Since I had covered days 1 – 10 of our trip in emails, I decided to pen this down after returning so as to have a complete record of our vacation.
We reached Rome at 9:30 PM on Day 10. Despite our hotel map mentioning that it was only 200 mtrs from the station, we stepped out and took a cab. On reaching the hotel, we realized that we had merely done a circuit of the station – the hotel was across the street from the opposite end of the station to the one we had exited from. We were also a little surprised to find the hotel lobby in darkness – with only one bulb on behind the receptionist. On speaking to him, we found that one of the electric utilities supplying power to Rome had a breakdown, and the hotel was without power. Instead of taking up the receptionist's suggestion that we lug our baggage up three floors to the room, we left the luggage at the reception and went across to a Pizzeria nearby for dinner. By the time we finished dinner, the power was back and we were able to go to our room.
This experience only accentuated the sense of unease we had developed about Italian infrastructure on reaching Venice. The first thing we saw on reaching the station was a notice indicating that there was to be a strike on June 21 st, the day we were scheduled to leave Rome for Milan on our way back to Bombay. We had checked with the railway staff, and they had assured us that our train would be running despite the strike.
The next morning, we took a bus for the Vatican. It was extremely crowded, and both of us kept a close eye on our belongings, keeping in mind the warnings that various people had given us about thefts in Italy, especially Rome. About halfway through our journey, a couple rushed forward from the back of the bus and spoke to the driver. The bus halted, and some cops were called. It turned out that the lady's bag had been snatched at the previous stop. After a 5 minute break, the bus proceeded, minus the cops and the couple, with the lady in tears. Nobody seemed to bat an eyelid at this incident.
We reached the Vatican and were amazed to see the grandeur of Vatican City and the St. Peters Cathedral. We climbed 500+ steps to the top of the Dome, and marveled at the views of the city, and the architecture inside the Dome. We later went in and spent an hour admiring the beautiful church. We then proceeded to the Vatican Museum. I for one was amazed to see the eclectic collection of fine art from various civilizations housed in a collection belonging to the Catholic Church. Some of the tour guides could be heard cribbing about the prudery of certain popes who had some sculptures painted up. But in my view, the Church had clearly adopted a very tolerant and inclusive attitude about civilizations before it – while there was some puffery on the victories of Catholicism over Paganism, most exhibits were presented in a neutral setting. After a long tour, we reached the Sistine Chapel, and admired Michelangelo's magnificent frescos.
We then took the metro to another station and walked down to the Fountain of Trevi. There is a walking path that leads from this Fountain to the Pantheon. Along the way, we saw Hadrian's Temple, a beautiful old monument that pops out of seemingly nowhere. At the Pantheon, I was surprised to find that what had once been a temple dedicated to Roman Gods was (and had been for 1500 years) a Catholic Church. We then walked along, taking in views of Roman relics seemingly at every street corner towards the Forum. On reaching Palatine Hill around 7:30, we found that access to the Forum and the Coloseum closed at 6:15 – we then headed down a road towards the Circus Maximus, which turned out to be an ordinary looking field. After having walked about 4 – 5 kms on our "Walking Tour of Rome", we proceeded to our hotel using the metro. Before leaving the station, we once again checked the status of our train, and were again assured that all would be well. That night, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called "Sitar", which was located down the street from our Hotel. Sitar was run by a Punjabi, who had been working for the UN in Italy for several years.
The next morning, after checking out, we set out for the Coloseum. There was a long queue to get tickets, which was more disorganized than any I had seen in India. A number of people were ambling past the main queue – after watching about 50 people go by, Radhika joined them – and found that they were queue breakers, rejoining the queue up ahead. We too ended up bypassing about 20 people who were ahead of us in the main queue, though net-net, we were probably worse off. The Coloseum itself was really beautiful – there were detailed signboards explaining the nitty-gritty of the seating hierarchy, and guides explaining in gory detail how losers almost never survived the fights (to prevent match fixing allegedly!). There was also a museum housing various artifacts retrieved from the Coloseum. We then headed out to the Forum, and spent an hour and a half looking at the ruins. Even today, one can easily gauge the splendor that once was. We had been rationing photographs ever since we reached Venice (when my first memory chip got full), and as we were leaving the Forum, Radhika took one last photo and found that the memory card was full. We then decided to have an Indian lunch at Sitar since we were scheduled to reach Milan only at 9PM and had decided to have a sandwich dinner in the train.
We went to the station at around 3:45PM, which we thought would be when the train would roll into its designated platform. As we entered, I noticed a sign showing the word "SUPRESSO" next to several trains (but not ours). On reaching the platform, we found the train had not yet arrived. We waited but at 4:05, a sign appeared indicating some other train would leave from our designated platform. So I went over to the Information Desk, and found to my horror that despite the earlier assurances, our train had been cancelled. With nary an apology, the guy told me to take my chances at the reservation office if I wanted to reach Milan.
I then rushed to the reservation office and found a long queue at the Eurostar Italia counter. The guy in front of me (who had also been bumped) told me that we had a long wait ahead of us, and we should pray that there were seats available on the next train. This was a major concern – the 5:30 PM Eurostar Italia would reach Milan only at 10 PM, and other trains took 7 hours plus to cover the distance which Eurostar took 4:30 hrs. There were not many options open to us. After a seemingly endless wait (only about 20 minutes actually), I reached the counter. As I tried to explain my situation, the counter clerk very helpfully offered to give me a refund. I told him I needed to reach Milan – to which he replied that he did not speak English, and I would have to wait for his colleague to become free. After explaining our situation to his colleague, he took my ticket and disappeared for 10 minutes. He came back saying he was able to give us 2 seats on the 5:30, but could not say with certainty that the train would not be cancelled. At 4:50 after this saga, I returned to wait at the platform for the 5:30 train.
