VIENNA

We left Bratislava in Slovakia with a smile ,it was one of the good trips we have had .
The luxury bus to Vienna was very comfortable with free WIFI ,entertainment console ,and mineral water .the seat was soft push back and roomy ,the windows were wide and the scenes were awesome ,with all this the one and half hour ride was over before we realized and we got down the Vienna bus stand .
Like in most developed cities the Bus station was part of a huge complex with metro at one level so we descended down to the Metro and managed to make an online call to our hotel in a place called PilgrimGasse .
The hotel reception gave us very clear instructions ,we were advised to get on to the red line
 ( Vienna Metro has five lines marked in different colors ,106 stations and covered around 75 kms .)
We needed to get down at Karlsplatz  station and change to green line and then travel a couple of stations to reach PilgimGasse  and the hotel was just right across the station .

VIENNA METRO STATION

METRO

Tram

in metro

We bought a ticket from the vending machine ,later we realized we could have bought the one day ticket and saved money which we did after some time ,
the one day or two days tickets are very convenient one can travel in bus or metro or tram unlimited with that .it cost 7.60 Euro per ticket approximately 600 INR .

In   a short time we reached PilgrimGasse  a very quaint station with a canal of the Danube flowing near it
 there was a Mc Donald outlet nearby and some shops,
we checked in to Austria Trendz Ananas hotel ,
After freshening up we took the metro again this time with a one day ticket and went to karlzplatz changed trains to Musuems quartier  station by now we got the hang of it ,the metro map was very clear ,one had to be careful to look into the end stations in order not to travel in opposite directions and choose the correct colored line but it was very user friendly and needed no help from anyone .

LEOPOLD MUSEUM

THAI FOOD 

THAI FOOD BUNK

EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH

The  museums Quartier  had  many art gallery's and museums mostly of them of the contemporary  kind ,we went into the Leopold Museum it was very avantgarde with lot of fashionable people walking in the lobby .

We found the admission charges were exorbitant and as both us us were not particular fans of modern art and preferred more realistic ones we gave it a wide berth ,
most of the other museums and galleries there were of the similar kind but the square was big and one could get rest by sitting and people watching ,there was an interactive place for children and a pop music group was setting up for an evening of fun ,
we moved out of the place and then got into a road full of huge buildings palaces and statues the traffic was busy ,

HORSE CARRIAGES IN HERITAGE AREA 

we saw a huge complex with picturesque fountains and a huge square where only walking was allowed .
we came to know this was the famous Hofsburg  Palace This was the traditional winter residence of the aristocracy who ruled Austria while the Schonbrunn palace was the summer residency 
it faced the Helden platz .
The sprawling Hofsburg square had many statues,manicured gardens and sitting places 

it had several parts to it

The imperial apartments ,The Sisi museum ,the imperial silver collection ,The ancient music institute ,the Spanish riding school ,the Museum of fine arts ,collection of arms and Armour ,the national library in the Grand hall ,the imperial chapel ,the treasury ,the papyrus museum ,butterfly museum .
We took a ticket to enter the place 
it had two parts one the SISI museum where no photography was allowed and secondly the Imperial collections where photography was allowed 
SISI or queen Elisabeth required a separate museum for her tale was long and poignant 


SISI is so famous that books have been written and movies taken 




The Hobsburg dynasty ruled Austria for around two hundred years and during this time Austria became famous as a center of artistic living , fashion ,architecture ,music  and science too .
It was the hub of culture music and art in Europe in those bohemian days .
Vienna had the likes of Sigmund Freud , Mozart ,Beethoven and later Lenin ,Stalin ,Tito Trotsky and Hitler rubbing shoulders literally ,
they may have been  in its coffee bars probably espousing their beliefs .
it was a fountain head of culture itself .
This can be seen in the medieval buildings in the historical area of the city .
Huge crowds of tourists throng the roads of this area ,and the towering Gothic cathedrals ,fairy tale castles with tall spires ,up market branded shops vying for space in the midst of sculpted art and fountains .


We went into the SISI museum ,we were given ear plugs which gave recorded audio information by designated numbers of exhibits .

