Day 6 - Germany

We entered Germany today, but before that had stop over at the Rhine Falls, which is in Switzerland. We reached here at 1030, after leaving the hotel at 0830.

The Falls, by themselves, are not very big (even though, the biggest in Europe). What has to be really admired, is the upkeep of the place, the surrounding gardens and the clean white water jostling down. A combination of all these, makes the falls, really awesome. There are also boats, which take you almost to the foot of the falls. A similar Indian Caravan restaurant, was parked here also and we had another cup of wonderful Indian Masala Tea here.

From Rhine, in Switzerland, we proceeded to the Black Forest in Germany (A part of the Black Forest ia also in Switzerland). On the way, we were informed that all the trees in the Black Forest were planted by the concerned departments, to have a uniform greenery in the forests. To imagine such uniform planting for several hundred square kilometres is mind boggling. The weather was extremely cold and windy. In fact, this was the only place, where I felt a bit uncomfortable during the entire tour (Just a bit though).
There is a huge lake here. We sat there and had our brealunch (the carry away breakfast eaten during lurch time in short) and some good Indian snacks.
We also had a demo of the manufacture of a Cuckoo clock (Cuckoo clocks are all made here). We have one at home, given to us by our daughter, Anu to remember her visit to this place. The minute hand of that had broken and I managed to take one of the same size, while viewing the demo.

We next proceeded to Heidelberg. Heidelberg has the world's best printing presses. Besides, there is a big, nice castle and the river Neckar flowing here. This is a good picnic spot. We had a stroll over here in the shopping malls. There are shops, selling Pav Bhajis and the Haldiram snacks. Got to know that the Indian population (especially bachelors) is sizable thanks to the software industry, especially SAP. We spent some time on the banks of river Neckar. Again, a very neat and clean place.
We then proceeded for dinner and night comfort. I was disappointed to learn that a few of my friends, who were in Bosch had come to meet me and left word at the reception. Spoke to them, before calling it a day.

Day 5 - Switzerland (Titlis)

In short, we had a great day today. First of all, we woke at leisure, got up at 0730, had breakfast and left for Mt.Titlis at 0930.
Mt.Titlis, is 3020 metres above sea level. The approach to the Mount, is by cable car upto a place called Stand, by a lift from Stand and finally by a revolving car to Titlis. The journey was indeed very pleasant. We had been cautioned that it would be very cold and that it would be advisable to carry heavy woolens and a pair of gloves. We chose to ignore the advice (no point in investing on heavy woolens and gloves, both of which were extremely expensive).

We reached the summit at 1130. The guide explained the place to us. This is simple. The First floor is the Revolving car station, the second has a few shops, the third has a souvenir and photography shop, the fourth is the mount.

We rushed to the Mount. What a sight it was. Fully ice clad mountains all around was a treat to the eye. We had a good long walk in the ice mountains first to get acclimatised. The temperature, they said was -3 degrees Celcius. We did not feel any biting cold. I feel that once you are in ice, you do not feel too cold. I had a similar experience in Manali.

There s another open cable car ride, further up (we decided not to go). We had a lot of fun, for about an hour, We started throwing ice balls at each other, and amongst other tourists. Most of the tourists, noticeably were from India. It was really a nice feeling that India generates so many tourists in Europe. We found an ice man, made by somebody and pretended that it was made by us. I also tried climbing up the mount and sliding down in ice. I would have climbed about 6 feet. What efforts. We held flags in our hands, a symbol of conquering the Alps.

While the place is a must see for any tourist, my mind could not help draw a comparison with Manali. In Manali the ice was more wettish and slippery. That is probably why there is an insistence of wearing rubber boors in Manali. The area in Manali was to me whiter and the ice more snowish. I personally felt, with due apologies to Titlis, that Manalis is a better tourist spot. If only the Indians can promote tourism better, Manali would be a bigger and better attraction.

We spent some time in a coffee shop, had good coffee and then another 30 minutes in the ice, before going down. At the first floor, we also have some very attractive ice caves.

When we got down from the cable car station, we were greeted by a nice Indian restaurant, on a caravan selling hot Masala tea. It was wonderful.

Day 4 - Switzerland (Lucerne)

We had a long journey ahead of us, when we started day 4 at 0900 hrs.