Once again we had a long wait, with no information about whether our train would leave. Finally at 5:15, it was announced that the train would leave. We rushed to the platform as the train was entering the station. It was 5:25 by the time we reached our seats (the platform was as crowded as an Indian one) but at exactly 5:30, the train started off. Until Bologna, all was fine. At 9:20, we seemed to be well on our way to reaching Milan on time. But at 9:25, the train stopped at a station called Piacenza to an announcement in rapid fire Italian. Fortunately for us, there was a Bangladeshi resident of Italy around who translated the announcement for us, and told us that the train was delayed by 30 minutes on account of a fire up ahead. I looked out of the train, and saw a number of other stranded trains (slower regional ones albeit), which had seemingly been waiting from as early as 8 PM. 10 PM passed without any announcement. We waited, with a growing sense of foreboding. I called the hotel to ensure that they do not give our room to someone else, assuming we were not showing up. Finally at 11 PM, one of the other trains left, and then at 11:10, we were on our way again. We reached Milan at 12:30 AM – it had taken 3 ½ hours to cover the last 60 kms. We then proceeded by cab to our hotel, which was very close to the station. For a change, we were thankful for Thomas Cook's incompetence – we had asked for a hotel close to the Airport, which is 50 km from Milan, but they had instead booked us next to the railway station, which was a blessing in disguise given the hour at which we reached Milan.
We woke the next morning at 4 am, and proceeded to the airport, reaching at 6 AM using the 5AM shuttle bus from the station. Our flight started engines at 7:25 (5 minutes ahead of schedule), and started taxiing. Just before the runway, it stopped, and the pilot announced that there was a problem with the ATC system, and no visibility on when it would be resolved. We were scared again, for a few brief moments, wondering whether we would make our connection to Bombay from Zurich. But fortunately, just as he finished speaking, he received word that the problem had been resolved and we were on our way. We made our connection comfortably, and at 9:20 PM (i.e. 15 minutes early), were overhead Bombay. But we had to circle for 40 minutes before getting ATC clearance to land, and finally touched down at 10:10. Thanks to the new, improved immigration and baggage handling at Bombay airport (kudos to Praful Patel for that), we were in a cab by 10:45 on our way home.
While the above mail may sound like a harangue against Italy, one must view things in context. Italy is undoubtedly a country with a lot to see – and it gets a large, unvarying tourist demand. The infrastructure there is far superior to anything in India – I would not have even noticed the delays I emphasized so much on an Indian vacation. But compared to the rest of Europe, it is in little league. So one can vacation in Italy, but must not expect the clockwork precision one sees in Switzerland – treat it more like a vacation in India, where adequate buffers for delays must be built.
Ciao then
Raj
Friday, June 23, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Raj and Radhika's Europe Trip - June 2006 (Part 4)
Hi folks
Sorry for the delay in sending this update - I planned to do it on the way to Venice but started reading a book - so here goes a consolidated update for days 6 to 10.
We got into Interlaken Ost (or East) station at around 1 pm - the train was about 10 minutes late. As we got to the platform, we saw a train headed for Interlaken West (which is where our hotel was located), and took the same there. Our hotel, the Chalet Oberland was at a 5 minute walk from the station. It was located in the midst of a bustling mkt street. Our friends at Thomas Cook were determined to ensure a varied set of experiences - hence after surprising on the upside at Burgenstock, they resolved to surprise on the downside here. I was aware they had booked a 3 star in Interlaken - albeit not thru the agent who was serving us. Given all the other problems, we had not made a fuss. But this probably was one of the lower quality 3 stars in town, with a tiny room and lousyu old bathroom. The view was that of other windows located 10 ft away, and there was only one 40 watt bulb behind a lampshade. Obviously, there was no AC, but the hotel kindly gave us a small table fan (against a refundable deposit of CHF 50)
The upside was that right outside, there was an Indian restaurant. Radhika and I hogged a meal of parathas, alu gobi, chole, jeera rice and raita (albeit for CHF 70 - rs 2800)
We then set out to explore the town. We thought of going paragliding but after spending 30 mins looking for the place, chickened out on hearing the cost of CHF 150 per head. We then went looking for a boat ride on the lake, but it was too late - the last boat ride was already over - so all in all, except for the scenice jourrney from Luzern, day 6 was a washout.
On day 7, we had breakfast (which was not great either) and then took the 850 train to Lauterbrunnen, on the way to Jungfraujoch. The train is a very interesting one - there are 2 ways to go to Jungfraujoch - via Lauterbrunnen and via Grindelwald. From either of these locations, you board a mountain train (with a cog wheel similar to Coonoor) to a place called Kleine Scheddig which is ~ 2200 mtrs above msl, and then take another train to Jungfraujoch, the highest station in Europe about 3500 mtrs above msl.
The train for Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald starts as a single train from Interlaken Ost, with the people for Lauterbrunnen boarding at the front and those for Grindelwald at the back. At a station called Zweilutschinnen, the train splits into two (during a 1 minute halt) with the front heading for Lauterbrunnen. We reached Lauterbrunnen at 910, and got off to wait for the train to kleine schedigg. We boarded the train around 930 (by which time the Lauterbrunnen train had left for Interlaken) and as we were settling down, radhika noticed that I was not carrying my back pack, which had all our woolens in it. We stepped off the train just as it was about to leave and spoke to the ticket attendant. She told us that railway officials wld not inspect the coach till that evening, and that after reaching Interlaken, the train we had taken may go to Grindelwald. We therefore boarded the next tarin to Interlaken and got off at Zweilutschinnen to check the coach we had been in. We entered the coach as soon as the train arrived and spoke to the TC. Just then, a lady stood up and told us that she had seen our bag at Interlaken and handed it in. We then waited for the next train (the 1030) to Interlaken, reached at 1040, and rushed to the ticket office where Radhika spotted the bag. We claimed it immediately without any bureaucracy, and were able to board the 1050 to Lauterbrunnen.
