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Fernweh (n.) - farsickness

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The beautiful domes of Sergev Posad The Germans have some beautifully descriptive words, associated with travel. The one that I have been relating to most, during these COVID-19 lockdown days, is ' Fernweh '. Quite literally, it means 'farsickness', as in the antonym for 'homesickness'. It is a word that the Germans would use to describe the longing for far-off unseen places and it is the word that I am going to use to describe what I'm feeling at the moment! Nothing about being housebound has bothered me as much as the fact that I cannot actually travel anywhere to see new places. Oh, what I would give to book a last-minute deal, pack a small bag and bound off for a quick city-break, somewhere that isn't where I am at the moment! Flying over the Hummingbird, Nazca Desert Perhaps the Germans love to travel - they must do, otherwise why would they have so many travel-related words? I was born into an Indian community that has the trave...

Tripping off the Taj

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Mid-term holidays at school and two single-ish mums in Gurgaon with three tweenies between them to keep entertained, so we decide to go to Agra for the weekend to introduce the children to the epitome of Mughal architectural wonder. To tell you the truth, it was more to relive our childhood trips to the city of the Taj. So we set off on a Saturday morning at about 8 from Gurgaon via the Faridabad road. The car bumped along a non-road for the longest time until we caught the NH2 at Faridabad, after which the journey was fairly smooth. We entered the city limits of Agra at about noon, having stopped on the way for a loo and a couple of puking breaks. It took us another half an hour to find the hotel that we had chosen to stay at - Hotel Grand, rated 3 stars by the online booking website we had used. Although a little run-down with some renovation work happening, the hotel and its staff seemed pleasant enough. It was situated in the Agra cantonment area, so seemed safe....