Germany - Part 5

Now this is when it starts to get slightly boring for me as I have already written 4 parts to this vacation and it just doesn't seem to end! I do have to complete what I started.. So literally, the next HALF of our vacation is going to be compressed in one single post.

From Berlin, we took an early morning train to Dresden. Walked around the city for like 30 mins and then took a bus from there to Praha - back to small towns with cobbled streets. Prague was extremely crowded. Tourists all over the place. We did the usual old town and clock tower on day one and castle the next day. Took some photos around Charles Bridge and then boarded the night bus to Vienna.

The bus company - Student Agency, was awesome. They had in-bus entertainment with movies and TV shows. The staff also offered hot chocolate / coffee. But in exchange, dropped us at a random place in Vienna at 4.30am. So we checked into a hotel for like half a day, got some sleep and walked around the city. It was all the same now - city center, palaces, museums and cathedrals. We changed our objectives - Sachertorte and Viennese coffee! We planned our tour in the city around these.

Quite bored with Vienna, we decided to head to Bratislava the next day. This city was a huge surprise for us. It was a dead city. We could literally count the number of people on a Saturday mid-day! In less than 2 hours, we decided to head back. We reached Schonbrunn palace that afternoon, had a look around and then it was time to catch the bus to Munich.

Day one - we did the free tour. It was awesome. Our tour guide, Blake, was a quarter-back with the Munich Cowboys. He did a fantastic job. After the tour, I headed towards the BMW Museum. Came back in the evening and then met Blake for a Beer Tour! That finished around 11pm. The next morning we had the Disney Castle tour with Blake again. Rain played spoilsport but overall it was still good. The next day we spent a few hours at the Deutsches Museum - one of the best technical museums in the world. Sadly, due to lack of funds, most of their exhibits are in German. After a point we got bored and walked out.

Next stop was Freiburg - capital of the Black Forest. We got there by night and decided to head to Triberg the next day. Spent the day hiking up the waterfall - wasn't any great at all but apparently this place is a big attraction. Then tried the original black forest cake.

The next day, our stop was Heidelberg - the most beautiful place after Berlin. This university town is famous for its one mile long shopping road. Whatever time was left between walking out of shoe shops was used to see parts of the old town.

With Heidelberg done, our tour was coming to a close. We took the train to Frankfurt, spent the next day walking around the city and boarded the flight back. I could have detailed this post a bit more but its just taking a lot of time. Hopefully the photos will have a better story!

Germany - Part 4

We reached Berlin by later afternoon. Finding the hotel with the maps and directions I had, was slightly tough but we managed and checked into Meininger at Senefelderplatz.

Almost a month back, I had booked for a free guided tour of the German Parliament - Reichstag scheduled at 8.30pm for about 90 mins. We put our bags, showered and quickly left. We took a bus numbered 100, apparently the only bus which takes you through all major attractions (other than the hop-on-hop-off). We did one round on that bus and then got off at Reichstag. The tour was well organized and the guide gave us very deep insights and stories about the building, its architecture, and impact from the war.

The next day we had a huge debate rather a fight about whether we should do a free walking tour or not. We decided to do a walking tour. We were told that there would be a pickup at 10am from our hotel. We were ready by 9.30 but apparently that 10am pickup was to just collect people from different hotels and make bring them to the Brandenburg gate. The tour was going to start only at 11am. I realized it was an utter waste of time and we wanted to cover a lot in a single day. The walking tour was just going to be Berlin highlights. So we ditched the tour and started off on our own. We took the train to the Berlin Ostbahnof to see the section of the wall that was still intact. From there we reached the Judisches Museum. This museum had everything about Jews right from history, evolution whatever to concentration camps until 1945. We spent many hours at the Museum and then walked towards Checkpoint Charlie - the crossing between east and west. There was an exhibition about the wall very close to the checkpoint. More about that in the photos. Next destination was the Topography of Terror. This place was a treasure trove of information about the book burning, arrests, holocaust, hatred and the cold war. The day almost got over and we managed to make a quick visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial.