We thanked our stars - for Radhika having noticed before the train to KS started, for having met the lady in Lauterbrunnen and the general decency of the swiiss people. If any one of these legs had not fallen in place, we may have ended having to cancel the Jungfraujoch trip.
We reached Jungfraujoch at 115. Like Titlis, it was overrun with Indians. The first thing we noticed was hoardings for the "Bollywood" restaurant which serves an Indian buffet. However on reaching there, we found that all seats were reserved for the tour groups (Raj travels, thomas cook and kesari tours) who were there with us and that seats wld be available only after an hour.
We then headed out to the ice palace, which had ice walls and floors, and contains several ice sculptures. Next we went to the Ice Plateau to look at the various peaks. By this time it was 2 pm, and we went back to bollywood cafe for lunch. After a delicious meal (including dal bhaat and curd), we went to the top of the Jungfraujoch research station located at over 3500 mtrs above msl. As we reached there it started to snow, initially in light flurries but gradually getting stronger and windier. After we had spent about 15 mins there, the officials came and told everyone to go back in since they were closing the observation area down due to the heavy snow. We were thus very lucky once again - we got to see and enjoy the snow just before they shut the place down. We then boarded the train back, this time going to Gridelwald. We took an hour off at Greindelwald and had a walk around the quanit beautiful hillside town which reminded us of an idealized version of Coonoor. We then returned to our hotel, had dinner (Fondue, which I liked but Radhika didn't).
The next morning, we took a train for Spiez, then another for Milan and a third one for Venice reaching at around 3 pm. We stepped out and asked for directions to our hotel, and were surprised to find that we had to take a boat. Later we realized that the old city of Venice does not have motorable roads, all transport is either by water buses or water taxis, which ply on the canals. Our hotel was located just outside the Piazza San Marco (or St Mark's Square), the main landmark in Venice. Keeping with Thomas Cooks record, it was extremely nice - in an old bldg but with very nicely done rooms.
After freshing up, we headed out to the Piazza. The church of St Mark and the Palace Ducale, two of the land marks had shut for the day, but we cld go up the bell tower for a splendid view of Venice. Venice reminded me a bit of Kalbadevi, with the winding streets replaced by canals. We then had dinner (a very tasty Pizza) and then took a Gondola ride). We then went for a walk to Rialto, the oldest bridge in Venice before retuning to St Marks around 930. St Marks is a beehive of activity - full of tourists, with various hotels having bands playing sonorous Italian music.
The next morning, we set out by waterbus to Murano. We went thru various glassware shops, and also saw a glass making demo. Radhika of course freaked out (this is raj's usual exageration) and bought a few pieces (though the prices were too high for the really good stuff) we then returned to our hotel, had lunch and then went to see the Palace Ducale, which was the home of the Doge. Venice historically had been a republic, governed by a Governing Council and Senate. The Doge was the titular head of state, elected for life from among the Senators, but with ltd executive power (similar to the Indian president). The palace was beautiful, and made the palaces in Rajasthan and Fatehpur sikri seem quite ordinary. We then went for a ride around town on the waterbuses, stopping at a couple of places to take in the sights.
This morning, we started by visiting the. St Marks Church. It was exquisite once again - the highlight was a 10th century gold screen located in front of the altar. We then went to see a couple of other museums located in the Piazza. What struck us was the emphasis on learning in Venice, the public library there started with a large collection of books donated by a wealthy family in 1475. (And plans for a library had been made since 1372) there were also detailed maps of the world and Venice (which has not changed much since 1500!)
After lunch, we headed out to the railway station and are now in the train to Rome.
Ciao then
Raj and Radhika
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Sorry for the delay in sending this update - I planned to do it on the way to Venice but started reading a book - so here goes a consolidated update for days 6 to 10.
We got into Interlaken Ost (or East) station at around 1 pm - the train was about 10 minutes late. As we got to the platform, we saw a train headed for Interlaken West (which is where our hotel was located), and took the same there. Our hotel, the Chalet Oberland was at a 5 minute walk from the station. It was located in the midst of a bustling mkt street. Our friends at Thomas Cook were determined to ensure a varied set of experiences - hence after surprising on the upside at Burgenstock, they resolved to surprise on the downside here. I was aware they had booked a 3 star in Interlaken - albeit not thru the agent who was serving us. Given all the other problems, we had not made a fuss. But this probably was one of the lower quality 3 stars in town, with a tiny room and lousyu old bathroom. The view was that of other windows located 10 ft away, and there was only one 40 watt bulb behind a lampshade. Obviously, there was no AC, but the hotel kindly gave us a small table fan (against a refundable deposit of CHF 50)
The upside was that right outside, there was an Indian restaurant. Radhika and I hogged a meal of parathas, alu gobi, chole, jeera rice and raita (albeit for CHF 70 - rs 2800)
We then set out to explore the town. We thought of going paragliding but after spending 30 mins looking for the place, chickened out on hearing the cost of CHF 150 per head. We then went looking for a boat ride on the lake, but it was too late - the last boat ride was already over - so all in all, except for the scenice jourrney from Luzern, day 6 was a washout.
