EuroTrip - Day 17

It is like a dejavu. All four of us are busy making internet calls/typing chats and updating our blogs. Things have come to a temporary halt for a moment.

We are in process of collecting our photos on the laptop. The memory cards need to be emptied before the next trip. :D

While others had a day off, I had an afternoon class for Consumer Behavior. As all of us had a chance to take a longer sleep today, we made a good use of it. It's been quite some time since we got up at 8:30 (for HotTiii it was 9:30 or so). A nice hot cup of coffee followed by phone calls to home. The calling card we have taken seemed to be something fraud. It gave only around 100 minutes of call time. Whatever, it was still cheaper than our mobile phones. I hope to make use of gtalk and skype from now onwards, given my loved ones are logged in with them.

Inspite being alone, the 40 minutes walk to college was good today. With my music on, I could observe the people and walk at my own pace. There are so many things that I saw today and which I would like to mention on this blog. I hope I get some time for it tonight.

Consumer Behavior class seemed to be the most crowded class I have seen in this college. Interestingly, the same professor is taking atleast three other courses in this term. Some people are getting too much of it. He uses presentation based methodology and somehow his interesting presentations make it possible for you to keep yourself engaged in a one and half our lecture. Today, we also started with group presentation. This is one nice aspect of this course. The first presentation had 5 people, all from different countries talking about their visit to a supermarket. You can imagine the kind of different opinion that would have come up. I think I am going to enjoy this course. My only concern is that at this moment, this course seem to be very close to marketing communication course. I hope it has sufficient insights on consumer behavior.

The journey back home was even more pleasant with nice weather to cheer me up. This time I walked even slower, so as to capture more of Paris. I think next time I shall take a new route. Changes make life interesting.

EuroTrip - Day 16

Back to Paris

Paris is as beautiful as ever. The mornings are not so cold (or are we getting used to the weather now?) and we can go out with just one sweater on. The sun still does not come out in the morning though.

When you have 4 people and one bathroom in your house, the day has to starts pretty early to attend the 9:00 am class. There is rush for breakfast and then to reach the class in time. So we walk fast, like any other Parisian. And thus we ignore the beauty on and along the route.

The first class is that of Marketing Strategy. With a simulation exercise that takes more than 2/3rd of the time, this class is quite chill. I am supposadely 'lucky' as I have 3 girls in my project group for this class. In realiy, I only know the truth. A guy really can not like it when he is told "it would be better if everyone comes prepared for the class." We are not used to it. PooCh and TARDi also faced something similar. This firangs are made up of some other soil and thus we will have to change our strategy for this class.

Negotiations is an interesting class. With it's practical approach and really diverse class, it is fun to be present in the class. You actually get to see different aspect of everyone's culture.

Technology Transfer was the last class for the day. This is a no-comment type of class. This course has just 5 sessions so there is no worry as of now. The professor seem to be some big guy with lots of contacts. Hope we will be able to use his contacts somewhere.

The day ends well when you get home and treat yourself with a nice dinner. Khichdi is an excellent choice for such a meal. And I made it without any hesitation. Now we have full flow of internet in the entire house, that too for everyone. Life seems to become better day by day. Tonight we chat a lot. Till we sleep. Vaise bhi tomorrow there is no early morning class. :D

EuroTrip - Day 15

Hits and Misses

When you have to travel in 5 different but interconnected trains in a day, your biggest fear is to miss a train because you dozed off at the wrong time or could not hear the alarm at the right time. We fought with this fear the whole day today. With the first train change at 5am to the last one at 7pm, we had put more than one alarm so that we don't miss any station.

And still we missed one train. And it was the most important one. The one from Frankfurt to Paris. The mistake happened because we calculated a train schedule wrongly, and instead of getting down from a slow ferry and boarding a fast train, we continued resting our lazy bums on the ferry's deck along with 100 others oldies. Today, it was not just out day. The calculations went wrong at more than one point in time, and by different people. The result is that when our TGV was starting its super fast travel from Frankfurt station, we were waiting for a train some 65km from it. You know it is not possible to beat a TGV unless you are riding a bullet train.

So we missed one train. Poor TARDi travelled alone. He would surely curse us with all his care for our planning.

Ok! Re-winding the day a bit, it was an awesome morning in Koblenz. With mist all around, we could feel the coldness in the air. The horizon seemed to be just around the corner. It's nice to walk in such a weather when a new sight come in front of you from nowhere at every other step.

The cruise to Mainz (KD Lines has cruise running between Koblenz and Mainz that is totally free with a EuRail pass) started at 9am. The boat journey on river Rhine is supposed to be one of the most beautiful boat journey in this part of the world. Several cities with historical significance overlook the river from both side of the river. Each city has a old castle that tells the stories about the old business relations along this river. Some of the castles are on top of a small hill while many other share their boundaries with the riverside. Mist played the spoilsport in the starting when we could not see the first few castles covered in dense fog.

As the ship moved forward the mist gave way to somewhat cloudy day. More people boarded the ship on the way. Sadly all of them were oldies. With so many oldies around us, we seemed to be a bit out of place. Somehow because of the tiredness we got bored of the trip. Still to catch the right train from the right place, we remained on the ship and moved slowly mile by mile. And that's the mistake we committed. Our calculations went wrong and we reached our destination station (in cruise) at the time when we were supposed to be in Frankfurt. And thus we missed the train.

Luckily the next train to Paris was just a couple of hours later and reservations were available. So we made new reservations and boarded the train to start the final leg of journey on our way back home. To our surprise, the TT of previous train (which we had missed) accepted our absence and informed the TT in next train to give us a place without reservation. Good show by TARDi for this. As we had already made new reservations, the TT in our new train offered us to take a refund from the station when we go there next time. He wrote the instructions on the back of the ticket. These things work amazingly well here. The friendliness and sporting spirits shown by TTs and other train authorities have been the highlight of this whole trip. They made our life so simple and that too they did with a broad smile.

On the train it was another reunion, this time with people from ESCP and one old friend from IIMB. The journey got done very fast as we totally lost track of time once we started sharing our trips. Some funny moments, some tips, gyan or otherwise. Lots of chitchat and we reached Paris.

We hope to have a lavish dinner (that is if TARDi is able to enter the house somehow. The key is with us) and a nice bath. Classes start tomorrow and I am feeling bit odd from now only. :-) Anyways, as Mom says, I am here to 'study'. So let me try that for next couple of days. And then the journey will continue. Bbye till tomorrow.

EuroTrip - Day 14

October Fest - Bas Naam Hi Kaafi Hai

If in one day we could found out about any one religion in Munich, it's got to be that of drinking bear. October Fest is the place to be to learn about it. The Bavarian world comes alive in its full charm for the 15 days of festive time. As soon as you board any train heading to Munich, you can start feeling the energy. People dressed in traditional Bavarian attire start enjoying the fest well before even reaching Munich. Bear starts flowing on the train itself. Where else in the world can you see people boarding again with 12 cans of bear in hand?

