Bob Travel

Visitors traveling to India will find the five-star Jaipur hotels to be exquisite in design and hospitality.  All your needs will be met here, for elegant food and intoxicating comforts, along with connectivity for the business-minded, and luxury for everyone else.  The city is one of the most popular visitor’s spots in all of Asia, and it may be a fine idea to take a break from the relaxation and rejuvenation, and see some sights.

The city is magnificent in structure and in form.  Vidyahar the architect of the city, designed it based on an eight-sided mandala (with one more side to reflect the planets).  The presiding deity of Jaipur is Govind Dev, one of Vishnu’s avatars, and based on the text the Vashu Shastra, this deity is located at the center of this mandala, a reflection of the arrangement of political power.  The mandala is a very old symbol, and to apply the symbol to a city was to arrange it so that the citizens would benefit from the flow of power represented in the structure.

A mandala is a very common but misunderstood symbol.  In simpler terms, a mandala is a circle, with designs decorating the outer edges.  These are very common throughout Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.  They seem, at first glance, to be very beautiful images that make nice decorations.  In essence, however, a mandala is a map for the soul’s direction as it passes from one plane to another.  To apply these principles, then, to a city, is to suggest that the citizens are inhabiting a divine place, and are making divine marks on their own journey through time and space in their daily lives.  These are some of the founding principles of the great city of Jaipur.

Where in the world can one find the best five star hotels?  Spain might have some answers, and if they’re not definitive, at least the search will be a true pleasure.  Spain is one of the most romantic places in the world, from classical times to now.  It may be the languages that are so enchanting, the island lifestyle that seems to dominate the country, or the intense conversations.  There are also the heady pleasures that permeate the humidity like a welcome friend.  Bullfights, red wine, rich and delicate foods, the land is made of myth and history.

Sometimes myth and history intertwine, like they do in the life of Spain’s celebrated singer-songwriter Joaquin Sabina.  He is celebrated all over Spain, where most every local can sing at least one of his deeply poetic songs by heart, and he is also considered to be a treasure of the world all over Latin America, where he has toured extensively.  Born in 1949, Sabina has become a true living legend.  By the early seventies, he was already positioning himself as a political artist, with his intense opposition to Franco’s fascist policies.  His father, a policeman, would ironically receive the orders to arrest his son, who was already becoming famous.

And very famous as a man who loves women, with several broken relationships already following in his wake.  The formative years of his songwriting would see some 14 albums, and a very lucky break from CBS records.  Some of his best-known albums are “Dimelo en la calle,” “19 dias y 500 noches,” “Yo, Mi, Me, Contigo,” and “Este boca es mia.”   In 2001 Joaquin Sabina suffered a stroke following years of hard living, and he took a hiatus from performing, to follow three years later with “Alivo de luto,” a beautiful album that is deeply melancholy, terribly romantic, and lyrically complex, funny, and sad.  In short, he’d come back from near death to live with gusto, and his recent tours are remarkable for the energy, gracefulness, and self-deprecating humor that guides his songwriting.

For five-star hotels, Mumbai has a lot to offer.  In one of the world’s most dizzyingly-complicated and fascinating cities, the tradition of hospitality is long and extremely well-developed.  Travelers here will be constantly surprised at how their every need is already met.  There is also a luxurious sense of well-being that comes when one sees how delicate and exquisite touches are everywhere.  The sense of design is extraordinary, and there is certainly no lacking for contemporary amenities.  Technologically, guests are kept connected to the rest of the world in any way they can imagine.  But there is also enough here to make one want to escape, and spend the time hiding in comfort here.

Mumbai itself is a tremendously interesting place.  With thousands of distractions every moment, the days can be spent sight seeing, browsing the markets, eating gorgeous foods, and getting caught up in the local culture.  It is an incredibly diverse place, with languages and customs and life-styles that make people watching a real pleasure.  There are also a huge number of local celebrities, and it’s a great place to star-gaze.  One fascinating celebrity couple is the recently married Divya Palat and Aditya Hitkari.  Known as one of the most famous theatre couples in Mumbia, they have been married since 2006, and have starred together in The Graduate, My Way, and The Legend of Ram.  Divya and Aditya attribute at least part of their relationship’s success to their similar drives for work: they’re workaholics, they confess.

In a more recent interview, Palat and Hitkari say that their three favorite pursuits are, in order, food, life, and work.  The work comes easy to this show biz couple, with her background in films and theatre, and his former work as a vj for MTV.  Their visibility in India is high, and Mumbai even more so.  For life, they enjoy travel, and try to make visits to at least three countries a year.  For food, they are constantly looking for ways to surprise each other, by re-creating scrumptious restaurant memories in their home.  Their tastes run toward hot and spicy, which keeps the fire strong in their marriage.