On day 7, we had breakfast (which was not great either) and then took the 850 train to Lauterbrunnen, on the way to Jungfraujoch. The train is a very interesting one - there are 2 ways to go to Jungfraujoch - via Lauterbrunnen and via Grindelwald. From either of these locations, you board a mountain train (with a cog wheel similar to Coonoor) to a place called Kleine Scheddig which is ~ 2200 mtrs above msl, and then take another train to Jungfraujoch, the highest station in Europe about 3500 mtrs above msl.
The train for Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald starts as a single train from Interlaken Ost, with the people for Lauterbrunnen boarding at the front and those for Grindelwald at the back. At a station called Zweilutschinnen, the train splits into two (during a 1 minute halt) with the front heading for Lauterbrunnen. We reached Lauterbrunnen at 910, and got off to wait for the train to kleine schedigg. We boarded the train around 930 (by which time the Lauterbrunnen train had left for Interlaken) and as we were settling down, radhika noticed that I was not carrying my back pack, which had all our woolens in it. We stepped off the train just as it was about to leave and spoke to the ticket attendant. She told us that railway officials wld not inspect the coach till that evening, and that after reaching Interlaken, the train we had taken may go to Grindelwald. We therefore boarded the next tarin to Interlaken and got off at Zweilutschinnen to check the coach we had been in. We entered the coach as soon as the train arrived and spoke to the TC. Just then, a lady stood up and told us that she had seen our bag at Interlaken and handed it in. We then waited for the next train (the 1030) to Interlaken, reached at 1040, and rushed to the ticket office where Radhika spotted the bag. We claimed it immediately without any bureaucracy, and were able to board the 1050 to Lauterbrunnen.
We thanked our stars - for Radhika having noticed before the train to KS started, for having met the lady in Lauterbrunnen and the general decency of the swiiss people. If any one of these legs had not fallen in place, we may have ended having to cancel the Jungfraujoch trip.
We reached Jungfraujoch at 115. Like Titlis, it was overrun with Indians. The first thing we noticed was hoardings for the "Bollywood" restaurant which serves an Indian buffet. However on reaching there, we found that all seats were reserved for the tour groups (Raj travels, thomas cook and kesari tours) who were there with us and that seats wld be available only after an hour.
We then headed out to the ice palace, which had ice walls and floors, and contains several ice sculptures. Next we went to the Ice Plateau to look at the various peaks. By this time it was 2 pm, and we went back to bollywood cafe for lunch. After a delicious meal (including dal bhaat and curd), we went to the top of the Jungfraujoch research station located at over 3500 mtrs above msl. As we reached there it started to snow, initially in light flurries but gradually getting stronger and windier. After we had spent about 15 mins there, the officials came and told everyone to go back in since they were closing the observation area down due to the heavy snow. We were thus very lucky once again - we got to see and enjoy the snow just before they shut the place down. We then boarded the train back, this time going to Gridelwald. We took an hour off at Greindelwald and had a walk around the quanit beautiful hillside town which reminded us of an idealized version of Coonoor. We then returned to our hotel, had dinner (Fondue, which I liked but Radhika didn't).
The next morning, we took a train for Spiez, then another for Milan and a third one for Venice reaching at around 3 pm. We stepped out and asked for directions to our hotel, and were surprised to find that we had to take a boat. Later we realized that the old city of Venice does not have motorable roads, all transport is either by water buses or water taxis, which ply on the canals. Our hotel was located just outside the Piazza San Marco (or St Mark's Square), the main landmark in Venice. Keeping with Thomas Cooks record, it was extremely nice - in an old bldg but with very nicely done rooms.
After freshing up, we headed out to the Piazza. The church of St Mark and the Palace Ducale, two of the land marks had shut for the day, but we cld go up the bell tower for a splendid view of Venice. Venice reminded me a bit of Kalbadevi, with the winding streets replaced by canals. We then had dinner (a very tasty Pizza) and then took a Gondola ride). We then went for a walk to Rialto, the oldest bridge in Venice before retuning to St Marks around 930. St Marks is a beehive of activity - full of tourists, with various hotels having bands playing sonorous Italian music.
The next morning, we set out by waterbus to Murano. We went thru various glassware shops, and also saw a glass making demo. Radhika of course freaked out (this is raj's usual exageration) and bought a few pieces (though the prices were too high for the really good stuff) we then returned to our hotel, had lunch and then went to see the Palace Ducale, which was the home of the Doge. Venice historically had been a republic, governed by a Governing Council and Senate. The Doge was the titular head of state, elected for life from among the Senators, but with ltd executive power (similar to the Indian president). The palace was beautiful, and made the palaces in Rajasthan and Fatehpur sikri seem quite ordinary. We then went for a ride around town on the waterbuses, stopping at a couple of places to take in the sights.
This morning, we started by visiting the. St Marks Church. It was exquisite once again - the highlight was a 10th century gold screen located in front of the altar. We then went to see a couple of other museums located in the Piazza. What struck us was the emphasis on learning in Venice, the public library there started with a large collection of books donated by a wealthy family in 1475. (And plans for a library had been made since 1372) there were also detailed maps of the world and Venice (which has not changed much since 1500!)
After lunch, we headed out to the railway station and are now in the train to Rome.
Ciao then
Raj and Radhika
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Raj and Radhika's Europe Trip - June 2006 (Part 3)
Day 3 ended with the two of us in the train from paris to zurich. There was an Indian family occupying the other 3 berths in the set of 6 where we were located. The train was mediocre - similar to a sleeper in india but without fans or air-conditioning (or so it seemed). The head-room in the top berths we had to occupy was less than at least my recollection of head room in indian trains. A little after we got underway, the tc came, collected our passports to take care of immigration, and after much cribbing from our co passengers, offered to turn on a cooling system. Till the end, I was not clear if it was an ac or merely a system to force outside air into the coach - at any event, the coach gradually cooled down and we went to sleep.
