Birds of Hebbal Lake, Bangalore

Flocks of Pelicans roaming around the lake

These pictures were taken during a visit to Herbal lake some time ago.  Fortune to see many different bird species and it was a feast for eyes to see lots of pelicans in the lake.  Never seen them before outside captivity.

Pelicans chasing a cormorant for fish

A Brahmini Kite taking rest

Amsterdam Visit

I visited Amsterdam during Feb this year and that happened to be the coldest climate they have faced for last 10 years.  The whole of Europe was chilling in cold and at Amsterdam it was -13C.  That was the coldest I have faced.  The whole city was filled with snow and it was the first time I am in such a place.  It was a wonderful experience.  I had earlier visited Sugar Mountain in North Carolina where I had been among snow, but that was nothing compared to what I saw here.  I was with some collegues for a business meeting here and in between we took time to visit some key places in Amsterdam.  The climate was a deterrent to venture out for longer to get a good feel of the city.

Snow filled ground with Van Gogh Museum in the background

We visited the Van Gogh Museum which is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, dedicated to the works of the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world. The museum had 1,600,300 visitors in 2011. It is the most visited museum in the Netherlands and the 23rd most visited art museum worldwide.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Amsterdam is famous for many other museums among which the Rijksmuseum is the most famous.  It is the Dutch national museum dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art.

The streets of Amsterdam were a treat to eyes with buildings lined along the neat streets all in Amsterdam's Renaissance Architecture.  The buildings are one of the icons of the city and is very recognizable due to their unique elevation.

Cruise Boat on a Frozen Canal

Amsterdam is famous for the canals which are in the heart of the city. These canals were built in 17th century to help in transportation and defense of the city. 

Canals are built around the center of Amsterdam in a circular shape.  Commercial and residential buildings are situated on the banks of the canal.

During this time, most of the canals were frozen and hence not usable.  We were told that they haven't frozen for last 10 years.  We found locals and tourists playing on the canal bed by skating and playing ice hockey.  It was a good thing to see while terrifying with the thought about what if the ice slab breaks.

Queen's Palace, Dam Square

The Royal Palace at Dam Square is used by Queen Beatrix. The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The building became the royal palace of King Louis Napoleon and later of the Dutch Royal House. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam, opposite the War Memorial.

Madame Tussauds Museum, Dam Square

Dam Square also host other important buildings like Madame Tussauds Museum, War Memorial etc.

Amsterdam Central Station

Public transportation in Amsterdam is mainly through buses, trams, Metro and long distance trains. The Amsterdam Central is the main station where you can get into any of them. 

Heineken Museum

We also went to Heineken Museum in Amsterdam, even though we couldn't take a tour.  The tour for the day was closed, so we visited the museum shop and picked up some souvenirs.

Bicycles Parked Near Canal

Cycling as a mode of transportation is very popular in Amsterdam. Due to cold and snow, most were parked on the roadside. We saw more cycles than people on road.

Dutch East India Company Ship

Sydney In Pictures

Sydney Harbor View from Rosebay

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Visit to Hebbal Lake, Bangalore

Lilly Flowers at Hebbal Lake

On an invitation from my bird expert colleague, I went to Hebbal lake.  I have been planning to visit this place for a long time, but finally covered it after being in Bangalore for a long time.  We heard that there are pelicans and other migratory birds like Ibis here at this time and we went on to explore. We started early since our aim is to see birds.  Reached there around 6:30am and the part was open.  During day time (post 9:30am) there is an entry fee charged for casual visitors.  Early morning visitors for birding and morning walk are free. 

Lepakshi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple, Andhra Pradesh

While returning from Belum Caves (Read about this in my previous post), we stayed in Anantapur at Hotel Sapthagiri Balla.  It is a very good hotel in this town with attached veg (Chutnees) and multi-cuisine (Spice) restaurants.  After a nice rest, we had breakfast at the attached Chutnees restaurant (buffet breakfast was included in the room charge), we started towards Lepakshi.

Lepakshi is a small village located in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.  It is around 120km north of Bangalore.  The Veerabhadra Swamy temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is located here.  The temple is built in Vijayanagar architecture style and has excellent sculptures built by Vijayanagar empire artisans.  The temple also has a repository of mural paintings of Vijayanagar kings and gods.  A reference to this temple is made in the 'Skandapurana' as one of the hundred and eight important Shiva temples. This temple is a visual treat to anyone interested in historic sculptures and architecture showing the skill of the our predecessors.