EuroTrip - Day 40

B.L.A.C.K

It was a night spent struggling to figure out why the hell Airbus would want to transfer its technology to India? Born consultants, most of us could come up with some very sensible guesses. However, it was a real tough task to put them to a reality check in eyes of historical trends and current market dynamics.

It was a long night indeed. We tried our best to do some justice to the assignment by load sharing and taking turns to catch up some sleep (that is if we could call those half n hour 'power naps' a sleep!). Still, in the end, we had to give up. It was just too much for us - the novice consultants.

We were short of time. It was time to pack our bags and leave for the second big phase of the EuroTrip 2009. With a vacation just around the corner (in most part of Europe, it's one week off in the last week of October to celebrate some festivals), we can now afford to do the much awaited trip to Austria, Italy and Germany. It's going to be the ultimate mix of nature, history and culture in coming two weeks or so.

Frieberg in Black Forests was to be our first stop of the day. Black Forests - famous for their low range mountains covered with dark ravine jungles, lush green meadows, old style farm houses and most important of them the cuckoo clocks, are a treat if you are a nature lover type. The dense forests are covered with varied moss and fern flora and canopied by silver firs and spruces. Long hiking trails and biking routes through the mountains, rock climbing and other wilderness activities along the way- things that black forests offer its visitors.

We have been doing a lot of 'city' visits all this while. Sometime you have to take a detour and enter some not-so-known territories (you cannot ask for an uncharted territory as the tourism and camping activities in Europe has penetrated till the last mile. There is no place where someone has not reached). As usual PooCh 'took initiative' and found about Triberg, another smaller town in the area. So midway, we changed our plan and we were on our way to Triberg.

Triberg (the town surrounded by three mountains) has the highest waterfall in Germany. It's debatable if the height from which water falls in the highest or is it that the waterfall itself is situated at a record height. Whatever it is, you should visit this place for the splendid natural scenery. The water of the Gutach plunges over 160m in the seven cascades into the valley below. You can visit most part of it following the walking trails that have been designed beautifully. The 2.5 euro that you will have to pay for entry to this area is something unique to this place. 'Nature dekhne ke liye bhi koi paisa deta hai bhala!!' Vishal, an old friend from RV, would have said. We felt it too before we started our walk. However as we reached near the waterfall, the place started to unravel its beauty.

I must tell there is nothing great about the waterfall in itself, it's like any other 'big' waterfall that you see in your country. It's the way they have built an attraction around this place that is admirable. There are stories told through posters all along the way, multiple trails designed to cater to different tastes (nature, cultural and fun), and nice theme restaurants to satisfy your test buds with authentic Black Forest cuisine. By the way, do I need to mention anything about Black Forest Cakes?

So we walked (HotTiii 'hiked') through the jungle and listened to the song of the water. The silence of the jungle gives it a mysterious feel. I am a 'silence' man. Me and my camera can make it a good company on any good-weather day. I am thankful to God for that.

The streets of Triberg sing another song in your ears. The Cuckoo Clocks are everywhere. Their melodies are sweeter than the sweetest thing you have heard. Traditional craftsman (clockmakers) have been making these mostly wooden marvels for more than two centuries. Priced upwards 50 euros for a basic model, they can go in thousands of euros depending on the details and creative efforts. They are one memorable souvenir for anyone you care for. Most of the shops have a good collection on display and they are a good way to get a preview of the world of cuckoo clocks. The souvenir shops in Triberg are filled with wooden carving stuff. You can take the jungle with you. The silent and dark jungles of the Black Forests will anyway stay in your memory for a lifetime.

Our tyrst with discounters and super market continued here too. End of this trip, my gang will be more than capable to put a competitive study on the merchandisers in Europe. These days we carry so much food stuff with us that some time I wonder if we are doing a backpacking trip or a family picnic!! The smile that pops up on the faces of these people speak a volume about the joy these people get just at the sight of a LIDL outlet. Gosh! I am getting old for such things. I don't like the 'dude drinks' :-(

Our next stop was going to be Munchen. Finally I was going to meet DJ and the gang. DJ had promised us a long fun filled night and I was looking forward to it. Talking about DJ, this old man from Bangalore (I wonder if this respect comes due to his size or the fact that he actually was a senior-we-never-met in RV!) is one of very few people I met, who adjust their 'family' life with doing awaragardi with friends real well (Ravi might disagree here, though). His penchant for enjoying life is admirable. We did not hesitate to doubt his claim of night full of masti even though we were to reach only at 11:30 pm.

The chai time discussions about his EuroTrip experience so far continued during our walk along the Munchen roads. I am not an ice-cream guy. Especially in the winter, I try and stay away from those things. But today I could not refuse the Max Flurry at the McDonalds. The ice-cream is one of the best kitkat combination that I have eaten so far. The interesting conversations, soothing decor and presence of crazy people around us made it a taste that I am not going to forget for a long time.

A walk back home as we had missed the 3:20 ki last local. By now, we have become expert at missing last trains. The conversation is not yet complete as we had to keep some scope for another power nap in the comfy bed that DJ had arranged for us. I am going to come back to Munchen. To finish this conversation and to actually sip some more of the city's spirit.