On day 4 morning, we reached zurich at exactly 625 and boarded the 705 train to luzern. (Radhika says: one can set the watch as per the train timings) On reaching luzern, we called the hotel, which informed us that the next shuttle was at 1045 but they could send one to a small village called Stansstaad about 10 km from Luzern. We therefore boarded the train for stanstaad, and then the shuttle van to the hotel, reaching there at 9 am. (Rad says: poor raj had to lug most of the luggage himself.. While I was carrying the light weight stuff)
The defining characteristic of Luzern is a large lake, the Vierwaldstattersee. The hotel is on a hill about 600 mtrs above the lake, across the lake from Luzern town. There is a sheer drop from the hotel to the lake, with a funicular railway (I think similar to that in Bhira) going down. The view was magnificient, both of the lake and small villages surrounding it, as well as of the green alps on the other side of the hotel. (Rad says: it was an amazing view we really loved the place and were once thankful to thomas cook for booking us at this place) On reaching we found that the hotel was not able to give us an early check in. We therefore freshened up at the club house,(rad says: the club house had a heated pool overlooking the alps and I regreted for not having learnt swimming) and decided to go to Mt Titlis that day itself and to spend the next day relaxing in the beautiful hotel.
Unfortunately, by the time we got ready, the 10am shuttle had left. We therefore called for a taxi to Stanstaad, which we reached at 1115 and took the 1200 train to Engelberg, the base station for Mt Titlis. The train journey was scheduled to take 45 minutes. But two stations later, they made an announcement that due to techical problems, the train wld stop and we need to proceed further by bus. We stepped out of the train, to hear the resounding sound of several agitated gujju voices, and found that a tour group was also around. We were a little concerned, but should have counted on swiss efficiency. A bus was waiting outside, which took us for a distance of 2 stations, fron where a fresh train was waiting. Despite the interruption, we reached Engelberg no more than 5 minutes late. At engelberg, we exchanged our vouchers for tickets to Mount Titlis, and then at Radhika's strong urging, stopped to have lunch, which included veg samosas. This proved to be a good decision,(rad says: as always) by the time we got onto the cable car, our gujju friends were long gone, and we were the only 2 people around.(Rad says: I felt raj had arranged for a private tour)
The cable car route to Mt Titlis has 3 stages, the first a normal cable car to a place called Trubsee, which takes us up from 1000 mtrs above msl to 1800 mtrs - then a large cable car that can hold 81 that takes us up another 600 mtrs to a place called Stand, and finally the revolving cable car that takes us to Mt Titlis, over 3000 mtrs above msl. The route was incredibly scenic, starting with green trees and fields with cowbells ringing, and then over snow capped vistas. Titlis is a glacier, with several tourist facilities. These include a 200 mtr ice tunnel drilled into the galcier about 150 ft below its top. It was not very cold except in the ice tunnel - everywhere else wth the sun beating down, we needed only one sweater. There is also an ice lift which takes you over the glacier to a winter sport park - both Radhika and I did some tubing in the snow. The other defining characteristic was the sea of gujjius - there was a tour group of Raj Travels from Ahmedabad, apart from the Thomas Cook group that had been in our train, and perhaps a few others. There was a see of brown faces and Indian voices, a few Chinese, and virtually no Europeans. Despite this, Titlis was great fun. (Rad says: in fact the operators out there mentioned that mt. Titlis is primarily visited by indians and. We presume that the place is probably thriving becoz of them... He actually said "aau jho" as we got out.. )
We took the last cable car down at 445and then the 615 train back to Luzern. At Luzern, there was a live telecast at the station of the Switzerland. - France match and a huge crowd of patriotic swiss were cheering every move. We then went to a nearby restaurant where a Sri Lankan tamil chef served us a very tasty meal of tortillas and sandwiches which Radhika actually liked (rad says: finally. Bread is the only way to survive here.)
We then took the 930 shuttle back to the hotel.
Day 5 was relaxed. Our hotel room was huge 25 ft x 20 ft + a 25 ft x 10 ft bath and a 8 ft x 30 ft balcony overlooking the lake. We certainly were delighted with it. When we stepped out, we were amazed to see about 10 ferraris, mostly in scarlet. We were amazed - it turned out that a Ferrari owners club from the UK was on a tour and were staying at our hotel, albeit in the 5 star wing.(Rad says: raj was extremely thrilled looking at so many ferraris.. In fact we took a couple of snaps in front of the cars.. But I must say they looked fantastic) In the afternoon, we took the funicular rail down to Kehrsiten, on the lake bank and then a ferry to Luzern. After spending 20 mins at Luzern, we took the 612 ferry back to Kehrsiten, which reached on schedule at 652 in time for us to take the 655 funicular rail back to the hotel. Clearly in Switzerland 3 minutes is more than enough to make a connection. We then had dinner at the Italian restaurant in our hotel overlooking the Alps, and then went to sleep after watching Germany beat Poland.
We checked out from Burgenstock this morning, and now are on our way to Interlaken. The route so far has been very scenic, large parts of which I have missed typing this mail - but I guess after a while, so much beauty begins to seem normal.