We learnt that Elisabeth a young playful adventurous girl related to the royal family living with her family n Bavaria who later  become the Empress of Austria itself by marrying the king Franz Joseph who was smitten by her charms .
SISI s tastes were exquisite and her passion for horse riding ,acrobatics ,and sports made her make lot of changes to the palace ,her dresses were the talk of the town and considered as the height of fashion ,she was a social butterfly and at the center of things with her charisma but she also felt she was in  a gilded cage in the palace as she longed for her more carefree childhood .

She bore children ,grew into middle age ,her husband the king was mostly busy , though he loved his wife .

She would go to other places dressed as a countess , to hide her identity and it was once during one  such a trip an anarchist who was anti royal murdered her .He stabbed her with a thin knife ,Sisi never knew it happeneing and was confused but after some time fell down bleeding thoguh she was taken to a nearby hosue she died .
Sisi was written on much and more than three films have been taken on her life .

HOFSBURG PALACE 

Then we moved in to the imperial palace and saw  its kitchen vessels ,decorated table and sanitary ware ,weapons jewelry furniture all these were grand and splendid 
after coming out of the Hobsburg palace  

ROYAL CRYSTAL COLLECTIONS 

ROYAL JEWELRY

The well known Godess Athena 

Vienna is still called as the city of music ,city of dreams after Freauds famous psychoanalytic theories ,there was a Sigmund Freud museum which we missed it needed a good week to touch all places .

After long hours of plodding through the museum when we were trans positioned to the era of Vienna's monarchy and glory ,the days of Mozart and elegant ballets of horse riding princesses and men in top hats we came out to a cloudy dusk in streets of Vienna ,we quickly took the metro back to our hotel refreshed ourselves and later took the bus to a shopping area which was a couple of broad streets full of upmarket branded shops huge clothing small eateries and a sepulchered church ,the sidewalks were full of people walking shopping watching the fun over cups of coffee there was a Chinese lady blowing huge bubbles using a ladle and the atmosphere was almost fairy tail like  ,we had some Thai noodles from a small bunk before we returned by bus to a well deserved rest in the hotel .

Next day morning saw us tucking into an European breakfast 
with many varieties of cheese different types of breads and croissants fresh fruits sausages which were very tasty unlike any we have had earlier varieties of jams pastries and came out smug with happiness .

We got into the metro changed trains at karlsplatz and reached the Vienna opera house where our tour was to begin ,the Vienna State opera house itself was a sight to be seen 

STREET SCULPTURE

St Stephens Cathedral

the Stephens church stood tall in its Gothic brilliance

built in 1863 it was formally opened by emperor Franz Joseph and empress Sisi Elisabeth and it opened with Don Giovanni of Mozart 
During the second world war at almost the end American forces caused a fire in the opera house and a big part was destroyed and rebuilt only in 1969 almost like the original but with modern acoustics and without much pillars 
Though our tour started there ,it was more of a landmark to start we did not go inside as it was closed in the morning ,there were lot of agents dressed in mediaveal costumes trying to sell tickets to the tourists for the days programme .
We then joined the walking tour of the Ringstrasse or ring road center for historical edifices and shopping paradise and a world heritage site ,
it is around 5.3 km long ,most built in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and it had magnificent ornate houses of many nobles and rich men ,the Parliament house ,the Museum of fine arts and museum of applied arts ,Vienna stock exchange ,city hall .university ,museum of natural history and Gothic votive church Gardens like Volksgarten  Stadstpark burgarten which were once private gardens of emperor Franz Josef ,Sigmund Freud park and Bruno kreisky parks 

The architects were famous and infused historic-ism which meant they infused styles of Baroque ,Gothic and Renaissance .
We walked around the crowded street gazing at the eminent buildings Gothic churches upmarket boutiques ,works of art ,
there were a couple of horse carriages to take tourists around too .