As soon as the train reaches Munich, the atmosphere becomes fully charged up. On the station, you have your first interaction with the crazy crowd of October Fest. The traditional dressing of Bavarian region include Haferlschuhe (men's shoe with shoelaces on the side), Loferl (half sock which covers a man's calf), Kurze (lederhose which does not quite reach the knee) etc. In no place have I seen so many nice girls dressed so beautifully and traditionally. Head gears include hats from normal cowboy hat type to those with devil horns. There are many funny ones too like those with bear barrels or the one with lighted rabbit ears. Many of the people sported the memorabilia Tshirt from the previous editions of fest as well as some personalized ones (many of them wore group designs and region based prints).

All the roads lead to October Fest so just follow the crowd and you are bound to reach the most happening place in the town. At the entrance, a grand welcome awaits everyone. "Willkommen to October Fest" says the banner put on the entrance and once there you know that you have arrived somewhere.

The fest arena has big tents put up by most of the major bear producers in this country. The tents (of the size of atleast half the football field) host all the guests on tables that are as cramped as you can imagine. Who cares if while dancing or shouting your hand hits the person on the next table. He is just going to get up and and say "Cheers" after doing a loud bang with the bear mugs. If you are lucky he might come and do some random talk praising bear and the bear fest. If it was girl, you might get smile in reply too :-) Upto you to make best use of the chance. ;-)

The tables inside the tents are generally all reserved and you get place only if you are lucky to find a place to sit. About the people who have grabbed table, be assured that there is very rare chances of them leaving the table till the end of the day.

The band in the mid of the tents play tradition and popular music which keeps the people on their feet. There can be occasional cheer shouts from some table or other. They are all part of the fest culture.

After hopping couple of tents, we finally got lucky and found a place in one of the tent. The elderly Belge couple welcomed us to their table and thus Baba could get a chance to taste some bear in that tent. The Belge people seemed to enjoy each moment of their life as well as their presence in the fest. Uncle talked about Indian IT and Bangalore. Actually these two things can be starting point of any conversation with foreigners. :D

The rule of the tents are simple. You can not enter with any bottle or other drink with you. You find a place and it's yours (ofcourse there are some separate reserved tables). The lady serving the bear will come at regular interval and you can buy you mug (1ltr) of bear at the pre-specified rate. The food can also be ordered to the people serving. There are some girls who sell stuff for quick bite as well as some others who take your picture for making memorabilia. You can buy those hats here if you want.

The music is very lively and people seem to enjoy with rising bear level in their blood. They can start dancing aytime, anywhere and in any way. PDA is common too. There are too many things about this place that I will keep off this blog :-)

All Indian student on exchange programs religiously make a visit to this place. So you are very likely to meet many of those in the fest arena. We met a gang from MDI, XLRI, IIMB and ofcourse one from IIMA. We are everywhere you know. It was fun to do tempo shouting in the evening. "Wimwi ka tempo high hai, Munich ki le li Zigzag Zigzag. Wimwi ka tempo high hai, October Fest ki le li Zigzag Zigzag." Boondiii, HotTiii, PooCh, Baba, Ponto, Creamiii, Bandook, Mirchi, Josen, Rex, Cobra - one big Wimwi gang doing the nation proud at the firang land. Unfortunately we missed meeting some of them (DCorp, Darwin, Chinge, ForNo etc) else the list would have been longer and even more interesting.

Food in Germany seem to be less of problem and this country is comparatively cheaper too. Staying here at Munich at this point of time is really expensive. We faced the similar issue and Josen and company came to the rescue. They suggested us to take the night train to Koblenz and then take the famous cruise on Rhine river. So after doing some TP on the station, where watching the drunk people can be quite an entertainment, we boarded the post midnight train to Koblenz. It's an ICE train so good night's sleep is almost guaranteed. Tomorrow we reach Paris after around 10 days of travel. It's good to be back. So see yea tomorrow.

ps: for me, October Fest was always about seeing the spirit of a culture. It's like going to Kumbh in India. You can go their for your faith or to know about someone else's faith. I got high without drinking even a drop of bear. That's the magic of this place. It's must visit if you are coming to these parts of the world in sept-oct. Take my words, there ain't any other thing as October Fest.

EuroTrip - Day 13

A Journey on Train(s)

In Norway you can not call it a day until it is actually the next day. The late night train that we had planned to take had some rescheduling and now it was planned to cover the Bergen to Oslo stretch in three phases. A train journey to Voss followed by bus journey to some place called Olu (or something like that) and then back in train to the final destination Oslo. The train department had promised to arrange everything so we decided to board the train.

And as soon as we boarded, we slept off. The ticket checker came, woke us up and checked our tickets (EuRail passes). And we slept again.

The train halted at Voss. The guy next to me woke me up. We dumped our luggage in the bus and took our seat. And slept off. This time nobody came to check tickets I guess. Later we heard that the bus had halted at one port for about 15 minutes and then had then been loaded on that ship for a small journey in sea before coming back to ground. But we know none of It. May be it was a dream. May be we were too much in our dreams. Who knows!

The bus halted finally and the guy next to me woke me up (or was it Pooch? I don't recall). We got down and went to collect our bags. And there I got the shocker. My bag was missing. Somebody had taken it by mistake as we could see other similar looking bag left in the bus. After a brief discussion with the bus driver and train in-charge, we took that other bag and started the search for its real owner (who in most probability had taken my bag by mistake). Coach after coach, there was no sign of my bag. My heart was sinking until Pooch shouted from ahead that he found my bag. Man, what a relief!! We exchanged the bag and slept off again. I hope it is the end of it. There could not be anymore of it for me tonight. I wish. I pray.

And my wishes were granted. Rest of the journey to Oslo was uneventful (or was it we did not get to know about the happenings in our sleep?) Oh yea we met Baba (Rahul Sighal) on the way. We did not know that he was in the same train with us right from Bergen. Our further journey will be with him to Munich. I think we are ready from October Fest. :-)

The rest of the day was spent in train. First from Oslo to Goteborg and then from Goteborg to Copenhagen. And then a night train from Copenhagen to Munich.

No question asked, just travel, travel and travel.

There were no big events in the day except one or two. Like, when the train had to wait at station before Malmo because the driver had not turned up. Or when the train got delayed by two hours and most of us became eligible for a 50% refund. Or when the train crossed at 7.8km long bridge on the sea. Or that we crossed a 8km long tunnel under the sea when we were sleeping. Or that a beautiful girl came and slept on the seat next to HotTiii's. Or that the lady next to us, who was carrying a 110 ltr backpack filled with trekking and ski equipments, left at some station at around 7am. Or that 7am there was nothing but mist outside.

Stories are many, some significant some insignificant. I will write as long my phone supports. These are the stories from the far far land.

EuroTrip - Day 12

To the Nature and Engineering

Norway tourism runs a short trip called 'Norway in a nutshell'. This is trip through some of the most beautiful places in Norway and ending in one of the biggest fjords here. Oslo to Bergen - this route is done in three modes of transportation - train, bus and cruise. And each ride is more beautiful than the others.

We decided to follow the same route that is taken by this trip. The first leg of this journey is from Oslo to Myrdal (around 2 hours long) on the world famous Oslo-Bergen rail route. This 100 years old train is celebrating its century this year. Voted the best train journey in the world a couple of years back, this train indeed an experience in itself. It goes through the best of the countryside. On one side, you see the beautiful hills and on other the river and fjords greeting you all along. The mountains are snow clad and clearly the rivers are the melted glaciers that are seen on the top of this mountains.

