Saturday 30 April 2016

Book Haul/// Books from Cambridge Book Depot, Mussoorie. Signed Ruskin Bond Books! :)

Hello! 

This might be the happiest book haul I've shared on this blog. 
I didn't intend to buy any books on my recent trip.
We had one suitcase and honestly no room to carry extras back with us. 
But my sister first came across The Cambridge Book Depot while out on work. She went in and picked up three books, all Ruskin Bond, all signed :) 
She also spoke to the kind owner of the place and left one of my books to get signed by Mr. Bond. :)
I had carried two of my Ruskin Bond books to maybe get signed but mostly so I could read them while I was on holiday. :) 

I went to Mussoorie 2 days later and bought all of these books :)
All of the Ruskin Bond books are signed and so special.
I also wanted to pick up some other local writer- I choose Stephen Alter and picked up 2 of his books as well. 
I highly recommend stopping by this bookshop. It is full of books and it simply a delightful place to spend time. Plus signed copies!
And every Saturday Ruskin Bond himself visits the shop and you can meet him and get books signed. I was flying out on Saturday and couldn't meet him. :( 
Hopefully next time! 
:) 

Let's jump into the haul now..It's long post so get comfortable and maybe get a beverage! 
:) 



All of my precious Signed copies of Ruskin Bond books! 
So lovely! 
I'll cherish these books forever! 
Books Bought: 

Life 
A Long Walk for Bina
Favourite Ghost Stories from Around the World 
Time Stops at Shamli
The Room on the Roof 
A Book of Simple Living 
A Gathering of Friends 
The Writer from The Hills 
Friends in Wild Places



















I also got these 2 Tinkle Double Digests. 
It isn't summer holidays without reading these delightful comics. 


Two of the Stephen Alter books I got..
The Rataban Betrayal
&
The Secret Sanctuary. 


I am so in love with these books! 
:) 

They make me so happy! 


Friday 29 April 2016

Travel Diary: Landour, Mussoorie; Day 2.

Hello!
Day 2 was a chilled out one.
My sister had some work to do and left soon after breakfast for the rest of the working day. 
I spend my morning sipping coffee and taking in the beauty all around me.
It was the most chilled out day of our holiday, for me. 
I read a little bit.
Sat in the swing.
Took a ton of pictures of flowers.
Took a long, leisurely bath.
Got ready.
Took a stroll.
Chilled in the room.
Ordered room service.
Had tea.
And soon my sister was back in the hotel.
In the evening we hung out with some of her colleagues and had some delicious Indian food for dinner. 

A slow but perfect day! 

Here are some pictures from my second day in Landour. 


Golden hour. 


Views from breakfast!
I wish I could share the sound of this morning. The birdsong, the chirping of crickets. It was magical. 


Breakfast- this marmalade was delicious!
And I want that Danish right about now! 


Morning light and bright scenes. 


From our breakfast nook. 


Swing Times--- Kindle Reading and my gorgeous phone cover sunning themselves. 



Lunch Scenes/// Salad with beetroot and broccoli.
Transferring some pictures on the laptop and reading my book. 


Post lunch coffee in bed. 


Our hotel had so many magazines lying around and I spend my nights cozy in bed flipping through magazines. 


Chai time! 
Plus Sugar Cookies! 
:)
Yum! 



Steep mountain stairs. 
Or..a happy sunny spot. 

Day 3 was a day of going out and seeing things and hiking. That post will be up soon! 

:) 

Thursday 28 April 2016

Travel Diary: Landour, Mussoorie; Day- 1.

Hello! 

This is day 1 of my travel adventure to Landour and Mussoorie. 

Our day began early for our flight at 11:50 am. Since Mumbai traffic can be insane, we left home at 7:30 am!
Got to the airport by 8:20 am and after long lines at check-in counters and security check, we were done and ready by 8:45 am or so. 

It was a bit of a wait for our flight.
Luckily we were at T2 and there was plenty to see and plenty to eat and plenty quiet spots to sit and chill.
My sister was busy working on her laptop. 
I walked around and saw some shops- bought my sister a notebook from Accessorize.
We ate at a place called Fresco's.
And then it was time for our flight.
We both got window seats and read and listened to music on our 2 1/5 hour flight. 

Finally, we arrived in Dehradoon.
:) 

And then it was a lovely long drive to Landour. 


An obligatory wing shot! Somewhere over the coast, soon after our flight took off. 


Terminal 2 is seriously pretty. 


Reading on the flight.
Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard.
It was so OK. 
Sorta ultimately a disappointment. 


I won't lie the name drew me in.
:)
We got some cold coffee from here and it was pretty decent. 


My bags on this trip.
My trusty Fossil Sydney Satchel and my floral pink backpack from Shaun Design.
They held all of my in-flight essentials. 


Airport scenes/// Me on my Kindle and drinking some delicious Watermelon juice.
While my sister maniacally worked on a presentation. 


We arrived! 


Scenes and beauty from our drive.
I didn't want to blink for the fear of missing out on the beauty all around me.


Landour.
A viewpoint.



The Landour Language School- a place where, mostly, expats come to learn Hindi, Urdu, Nepalese and so on. This used to be a church at some point. 



We made it to our hotel- The Rokeby Manor at nearly 4:00 PM.
We were met by gorgeous views and a lush garden.
And of course steaming cups of coffee.
We were staying in the Moon & Stars room and it was cosy and rustic and lovely. 


The sit out area in the Tea Garden. 


Daisies aplenty. 


Coffee! :) 


Our very comfy bed. 


One of the walls was covered in this magnificent artwork. So soothing. 

Once we got to Rokeby, we checked in, ordered coffee, walked around the property and took in the beautiful views and just chilled.
We were too tired to do anything else. 
We ordered room service for dinner and made plans for the next day. 

It was a long but lovely day! 
It was so nice to be in the mountains and in cold weather. 

:) 

Wednesday 27 April 2016

Where I've Been: Landour.

Hello! 

It's been a little over a week since my last post.
I didn't mean to simply disappear from the face of this Earth but I was wayyy too busy having fun and smelling flowers to write blog posts. 
I was though very active on Instagram. :) 

I took a little holiday last week and it was the best break ever. 
We, my sister and I, went to the mountains. 
:)
To Landour.
The city of Ruskin Bond. 
A quiet, cozy and beautiful little town in Uttarakhand.
It was peaceful and serene and every corner of the city was a sight for sore eyes. 


I will share a ton of photos on the blog, because I took a ton of photos :) 

For now I leave with with some mere glimpses of all the beauty. 
Regular programming will be back soon.
Also get excited to see my somewhat massive book haul from Mussoorie.
I bought several signed copies of Ruskin Bond's books. :) 









I loved every single moment of my holiday and honestly didn't want to come back to real life. 

:) 

I highly recommend running away to the hills!
Especially in the throes of summer. 
:) 

Stay tuned for more from Landour. 

:)