TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

An unexpected trip was the highlight of the month of April for me. A dinner with friends sometime in March resulted in a last minute decision to collectively travel together to India to attend another friend's wedding. Kathakali Dancer (female character), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (2016) A quick booking of air tickets was followed by an application for an e-tourist visa for the visit. With the air tickets confirmed and the e-tourist visa approved, I was soon booked for my quick 2-day trip to the city of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala State of India. Despite the short trip, everything about the trip was new and interesting to me. This was my first time visiting India and I was glad I made the short weekend trip despite my initial doubts about taking time off from my busy work schedule.  Indian-style breakfast, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (2016) This was also my first time attending an Indian traditional wedding and to do so in India itself makes th

Toulouse, is located in the south-western region of France and is the capital city of Haute-Garrone. It is also known as the Pink City because of the unique architecture of some of the buildings in the city which use pink terracotta bricks. Home to European Aerospace giant, Airbus, Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France after Paris, Lyon and Marseille. I visited Toulouse for the first time in 2005 to attend an international symposium on System Engineering. In-between the conferences, seminars and meetings of the various chapters of the symposium, I managed to find some time to walk around and enjoy this beautiful southern French city. The highlight of my short sight-seeing walking trips in was my visit to the Capitole (a.k.a Place du Capitole). This magnificent building houses the City Hall, the Orchestra (Theatre National du Capitole Orchestra) and the Opera House. The 8 pink marble columns create a unique architectural style worthy of the attention of many budding