To our good luck, the gentleman seating next to us happen to be the president of some big railway authority in Norway. He told us about the past and present of this train. He also gave us a calendar with beautiful pictures of the train route taken during different points of time in the year. This route is fully covered with snow during winter time and is closed in the peak winter time. At this point of time in September, we get to enjoy the golden colors of autumn and see some traces of snow at a little distance up the hills.

There are also innumerable tunnels that are the trademark of this route. To think that this route was built a hundred years back, one can not but respect man's engineering prowess.

Myrdal (alt 866 m above sea level) is the starting point of the another world famous rail journey. The Flam Railways takes you through the wild Flam valley. The 20 km long journey takes you to Flam (alt 2 m above sea level) in around an hour. This marvel of engineering sees the route covering a descent of 2838 ft and a gradient of one in 18. There are enormous tunnels (20 of them) that spiral in and out of the mountainside to overcome the challenge of steep slope. There are beautiful snow clad mountain peaks, tall and beautiful waterfalls all along the route. Kjosfossen is a 130m tall waterfall where the train stops to capture some kodak moments. It is like the Bhedaghat in Jabalpur. Just that the water falls from a greater height, water is ice-cold and that the tourist can see it from close to the bottom of the fall. Clearly the best moment of the day so far.

The journey to Flam continues with more tunnels and waterfalls on the way. There are some villages too, each with its own story. The train announcement system gives brief about each such spot on the route.

The third leg consists of a cruise journey from Flam to Gudvangen. This two hour long ride takes you through some of the biggest and deepest Fjords in Norway. You get to see some more beautiful waterfalls and villages on the route.

Till now we had seen the architectural marvels of train engineering. The next leg from Gudvangen to Voss covers the good work of the road engineering work. The one hour long journey takes you through some (I think there were 13) of the sharpest turns you can imagine. And these turns (like the u-pin bends you must have seen on the way to some hill station) also counter one of the highest slope on such turns. Around 18% of gradient is countered on the mountain with bends that look like coiled snake. For the first time in my life, I had to wear seat belts in a bus ride. And to add to the fun, there are beautiful waterfalls and view of the valley down. The lady (yes, in these parts of the world there seem to be no gender discrimination at all) who was driving the bus told ua about the history and current ventures in this road route.

Voss seemed to be a place from our dreams. A sleepy town with tall and green hills overseeing the large sea below them. Interestingly this town too has marked itself well on the tourism map. With lots of adventure sports on water and in air, it also has some offering on the cultural side. We reached on a day when it seemed to host party in some large white tent complex. It was too tempting for us to spend the night here so we started searching for some hostel or camp site. The camp site was right next to the sea (or was it just like the backwaters? It's very difficult to say with confidence) and hosted lots of caravans, tents and cabins. As we did not have our own tents, we were told that we could hire cabin for night. But the 500 nok rent seemed little over our budget so we decided to continue our journey to Bergen.

The last leg of "Norway in a nutshell" tour goes from Voss to Bergen on the Oslo Bergen train route. Again some more tunnels, waterfalls and snow clad mountains. I think we had seen too much of them and now we wanted either to go touch them or else get some cozy place to the rest.

In Bergen, we tried to look for hostel and with the help of the tourist information center we could easily locate the YMCA hostel. Located in the center of the town, this looked like a very good place. But alas they did not have any bed in their dormitory so we had to look for some alternative. A short walk around the central part and smelter queries here and there and we realized that there was no other cheap option.

And there came the EuRail pass to our rescue. As there was a train back to Oslo in night, we decided to spend the night in train and then plan our rest of the trip in morning. We were too tired to do anything now. So a quick dinner of cup noodles (can you believe that we had to buy hot water for that) and some bread and we were ready for the train at 11. As usual a quick nap could be accommodated before that.

That was day 12 on my EuroTrip.

EuroTrip - Day 11 (continued)

One Night at Oslo Station - Part 2

I know now that 1am is too early to call off a day in a city like Oslo. And if you happen to stay in the Oslo Station, then you are bound to be proven wrong. The night starts at 1am here when the station closes.

Yes, you heard it right. The Oslo central station closes at 1am. They shut everything close and literally evacuate the station building, we got lucky again for the second time in one day when a police officer offered to guide us out.

So 1am and a new city. No place to stay for atleast 3 hours. The police officer had advised us to go to some 7eleven shop and kill our time there. The youthful adventurous spirit in us could not accept such a mundane suggestion so we decided to explore the city (Earlier in the day, the tourist information officer had told her that Oslo is as safe a city as any other city in Europe and she felt totally safe being out on the road in night).

The fluet player was playing melodious tunes at some distance. We headed towards the University as that place was abuzz with activities when we had crossed it the last time.

And that was the start of the night. Parties were on a full swing. People were coming in and out of the bars and the streets looked alive. A couple of girls were out on the roads laughing and chatting. As we moved closer, the scene looked to change. The girls had suspicious styles and movements, were soliciting guys. Things became a bit clear, they were actually prostitutes. They were accompanied by some guys who were either doing pimping or selling drugs.

Around the time we had reached the 7eleven shop, there were some commotion on the street and police arrived immediately. Somebody was down on the road so everybody rushed that side. Our adventurous spirit had its first hit for the night and we decided to play safe and leave that place. On reaching the station back, we realized that most of the tourists had left the stairs outside the station and it was really deserted now. There were some people random looking guys making rounds and the prostitutes had reached this place too. So we had lost one more shelter.

After a brief meeting (yes, we are managers afterall) we decided to pay heed to the police man's advice and headed to the 7eleven (to take shelter this time). As this shop was on the same square as where the guy was found and police was making inquiries.

We explained our situation to the guy manning the outlet and asked for his permission to stay there for around two and half hours. He readily agreed for the same. Only issue he mentioned was that his shop did not have any seating arrangement so we would have to stay standing the whole durations. Beggars may not be chooser and so we decided to stay up and standing for the remaining of the night.

But the adventure was far from being over. The shop is open round the clock, so customers of all kinds of keep coming. For many of them, three Indians standing in the corner of the shop was something of an unusual display. Still, it was a very insignificant thing to the activities around so they did not bother much. There was a atm machine there (in the shop. There are many such small banks in shops in this part of world) too so many people made visits for withdrawing cash too.

As the night progressed, we saw many interesting people coming in and going out. There was a black girl (most probably from the same gang that we had met outside) who did not know how to use the coffee machine. She tried every combination on coffee machine to make her coffee. Then there was the drug peddler who was scared of the sudden arrival of the police all around. The police also came inside to ask about the video footage of the cctv camera that is put close to the gate of the shop as well as to record the statement of the guy manning the shop. The drug peddler went away and then came back, this time with a girl. Most probably he had sold off his stuff (he had offered to sell us the stuff too. Later he apologized before leaving the shop) and was now about to make good of the remaining night. He withdrew some money and gave to the girl. Then they went back. Around 3:30 the shop started to fill up the stock. The news paper also arrived by now.