One of the striking heritage buildings is the Votive church built in Gothic fashion it was built in commemoration of a failed attempt on the life of emperor Franz Josef we went inside the hallowed church 

inside the magnificent church

leisurely coffee drinkers in pavement cafes 

After coming back in a circle we reached the starting point of the State opera ,
the walking tour was over and was worth it as we learnt a lot from the guide one of the first places she took was a monument in a square for the thousands of Jews buried below during the second world war ,,we then got into a hop on hop off bus 

Most tourist spots hop on hop off buses are worth using as they give you the freedom to alight and reboard at your will and we can see most important places hearing a running commentary and stop at places we want .Big bus is well known and operating in many cities like Dubai ,in Hong kong ,most cities of Europe ,Australia etc .
but the buses interval comes down by evening this is something we noticed 

Red Bus     hop on hop off

we got down at he massive UNO city ,

UNO BUILDING VIENNA 

UNO city in Veinna 

one needed special permission to go inside which we did not have so we bought a spicy hot dog 
and munched our way into the tallest building in Vienna 
the Danube tower which opened in 1964 it was 827 feet in height it contained radio and cellular towers it had high speed elevators to take people to the viewing chamber at 450 feet with a revolving restaurant on three sides of Danube tower were green woods and gardens and one could see from top the UNO city ,Vienna city itself and the gardens round tower the Danube river and its UFO bridge 
After viewing to our satisfaction we climbed up to the revolving restaurant and had a hot soup and a cold milk shake to revive us ,

AT restaurant on top of Danube towers

We also found out that one need not buy mineral water in Vienna as the tap water was potable and anyone could trust its purity ,
we were exhausted while we returned 

By evening we dressed in our best to go to Schonbrunn palace to listen to a symphony orchestra 

musicians get ready

The Opera hall in Schonbrunn palace

The palace itself was huge though the time for entry was over ,those who had come for the concert went through a side door to give their tickets to liveried assistants standing in regal style 
we reached a hall full of souvenirs ,a wine shop and an anticipating audience who were shepherded inside , the hall itself was not very ornamental but with the lights we came to know of a full orchestra and slowly the lights dimmed and we lost ourselves to the strain of symphony music from the very land that produced greats like Mozart .
The music conductor had wavy long hair and dynamic energy as he went thorough his motions there were a couple of ballets ,a male and female opera singers whose voices had great strength   We came to know it was not easy to be part of such an orchestra 
later the conductor turned towards the audience and told us to clap as he directs as the music unfolded ,he gestured for the audience to start to pick up tempo all with his dance like movements later he would turn to the musicians so that audience earned a rest this was quite interactive and interesting  .
It was cold when we came out ,we hurried to the metro station opposite and alighted the metro and quickly reached our hotel .
Vienna was quite safe and metros and trams went on till midnight .
Next day we again came to schonbrunn palace as

Schonbrunn palace

 We had not seen its exterior fully leave alone the interior for which we had no time as we were to catch the afternoon train to Prague .
The palace was just awesome with vast flat land ,undulating lawns with architectural buildings and arches on both ends looming majestically ,one one side was the well known Maze which we did not attempt ,there were fountains ,waterfalls and horse drawn carriages outside the palace .

We took several photographs and returned  back to our hotel .
We took a bus to the railway station as we had done a rehearsal the previous day it was very comfortable and user friendly we got down at Vienna station and went inside to reach the platform of our train 
The station itself had a roomy food court ,and plenty of shops etc we reached our platform and quickly boarded our train to Prague waving good bye to Vienna .

BIRIYANI AGAIN

Biriyani is one dish which evokes a lot of emotion ,from the Hindu kush down to the hot plains of Tamilnadu a good Biriyani is relished and considered as a boon to the taste buds .

I had written on its history and how I mastered the art of making a decent Biriyani which need not be called by some other name .
This time I want to go into its legends .

http://hariwrite.blogspot.com/2014/02/biriyani.html

There are stories abound on famous Biriyani chefs and how they made it an art of the culinary ,movies were made on some like the Ustad Hotel in Malayalam where the great skill of a Biriyani ustad had the story running .
These are my small experiences with the manna from heaven the Biriyani
Now when the cognoscenti talk of Biriyani it is only Mutton Biriyani nothing less than that .
Chicken Biriyani is something that is ignored amongst the elite but i do like a well made chicken biriyani too
so is beef and fish Biriyani
vegetable biriyani though i like it is for the cows they say

Lucknowi biriyani is straight from the kitchen of the Awadhi nawabs the famed Dum pukth method of cooking mutton in its juices and mixing with saffron rice to bring out a flavor fit for the Nawabs
when the British drove the Nawab into exile in Kolkata along with his small retinue of caretakers , the much impoverished chef added potatoes and eggs to the Biriyani creating the kolkata style of today !