After about an hour, the ladies in the group started chanting bhajans. This went on for about an hour, followed by Antakshari. We ere then shown a movie (forget the name, but it was a good comedy and the Hindi version of "It's a mad, mad, mad world). We entered the Swiss border at 1300 hrs. There was no check at the Swiss entry post.
After crossing the check post, we stopped at an Auto Grill. The restaurant brought back memories of our grandson Ashwin. This was the place where we had lunch at Singapore, before Ashwin was born. Name of the restaurant ??? MARCHE. We had our breakfast carried over lunch at The Marche, along with a big bowl of French fries. Unlike at Singapore, we were not given cards here( which would later be billed, consumption based) before food.
From Marche, we took off to Lucerne. We could see the transformation into Switzerland, by the mountains and extra greenery. We saw a huge lake, just before entering Lucerne. Lucerne, itself is a small tourist town.
Here we set off to see the statue of the lion made of a single rock. The lion was weeping with a spear through its heart. The statue was definitely well made. I told the group that you could see many more statues made in a single stone, including a whole temple in Chennai, at Mahabalipuram. The statue and the park in which it is made has been commemorated to the 118 soldiers, who died during the World war. The lion, depicits its sympathy for the soldiers.

We had an hour's free time at the Lucerne lake. The place is surrounded by chocolate and souvenir sellers. We hopped into a Swiss watch shop and shot back immediately, on seeing the prices. We decided to buy some Swiss chocolates. We were more encouraged, when we saw that out Rupees were fetching us more Swiss francs, than the Euro offer at Florence. We did buy some chocolates and a small time piece. The chocolates, were expensive, but as carry backs in memory of our Swiss visit we did not mind. Savi bought a Stolle here for use in Switzerland and then to be given to Madhu.

Lucerne has a good lake, with a lot of Swans floating around.

We then proceeded to Engelberg, for dinner and checked into our hotels by 2000 hrs. The dinner was excellent.

Day 3 - Florence and Venice

Now off to Day 3.
Had a pretty decent breakfast (I have started enjoying the breakfast now, especially the butter, milk and chocolate) and left the hotel at 0800 and reached Florence at 1100 hrs.
We had a walking tour of Florence, meaning that we parked the coach on one side, walked through the squares and fountains and boarded the bus again after an hour. It was a good walk, with excellent weather.
We first saw the Duo mo, one of the oldest churches. All churches and buildings are of the Gothic architecture. What is to be admired is the way these are preserved. The Duo mo was an excellent view, both because of the height and the narrowness of the road, which had all money changers. On seeing money changers, we thought of changing some more of our Rupees to Euros, only to find that this was 50% more expensive. Anyway we decided against the change, until absolutely required.
Next we saw the Baptistery. a fountain where people were throwing coins and asking for wishes. We decided that it was not worth throwing Euros for wishes too. The fountain itself was very pleasing. We had coffee and ice creams here in one of the coffee shops/ In Europe you cannot use the toilets for free, and it is better to have a coffee for 1 Euro(and get to use the toilet free), rather than use the toilet for 50 cents.
We then saw the open air statue museum, called the Piazza Della signorina. Some of Michael Angelo's works were also on view. The statues, all in the open presented a great sight. What we wondered was the reason for all statues, (or at least most) were of semi clad (or nude) men only. In India, it is the other way around. Reasons anybody?
We then had a walk across the Verchio Bridge along River Arno. It was a fairly good walk and we boarded our waiting coach.

Next was Venice, after a 3 hour drive, with a halt for the usual lunch (on our own). W reached Venice at 1630 hrs. We had to take a private boat to reach the island. Venice, in fact consist of 27 islands. To me the view was amazing. I was itching to get into a Gondola, until I was told that it costs 12 Euro, for a Half hour ride.
We spent an hour admiring the water roads and the Gondolas. The buildings on the banks were all turned to star hotels. Wish I could come back and explore the place better.
The Mark's square, with a lot of happenings, is a good relaxation point. Lot of pigeons wait to be fed here. There are ice cream parlours and coffee shops all along, tempting the taste buds. We did share an ice cream.
We also had a visit to the Murano glass show room. The glass works were amazing. The prices, were even more amazing.

Had a very good Indian dinner (Pastas, were also in the menu. They were very tasty too) and checked into our Hotel at the usual 2100 hrs.

We attempted our first call to India from here. Savi chose her sister Kalyani for the first call. Unfortunately, she was away and Savi had to be content talking to her Athimbar.