Ciao then. More once we are on our way to Venice
Luv
Raj and Radhika
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
On day 4 morning, we reached zurich at exactly 625 and boarded the 705 train to luzern. (Radhika says: one can set the watch as per the train timings) On reaching luzern, we called the hotel, which informed us that the next shuttle was at 1045 but they could send one to a small village called Stansstaad about 10 km from Luzern. We therefore boarded the train for stanstaad, and then the shuttle van to the hotel, reaching there at 9 am. (Rad says: poor raj had to lug most of the luggage himself.. While I was carrying the light weight stuff)
The defining characteristic of Luzern is a large lake, the Vierwaldstattersee. The hotel is on a hill about 600 mtrs above the lake, across the lake from Luzern town. There is a sheer drop from the hotel to the lake, with a funicular railway (I think similar to that in Bhira) going down. The view was magnificient, both of the lake and small villages surrounding it, as well as of the green alps on the other side of the hotel. (Rad says: it was an amazing view we really loved the place and were once thankful to thomas cook for booking us at this place) On reaching we found that the hotel was not able to give us an early check in. We therefore freshened up at the club house,(rad says: the club house had a heated pool overlooking the alps and I regreted for not having learnt swimming) and decided to go to Mt Titlis that day itself and to spend the next day relaxing in the beautiful hotel.
Unfortunately, by the time we got ready, the 10am shuttle had left. We therefore called for a taxi to Stanstaad, which we reached at 1115 and took the 1200 train to Engelberg, the base station for Mt Titlis. The train journey was scheduled to take 45 minutes. But two stations later, they made an announcement that due to techical problems, the train wld stop and we need to proceed further by bus. We stepped out of the train, to hear the resounding sound of several agitated gujju voices, and found that a tour group was also around. We were a little concerned, but should have counted on swiss efficiency. A bus was waiting outside, which took us for a distance of 2 stations, fron where a fresh train was waiting. Despite the interruption, we reached Engelberg no more than 5 minutes late. At engelberg, we exchanged our vouchers for tickets to Mount Titlis, and then at Radhika's strong urging, stopped to have lunch, which included veg samosas. This proved to be a good decision,(rad says: as always) by the time we got onto the cable car, our gujju friends were long gone, and we were the only 2 people around.(Rad says: I felt raj had arranged for a private tour)
The cable car route to Mt Titlis has 3 stages, the first a normal cable car to a place called Trubsee, which takes us up from 1000 mtrs above msl to 1800 mtrs - then a large cable car that can hold 81 that takes us up another 600 mtrs to a place called Stand, and finally the revolving cable car that takes us to Mt Titlis, over 3000 mtrs above msl. The route was incredibly scenic, starting with green trees and fields with cowbells ringing, and then over snow capped vistas. Titlis is a glacier, with several tourist facilities. These include a 200 mtr ice tunnel drilled into the galcier about 150 ft below its top. It was not very cold except in the ice tunnel - everywhere else wth the sun beating down, we needed only one sweater. There is also an ice lift which takes you over the glacier to a winter sport park - both Radhika and I did some tubing in the snow. The other defining characteristic was the sea of gujjius - there was a tour group of Raj Travels from Ahmedabad, apart from the Thomas Cook group that had been in our train, and perhaps a few others. There was a see of brown faces and Indian voices, a few Chinese, and virtually no Europeans. Despite this, Titlis was great fun. (Rad says: in fact the operators out there mentioned that mt. Titlis is primarily visited by indians and. We presume that the place is probably thriving becoz of them... He actually said "aau jho" as we got out.. )
We took the last cable car down at 445and then the 615 train back to Luzern. At Luzern, there was a live telecast at the station of the Switzerland. - France match and a huge crowd of patriotic swiss were cheering every move. We then went to a nearby restaurant where a Sri Lankan tamil chef served us a very tasty meal of tortillas and sandwiches which Radhika actually liked (rad says: finally. Bread is the only way to survive here.)
We then took the 930 shuttle back to the hotel.
Day 5 was relaxed. Our hotel room was huge 25 ft x 20 ft + a 25 ft x 10 ft bath and a 8 ft x 30 ft balcony overlooking the lake. We certainly were delighted with it. When we stepped out, we were amazed to see about 10 ferraris, mostly in scarlet. We were amazed - it turned out that a Ferrari owners club from the UK was on a tour and were staying at our hotel, albeit in the 5 star wing.(Rad says: raj was extremely thrilled looking at so many ferraris.. In fact we took a couple of snaps in front of the cars.. But I must say they looked fantastic) In the afternoon, we took the funicular rail down to Kehrsiten, on the lake bank and then a ferry to Luzern. After spending 20 mins at Luzern, we took the 612 ferry back to Kehrsiten, which reached on schedule at 652 in time for us to take the 655 funicular rail back to the hotel. Clearly in Switzerland 3 minutes is more than enough to make a connection. We then had dinner at the Italian restaurant in our hotel overlooking the Alps, and then went to sleep after watching Germany beat Poland.
We checked out from Burgenstock this morning, and now are on our way to Interlaken. The route so far has been very scenic, large parts of which I have missed typing this mail - but I guess after a while, so much beauty begins to seem normal.