Potatoes are also used in Maharashtra Biriyani with mutton and rice cooked in layers
in Sind in Pakistan the Biriyani is more spicier

Hyderabd Biriyani has got the crown for the best Biriyani
The kitchens of the Hyderabdi Nawab formatted the delicacy over the years with the tender mutton cooked in its juices blended in layers with half cooked aromatic Basmati rice .

Down south we have the Ambur Biriyani ,Ambur is a small town in Bangalore Coimbatore highway which because of the Arcot nawabs adopted a style of Biriyani similar to Hyderabdi but the mutton is soaked in curd giving a different taste
Dindigul biriyani is different made of shorter fatter rice with lot of pepper it has its own fans
then came the famous chef with a head gear ,as such gear is called Thalapakettu in Tamil this became a brand of Biriyani today with several franchises called Thalakapettu biriyani outlets .
in Kerala specially in north kerala the Tellicherry Biriyani uses kyma rice and cooks chicken or mutton gravy separately later mixing with rice with lot of dry fruits in it
each of its fans say their type is best

way back in the seventies if one wanted a good Biriyani in Madras todays Chennai one headed to the Buharis either one near the central railway station or in mount road ,one near the beach was more for leisure food like a languorous tea with crunchy samosas or a bevy of pastry left on table to tempt you to be taken with red coloured chai which could be drunk in gallons ,
many of my afternoons were spent in this place with friends when i did a short stint in the presidency college just opposite to this place .

The other famous place was the imperial hotel most rich Muslim marriages took place here and we waited for the next invitation eagerly
The big dining hall would be filled with the aroma and the hospitable hosts would seat us in comfort
there were two types of Biriyani served in marriages one was mutton in rice for the slightly budget conscious though it wasnt cheap at all here the mutton pieces were inside the rice the superior alternative was the rice in mutton where tender succulent huge mutton pieces which melted like butter filled the tray with aromatic rice around it this was taken with Raitha made of curd and a Brinjal curry and to end it with a fine Semaya kheer was ambrosia itself
these days one can never get such Biriyanis
the packing places like Golden Biryani in Chennai were also quite good today the number of Biriyani joints is mind boggling and an online search and order is the only way out to get the best

Down in Cochin the kayees in downtown Mattancherry with its narrow streets was known for its legendary chef kayeekka hotel

Ikka in muslim malayalam lingo is elder brother this ikka was definitely an elder brother in Biriyani to all
The place was small but neat
many including me used to take packets and eat at home instead of eating there i still remember kayee kka standing shirtless near the counter directing all to get the packs quick and hot ,he would direct its making when it was over and that was fast
that man really created magic with his Biriyanis
Today they say the upmarket version in Ernakulam the kayees restaurant is not that good neither the original in Mattancherry though i haven't tried myself .
with kayeekka no more only his memories juice those biryanis today

what a great dish and what wonderful artists were needed to make it
A dish fit for the Gods themselve

Steam Engine

Most of youngsters wouldn't have seen a steam engine leave alone travelling in one ..
i had traveled a lot in many such. ,till around ten years of age, by then diesel engines replaced them
later came electric trains ..

somehow the romance of travelling in a train seemed lost in electric engines with its mechanical soul , gliding soundless mobility and antiseptic atmosphere.
Even the horn sounded more like a truck.