Day 2 - Rome Vatican and PTSA

We received our wake up calls at 0630. Had our bath, got ready to check out and proceed to the lobby by 0730 for breakfast. We checked out (made it a point to get back our passports. This was the only hotel, which insisted on collecting passports to give rooms).
The first spread of Continental breakfast was certainly not mouth watering. The lay out had cream buns, bread, croissants, cornflake along with tea, chocolate and coffee. Of course, butter cheese and jam were available. We had a hearty breakfast. I had a good helping of cornflakes, with chocolate chips. We carefully pocketed some cream buns and croissants (remember, lunch was on our own).
All of us did assemble and depart at 0830. The hotel was way out of the city and it took more than an hour to reach the city. We were reminded that we were from Chennai, and the typical Arcot road traffic was reproduced in Rome. Vehicles were moving at a real snail pace. A guide was organised to meet us, and he or she, kept calling our tour guide, who was keeping on reassuring that we would be by the Colosseum in 15 minute. Finally the arranged guide, told our guide that he or she could not wait. Police personnel were keeping on chasing away vehicles at all entry points to the stadium, where chariot racing used to take place. We never got to know why.
Finally our guide took the Onus on himself to show us around. We had a good view of the Colosseum (could not get down as vehicles were not allowed to park on that day). We wondered how cruel people could be when we learnt that the Colosseum was used to pitch the slaves against the lions.
We managed to park near the Trevi fountain at 1300 hrs.It was really amazing. The backdrop and the architecture were indeed great. A wish here, will bring you back to Rome. Our guide was clear that we could not spend more than 10 minutes here. A wish here, they say will bring you back to Rome.
Then we proceeded to The Vatican. Our guide informed that due to the traffic jam earlier, we had lost time and hence will only drive around Vatican. After my strong objections, the guide did halt for 15 minutes at the Vatican. While I knew that the Vatican is the smallest country in the world, I was certainly not prepared to see the Vatican consisting of just 3 buildings. They were certainly a good sight.
I recollected pages from "Angels and Demons" when I saw the places where the Pope elects were assasinated and decided to read the novel again to understand the Vatican better.We heard that the police in the Vatican were Swiss guards and the Church wanted the best protection for the Vatican.
We then had a real long drive to PISA. Halted at 1600 hrs for lunch at one if the Auto Grills. We had the breakfast hideaways for lunch. Had a cup of coffee (Cappuccino) out there.

We reached PISA at 1930. Had to take a long walk from the vehicle park to the monument. While the leaning tower looked great, it was not really breathtaking. This was probably because, we had seen so many pictures of the leaning tower and seeing it live, was less than great. We did enjoy a very good 30 minute, viewing the Bell tower, church and the leaning tower. We learnt that the tower has been reinforced, to avoid any mishaps for another 30 years.

Had dinner (nothing great) and checked into our hotel by 2130 hrs. The next day would be wake up at 0615 and depart at 0800 to Florence.

Day 1- Rome

When in Rome, be a Roman. This was what first struck me, when I landed in Rome (ROMA) airport at 1400 hrs on 2nd June. I do not know, why Rome was chosen for this proverb (am I right?). Why not, "When in India, be an Indian"?

We had to wait for our guide, who was to meet us at 1700 hrs. We were exploring the airport and had the first experience of how important oral communication is. No one spoke English here. We had a tour of the restaurants at the airport (There were very few). We had the company of another tour party, who had travelled with us for an hour, before they got picked up by their guide.

After an hour, we opened our first packet of Savouries, which were given to us by our Engineer, Natarajan, for killing time during travel. We got to know of its real utility, as the tour proceeded. Besides savouries, we had some mouth watering Avakkai pickles too.

After some time, we decided to have a cup of coffee. We could not distinguish between Expresso, Cappuccino, Latte and all other coffees exhibited. Finally we pointed out to a person having the type of coffee we had in mind and had the same. We were to learn later that this was to be called "White Coffee", or "Coffee Latte".

The guide met us at 1700 hrs and asked us to either wait in the airport till 1900, when the others in the group will join, or sit in the coach. We chose to load our baggage in the coach and stroll around. There was nothing to see, other than vehicles moving in and out. We did see some Hotel coaches and bus stops for these coaches, with timings.

One thing of interest was the number of smokers in Rome (We were to see this in all other places, as well). I had decided not to smoke during this tour, and did manage to stick to this, with a single exception, in London.

The others in the tour party arrived, and after all baggage was loaded we left at 2000hrs. Our first halt was an Indian restaurant for dinner. We all had a real good meal and got driven to our Hotel at 213o hrs, where we checked in.

For day 2, the guide announced in the bus, that we would have our Wake up calls at 0630, breakfast at 0730 and check out and depart at 0830.
So much for day 1.

The Ibis experience

I wanted to share my Holiday in Europe, from the very beginning. Two reasons for this blog, appearing before the others:

1. I sent my comments on the way we were treated to IBIS Hotels, on their website. I have not even had the courtsy of a reply.

