So, the dream weekend was here – 3 days, 8 people – one hell of a holiday!! \m/
As usual, to save our EuRail days, we left by the 7.45 p.m. train to Basel to catch the next connecting train to Koln and further a short train to Brussels. However, our jinx with Koln continued… The route to Basel SBB was blocked (yeah!) hence we had to catch a tram, beg the TCs to stop the connecting train for us (for which “they might” was the curt reply we got) and run for our lives at Basel station, to board the train just before the vacuum doors closed. Victory!!
The train journeys are peaceful – most of us sleep on the way, some others chat randomly (read: pain Soham) and some others try to coax people to play Mafia (haha!). By the time all of us doze off, the TCs come to wake us up and we struggle to find our EuRail passes. Once, the TCs just gave up and didn’t check all our passes :D In the morning (thanks to Neha and Nandan, who always manage to wake up before time and on time respectively) we got down at Koln, freshened up (groaning again about the Euro 1 payment to be made to use the restroom!), had nice, cheap coffee and left for Brussels.
At Brussels, we visited the Grand Royal Palace. Awesome architecture, grandeur, garden around and a really strong and beautiful gate… The Palace has a park facing it, where we had group photos clicked near a huge fountain and treated ourselves to ice cream! The Belgian museum we went to after this will always stay in our minds as one of the most elegant and instructive museums we have seen. It told (as the name suggests) the history of Belgium right from the 1700s to the present day, with contemporary photos, artifacts and belongings of the Royal family. Coupled with the audio, it was really a nice experience to visit the museum. After this sweet dose of history, we began our journey to another of Belgium’s elegant symbols – the Atomium. The Atomium is a 92 m tall structure, made with 9 steel balls supported appropriately – a BCC (body centered cubic) structure – tilted so that it rests on a “vertex”. The “atoms” at the various corners as well as the one at the centre can be visited and while the lower ones provide a series of exhibitions/cafes/play area, the top most provides an enthralling 360 view of Brussels! Hats off to the Belgians!!
The walk down the Atomium was a bit too much for us, so we spent some time around, lazing on the grass and planning what to visit next. A popular choice (and rightly) was the Grand Place Grote Markt – yes, for the famous Belgian Waffle! Indeed, the walk to the Market was tiring, but worth the walk. Yumm.. I still remember the taste of the hot waffles, being made right in front of us and served with strawberry toppings and ice-cream with chocolate sauce. Heavenly! A sweet ending to our visit to Brussels as we picked up a few souvenirs and left for Amsterdam…
Little did we know we would be stranded at a lonely bus station, when we boarded the bus to reach our hostel, which was basically a camping site. Scared by the reviews of Amsterdam, we were all walking in a huddle, trying not to knock at the doors of random houses in search of our hostel. It was past 1 a.m. Thankfully, two people with two dogs (scary, yeah!) emerged from somewhere and gave us directions to the hostel and phew, we reached the hostel by 2. All we could do after that was go into a deep slumber as the receptionist came knocking at our door in the morning. Yes, we had got in last night without the reception being open, so the lady wanted us to report to her with cash. Mumbling a yes under the breath, we dozed off again.
Our city tour in Amsterdam began at 1 p.m., so we had enough time to have food and gear up for a long walk in the sunny weather (yep, the sun was out). The tour began from the red light district of Amsterdam (ahem ahem) and took us along the various canals in the city. Netherlands has been “constructed” on swamps, by removing the water from them periodically, hence the city has a lot of canals. The name “Amsterdam” also comes from the words “dam” and “Amster” as the city formerly had a dam over the river Amster at its place. The canals have sight seeing boats, buildings that tilt towards the canals (so that the goods hauled up to the top of the buildings do not collide with the sides of the buildings), a church and a few such “important” buildings all around them (like the remains of the Jew house). An interesting thing in Amsterdam is that everyone travels on cycles, so there are no roads except for the tiny ones for cycles. And yes, you have to give way to the cyclists, lest you want to be hit by one of the passing by zooms! Of course, on the banks of the canals are little “coffee shops” which sell a bit more than coffee (ahem ahem), but anyway. The city tour ended near Anne Frank’s house – where her family had taken shelter for about 2 years in the days of Hitler. It has been converted into a war museum now. Unfortunately we couldn’t visit it due to the large queue, but we sat near it, on the canal-bank recalling our visit to the concentration camp (at Sachsenhausen, in Berlin). The night after this was spent roaming around the city and having dinner at subway :)
The next day we visited the Madam Tussaud’s wax museum. 18 Euros totally worth!! The museum is one of the now long chain of wax museums created worldwide after the one in London, which was started by Madam Tussaud herself. Amazing form of art! We got pictures clicked beside Michael Jakcson, M.K.Gandhi, Mr. Heineken, Brad Pitt-Angeline Jolie, George Clooney – wishing they were real ;)
Indeed, salute once again, to Madem Tussaud and her followers (who continue the legacy of this special, unique art). The remaining of the day was spent in visiting the windmills, tulip gardens, a failed plan of visiting the “Dikes” – the walls built by the Dutch to prevent water from the seas entering the Netherlands – and gathering souvenirs. Finally, our tour ended with a small nap at the Amsterdam Station.