Standing at these hours of the night was not an easy job. You fight with not just your sleep but also tiredness. And then because of the circumstances, we were fighting our fears too (we too get scared at times). Somehow in the company of three, we were able to do it. As the clock hit 4am, we decided to start off for the station. We thanked the guy at the shop and then proceeded to the station.

Because of the hope that things were going be good again, we could ignore the troubles on the road. With fast paced steps we reached the station. And yes, it was open. The night's fun was about to end. We entered the station and thanked god for having survived the night. Station was warmer and cleaner. We wouldn't have minded even if it was not so. We had around two hours before our train for Bergen. So we slept on the station. There could not be a better ending for such a long day.

What a night it was!! Some things can not be imagined. In a similar way, they can not be described too. I guess today it was one such night.

EuroTrip - Day 11

One Night at Oslo Station

It's 1am local time here and I am wide awake after a long and tiring day. The day in Oslo has been a good one. Let me go back in time to recount this day.

And to make it little more interesting, let me do it in the reverse order.

At around 11:30pm HotTiii brought a 'bad news' that 'it might be a case that' they won't let anyone stay on the railway station during night. It seems they perform a major cleanup work between 1 and 4 in the night. Oh that's a great news! What will we do then? And the answer that comes just like an instinct is that 'Dekh lenge!' And we continued our search for free wifi connections on the station (there are plenty of them here on every station. It just amazes me to see so much of internet all around).

The city of Oslo starts shining as the night sets in. Decoratively lit old buildings and other monuments give an appearance that has no match in any other business district in any other capital we have seen so far. The big clock on the sideboard of Freia says it's 10pm and we should start thinking about going back to central station.

The Castle closes at 9pm but we entered there at 9:30pm. Strangely nobody seemed to mind it and we could reach the main building of the Castle. It glowed in the yellow lights boasting about all its glory. Alas the museum was closed, else we could have made a brief visit to it too. And then the inevitable happened. Two Royal guards approached us and informed politely that 'it was not appropriate for us to be in there at that time'. And they offered to escort us out of palace. Interesting experience it is to walk under the surveillance of a royal guard. But that's not the end of it. There was one more police man waiting for us there at the gates. He too seemed worried about the intrusion. To our surprise none of them spoke anything except wishing us a pleasant evening. I wonder what would have happened in India in a similar circumstance!

The streets in front of the Oslo University seemed to be buzzing with activities that made us believe that we had probably missed the local city market. On enquiring, we were informed that actually there were preparations going on for the local farmer market fair called Boden Marked that is starting the next day. The setup with its designer tents and equipment looked more like a set of some hindi film. Alas we won't be here to witness the event. :-(

We never dreamt that our 'own' McDonalds can serve a mere 'veg burger' in a European country. Well it's true too. Here by default the cheese burger also contains a meat stuffing. Luckily the guy At the counter agreed to make a special cheese burger with no stuffing (they generally offer you to take one burger and remove the stuffing on your own). What more could we ask for! So aaj ka dinner, McDonalds ke naam.

BTW the guide book here gives address of some places that serve vegetarian food, although they can hardly fit a budget traveler's wallet. Search for one such place called Krishna's Cuisine (it is based on philosophy odds Iscon Movement and serves pure veg food including Khichdi) was indeed a good experience and we could find atleast two Indian restaurants on our own. We Indians are everywhere, you know.

Vigeland Park is a little away from the central Oslo. It houses innumerable sculptures of man, woman and kids. The speciality is that most of them in there birth clothes i.e. are nude. Their postures contains a variety of poses from erotic positions to the display of affection by a mother. A beautiful garden surrounds the sculptures. The main sculpture is at a platform from where one can get a very good view of the Oslo city. There is a mix of modern and old architecture on Oslo's skyline. One can just wonder how the world's most expensive city came to be like this?

Standing majestically amidst the mid of the central district and surrounded by a lush green garden, the Royal Palace is a well preserved and maintained building. It comes under control of royal guards. There is a change of guard ceremony that takes place daily at around noon. As most of the museums close by 5pm, we could not enter the palace. Still, the view from outside itself was good enough. And then we would surely get a chance to see the night lighting on our way back from the Vigeland park.

Lonely Planet gives detail of a volunteer run restaurant called Blytx that serves cheap vegetarian food here in Oslo. We decided to try our luck there. After a little search we were able to reach the address that was mentioned in LP. But we could not find any sign board. One close look and we found the non-descript restaurant in the same building. As we entered the place, we were greeted by a punk looking girl who told us that the place was about to be closed as they were to go for a demonstration against arrest of one of their guy in Pakistan. From the first look of hers, we thought that she was too drunk or high. So we safely ignored whatever she said. The menu there did have some cheap vegan offerings. And so our trip to the place was fruitful to some extent. The place has a unique environment with random posters about some activists all over. The people who were present there had a distinct look and manner too. With punks all around us, we were wondering if that girl was actually speaking sense. And when the drums and other things required for a demonstration arrived, we understood that it was all true. And the best thing to do then was to 'Kat lo'. And we did exactly the same. On our way we saw the police preparing themselves for the demonstration. Another first one in our life - to be present at a place where a demonstration is being planned and prepared.

The Opera house in Oslo oversees the harbour and is a stone's throw away from the central station. The cube shaped building is clad in white and metallic finish. The white marble on the parapets has a cold feel to it even at 3pm. The winds are not that strong, sun not so bright, still the open structure is very refreshing and a nice place to relax. You can find many skateboarders, sunbathers (ofcourse with their clothes on) and people looking for a nice and peaceful place to sitting along the slope of the Opera. The building is an architecture marvel in itself. One nice and cheap way to spend some time in an otherwise expensive city.

The tourist information center in Oslo is right outside the central station and is the right place to start your day in Oslo.

We are getting used to the trains here. Actually speaking we are liking and enjoying the trains here. Again a long but nice journey. The free juice and banana, a complimentary from the organizers of Goteborg Book Festival (that we had collected while waiting for our train) served as a nice breakfast. I am very sure the bags that they gave (again complimentary) will be of great use for our trip now onwards. :-)

The day started after a comfortable and nice sleep on wooden floor in Bansi's hostel. A warm room can make up for everything. And then we always have our blanket for such days.

It's 6am - the good morning time for the day. Time to get ready for a long day ahead.

Was I dreaming?

EuroTrip - Day 10

27 km on The Feet

That's how much we walked today just to save a couple of euros and also to enjoy every moment of Stockholm. I wish I could call it my half marathon.

The comfort of sleeping in warm comfortable beds is unmatchable. We overslept and were one of the last few people to leave the ship.

As we are not used to traveling whole day with our luggage on, we decided to drop our backpacks in the left luggage at central station. The harbour where it docked is at around 5 km distance from the central station. So the first challenge in the morning was to walk to central with our luggage (with around 2 euro one way ticket, tubes here are not a cheap way to travel). I won't lie here - it was a really tiring. Just that the two stops on the way - first in Stockholm Olympics Stadium and the next in one big park allowed us to catch some breath and gave respite to our legs and backs.

Stockholm is expensive city compared to cheaper towns in Finland, so search for a good breakfast place took more than the usual time. Subway came to the rescue again. I will surely send a Thankyou card to owner of Subway as soon as I am back to India.