Ciao then. More once we are on our way to Venice
Luv
Raj and Radhika
--------------------------
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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Raj and Radhika's Europe Trip - June 2006 - Part 2
Day 2
Day 2 started quite lazily with us waking at close to 10 am. We went down and grabbed a breakfast and then returned to the room to freshen up. We finally got ready by 1pm and went down to the Madeleine where we boarded the 'le open tour paris' hop-on hop-off bus. We also bought tickets for a seine river cruise. The first hop-off we made was at Pont Neuf or the new bridge, which is the oldest bridge over the seine. We then grabbed some lunch (hard bread with cheese and tomatoes) and then headed for the Notre Dame. After touring the beautiful church, we boarded the bus again and went to the Musee d'orsey. This is a former station that has been converted into a museum. After some time there, we boarded the bus and got down on the Champs Elysee about 1km from the Arc De troimphe. After grabbing a couple of scoops of haagen daz, we walked down to the arc de troimphe. We then bought some paintings and then set off for the eiffel tower. We reached there around 7 pm. We then waited in a long queue and took the lift to the 3rd level, 350 metres above ground. The views of paris from there were wonderful. Next, we headed out for the seine river cruise, which started at 9 pm. We went under over 20 bridges, each of which had its own history, and took in lots of wonderful views. It was quite amazing, seeing people lazing along the various quais on the riverbank. The tour ended at the eiffel tower around 10 pm, after which we cabbed it home. Our taxi driver was a loquacious Lebanese, who thought Indian women esp sushmita sen were the most beautiful in the world. We reached the hotel to find dinner was over - fortunately we had some bread and fruits with us which we had.
Today morning, we woke early (around 730), had breakfast by 930 and then headed out for the louvre. Focused on the renaissance paintings (french / italian) and the egyptian artifacts section. The museum is huge - it has 3 wings with 4 floors each. Out of the 12 possible floor-wing combos, we covered only 3 in about 6 hrs before we got tired and returned to the hotel. We saw the Mona Lisa, which is surprisingly small, the Madonna of the Rocks, the sculpture of Venus de Milo, a mummy and several egyptian sculptures et al. After dinner, headed out for paris est and are now waiting for the train. Tomo morn, will be at Zurich at 630 cet
Ciao
Raj
--------------------------Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Day 2 started quite lazily with us waking at close to 10 am. We went down and grabbed a breakfast and then returned to the room to freshen up. We finally got ready by 1pm and went down to the Madeleine where we boarded the 'le open tour paris' hop-on hop-off bus. We also bought tickets for a seine river cruise. The first hop-off we made was at Pont Neuf or the new bridge, which is the oldest bridge over the seine. We then grabbed some lunch (hard bread with cheese and tomatoes) and then headed for the Notre Dame. After touring the beautiful church, we boarded the bus again and went to the Musee d'orsey. This is a former station that has been converted into a museum. After some time there, we boarded the bus and got down on the Champs Elysee about 1km from the Arc De troimphe. After grabbing a couple of scoops of haagen daz, we walked down to the arc de troimphe. We then bought some paintings and then set off for the eiffel tower. We reached there around 7 pm. We then waited in a long queue and took the lift to the 3rd level, 350 metres above ground. The views of paris from there were wonderful. Next, we headed out for the seine river cruise, which started at 9 pm. We went under over 20 bridges, each of which had its own history, and took in lots of wonderful views. It was quite amazing, seeing people lazing along the various quais on the riverbank. The tour ended at the eiffel tower around 10 pm, after which we cabbed it home. Our taxi driver was a loquacious Lebanese, who thought Indian women esp sushmita sen were the most beautiful in the world. We reached the hotel to find dinner was over - fortunately we had some bread and fruits with us which we had.
Today morning, we woke early (around 730), had breakfast by 930 and then headed out for the louvre. Focused on the renaissance paintings (french / italian) and the egyptian artifacts section. The museum is huge - it has 3 wings with 4 floors each. Out of the 12 possible floor-wing combos, we covered only 3 in about 6 hrs before we got tired and returned to the hotel. We saw the Mona Lisa, which is surprisingly small, the Madonna of the Rocks, the sculpture of Venus de Milo, a mummy and several egyptian sculptures et al. After dinner, headed out for paris est and are now waiting for the train. Tomo morn, will be at Zurich at 630 cet
Ciao
Raj
--------------------------Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Monday, June 12, 2006
Raj and Radhika's Europe Trip - June 2006 (Part 1)
Hi everybody
We have been having a fabulous time so far in Zurich and Paris.
The flight to Zurich was decent - slightly cramped for leg room but we got a window and aisle next to each other. Landed in Zurich ahead of time on Saturday, and went out to see the city. Like most places in Europe, Zurich has a train station under the airport - the 15 km to the city centre station (Zurich Hauptbahnhoff as it is called) took 12 minutes. Zurich at 730 am was quite cold - we walked down the old part of town along a promenade called Limmat quai which runs parallel to the Limmat river towards the Zurich see (which is a lake). Later we walked along the Zurich-see's banks and saw a number of swans. Around 945, we turned back towards the station and returned to the airport by yet another train. Post lunch, we boarded our flight which was 10 mins late (got a window again) and landed in Paris around 210.
At Paris, we cleared immigration surprisingle fast, collected our luggage and then walked for 15 mins to reach the train station. Our hotel map had told us to take a train to one station (Chatelet des Halles), and then a metro to Madeleine station near which our hotel was located. So we bought our tickets and boarded the train. It was incredibly hot that day, and the train was like an oven (esp as it had full glass windows, and no AC or even fans). The train took much longer than we expected - about 40 mins to reach Chatelet. We then had a long walk towards the metro station. As I was trying to exit the train station to go to the metro area, we had to pass an automatic gate. The gate opened, I got thru with one suitcase, but the other suitcase got stuck as the gate shut on it. Radhika then used her ticket to open the gate, and pulled the suitcase towards her, but before she cld come thru, the gate shut again, and refused to open with her ticket. I went out to look for help, but cld find no official. As I returned to the gates, I saw Radhika had gotten out - she saw that there was a separate gate that people woth luggage were using and followed someone else thru that.
