As you all know I love traveling. After touring
Madhya Pradesh in Dec, 2008, I did not travel for next two years due to severe backache. In Dec 2010, I planned a family vacation to Maharashtra after 2 years of no travel. It served the dual purpose of testing my back as well as family outing. The entire journey was done by train in the night to maximize site seeing as well as to avoid travel by road.
We boarded the train at Bangalore in the afternoon and reached our first destination Pune on the next day morning. We traveled extensively across
Pune for two days. One of the place we visited is Shinde Chatri, the Samadhi of Shrimant Mahadji Shinde. The architecture of this is marvelous and remains unaffected by the passage of years. On the two days we stayed here, we also visited the
Sinhghad, the fort captured by brave warrior Tanaji. The mountain fort is a beautiful place where one can spot various fauna and birds.
On the second day at Pune we boarded the evening train to Shirdi. We reached the the place late in the night. Next day (3rd day) after offering prayers at Sai Mandir, we reached
Aurangabad in the night. Next day (4th day) was exciting as we covered two more important places. In the morning session we conquered the powerful Daulatabad Fort. It was a adventurous as we had to climb around 600 steps to reach top most point in the fort.
In the afternoon we headed to Ellora caves. The World Heritage Site is the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 caves excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. Again here we had to climb walk a lot to see these marvels in the rock. Below is the image of Ellora Caves.
On 5th day we headed to Ajanta which is 120 kms from Aurangabad. The World Heritage Site has 31 rock-cut cave monuments dating back to 2nd century BC. The caves include paintings and sculptures considered that are masterpieces. Below is the image of Ajanta Caves.
On the same night we boarded the train to
Mumbai, our final destination. Next three days (day 6 - 8) we rested, toured, rested here as I had my relatives here. The rest was very much essential for my back by now. Here we mainly visited Kanehri an Elephanta caves apart from local site seeing. Below is "Gateway of India" with Taj Hotel in the background.
On the ninth day we headed back to Bangalore, very much content and happy.
The mausoleum stands at the center of a huge enclosure. There is a beautiful garden in the Mughal style in front of the adding beauty and splendor through its symmetry and excellent garden layout. 
The mausoleum is entered through a main entrance gate on its south, which has excellent designs in the ceiling. After passing through the entrance one will come across a small tank. After this the pathway that leads to the mausoleum has a series of fountains at its center.
The mausoleum is built on a high square platform which has four minarets at its corners and platform is approached by a flight of steps.
The lower and upper part of the mausoleum is made up of pure marble , decorated with beautiful carvings, whereas the middle portion is of basaltic trap, covered with plaster, rendered with a marble finish and adorned with stucco work. 
The mortal remains of queen is placed below the ground level surrounded by an octagonal marble screen. The octagonal gallery running around the interior enables imposing view of the grave below. There are interesting patterns in the ceiling and walls of the mausoleum.
In the morning we had visited Ellora caves. By the time we traveled back to this place, it was late in the evening after 7:00 p.m.
This place is famous for Himroo and Paithani Sarees. These sarees have gold and silver threads woven in silk fabric. There are many interesting places around the city. The places that I had covered during my visit of the city are: 