2. Delaying this blog, may make me forget things.

We reached Hotel IBIS, at Wembley (opposite the railway station), after our bus guided tour of London which was after we arrived through the Euro Channel from France. We reached the Hotel at 1930 hrs on 11th June. The plan was for us to check in, and proceed for dinner.
As in every other location, our driver got out all the baggage from the coach and the guide went in first to check us all in. As in all other locations, we followed with our baggage.
A guy from the reception, came rushing out and started yelling "All of you go out. Your tour guide will collect the keys and give them to you. Stay out till then, and keep clear of the door".
We wondered, as to what was happening. Were we seeking asylum in the hotel? were we going to stay for free?
Anyway, as good tourists, we waited outside, following the instructions of the receptionist. When our guide did not return for about 3 minutes, I decided to get in and check the situation. The reception guy once again yelled " I asked you to stay out". I retorted that we were all going to stay in their hotel, and that their was nothing wrong in being in the reception till rooms were allotted. His retort " Only the guide stays, as he has only booked rooms ". I lost my cool and asked all others also to get in. I told the receptionist that this was no way to treat guest and that we will all stay in the reception, till we got rooms.
What followed was more shocking. Out ran another guy (probably the Hotel Manager) and screamed to our guide "I want to speak to you immediately ". Our guide went to him. We could not hear what was spoken, but saw this person waving his hands and gesticulating at all of us.
The tour guide was then asked to move to the lobby and hand over all our keys.

What a shame. I haven't seen a worse reception by any hotel staff. In India, we are only used to welcomes with big smiles.

I sent out a note to the hotel, in their website, expressing my sentiments, but am yet to get a reply. I do no have the email Id of the hotel to mail them. Can someone give this to me please.

Has anyone seen anything more arrogant.

The Holiday starts

I am a mad cricket fan.
Can you believe that the IPL 20-20 final took place on the 1st, the same date we were supposed to leave. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 0130 hrs, meaning we had to be in the airport by 1100 hrs. The final was to end at 1130hrs.
I cursed my luck. Maybe, I should have left with the next group.
Anyway, reluctantly I decided to leave. I watched the first innings,played by my favourite team Chennai. They put up a fairly decent score. I watched 2 Rajasthan wickets fall, before leaving at 1030 hrs.
Reached the airport at 1115 and saw the finish in the airport. Sadly, my favourite team lost, though by a whisker.
The flight did take off on schedule.
To our surprise, we were served dinner at 0230 (We gulped it anyway).
Reached Frankfurt at 1000 hrs on 2nd, and took a connecting flight to Rome at 1230 hrs.
We had a lousy, unpalatable lunch on the flight and landed at Rome at 1400hrs.
We had to wait in the airport until 1800 hrs, for others in the group to arrive from Mumbai and Delhi.

Pre Holiday activities

Thomas Cook, our travel agent, gave us a list of items to get ready with:
1. 3 sets of photographs, each different for each VISA, namely U.K, Swiss and Chengen
2. 3 years IT clearance certificates
3. Proof of movable and immovable assets
4. 6 months bank statement from the bankers
5. Of course, the passports, with 6 months validity

OOOh, so much for a person to travel on a holiday.

Once these were done, we had to go to the U.K consul for getting our finger prints recorded.
The U.K Visa took about 5 days. Then followed the Swiss and the Chengen, which were obtained through Mumbai.

The final clearances came, on 30th May, 2 says prior to our travel, and we got our Foreign exchange, some snacks for the journey ahead and got ready.

Holiday planning

Planning a holiday, involves:

1. Deciding the length of the holiday
2. The cost
3. The offers by various tour operators
4. The origin and end points.

After scruitinising the various offers, we pitched on Thomas Cook India Ltd for a 10 night and 11 day holiday, covering Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France and Britain. We decided to add another 4 days in London, to have a better insight into London. The other major attraction was the presence of Savithri's sister's son Vivek in London.

Pre Holiday - Madhu's wedding

Anu had gifted our holiday, to be taken any time after our Sashtiapthaboorthi (March 1st).

Madhu's wedding was fixed for the 17th of March and we decided that it would be ideal to relax and take the holiday after the wedding.
The wedding went exactly as planned. Our son in law is a charming young boy, who adores Madhu. It is just that he is a bit short for Madhu. He is just 6'4". compared to Madhu's 5'5"- meaning he is almost one foot short!
Anu had come almost a month before to assist her sister's shopping.
All guests invited turned up, and we had a lot of fun.
We celebrated our Shashtiapthaboorthi on 18th of March.

Our European Holiday - An Introduction

Yeah. We had a wonderful European holiday.
I look back to how it all started.
We have a little daughter called Anu (she is actually our elder daughter, but we call her little. We call our second daughter as "sweet daughter". Now don't ask Why). She had decided, when she was a kid, to send her parents to Europe.
Her very accommodative hubby Raghu accepted gladly and here we had our holiday as our 60th birthday gift.
We name this holiday, as Ashwin holiday. Ashwin is our cute grandson.
Now, please wait for the daily blogs.