Totally worth everything it has, Amsterdam is THE place to visit, especially in your youth ;)
Indeed, as the Dutch say, “God created the world, we created the Netherlands.”
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Weekend 1 Day 1: Trip to Lausanne City
Today, we went to Lausanne City – our first weekend trip! It took about a day’s planning, a bunch of enthu interns and a little bit of “help” to make it a perfect day.
As every time, we were all supposed to meet at Lausanne-Flon station at 9 a.m. and it took 30 mins more for all of us IITians to be all there. But anyway. So we started for the Tower of Sauvabelin, from top of which we can have a 360 deg view of the huge Geneva Lake (or at least, that’s what they claim) The Tower has been built in 2003 and is a complete wooden structure with a spiral staircase. Great piece of work! Obviously, we took a lot of pics on the way. From atop the tower we couldn’t see much due to the mist/clouds but the city looked beautiful – all red roofed houses, green forests, speedy cars along a high way and the Lake surrounding them all.
After the Tower, we visited the Cathedrals at Bessieres. These are quite old (1300’s) hence are very strongly built and carved magnificently. They had elegant statues of the Christian deities, fellowmen and a huge hall for mass prayer – with beautiful archs. The glass paintings could not have been any better. The Cathedral, I think, occupies a major portion of my cam memory!
Around the Cathedral is a line of museums of art and history which boast of ancient coins, antiques, armour, weapons etc. belonging to the 14th to the 18th century. We saw a small presentation on the development of Lausanne city. Apart from being in English, another nice thing about this was the efficient system of lights and sound used, and the meticulousness of the artisans who must have made the over 1000 tiny buildings (of height 4 cm, with lights inside them!) Basically, in IIT lingo, Godgiri!!
Next, we were lucky to witness the Lausanne City Carnaval (that’s how they spell “Carnival” here) on our first weekend itself. It’s like the typical Indian melas, except that the games are mechanized and they sell chicken tandoori instead of pakoras. It was a noisy yet very warm place to be in, with colourful decorations, bands playing loud music, children being helter-skelter and huge stalls of food. The noisiest Swiss people we have seen here, till now!
Our day ended with a lucky trip to France (Evian) by the ferry ride. Totally worth it! France (southern part) is just across the Geneva Lake, hence the Ferry takes you there at 16 CHF in about 25 mins. All you can see on the other side is a few nice buildings, colourful streets and some restaurants, but it’s France still, and you can feel it around you! The people, their language, their manners, their food, their hobbies – typically French. We clicked a lot of pics here too, and returned back by the same ferry, planning for the day after.
Nice day altogether! IITB-EPFL junta cracks!
As every time, we were all supposed to meet at Lausanne-Flon station at 9 a.m. and it took 30 mins more for all of us IITians to be all there. But anyway. So we started for the Tower of Sauvabelin, from top of which we can have a 360 deg view of the huge Geneva Lake (or at least, that’s what they claim) The Tower has been built in 2003 and is a complete wooden structure with a spiral staircase. Great piece of work! Obviously, we took a lot of pics on the way. From atop the tower we couldn’t see much due to the mist/clouds but the city looked beautiful – all red roofed houses, green forests, speedy cars along a high way and the Lake surrounding them all.
After the Tower, we visited the Cathedrals at Bessieres. These are quite old (1300’s) hence are very strongly built and carved magnificently. They had elegant statues of the Christian deities, fellowmen and a huge hall for mass prayer – with beautiful archs. The glass paintings could not have been any better. The Cathedral, I think, occupies a major portion of my cam memory!
