Shubhaavi Choksey: I love London because everyone wears boots and jackets

Shubhaavi Choksey

Shubhaavi Choksey, tells us what should be on the to-do list if you are planning a trip to London, Turkey and Dubai. Her itinerary is sure to make you want to pack your bags and take a flight to these wonderful destinations.

Where are you off to?
London and Turkey. Dubai is my second home so it can't be a holiday destination for me.

What's on the itinerary?
Walking and just looking at the architecture and observing the culture around. I love eating different kinds of cuisine and shopping for artifacts, which define their culture. I've not yet gone to places where there are just adventurous spots, if I do, I think that would be on my priority list. First I'll talk about London - there are too many things, you can explore there. You have to go to Buckingham palace at 11:00 am, to see the March. The way they perform it is brilliant though I haven't seen it because we were too lazy. But you should. Secondly, you should visit the London Eye as you get an entire view of London which is beautiful.

There's my favourite place called Camden Town. I love it because it's like a Crawford market of Amchi Mumbai, but a bit more polished. You'll get everything under the sun and you can find people of different ethnicities selling clothes or accessories and food - it's a melting pot of culture. There are so many shops where you can get all kinds of clothing whether it is styled African, British or Chinese. If you're an animal lover, you can visit London Zoo.

In Turkey, on the other hand, you have one side which is Istanbul and the other corner is Antalya where you have Pamukkale, Cappadocia. You have so many places, again so rich in culture. In Istanbul, there's a blue mosque which is really amazing. The museum has so much to show about Islam and the Jews as well as Christianity. The grand bazaar is humongous. Even if you don't want to shop, you should just go there to see how people work on lamps, plates or cutlery. Pammukkale is that place where spring water looks like as if it is filled with ice but it is a hot spring. We went to Cappadocia because we wanted to go on a hot air balloon. We drove from Istanbul to Antalya to Cappadocia as Harshal (husband) loves to drive. Dubai, on the other hand, has something for everybody - food lovers, shopaholics, or adventure sport junkies.

What's on the menu?
I remember Harshal's business partner called Tansel who was born and brought up in Turkey. Turkey has the Bosphorus bridge where on the left side is Asia and the other side is Europe. Tansel took us to the market and bought the fish with us which he then cooked for us. I also had some home-cooked food in Turkey. In Dubai, the places are endless for foodies. In every nook and corner you get great food.

Your fondest travel memories with friends and family...
We had visited Dubai before marriage and it was my birthday too, so we went visiting my father- in- law. he bought a cake and also got rings made for Harshal and me. We got engaged that day.

What are you packing for the trip?
I am known to carry extra luggage and over time I try to improve but I'm extremely bad at it. I love boots and jackets. That's one of the reasons I love London because everyone wears boots and jackets and it's cold.

Your holiday playlist...
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong definitely! When we are abroad, we listen to world radio songs which play music from different cultures. In Dubai we listen to Shazam, so at one time it is salsa, while the other, its Bollywood and so on.