Walking and exploring the rich cultural heritage of the city, we headed for Skansen. Cities in europe are filled with old historical buildings that give them a distinct feeling of warmth. The concrete jungles can never imagine to offer that.

Skansen is an open-air museum - Finland in a nutshell. Founded in 1891, this place has old farmsteads and houses that have been brought from all over the country. For those in India, you can compare it to Chokhi Dhani or other such restaurants. They have recreated many aspect of life in Finland in a part of picturesque green island of Djurgarden. Here at one hand you get chance to see scandinavian animals like reindeers, elks, seals, wild boars, otters etc, while on the other hand you get a glimpse to Swedish culture. We met a native Sami woman who told us about their life and culture. There are pharmacy shop, grocery shop, glass work factory (Skansen Glassworks - www.stockholms-glasbruk.se ), mechanic work factory, pottery, cloth spinning and many more such exhibits where experts showcase these works in their original form. They are more than willing to explain their work and give demo. Friendliness is the norm of this country.

There is much more to Skansen than what I have written so far. My words can never do justice to it's beauty and feel. May be photos will give a small glimpse. I hope TARDi will upload some photos today. Keep looking at this place for details.

Tobaks Tandsticks Museum (Museum of Tobacco and Matches) is a good watch too. The in-charge there made it a really interesting visit with his live commentary and witty trivia. I never knew that Swedish Matches cater to almost 3/4th of the world business in matches.

After a brief break (Skansen is a walk of more than 4-5 km or so), we entered Vasa Museum. Bansi had got nice lunch for us so we were well enthused again for some more walking.

Vasa was a large warship that capcized within minutes of being launched in 1628. An almost forgotten story, it was rescued from the mud some 300 years later. And since than the best of the marine archaeologists in the world are working on resolving the mystery of Vasa. They have been able to reconstruct the ship to its entirety and that too is done in its natural old form (almost 95% of the parts on the ship were recovered and restored). The giant ship is the central exhibit of this museet (museum in sweden) (Vasa Museet - www.vasamuseet.se ) around which they have recreated the lives of 17th century sailors. It's unbelievable to see the amount of money and efforts have been put into this venture. The attention to details is remarkable. You can spend hours here.

One tip for everyone planning to come to Stockholm - many of the museums here offer discounted entrance fee on wednesday after 4pm. We entered Vasa at almost half the entrance fee and then Nordiska Museet for free.

Nordiska Museet is another very good preview of life in Sweden and Sami culture. There are audio guides available for free at the entrance and they provide reach and interesting information. The section on Sami people is especially attractive with its stories, songs and interactive displays. Time runs fast when you are in such a place. We literally had to run our way out of the museum before it got closed to 8pm (on other days, it closes at 6).

The journey back to central station went off quickly in the anticipation of the food that was awaiting us in Bansi's hostel. And indeed that was a treat. Rasam rice, pasta and french fries and a mug of hot coffee. A lavish dinner after such aongoing time!

After the regular planning-the-next-day ritual, we went to sleep dreaming about the Fjords that await us in Bergen.

EuroTrip - Day 9

And a Day on Cycle

Finally HotTiii's wish for doing a cycle tour was about to get fulfilled. As per our plan, Turku was meant for a cycle tour in a city. A very old cathedral, a castle and a couple of museums - that's what we had planned to visit in Turku.

After an early morning breakfast of green apple, we waited at the railway station to meet Pissu and Kiddu. They were coming from Helsinki. The best part of this EuroTrip is that there are so many of us here that we can meet and travel with a new set of people everywhere we go.

Again, a visit to the tourist information center marked the start of the trip. We were impressed by the person there who did not hesitate in telling us that the Turku City Travel card that he is supposed ti promote might not make economic sense to us. He also showed us way to a competitive bike lending place which could give us bike on a cheaper rate and for just around 6 hours.

The cathedral is very close to the tourist information center and is situated close to the river. An old majestic building, this cathedral has a long history to boast of. I cannot take the freedom to bore you with the historical trivia so let me directly move to the best part about the cathedral. They have a nice and big organ that plays very pleasant music. The look of the instrument itself is very exciting and generates a lot of curiosity. So do visit this place if you get a kick out of listening to some live music.

After borrowing cycles from a bike rental company (at around 5 euro for 6 hours. These geared bikes are well maintained and come with helmets and other required gears), we headed to a city tour with the castle as our first stop.

The pleasure of driving on the narrow lanes next to a beautiful river is unmatchable. Turku has done well to offer one such exciting experience.

The town market is a good gathering place as well as a center to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. There are also many temporary on-the-move restaurants that make their base here. Incidentally these van restaurants are present in the town markets of the most of the cities we have visited so far.

If looks can be deceptive, then Turku Castle is a prime example of it. The almost tired-but-not-dead outward appearance is a total contrast to the rich cultural and architectural features inside the museum. The museum does not give any student discount - that's the bad part about it.

Our next stop was a subway for our lunch. You might wonder that this place is becoming part of our daily life. And let me tell you that it is true. We are loving the subway culture. :-)

As there were none who was really interested in going to one more museum (the maritime museum) so we decided to explore the city further. HotTiii and Pissu led our way to Runsala island. It's around 12km journey one way and leads you to an island which hosts a nature's park (or was it a wildlife sanctuary) as well as one of the most beautiful camping site in Turku. Sadly some of us got really tired midway and had to stop Others went ahead with their ride while I waited at a nice wooden watch point overseeing the sea. It just took a couple of seconds to doze off in an environment filled with clean air, a cool breeze and some soul touching music. What a peaceful nap it was!

Alas the passing drizzle woke me up and forced us to start our journey back. Cycling with winds against you is very tiring, And that you have been walking/cycling since early morning does not help you either. Somehow the tired legs pulled us to the city where we did the usual buying-the-food stuff.
And then boarded our cruise to Stockholm. Turku - Stockholm is not as luxurious a journey as our previous cruise, still it was a cruise nonetheless.
Some more window shopping and perfume testing marked the end of the day. A hot water bath made sure that I get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I will wake up in Sweden. :-)

Photo Count 3000

A photographer sees the world from behind his lens. There are five photographers amongst us. Together we have taken more than 3000 photos by now, that too in just last couple of days. It alarms a bell in my mind. Even though Pooch does a really good job collecting a day's work and tagging it, will we ever get to sort them? And upload?

With 5 cameras simultaneously at work, we are capturing the moments from each ones point of view. No one can be denied his/her creativity.
And then there is this thing about memory space, battery charge and photo size. Kya karen kya na karen? Some days we will hope that the old camera with Kodak roll should not have survived some more.

EuroTrip - Day 8

The Day I met Santa Claus

Lapland (the northern state in Finland) is home of some of the best scenic places in Finland. Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, is a relatively modern town completely rebuilt in 1946 after being razed by the retreating Germans. It's a sleepy town 8km south of Arctic Circle marker (Napapiiri). It is also host to the 'official' Santa Claus Village.

Land of reindeer antlers and northern lights, Rovaniemi is the place to be in towards the end of year. Xmas is bound to be a grand festive occasion in the land of Santa. Unfortunately we reached in a time when its neither winter nor summer. To add to the our bad luck, it was a monday. Most of the tourist attractions are closed on monday in this part of world. And that's precisely the reason we could not see the famous Arktikum Museum.