The next day was the highlight of our vacation. The tour of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp was a model camp. SS officers got training in this camp before being deputed elsewhere. The location of the camp was at the end of one of the train lines and the camp was very close to residential areas which meant that everyone living there could see camp prisoners being walked to the camp. If you don't plan to visit Dachau near Munich or Auschwitz near Krakow, then this place is a must. I have enough photos that divulge the details of the camp. On our way back we were talking to our guide on the train about various things - India, culture, yoga, travel etc and then our conversation was interrupted by a lady who was sitting on the other side. We started talking to her and realized that she was very much around when the wall was built. Her family later moved to the US and she started working with the UN. She is now retired and lives in Berlin. Towards the end, she told us that her mother was in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. We were speechless after that.

The rest of the evening was spent repenting not continuing on the train with the lady. But then, there was also this thought that we should not be triggering such sensitive conversations with someone we just met on the train.

There was so much to see and learn in Berlin that just 3 days was absolutely not enough. We vowed to come back here.

Germany - Part 3

I realized that I didn't talk much about the Rhine river cruise. KD is one of the many companies that organizes the river cruise and with these guys you can use the German rail pass as well. They may not have the best of the facilities but its still good. The rive cruise goes through many small yet beautiful cities like Rudesheim, Bacharach, St Goar etc. You can also get off at any town in between and catch the local train to the next station if you wish. The trains also run along the river side. By being on the train you don't miss a lot. You definitely save a lot of time. And it does make a lot of sense to get off and take a train because after the first hour, the cruise does get boring.

With Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Cologne, and Bonn done, it was time to head towards the town where the wedding was happening. The wedding was the primary reason for our Germany visit. Let me warn you ahead of time that this section may not be of great interest to many of you as its not about travel and sightseeing.

Bad Driburg was the town we had to reach. We left Cologne on 9th mid-day, made at least 2 changes on the train and then took a bus to reach the town. We were the only non-germans in many of those sections we traveled. I am sure a lot of locals would have been surprised or even suspicious seeing us backpacking through some truly German locations.

Bad Driburg is a recovery town (popular for thermal spas) for old aged people. From my first line you can see where this would go. The moment we got off the railway station, the first sign I noticed was about a hospital. And the hospital was actually next door to the railway station, which sort of gave us a peek into what we could expect here. Nevertheless, we were here just for the wedding.

We checked-in to our hotel and walked to the other side of town (about 1km) to where the church was. Had a quick look around the area and also met the bride, groom and their family for a few minutes while they were in rehearsal. The same day evening, we had a small dinner with family and friends. The next day was the wedding. It was a Protestant-Catholic wedding and pretty much every word of it was in German. Altogether a different experience - my first church wedding outside India. Very different from our kind of weddings. There were only about 100 guests in all, including family. Every minute of the wedding was carefully planned by the bride and the groom. The after wedding party was at a spa-hotel that was right opposite the church. We just walked, clicked a few pictures and had some wine/juice.

The bride's family had something for us next. They gave us postcards for us to write wishes for the couple. These postcards were then tied to a gas balloon and let off into the air. A balloon would land someday in the garden of someone's house. The recipient if enthusiastic enough, would post the card back to the couple. The couple gets to know how far the balloons traveled. We got to know that in one such wedding, the balloons went as far as Denmark!

It was time for dinner. We got seated in a particular table. Seating was all pre-decided. Dinner was served with a series of presentations/wishes in between. This was exactly where the family and friends put enormous effort to make the event hilarious and interesting. Both families worked extremely hard in their own capacities to put up pictures and events from the past to tell us many stories about couple and their journey until the wedding. Just like the Hollywood movies! They also had small games and quizzes for the couple through which everyone got to know the couple better. Friends groups from work and university also had similar presentations. There was a photo booth to take pictures and these pictures would go into a scrap book. You also had the opportunity to write wishes for the couple on that book. There was a live band and a DJ. When all of this got over, it was roughly 5am in the morning. I didn't stay that long. I took off around three.

Got up that Sunday (the 11th), packed our bags and took the train towards what was going to be the best city of our trip - Berlin!

Germany - Part 2

Like most of Western Europe, Germany is quite easy to get around and people do speak English and don't take offense like the French.

Frankfurt was our first stop. Our hotel was in Sachsenhausen, which was part of the city's old town (by the way, almost every city in Germany has an old town which is called Aldstadt). It was a very vibrant location with many beer gardens and noisy people.

