings are beautiful with skies filled with shades of orange and red.

I spent an entire winter in Denver a couple of years back and later in Boston and all I can say is there is lot of snow.  With Denver having more harsh weather compared to Boston, both places had one thing in common; they look absolutely beautiful under snow.

Autumn

It was Denver when I saw the colors and was completely awestruck with what nature has to and can offer.  After about 3 years I see the magic being recreated around me once again... wonderful & beautiful Boston.

Its amazing how colorful it gets... Greens, Orange, Yellow, Red and Browns all around you... its sad that an absolutely colorless time will follow this time of the year very soon.

For now, I would just enjoy the most colorful time of the year with the chilly breeze around, the green leaves turning yellow and orange and the darker green turning red, the colors perfectly placed against white, black and blue (when sunny) backgrounds, different shapes & sizes and to top it all its Halloween.

My experience in Denver was completely different than in Boston and every city has its own character.  Pictures don't do much justice and as someone told me once; at times you just need to witness and leave your camera behind...

For more pictures my photostream on flickr and facebook

My very short trip to Boston

I am finally on my way to Bangalore, after a real short trip to Boston, MA for an official assignment.  With just a couple of weeks to go for my wedding, this trip came in as a good little break from the proceedings and running around for the wedding back home. 

Well you don't get much time for photography on short official trips so didn't have much time for photography or to go around in Boston.  However, the weekend turned out to be quite interesting I must say.

Boston - just one word... Beautiful.  From all the cities that I have travelled in the US, Boston was one of the cities that really impressed me.  A very vintage city with amazing architecture around you - Cathedrals, Churches, Government Buildings, all of them about 150 years old; vintage America.  Narrow roads covered with trees on both the sides.  Well the leaves had already withered away but I am sure, autumns would be extremely beautiful.

I was visiting a few to-be-in-laws in Boston where I passed Medford and Salem on the way.  One very interesting fact that I got to know about Medford was, it’s the birth place of the "Jingle Bells" jingle.  Medford and Salem both were important places in the American Revolution which again started in Boston.  A lot of American history awaits you in MA.

My sister visited me in the last few days to see me off... After a very long time almost 13 years, it was the first time we spent time together.  Day one it was Cuban food at Naked fish and the next two days we spent shopping and it really was the most wonderful time of the year.

I did learn the secret behind hunting down the sales hidden in the stores... Miss you a lot sis!

Boston Downtown on my final day gave the finishing touches to my trip.  Already impressed by the city, Boston Downtown was brilliant.  Beautiful Architecture all around you, the concrete jungle is difficult to leave behind.  Finally got my hands on some Orange chicken at Panda Express and once again some amazing discounts at Oakley!  Well the holiday season definitely got some amazing deals.

For some reason, I always make it to the US during the winter time.  The weather back in Boston was COLD, with a few rough days.  It’s pretty interesting to see the weather change in Boston, from crazy snow in the morning to maddening rain in the afternoon - Amazing.

All in all, I had a great time at Boston, some good work, some quality time with my sister, some amazing shopping and finally got my hands on White Chocolate Mocha at Logan International Airport.

Err... while ranting about Boston on my blog at Logan International Airport, a grocky voice announced Desai, Vandan in a heavy American accent.  Not sure what the announcement was for; I hurried my way to Gate 7A and viola... I got an upgrade to Business Class for some extremely strange reason which I have no clue and I didn't bother to ask for.  The icing on the cake was when I realized after boarding the flight that I was flying Business Class throughout the trip :)

Hello Bangalore, I'm back!!!