After collecting information from the tourist information center, we headed straight to the river side. The river goes through the heart of the town and is one of the many water bodies that mark the landscape of this town. Morning joggers showered friendly smiles for us - the tourists. Will we, the people in my country, learn anything from them? It just does not cost anything to smile. But the warmth feeling that it gives is something I can not describe in words.

Our next stop was Santa's village. We took the Santa Express bus to reach there. It takes you around the river and towards the northern side of the town. Santa's villages is where he stays throughout the year. "St Nick, Santa's Village, Lapland, Finland" will take your mail from any part of the world to him. Every year Santa receives more than half a million letters from kids around the world. We saw lots of letters from India and Nepal too.

Our meeting with Santa Claus was a brief one where he promised us to come to India this Xmas. Then we had our picture taken with him. Business sense says it's a really good source of money while the heart says that they should have given it to the tourists as a memory. Somehow the world is a lot more commercialized than we can think of.

The reindeer farm is another major attraction here, but we decided to skip it as there is no sledding without the snow. Don't worry baby, we will come soon when there is snow and northern lights.

After seeing the Santa's post office and other places in the village (actually most other things are just cafe bars, souvenir shops and restaurants. Santa Park is closed at this time of the year). After buying some souvenirs and getting our passport stamped with Arctic circle seal, we headed back to town to see the Knife Museum in the old knife factory. The place does not resemble anything like a museum. Still it was a nice watch. Knife collectors would love this place. The lady there gave us a small gyan on her country and their life. People can be real friendly at times. Interestingly she knew a lot about us Indians from her small trip to the Land of Spices.

Sub sandwiches are a good option for vegetarians in any part of the world. Vegan culture makes it more easy for us vegetarians. In countries like Finland and Sweden the shopkeepers generally have a list which specifies the ingredients of various eatables on display. They are quite truthful if they are not sure about presence of egg etc. This really makes our life easy. We had a superb lunch at Sub. A tip for students - don't forget to ask for the student discount. Actually this applies everywhere. Keep trying to get some discounts. Most of the places here care a lot about the students.

As most other tourists attractions were closed for the day (in any case, most of the things here close by 6pm), we decided to do some random walking close to the river. There is also a beautiful church and the regional library on the way. Library has free internet, if anyone is interested. There are some exhibitions of art works also going on now. Arbit stuff but still very interesting.

Our next stop on the journey is Turku in southern part of the country. So after a quick dinner at the railway station, we boarded the train for Turku. Pissu and Kiddu are joining us there so its going to besome more fun.

One last thing, night trains in Finland have reserved sleeping beds if you want a comfortable sleep. Or else you can save some money by taking the seats where you don't need to pay anything if you are holding a EuRail Pass. People who buy 2nd class tickets get a seat number. Others like us can rely on the very low occupancy of these trains. Very comfortable seats in a warm and clean bogey is a nice way to catch some sleep when you travel on a shoestring budget. And then the train also offers a clean toilet for getting ready for the next day's activities.

There is a cute female sitting on the seat next to me. She is trying hard to keep herself awake and read the book she has bought recently. I too should go to my sleep now. Kal ka breakfast Turku ham mein karenge. Bbye for now. Good night.

EuroTrip - Day 7

The City with Cobblestones Roads

There can not be a better start to a day than the one with a view of rising sun from the deck of a ferry followed by a refreshing bath in hot water shower. Our time in Helsinki was bound to be good.

We met Tanya at the harbour itself and headed straight for our tour of the city. We were four when we started from Paris, Bansi made us a hi5 and now we had our 6th partner too.

Helsinki is a relatively less crowded city for a capital. The city is marked by its cobblestones roads that are present in most part of the central district. There is tram that runs through most parts of the city and is supposedly a good way to take a glimpse of this city. We saw some of the historical monument and took umpteen pictures. The lake close to Finlandia Hall is really beautiful. We saw many joggers and runners doing their rounds at 1pm in the afternoon. For them, it is pleasant as long as the sun is out in the sky. There we also saw a lot of runners/joggers using sticks similar to those used in ski (Pooch says they are called nordick poles). Something new and strange for us.

Oh yea, forgot to mention that Finnish girls are very pretty. And their fashion seem to beat any weather. There is something in their blood that can enable them to cheerfully wear shorts and skirts in such temperatures.

The struggle for vegetarian food continued as the UniCafe (I think the name comes from University Cafe) was closed. Tanya had suggested this place for nice and cheap buffet lunch with some Vegan options. Our quest took us the basement of a mall called Forum (oh Bangalore! I miss you so much) where we found a restaurant serving vegan falafal. The owner offered to give some discount on the menu price, free water and also a complimentary coffee. We could not have asked for more. Falafal is a nice dish and is quite filling. The hot coffee energized us again.

After bidding goodbye to Tanya we headed to Market Square to catch the ferry to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. It's a beautiful fortress island with lots of historical places. There are lots of tourist who spent their day in the various restaurants and cafes on this island. We did a self-guided walking tour and explored it. Without a story, many places lose their charm. But this place has so much to offer due to its natural beauty that you just don't feel like coming back.

After collecting the food for next couple of days, we boarded the train for Rovaniemi - the Santa Claus village. Interestingly the train we took is also called Santa Claus Express. Ab jab Santa uncle ki hi baat ho rahi hai, let me also tell some trivia. Silja lines is the official carrier of Santa Claus (yes, the same cruise company that got us from Stockholm to Helsinki.

We are traveling without reservations which means that we need to look out for any free seat and occupy it. For now, we have a seat. Hoping that nobody else embark this train now so that we don't need to do lots of shuffling the seats. The train is more or less local so tonight there is very less chance of a peaceful sleep. Still hoping for the best. Good night. Over and Out :-)

EuroTrip - Day 6

Some Old Memories and a Date with Luxury

Stockholm is a good place to wake up after any night journey. Bansi welcomed us right at the central station. On a foreign land it's so nice to meet people you know. She is doing her exchange term in Stockholm so acted as or host. And also she will join us for our further trip. Her hostel is a couple of stations away on tube, so we took the local sub. Sleepy stations greet everyone at this hour of day. It's too early for people here to be awake. Unless if they are on their morning walk.

Her hostel is a beautiful place amidst a complex intended to be a residential area for student community. A common hostel kitchen is something I saw for the first time in my life. And it became a memorable chance because of the idlis and the sandwiches that waited for us there. Girls will be girls. And they are really good hosts for sure. A walk to the nearby beach and some peaceful moments there cheered our spirits. The lady with Alaskan Wolves gave us lots of kodak moments. You get to see dogs and pets of a wide variety. I will share my collection of their photos soon.