Germans know a few things better than most of their European friends, besides automobiles and engineering I mean - and that's potatoes and beer. We had some of the best potato based food and beers all through the trip.

Textorstrasse in the same part of town has a few restaurants that serve some of the best apple wine (apfelwein). These restaurants are more popular with the locals and hence not many tourists are there, which was good in a way too. Summer festivals were happening all over town and we got a chance to mingle with the locals. We spent a few hours in a suburb called Bornheim (this place survived the war). This side of the city is famous for small cafes and restaurants along the streets with hardly any space for cars to get around.

We did a day trip to Stuttgart - the home of Porsche and Mercedes Benz. We managed to see the Porsche Museum and understand Bernoulli's principle, also walked around the town center a bit.

Our next stop was Mainz. Trains are amazing in Germany - very efficient. All stations have a full timetable printed and made available in every platform indicating all arrivals and departures for the day. Many intercity trains also have the train route printed as a catalogue for the passengers to view. This also lists the connections available at every station the train stopped.

We had to walk a lot from the Mainz Hbf (Hbf is short for Hauptbahnof i.e Main train station) to the departure point for the Rhine river cruise. We walked the wrong way for quite a bit and hence ended up missing the first boat. The next boat was in an hour. We got in and found a nice spot. As the cruise began I noticed that there were hardly any young couples around. Everyone was 60 plus. Looks like river cruises are not popular among the active. Well, who would want to sit in a boat and see castles from the water! We got off at the last stop Boppard and took a train to Koblenz. Then another train to Cologne.

We spent 3 nights in Cologne. The cruise to Cologne almost took a full day. The next day was spent in Bonn visiting the Arithmeum, University, and the House of Beethoven. On the last day, we visited the most famous cathedral, chocolate museum, some of the 12 other cathedrals, the padlock bridge and spent the evening at a local brew house. Cologne is famous for Kolsch beer.

Germany - Part 1

So our 3 week holiday (rather exploration) of Germany started in the first week of August, 2nd to be more precise.

Since our decision to travel was made quite late, the cheapest tickets we could get was around 1550 AUD return with Air China.

So we boarded the flight in Melbourne. The first surprise came when we checked in and they told us that we had to collect our bags in Shanghai (that was our stop-over) and then re-check the bags in for the next leg. That was understandable as we had a stop-over of more than 12 hrs.

Shanghai Pudong was quite an experience. We got there and we got no instructions from the airline staff about what we needed to do. We ended up straight at immigration. My wife decided to request for a transit visa so that we could explore the possibility of getting to the city for the night rather than being stuck at the airport hotel. After some struggle with a limited English speaking officer, we got an authorization. We collected our bags and then walked out.

One tourist agent on the way out offered to help us with hotel accommodation. After looking at a few hotels, we decided to get one for around 50 USD for one night, including airport transfers. We paid the guy and then got out of the airport and were waiting for the cab. One of the guys walked us out and was waiting for the cab with us.

Shanghai is full of smokers. Everyone around us was smoking non-stop. The air around us was horrible and it was a very hot evening. We were just waiting there. We tried speaking to the guy who came with us about the cab. Obviously he spoke only Mandarin and we were still clueless. Finally, a vehicle arrived. It was worse than the Maruti Omni but a larger version.

We got in and the guy drove for about 10 mins. Around the Pudong airport, the roads are all four lane and I noticed a few highways as well. Our van driver was not following any traffic regulations. He was driving in the middle of two lanes and did not stop at many traffic lights. Now that's something I have prior experience for sure.

Just off these massive roadways are small ghettoes, a perfect example of income distribution, and that was where our hotel was. The lane was deserted and no street lights in many sections. It was slightly scary. We checked into the hotel and decided to get some food.

The nearest place was a cross-section with a few street shops. Not a single word of English. There was a lady making stir-fried noodles. Our pictionary and dumb-c skills helped us a bit and we got ourselves a good and cheap dinner for like 30 RMB. Not bad. We walked back, slept well and got back to the airport on time the next day.