The shrill hoot of a steam engine accompanied by spray of steam and vapor pouring out of its grief or anger or pleasure had a life of its own .
The huge wheels swung slowly but surely after the hoot and the train tumbled from the platform with grace and dignity giving time for its passengers some of whom would stray to different parts of the station to have a cup of chai , eat a samosa , or pick a plantain.
Like a doting mother waiting for its child to catch up the steam engine train would move slowly unlike the electric or diesel alternatives who would accelerate with a vengeance.
Far into the night insomniac children like me with their faces pressed on the window bars would be gifted a lovely sight of a far off black engine on a curve puffing powerfully with red coal embers spraying into the cold fields on both sides.
Passing stations would disappear like in a mirage with solitary men standing with lighted beacons and extended keys and green lanterns to prod it in its onward journey to infinity.
The exertions of the engines would find a much needed rest in big stations called junctions where a thirsty engine would have a water hose pouring water into it cooling its insides.
At these times one could walk up to the engines feeling its warmth , watch its mighty pistons. , the reddish glow of its fire looking like hell itself , though none had lived to see the hell we just assumed this would be so .

We could see the hero of the engine the driver and the fireman , men of the earth , with soot filled faces full of cheer in their
Sweaty , dirty , gritty. ,with coal dust , grimy , these chimney stakes would still give smiles of love that no mechanical drivers would.
Day and night we would travel with no care
There was no sense of urgency to reach our destination in fact as children most wanted it to continue forever .

handkerchief tied scalps.

most kids when asked what do you want to be when you grow up would answer with no hesitation an engine driver of course.
I too did same.
Reaching our station we would sadly walk to the front of the train , whispering our farewell to the machine that lived , not in the least minding the soot , the grit , the coal bits in our steel hard hair.

We would give anything to go in the train till it reached the end of the world.
But diesel engines or electric engines could never do that magic
Maybe by then we grew up
Oh to be a child again...

Ona Sadhya

Welcome to the Gods own FEAST  ival

The mother of all Sadhyas

To The feast of Gods

To one Created for the Mahabali…..

THE ONASADHYA !!!!

Be it the toddy loving or kattan Chaya gulping mallu

Be you a Potbellied or slim waisted beauty you all will love it

 Served on an ecological Banana leaf with its point to the left side of the guest

The hot food melds with the green leaf emanating  a divine flavour churning the gastronomic juices long before the Mallu tucks into his Sadhya .

Every single dish in the leaf has its place and purpose and is a brilliant combination of visual temptation and titillating flavours which tingle the taste buds.

 Ona sadhya is an art, with science behind every item which numbers anything from a humble twenty to a luxurious sixty five.

Each item has a place in the leaf handed down as a tradition and can be placed only in its place   so say connoisseurs

Pickles should be in top left upper, below is banana chips and sarkara upperi ,and pappadom

Inji puli kootukurry thoran kalan olan avial erissery on upper half of leaf once all these are placed hot rice is served in lower centre ,

Boiled rice (brown par boiled) pazizham digests faster than polished white rice

Sambhar is king of the Sadhya  thick concoction of lentils tamarind vegetables asofoetida and coconut

Avial is the minister of the Sadhya : its mixed vegetables in ground coconut  said to have been invented by Bhima himself hiding as a cook the day  he needed a quick recipe

Kalan :  yam and raw banana simmered thick in tangy yoghurt sauce

Thoran  : vegetables stir fried in grated coconut

Elissery   : pumpkin and red beans in grated coconut gravy

Olan   : Ash gourd and red beans in coconut milk

Puli inji  : Tamarind with ginger which gives a pungent tickle and helps in digestion

Pickle  : cut mango or lime which brings out the saliva to dilute your food

Kootucurry :thick curry of yam ,black channa and grated coconut 

Moru : butter milk to cool the embers in the stomach

Rasam: Tamarind soup well known as mulligatawny soup by the British

Banana chips: yellow raw banana crispies fried in coconut oil and sarkara upperi is the one coated with jaggery

Pappadam big and small

Ghee is poured on lentils or parippu

Ada Payasam dessert made of rice bits called Ada in condensed milk which tastes divine. Diabetics are forgiven today

One starts with banana chips and then inji puli to open up the taste buds and then take parippu with ghee later sambhar, rasam and then payasam finally buttermilk or curd

And after you belch once you finish its important how you fold your leaf if towards you it means you are satiated if other way it means something is lacking in the feast

so be careful of how  you do it !