We then took the metro (which was better than the train since it had a system that blew air in while running) and reached Madeleine without further ado. As we stepped out at Madeleine, we were amazed to see a huge structure (photos when we reach). We walked down to our hotel which was 5 mins away. All told it took us 1 hour 20 mins to reach - conclusion, in Paris spend 50 euros and take a cab to the city.
Our hotel is very decent - it has a fabulous location, 5 mins from the Madeleine and the Place de la Concorde, in the heart of everything. The room is small, with an AC, albeit a relatively weak one. Paris has a number of broad boulevards with palaces and monuments at either end. The most famous is the Champs Elysee, which starts at the Place de la Concorde, and goes on over 2 km in a straight line east west to the Arc de Troimphe. The Place de la Concorde has a huge Egyptian obelisk at its centre. Beyond the PDC, lie the Tuilleries Gardens and then the Louvre. So you have an east west alignement of the Louvre, the gardens, the PDC, the Champs Elysee and the Arc. The noth U south alignment here starts at the Madeleine, along Rue Royal to the PDC and then further down to the Seine river, and to the French parliament building across the Seine. After grabbing a snack (cheese sandwich) at a vendor, we explored this alignment. Before we knew it, it was 8pm, we were dead tired, but the sun was still beating down hard on us. So we went to the hotel, had a nap and headed out at 930 for the Cityrama office for the Illuminations tour and the Lido show. Illuminbations involves going past the major sights of Paris in a bus at night, but even at 10 when we started, it was twilight. We took in the beauty of the city in a 1hr 15 mins spin, and disembarked at the Lido at 1115. After waiting in a long queue, we got in for the show at 1145. The show involved a number of scantilly clad women dancing on stage set to operatic music - was fairly mediocre in my view since it did not have a story we cld follow and I slept thru parts of it. It ended at 145 am and then we got back to the hotel around 230. It was thus 615 ist when we went to sleep. We slept well, and rose yesterday morning only at 945 am.
Will send a follow on mail on day 2 later.
Ciao
Raj and Radhika
We have been having a fabulous time so far in Zurich and Paris.
The flight to Zurich was decent - slightly cramped for leg room but we got a window and aisle next to each other. Landed in Zurich ahead of time on Saturday, and went out to see the city. Like most places in Europe, Zurich has a train station under the airport - the 15 km to the city centre station (Zurich Hauptbahnhoff as it is called) took 12 minutes. Zurich at 730 am was quite cold - we walked down the old part of town along a promenade called Limmat quai which runs parallel to the Limmat river towards the Zurich see (which is a lake). Later we walked along the Zurich-see's banks and saw a number of swans. Around 945, we turned back towards the station and returned to the airport by yet another train. Post lunch, we boarded our flight which was 10 mins late (got a window again) and landed in Paris around 210.
At Paris, we cleared immigration surprisingle fast, collected our luggage and then walked for 15 mins to reach the train station. Our hotel map had told us to take a train to one station (Chatelet des Halles), and then a metro to Madeleine station near which our hotel was located. So we bought our tickets and boarded the train. It was incredibly hot that day, and the train was like an oven (esp as it had full glass windows, and no AC or even fans). The train took much longer than we expected - about 40 mins to reach Chatelet. We then had a long walk towards the metro station. As I was trying to exit the train station to go to the metro area, we had to pass an automatic gate. The gate opened, I got thru with one suitcase, but the other suitcase got stuck as the gate shut on it. Radhika then used her ticket to open the gate, and pulled the suitcase towards her, but before she cld come thru, the gate shut again, and refused to open with her ticket. I went out to look for help, but cld find no official. As I returned to the gates, I saw Radhika had gotten out - she saw that there was a separate gate that people woth luggage were using and followed someone else thru that.
We then took the metro (which was better than the train since it had a system that blew air in while running) and reached Madeleine without further ado. As we stepped out at Madeleine, we were amazed to see a huge structure (photos when we reach). We walked down to our hotel which was 5 mins away. All told it took us 1 hour 20 mins to reach - conclusion, in Paris spend 50 euros and take a cab to the city.
Our hotel is very decent - it has a fabulous location, 5 mins from the Madeleine and the Place de la Concorde, in the heart of everything. The room is small, with an AC, albeit a relatively weak one. Paris has a number of broad boulevards with palaces and monuments at either end. The most famous is the Champs Elysee, which starts at the Place de la Concorde, and goes on over 2 km in a straight line east west to the Arc de Troimphe. The Place de la Concorde has a huge Egyptian obelisk at its centre. Beyond the PDC, lie the Tuilleries Gardens and then the Louvre. So you have an east west alignement of the Louvre, the gardens, the PDC, the Champs Elysee and the Arc. The noth U south alignment here starts at the Madeleine, along Rue Royal to the PDC and then further down to the Seine river, and to the French parliament building across the Seine. After grabbing a snack (cheese sandwich) at a vendor, we explored this alignment. Before we knew it, it was 8pm, we were dead tired, but the sun was still beating down hard on us. So we went to the hotel, had a nap and headed out at 930 for the Cityrama office for the Illuminations tour and the Lido show. Illuminbations involves going past the major sights of Paris in a bus at night, but even at 10 when we started, it was twilight. We took in the beauty of the city in a 1hr 15 mins spin, and disembarked at the Lido at 1115. After waiting in a long queue, we got in for the show at 1145. The show involved a number of scantilly clad women dancing on stage set to operatic music - was fairly mediocre in my view since it did not have a story we cld follow and I slept thru parts of it. It ended at 145 am and then we got back to the hotel around 230. It was thus 615 ist when we went to sleep. We slept well, and rose yesterday morning only at 945 am.
Will send a follow on mail on day 2 later.
Ciao
Raj and Radhika
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