Snook's Shack

Can I call this play of colors? The resort where we stayed in Key Largo had a small restaurant in a shack style. In my home country, and in my state - Kerala, one can find these type of shacks, or rather call them in even local sense as typical Thattukada: - a smallscale roadside fast food eatery, which could be family owned and having limited items on the menu.
Even though I live in the bay area here in the US, I rarely get to enjoy dinner and a drink by the beach or for that matter facing the ocean. This was one such rare moment, with the restaurant lights reflecting in the beach and the twilight zone captured in all its self. The second picture is of the same restaurant which had one of its dining places on stilts inside the bay.

And after all this, who would want to miss the lovely sunset.

Contrast

Capturing the beauty of a sunset on the Miami Beach, one summer evening. What I love about this picture is its contrasting shades of blue and pink. Yeah this photo is primarily comprised of these two colors only, though you can catch a tinge of yellow on the guard house. The white sands of Miami has turned into pink by the hue of the sun, and the most surprising thing is that day sunset was not even visible, it was just the beauty of the clouds and the partial sun which gave the sand this color.

As beautiful as a bride's Vail

Our spring '08 vacation to one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world, Vail, CO. As such Colorado, the land of the Rocky Mountains is the ski capital of US, and here this small town with a population of less than 5000 people but with more than 1.5 million visitors every year is so beautiful with a small village with mountains on the backdrop. The total area of the village is just about 5 sq miles.

This is enroute Vail on US state road 40. The road is fully covered with snow that it loses the significance of the posted speed limit.

Presenting Vail CO, shown here are the Condominiums. It is obvious that this small little village thrives with tourism. Everywhere you can see buildings which have a European rustic beauty to it. You can almost cover the whole place by foot, except up the mountains of course.

Part of them resorts and partly shops and dining. I heard this place is famous for weddings, with some of them happening up on the mountains and then the couple would ski down the slope for an icy cool wedding.

Ice rink with kids playing on it. Notice the sky-bridge connecting the buildings, giving importance to the architectural beauty.

On the streets, note this marvelous piece of the artist where the doors open to let out the angels peep and while the bells strike to the count of the clock.

On the top of the summit at around 10,500ft. The highest point is another 1000 ft high while the base itself is around 8100 ft high above sea level.

To choose your way down is either to ski or skate or the gondola which also gives a beautiful view of the village.

Taking time off

The real pleasure of having a job and working comes not when you get your pay check, coz atleast thats just money going to the bank for me; but its the long awaited vacations you get from work. Its been almost a half year since I graduated from college and started working, and here I am from the sunny and warm Florida to the chilly and snow-scaped Rocky Mountains, in Denver, Colorado.
I am a travel enthusiast and thanks to everything, my family, my education, my job... which got me in such a place where traveling is as easy as 1, 2, 3... book your tickets, check about the places on internet, pack your bags and well fly... or errr not a good idea to drive, when everyone's talking about gas prices.
On a similar note something caught my attention this morning, where an American Airlines flight flew across the Atlantic from Chicago to London with just 5 passengers. C'mon a real sad thing to happen, wasting an enormous 22,000 gallons of fuel.

Make your trip

For a long time I have had a passion to travel to the South Americas, learn the Spanish Language etc. My passion remains a passion whether I have dedication to learn the language or not. I have been in Florida for more than 2 years now, and have come to a stage where communicating in Spanish is the second best thing to do when it comes to talking to a worker- plumber, electrician, shop keeper etc (those local shops). It is by far the most spoken language after English of course... Me being from India can speak about 3-4 Indian languages fluently and manage another 3-4 languages.

Talking about South America and Spanish, my next big trip in mind is an adventurous trip to my neighbouring country, a trip to the Bahamas, a relaxing vacation by the beach, surfing the high and low tides, enjoying the warm and sunny days (hey not that Florida beaches are not so good, but maybe this would be better). So why not thinking a bit further south, maybe the Jamaicas, Cuba, Puerto Rico, or how about Venezuela or else.... gaawwwwddd BRAZIL. There's the famous Salvador in the north, Sao Paulo in the South and the Rio De Janeiro, where you get everything from mountain climbing to sea surfing to partying @ the clubs and the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer etc. So here am I already planning for my (God only knows when it'll happen) vacation and as an early preparation, started searching google and reading stuff off the net etc, to know what would be the best time to visit, best places to visit, things to do etc, and here I tumble upon this best and cheapest way to travel to Rio.. So here it goes, be a sport, and an adventure seeker and do it the right way...



Activity to do:- Go to maps.google.com and enter origin as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Destination as (Anywhere where you are located in the United States) Tampa, Florida.
In this case, (click on the image to get a bigger picture) check out step # 19. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean (wow no need to worry about customs, immigration, flight tickets etc ) and guess what save money as well as time too...Ask google for time saving tips too...

Relaxing

Enjoying a warm and sunny day in Naples beach, I believe he is called the Kittiwake, found mainly in the coastal areas in North America ad Europe. I caught him unawares while on my vacation to Naples beach, during my spring break while I was in school. Oh how much I used to love those fall and spring breaks, taking time off the school; exploring new beaches and enjoying the warm sunny vacations.

The other side of twilight

This is the view right across my home during the twilight time. What you see as tiny lights is actually the row of houses across the lake- a no name lake ;).. If you can notice the small board on the right side of the image, it says, No Swimming ! Aligators Present...C'mon its Florida and famous for the gators.