 | Shobha Gallagher
Membership type: Regular
Regional Membership Coordinator -- Ontario & Quebec, Canada
shobhadan@rogers.com
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Shobha Gallagher is a Freelance Writer(travel, features, scripts, plays). She is also a photographer and video filmmaker. Her goal has always been to merge writing with photography and video. She has published several travel features in in-flight and travel magazines as well as online travel publications.
Published Articles
The Timeless Elegance of Quebec's Le Chateau Frontenac
What better landmark than a castle-hotel for a city known for its elegance, slice of European charm, art and culture. Some liken the Chateau Frontenac to the heart of Quebec City. Situated on the cliff of Cap-aux-Diamants, the Chateau overlooks the vast expanse of the St. Laurent River that glistens in the soft light of dawn and dusk. Its quiet magnificence, elegance and pristine locale has made this UNESCO World Heritage Site a paradise for shutter bugs earning it the title of the most photographed hotel in the world in the Guinness World Records.
A Journey on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train
To mouth a clichÂ, yes there is always a vintage romance that wraps itself around a steam locomotive. More so since it is the last of its kind that is active in Canada. This is the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield (HCW) Steam Train that makes its excursion-on-rails from the city of Gatineau (former Hull) to Wakefield via Chelsea from May to October. It winds its way through a 64 kilometer route that straddles the picturesque Gatineau River on one side and the varied landscape of the Gatineau Park on the other. The gentle chug at a leisurely speed of 24 kilometers an hour is akin to the rhythmic lull of heartbeats.
Wakefield Inn - A Sylvan Retreat
The whole secluded ambiance seems to slow down time and wraps you in a dreamy state of relaxation. Perhaps it is the feng shui of the flowing water of LaPeche river and the MacLaren Falls combined with warm glows on stone walled interiors, the expanse of the surrounding forests and trees and trails that refreshes the body and soul at some deep level. The spa rooms situated at the foot of the waterfall are surrounded with the scent of pine and cedar trees and the healing natural music of flowing water that blends in with the music inside the treatment rooms, transporting the clients into another zone of Zen and peace.
Les Chemins Invisibles Street Performance, Quebec City
After sunset and at nightfall, another world, another zone unfolded itself in the Saint-Roche area of Quebec City. There was a hushed silence as hundreds of spectators watched the free show of Cirque du Soleil's "Les Chemins Invisibles" (The Invisible Paths). Designed by Julian Gabriel, an artiste with 40 years of street theater experience, this show exuded another heartbeat while embracing all the magical elements of the world-acclaimed Cirque du Soleil.
Les Fougeres Restaurant in Gatineau, Canada
Situated on the edge of the maple and birch forests of the Gatineau Hills, Les Fougeres is about 15-minutes drive from Canada's capital city, Ottawa. Blessed with the ever-changing backdrop of nature's hues, flavors and scents, Les Fougeres has a fretwork of overreaching branches that creates a natural canopy.
"We set out to try to create a special place of natural peace, beauty, hospitality and nourishment for body and soul," states Jennifer Warren-Part in her award-winning co-authored book, "A Year at Les Fougeres". The book features the story of Canada's seasons that blends in with the restaurant's silken recipes...
The Many Faces of Kerala's Varkala Beach
On this shore, the vast gray-blue Arabian Sea is the great oceanic cleanser of karmic sins. This is the sacred face of Indias Varkala beach in Kerala. Groups of families squatted on the sands before bare-chested Hindu priests as they chanted Sanskrit mantras and prayers for the souls of their loved ones who had departed from this world. The sanctified items of the rituals were then carried in plantain leaves by the family members towards the sea where it was all immersed and released in the holy waters. This ritual is believed to purify souls on their onward journey. Even a dip in these waters is believed to cleanse the body and soul of doshams (imperfections and sins). And so, for the locals, Varkala beach is also known as Papanasam (redemption from sins).
On High Voltage
Some call it a national obsession; others, a fixation. But whatever the label, the persona of Trinidad has been synonymous with its spectacular Carnival celebrations. Dubbed as the world's greatest street festival the whole machinery behind its multi-million dollar preparation begins to roll mid-year onwards.
I arrived in the capital city, Port of Spain, smack at the pre-Lenten Carnival time in mid-February. It was a free fall into a vortex of swirling colours and a headlong dive into its electric soul...
Paddling the Lagoons of Alappuzha
Our boat snipped through the waters like a pair of scissors through a swathe of rumpled silken fabric. The receding jetty seemed to unhinge the past soundlessly, pinning it to where it belonged: behind us. Life almost immediately slipped into a slow-motion glide.
We were in Alappuzha, on the shores of Vembanad Lake in Kerala state. This is a backwater world, with labyrinthine canals, lagoons, lakes and rivers that drain into the Arabian Sea. In the local Malayalam language, Alappuzha (pronounced Allapura) means a broad river, or the land between the sea and a network of rivers flowing into it.
We entered a portal of shimmer globules that rocked on the waters, flashed through the trees and shone on paddy fields and the tips of plants...
Devilishly Blue
The sound of tin drums and muffled shrieks wafted from the top of the steep winding road. What seemed like undulating blue flames emerged from the womb of darkness and from the parchment of history.
We were in the mountain village of Paramin, north of Trinadads capital, Port of Spain. Paramins 4,000 or so inhabitants have Spanish roots, and speak a patois dialect based on French.
In the village of Paramin,Trinidad it is customary for the blue devils to dance on Carnival Monday, a February or March evening.
Tobago: Clean, Green, Safe and Serene
The Caribbean island of Tobago, which is a 20-minute flight away or a two-and-a-half hour ferry ride from Trinidad, is completely different from its big sister island.
While Trinidad focuses mainly on attracting the business traveller and investors and shaping itself into an international convention centre, Tobago concentrates on soft tourism.Tobago wants to be known as the Capital of Paradise : clean, green, safe and serene.
Believed to be the Robinson Crusoe island, this 21-mile long and seven-mile wide cigar-shaped verdant place derived its name from the Carib word tavaco, a y-shaped device used by the natives to inhale smoke from the tobacco leaf.'
Balancing Principles and Profits
The real estate industry is often characterized by brutal competition, sharp peaks-and-valleys,a place where business secrets are held close to the vest and clients are condensed to just another commission. Then comes along a company that integrates the core philosophy of its mother organization, God, Family, then Business into their DNA - four words that trigger a
feather-light pause. And yet it contains a universe of significance in a corporate world where we are conditioned to leave our soul at the door.
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