Our next stop was Gamla Stan, which means the old town. There are lots of monuments related to Gustav here. The church supposedly is the only church in this world that has been charging an entry fee for over 100 years now. However it is open for a small part of they year. The town hall and the assembly place are example of the architectural style here. Even the church is totally different from the ones we saw in Paris. Another indicator that we are in a different country. The royal palace is another major tourist attraction. The roads leading to it are filled with shops selling 'antics' and souvenirs. Nice to see, they are bit expensive for our pockets so we just did some window shopping. There is a Changing of Guard ceremony every afternoon in the palace. We decided to watch it too. So after a quick walk around the palace, some quick bites on yummie ice-cream and some chitchating, we came back to palace. The ceremony is held in traditional manner, eventhough the guards (marines) now are quite modernized. The royal band plays beautiful songs in an even more beautiful style. The ceremony goes on for about half an hour, so it gets boring after some time. In my opinion, the performance by the Royal Band is the main attraction of this event.

And then the event I have been waiting for so long. I met Naina. She is here to finish her assignment and it had totally skipped my mind. But luckily we spoke in time and the meeting could work out. We meet after two years that too in a foreign land. That's like a dream. We all headed for a small almost guided tour to the tourist markets. Shops selling all kind of souvenirs, coffee shops and restaurants - that's what tourists are greeted with after spending some photo-perfect moments at the Palace. After spending a couple of hours, we bid good bye to Naina and headed straight to our hostel. A quick lunch of Rasam Chawal and we were running to catch our ferry for Helsinki.

Silja Lines is one of the two operators that runs ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki. The first glimpse of the ship and we were sure that we were off to something luxurious. They treat every guest by taking a nice photo. the entrance is through the floor which has all the duty-free shops and restaurants. Our cabin is almost see facing. Who is going to be in the cabin anyway except while sleeping!!

The sheep has a casino, sauna, disk and a couple of pubs. The topmost deck hosts an open bar and gives perfect view in all directions. There are entertainment shows at every half an hour or so. So you are never out of activities as long as you are here. And we did all of them. In our own way. The initial journey is through sea with small islands all around. Beautiful houses with colourful exterior are everywhere. It will be a dream of millions to own one such house facing the serene waters. The setting sun in the background makes it a painter's dream. We took umpteen number of photos so that these moments could be shared with others. As for as we are concerned, these moments are firmly ingrained in our memories.

Perfume testing is good fun and I think I am getting hooked to it. We tried lots of them in the duty-free shop. And collected the strips. :-)

The ship gets more lively by the night. The disc hosts karaoke with popular german numbers. The songs are nice to hear. The enthusiasm and energy shown by the people is the cherry on the cake. The same disc hosts an open party with DJ at midnight. Alas I could keep myself awake till then. Moreover the cozy bed in the cabin were difficult to resist. One good night's sleep deserved after the days fun. We will open our eyes in a new country. :-)

EuroTrip - Day 5

Thrills of High Speed

Finally the first leg of EuroTrip started today. Paris - Koln - Hamburg - Copenhagen is what we covered today. Our first date with speed. Thalys is a very comfortable and quick way to travel. The beauty of the countryside on the way makes it a treat. I think that could make up for the shock that we recieved yesterday. Management jargon says we should no more bother about that as it is a sunk cost now. So be it.

German countryside on the way beat their French counterpart by a big margin. I guess a big contribution to this comes from a relatively hilly terrain in the German boundaries. By the way, we crossed Belgium on the way. The boundaries are almost invisible in this part of the Europe. One observable change was that people looked less friendly and beautiful as we moved closer to Koln. Koln Cathedral is situated just overseeing the Koln Hbf station. Compared to the cathedrals in Paris, it looked very different. Another sign that we had come to a new place. As we had just 50 minutes break before our next train to Hamburg, we decided not to enter the cathedral. A trip to Koln is on its way sometime soon. After doing some random photography, we reached the station again. We could not find any facility of drinking water on the station. It's totally surprising and disheartening. I am sure this is not the norm in this part of the world. Packaged water is too expensive to be part of a backpacker's trip. I wonder what Mom and Jiju will do when the travel by train here. The next train is more like a local, just that the speed is upwards 150 kmph.the reservation we had got was if no use as there is no culture of taking reservation on such trains. Another lesson for next time. 3 euros will be saved for sure. After waiting for a couple of minutes and observing/talking to people we realized the next set of steps. Find a place and claim it. You have got your seat. The temperature out is more like India so the warm clothing had to be packed back for the time being. The open windows mean it can be noisy at times, especially when a train passes by. The countryside seemed to come to normal as we moved further on the plain land. The greenness became dull as the sun reached the top of sky. The only respite was the field of yellow flowers like those of Sarso. DDLJ ki yaar dilate di. I think the tiredness of last night was sinking in now. The train halted every 15 minutes or so (ekdum local type feeling aaj nahi thi) and this did not help in getting some sleep. Watching people is a good fun andthat kept we awake for most part om it. German chics are as beautiful as french, though their fashion is not as updated as Parisian one's. Beauty is what is natural. So I continue watching people and enjoying.

The third part of the journey was from Hamburg to Copenhagen on an InterCity Express. A nice and comfortable journey in a state of the art train with its automatic doors and lavish restrooms. Water still eludes us though. When in germany, do the beer - that seems to be the mantra. Our destination was in a different country and that too to one that is separated by sea. So came the modern technology to our rescue. The train reached the boarder, and entered in a ship. Yes in a ship. We were asked to proceed to the upper deck of the ship. And there we git something we could not have imagined. We were on top of a big ship and were heading straight into sea. The cold winds were unbearable but still the view from the tip deck was something that could make us stay there. It was time for sun set and relish sky treated the setting sun. The horizon looked like a collage in all shades of red and orange. The winds enthused everyone around and the smiles were back. The lower deck hosted a duty free shop and a couple of restaurants. Again, some more perfume testing and window shopping. And then we boarded the train again. Now we were in Denmark. 4th country of the day.

Copenhagen station looks older than those in Paris and Koln. Its architecture lacks the modernism showcased by others we have seen so far. We enquired about our next train and were told that "You've got exactly 1 minute to catch the train for Malmo. So run." And we did exactly the same. 30 minutes ride filled with excitement as we got to know that at Malmo we could catch a night train for Stockholm which was to leave in a couple of minutes once we get down. We debated whether to board the train without reservations. And decided unanimously to gate crash. Jo bhai hoga dekha jaayega.

We found a nice warm cabin. The search for water was still not complete. And then there were worries about reservations. The second issue was resolved when the TT allowed us to travel. It's possible to travel without reservation in certain trains and thus we got lucky. "Here you are supposed to carry your own drinking water," told he in reply to our questions about the same. Disheartened and tired we decided to sleep, hungry and thirsty. Patwa's orange candy gave some respite for some time, though. And as I was writing this blog, something happened that none of us could imagine. The TT came back with 4 glasses of water. It was from his personal stock, it seems. We could not believe our luck and his gesture. This blog is dedicated to you and all the other TTs that we met today. Your courtesy and friendliness is commendable and makes us feel so special.

Sir, you really made our day today. We are really thankful to you.

It's good night time. Everyone seems to be writing the draft of his next blog though. Tomorrow we open our eyes in Stockholm. Looking forward to meet Bansi and carry our journey onwards.