On the return is when we decided that we should never fly through China again. Thankfully, our bags were checked-in directly to Melbourne. We got off at Beijing and we had only a 4 hour transit. We had to do a proper immigration  and security check because our next flight to Melbourne was a local flight going through Shanghai. It took a lot of trouble and queuing up. Then in Shanghai, we were asked to leave the aircraft and do another round of security checks and what not. We finally got back on the same aircraft. I was reminded of my super easy connections and efficient transfers in Singapore and KL. So much trouble for deciding to fly low-cost. And let's not even talk about the food. Asian Hindu Vegetarian gets stir fried veggies and rice! Their in-flight food options are so inflexible that even getting an extra piece of bread roll takes atleast 30 minutes. And one of the flight attendants told me that they don't have extra butter!

That's part 1 for you and there is more to come during this week.

Fiction: Summer Holidays II

Continued from Summer Holidays I

Ramesh and Murali were back in the house. The house, although was nothing in comparison to the ones that landlords owned in villages, was still like a palace to the children. City was crowded and packed.

From door at the entrance, you could see the other end of the house. It was a straight path. The children used that like a running track. The path was also obstructed by steps. The steps were the bifurcation points to various rooms. These steps were the hurdles and Murali was a master in taking a leap across every one of those.

At the right side of the house was the cow-shed. Ramesh was scared of the cows. Earlier, it wasn't like that. When he was three, he did not know what he was doing and he actually walked up to the cow. The animal went for him and he was thrown over onto a small haystack that was lying nearby. From then on, he was not allowed to get near the cows. But he still loved watching them. Everyday morning, Ponnamma Chaechi* used to milk the cows. Later, Saami, their grandpa, used to take some of it to the temple for the morning rituals.

At the left side was the storage house. This housed the coconuts and the grains. Everyday morning, the workers used to come to the storage area, pick up the grains in a sack, take it to the open area in front of the house and spread it under the sun. At almost mid-day, the grains looked like tiny pieces of gold.

The area that surrounded the house was almost 3 acres. There were just trees around - coconut, mango, jack-fruit. Then crotons, wild flowers, jasmine decorated the front portions of the house. Saami used the jasmine for his everyday puja at home.

Grandma called the children for breakfast. Breakfast was simple and healthy food. Porridge made out of par-boiled rice. Breakfast was a whole new event for the children. The fun part was about having the porridge. Cups to hold the porridge were made out of leaves from the jack-fruit tree. The children took a lot of interest in plucking the leaves. Then Ponnamma Chaechi* would make a small cone out of it and bind the ends piercing a small stick in between.

It was soon time for some more activity. The large wooden swing in the hall was the next target.

*Chaechi - elder sister

Fiction: Summer holidays - I

Green, green and green everywhere. That small village in Kerala. Two more months for the monsoon. The cool weather was just setting in. Few more minutes to sunrise and in that dim light, you could see the tiny roads with farmlands on either side. The village was ready to begin a new day. Men, women and children were walking to the bathing ghat near the river. The women and children had a separate bathing ghat. "Don't go too far into the water Murali. The crocodile will catch you!" - said Gita Atthai*. It was her technique to keep the children from going deep into the water. But Murali was determined to take a good swim. It was his summer holidays, away from home and he knew that he will not get the freedom to do anything anywhere other than at their Atthai's home. Murali and Rajesh (his brother) were totally excited. Atthai's home and village was like a camp site for all their escapades.

Ramesh was busy. He had a new toy for himself. It was a large coconut leaf. He was using it like a vehicle. Sitting on the thicker end, he would give a signal to Pappu, who was his friend at the village, to drag him over a short distance. It was total enjoyment for him. The city paved no opportunity for such small pleasures.

Playing time near the river was over. The children started walking back to their house crossing the fields. Shankunni, a farmer in his forties, was busy working at the field. The field was full of tapioca. He saw the children walking across the field. He waved to them, quickly pulled out some fresh tapioca and took it to them. Everybody at the village respected Murali's grandfather. He was called Saami (colloquial for Brahman). Most of the land that the farmers plowed belonged to Saami's family. The children of the house were a delight to the villagers.

The siren from the nearby factory had just sounded. That was a signal to most people. The three sirens for the various shifts in one day signified morning, noon and evening for villagers.

*atthai - dad's sister