Around the Cathedral is a line of museums of art and history which boast of ancient coins, antiques, armour, weapons etc. belonging to the 14th to the 18th century. We saw a small presentation on the development of Lausanne city. Apart from being in English, another nice thing about this was the efficient system of lights and sound used, and the meticulousness of the artisans who must have made the over 1000 tiny buildings (of height 4 cm, with lights inside them!) Basically, in IIT lingo, Godgiri!!
Next, we were lucky to witness the Lausanne City Carnaval (that’s how they spell “Carnival” here) on our first weekend itself. It’s like the typical Indian melas, except that the games are mechanized and they sell chicken tandoori instead of pakoras. It was a noisy yet very warm place to be in, with colourful decorations, bands playing loud music, children being helter-skelter and huge stalls of food. The noisiest Swiss people we have seen here, till now!
Our day ended with a lucky trip to France (Evian) by the ferry ride. Totally worth it! France (southern part) is just across the Geneva Lake, hence the Ferry takes you there at 16 CHF in about 25 mins. All you can see on the other side is a few nice buildings, colourful streets and some restaurants, but it’s France still, and you can feel it around you! The people, their language, their manners, their food, their hobbies – typically French. We clicked a lot of pics here too, and returned back by the same ferry, planning for the day after.
Nice day altogether! IITB-EPFL junta cracks!
Reflections
Life at Switzerland is awesome. On weekends, people don’t work at all. On the other days, everything goes on, smoothly and slowly… Almost like a snail. No one’s in a hurry, really. Indeed, who would be, if there’s so much to “stand and stare”! The countryside is fresh with lush green lawns, yellow flowers and weird looking trees, clouds that cover mountain tops (and middles!) and a gentle, welcoming drizzle. Mind you, the Swiss do not like this weather – 10deg C, cool breeze, rains – but it’s heaven for those who’ve been battling 35+ deg C, 75% humidity!
Cars zoom by you, making only a slight sound but wait for you when you want to cross! People greet each other even if they don’t know their names and help each other at all times. Everything is so free, authentic (seemingly!), independent, automated. Self service is the key word for them. Everyone cooks for himself, washes his/her own utensils, and then they disperse for work. No one depends on anyone. Each has his small car/bike to drive him/her to the place of work, a room, a book and a life.
Is this how life should be? Are we all crazy to be linked to so many ties? Shouldn’t we be as independent, self-sufficient as all of them are? Is that why they can break up so easily after having made out on the streets N number of times? It’s not like they do everything in bursts, but they manage to do all this, all the same. It seems perfect, you know. Having nothing/no one to care about, keeps you away from lots of troubles… Doesn’t it?
Cars zoom by you, making only a slight sound but wait for you when you want to cross! People greet each other even if they don’t know their names and help each other at all times. Everything is so free, authentic (seemingly!), independent, automated. Self service is the key word for them. Everyone cooks for himself, washes his/her own utensils, and then they disperse for work. No one depends on anyone. Each has his small car/bike to drive him/her to the place of work, a room, a book and a life.
Is this how life should be? Are we all crazy to be linked to so many ties? Shouldn’t we be as independent, self-sufficient as all of them are? Is that why they can break up so easily after having made out on the streets N number of times? It’s not like they do everything in bursts, but they manage to do all this, all the same. It seems perfect, you know. Having nothing/no one to care about, keeps you away from lots of troubles… Doesn’t it?
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Swiss Diaries
Bonjour!
Thanks to IIT Bombay and EPFL, I am currently at Lausanne, Switzerland for an internship. I'll be working here for 3 months, in this beautiful land that they call "Heaven on the Earth".. I plan to capture into words the moments spent here, in the "Swiss Diaries" series of posts... Hope I'm able to make justice to all of them!
Thanks to IIT Bombay and EPFL, I am currently at Lausanne, Switzerland for an internship. I'll be working here for 3 months, in this beautiful land that they call "Heaven on the Earth".. I plan to capture into words the moments spent here, in the "Swiss Diaries" series of posts... Hope I'm able to make justice to all of them!
Welcome Back!
Welcome back!
It's been a lot of time since my last post, and there have been many, many things happening in this time... But before I begin on them, there's a much more interesting and "happening" thing I am into right now... Keep reading for details! :)
It's been a lot of time since my last post, and there have been many, many things happening in this time... But before I begin on them, there's a much more interesting and "happening" thing I am into right now... Keep reading for details! :)
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