EuroTrip - Day 4

To the Tower of LOVE
- No power. Darkness all around. And what more, no wifi too. :(
- Morning walk with TARDi. To a beautiful palace whose name is still to be explored. Don't worry it's just five minutes walk from our place. So there will be many more morning walks in that direction and also a day long visit too if there is any possibility.
- And guess what! It was just a power trip. We just could not find the MCB switch. The land-lady did it in two minutes. She faced such a problem for the first time in her place. Gosh! We can do anything. :D
- It's a good breakfast day. Potato Sandwich, bread butter jam and chutney. There are so many options. And of-crouse tea or coffee or milk. A good start for a good day.
- Reservation for our first trip. A shocker of our life. Reservation fee of 29 euro! What to do? For now, we go ahead with the plan. And so we booked the tickets. Dil par pathar rakh kar.
- Tamil street - rice - calling cards and some more shopping. We have done more shopping than anything since the day we have arrived in this city.
- Lunch at home - Shahi Paneer and frozen parathas. Long live the person who invented Frozen Paratha. They are so yummi and easy to use.
- The fight for writing 450 characters to define my life. Ye placement hamara peecha kahi nahi chodta.
- Finally a trip to city of Paris. Patwa takes the lead. Shodh yatra ka kuch to fayada ho. Yaha bhi CRgiri. :D
- Church of Mother Mary, or BEATAE, Marie Virigini Lavretanae
- Eglise Sainte Trinite, the Church of the Holy Trinity
- Galaries Lafayette - Oh man. Hermes, Louis, Vuitton, Chanel Burberry, Dior and what not. This place is like what Mr. PKS said in the retail classes. I had trial of Dior and Burberry perfumes. Mama are you listening? :D
- Academie Nationale de Music. The girl standing next to Pooch. Man, sometimes they are just irristable.
- Place de la Magdalene - Ye naam kahi suna suna laga?
- Egyptian Obelisk - overseeing a great thing in all the directions.
- Eiffel - No words to explain the first glimpse. She is beautiful. More beautiful than anything else in this world. My fiancee included. :D
- Place de la Concorde
- Louvre - reliving those moments from Da Vinci Code
- And a walk back home. GPS rocks. :D
- Maggie as dinner and then the daily routine job of collecting the day's photos. 960 in total today. 1.5 GB of memory dedicated to the city of Paris.
- And it's good night time. Tomorrow it's going to be an early morning train to Koln and so we slept early at 2:40 am.

EuroTrip - Day 3

Day of disappointments
- Early morning dose of internet telephoney thanks to TarDi
- Bread butter jam breakfast
- Trip planning continued
- The shortest way to Gare du Nord
- No reservations available in Paris to Koln. Gosh this was the first of the tens of reservation that we needed. Time for a re-plan.
- Khichadi as lunch. We are treating ourselves royally, you know!
- Walk & Talk to college
- Where the hell is building 3, floor 1, hall Faure?
- Late entry in the class and a gentle warning :-(
- Three hour long presentation on Consumer Behavior.
- No International Finance for me!
- Walking alone on Paris streets
- Republique - Gare du Est - Gare du Nord
- No reservations still :-( Time to plan again. Or should we do it the way firangs do? The real roadtrip??
- Tamil Street: Indian Silk, Idli Dosa, Calling cards, Bindi in 2 euros. And what not!
- Sex toys and video rentals
- Mashed potato, Bread Chutney and Lemon Rice. Aaj ka din Paris ke itihaas me sabse well fed day hai.
- And a power failure in de house. It's good night time.

Short skirts and Long Legs

It's been just around 48 hours for me in this city so it is too early to comment anything about people in Paris. Still the protocol says that I should tell about my experience so far here. So here I go.
1. Paris sub is superb, well connected and very fast. Alas it is very expensive too (in INR terms atleast) Paying around 100 rs for a 10 minutes journey is difficult to think about as of now.
2. Paris girls are pretty. While we shiver in the cold here, they do not seem to be affected by it. Their long legs and short skirts are a testimony to it.
3. There is smoke all around. Only difference is that it is not emitted by vehicles. It's the people of Paris who are costing all the environmental damages as well as damage to my lungs.
4. There are lots and lots of pizzeria and brasserie in this town. They all are beautifully designed and are always crowded. I wonder if the people here make any meal at home.
5. Railway stations are a thing to visit for their architectural beauty. Gare du Nord and Gare du Est are really beautiful.
6. People here walk pretty fast.

EUROTRIP - Day 2

First Day at ESCP
- Morning walk to college
- An apple as breakfast
- Learning Marketing Strategy with 3 girls
- An unending search for cheap veg food. Finally ended up eating a banana and and drinking some fruit juice as lunch.
- Negotiation between Germans and French. Became German for 2 hours
- Social Security, A signature. Finally the college ID card
- Technology transfer with a empty stomach
- Route 3, Route 5 , Bangladeshi Market, Carrefour
- Frozen Parathas, Chola Masala, Pickle and Lemon Rice - Dinner could not have been better
- Trip planning for the next couple of days
- Good Night sleep

EUROTRIP - Day 1

Paris - Here I Come
- Ignored Tusshar Kapoor
- Seat Number 49e, 8 hours of non-stop air travel
- Sleep and no sleep
- Early morning breakfast
- Frankfurt Airport
- 1.5km walk to reach arrival gate to the departure gate
- Security checks
- German chics
- Turkey sandwich - Don't worry, I did not eat that.
- Multiple planes in the sky
- Eiffel Tower from the sky
- Wait at the Paris Airport
- RER journey to Gare du Nord
- The search for an address
- 23, Rue Turgot
- House is ossum and as shown in the picture. It is fully furnished to the extent of dishwashing liquid.
- Line 7 to Gare Du Est, then Line 5 to Republique, then walk on Avenue de la Republique, ESCP Europe.
- Paris rains & a walk to home
- Lemon Rice and Pickle
- Good Night Sleep

ps: Getting very little time, so will have to make good with such bullet point posts. Inconvenience regretted.

EUROTRIP - Day 0

Mumbai Meri Jaan
- Sardarjee ki Taxi
- Football with Rout's friends
- Idli in breakfast, Dosa in Lunch and Vada in Snacks.
- Mumbai rains
- FD4 in 3D - Had to leave in between due to Pooch
- Infinity mall - Mumbai chics
- Gillete Mach3 Turbo shave - just missed :(
- MeruCab and then CSIA Mumbai.
- Luggage adjustments - 25kg in checkin, 8kg in hand after 2 hours of efforts.
- Duty-free shops & the search for Davidoff Classics
- And finally the boarding call - "All the passengers traveling by Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt please board the plane through gate number 14."

9-9-9

What a coincidence! Not the one of 9th Sept 2009, but something different. I climbed 9km and then came down 9km - all this in 9 hour of rain and storms. Still the trip was not successful.

We returned from the first taunk (temple) of Sammed Shikharjee due to unbearable rain and storms. For Jains, this mountain is the biggest teerth yatra and I happen to go there after years of wait. Still, somehow my luck did not favor me much. Not-so-timely rains affected the whole trip. We tried to brave the rains during the whole climb but could not bear it while at the top of the mountain. It was very risky walking in those winds and water. So had to decide to come back without any darshan.

They say you need to have lots of punya in your account to have the chance to do a successful trip to shikharjee. I guess I am short on goodwill and punya. Time to do some good work PriS. :D