Budapest, Hungary
April 29th 2007

I can't get over just how nice people here are. On the train I asked a teenager about how to get Metro tickets and what one calls a booklet of tickets in Hungarian. He spoke German and was helping me out when another guy showed up (This is all in the train) and said that he was with the tourist office and he spoke english. He suggested I either take a taxi or the Metro to the hostel and gave me directions with the Metro. At the train station I saw him again. This time he was off work and on his way home and he helped haul my huge suitcase down the stairs to the Metro, explained all the ticket options available and helped me buy a monthly ticket. And then get my suitcases on the Metro. He was indeed wonderful. Apparently he is a philosohy student and had just spent 3 months in India recently so we had a lot to talk about. I had to change Metro's so I said goodbye to him. And again had to haul my suitcases.. but each time I had someone stop and help me carry them up or down the steps. One I reached the street the Hostel is on, I could not locate it and my cell phone did not work. I stopped and asked someone for directions and she called the Hostal using her phone and helped me with the directions. At the hostal after spending 15 min checking in and I was leaving for Dinner, I had a group of people who were staying here invite me to join them for dinner. Amazing! I really love the people here.

Random thoughts on the EC 25
Somewhere in Köln-Bonn-Koblenz-Frankfurt-Nurnburg-Vienna-Budapest

I am on my 12 hour journey to Budapest. I had tried to reserve a seat with a plug point (apparently one can request for that on the ICE – intercity express – trains on the Deutsche Bahn. I was told that I cannot reserve seats with plug point on this train, so I was naturally disappointed. However, much to my surprise: all seats (at least by the windows) have plug points. Hurrah!! Now I can catch up on emails that I have meaning to write and watch Season 2 of Desperate Housewives (Thanks again so much for the DVD gift Spencer. You are awesome!) However, I should first write the emails as once I start watching the show I won’t do anything else :)

If you are in Germany, definitely try and take a day cruise on the Rhine. I was going to do that yesterday but with lack of information and motivation I did not do it and now I regret it. The reason I think that: Well, I am on the train and this train line runs parallel to the Rhine from the Koblenz to Mainz section and I can experience the cruise sights minus the open air, sunshine, fresh cool breeze and ability to take pictures. But just in case if you are going to take my advice (or if I am back in Germany sometime, I remember what I need to do) here is the info on the best way to do the Rhine cruise if you are in the North-west region in Germany.
* Take the train to Boppard, a small town south of Koblenz.
* Catch the Köln Düsseldorfer ferry from Boppard to Bacharach
* You can get on and off the cruise at other villages in between and explore those areas.
You will get to see at least around 50 castles, churches, old city wall ruins along the banks of the river. Not to mention some vineyards.

So on the train, I meet this one guy who speaks only Hungarian and maybe 5 or 6 words of German. For some reason he wanted to sit with and talk to me. Which is fine, except that there is only so much conversation one can have with a person when you do not speak the same language. So the conversation was like:

Him: Budapest?
Me: Ja.(Yes)
Him: Ungar (Hungary)
Me: Oh you are from Hungary?
Him: (Blank look)
Him: Ungarisch (Hungarian)
Him: Ungarisch?
Me: No… English.. Deutsch.. Hindi.. French…?
Him: No, No.. Ungarisch.
Me: Ok
Him: Café?
Me: Nein, Nein, Danke. (No, really. Thank you)
Him: Wo?
Me: (raised eyebrows)
Him: Wo arbeit? (Where work)
Me: Ah! GM
Him: (Blank look)
Me: GM. General Motors
Him: (Blank look)
Me: Opel?
Him: Oh .. oh ok
Him: North something
Me: (Nod and smile)
Him: Wo?
Me: (How the heck am I to explain to him that this is my first trip and that I do not have a place to stay as yet?)
Me: Hostal
Him: Blank look
Me: Hotel
Him: Ok

By the way this conversation took place over 15 minutes. Then I excused myself and got up. Still it was a little unnerving. I just realized that for the first time I have not been able to communicate at all with someone. Usually every person I have met speaks or understands at least some form of the English, and then with Hindi, German and the French (that by now I cannot speak as my head is filled with only German) I can somehow communicate with people. However with Hungarian, it is a language unlike anything I have heard. I tried picking up a few words but I have no idea how to pronounce it. This is really going to be an interesting experience. After all the German that I have been learning to speak, I need to now try and talk Hungarian. I have to take a taxi, ask for directions, order off the menu, say I am a vegetarian .. all in Hungarian. I am going to feel like such a tourist. I hope to buy a good “Learning Hungarian” CD in Budapest. All I could find in Germany were books that were written in German about learning Hungarian.

Then I started the Desperate Housewives marathon. Oh how I love having the plug point for my laptop. I have no idea how time just flew by.

Koln, Germany

Towards the end of my stay I realized how little time I have actually spent here in Koln, despite actually living here for a month. I had not yet visited the famous Dom inside or climbed the tower or walked by the Rhine or basically do anything touristy other than the 2 hr walking tour we had with Dietmar on our first week. So, I had to make up for lost time and take it all in, before I leave this city.

Now that my CDC German exam and the ZD (Zertifikat Deutsch Pruefung) is now over, I had Saturday - one day - to visit places I had missed seeing as yet and revisit some of the favorite spots. I woke up too late to take the Rhine cruise I had been thinking of doing. However I had mixed feelings about it. While I wanted to take the cruise real bad, it would involve atleast 8hrs or traveling time: First take the train to Koblenz, then the ship from Koblenz to St. Goar and the return trip. Not sure if I wanted to do all that just the day before I take my 12 hour ride to Budapest. So instead I stayed in town. Actually visited the inside of the Dom, climbed the south Tower there, walked by the Rhine, visited some of the areas of the Altstadt, Drank Kolsch Beer (Photo) - probably for the last time (Kolsch is only available in Koln). I guess now I can say, I have truly been a tourist here in Koln.

Tomorrow starts another journey: To a new country - Hungary, a new language - Hungarian, a new lifestyle - from student to a paid employee (I will begin an internship with GM on Wednesday)

Düsseldorf, Germany
April 25th 2007

Ok, I guess this is not my typical "travel for fun" excursion. This actually is my second visit to Düsseldorf. The first one however was just a visit to the Hungarian Consulate and back - that was over three weeks ago. This time, the main purpose was to pick up my visa for Budapest. - I will be traveling to Budapest this Saturday, and need a student visa for my internship in Hungary since I will be living there for almost four months.

Düsseldorf is only a half our train ride from Köln, but the roundtrip ticket costs €18.60. Since I was in no hurry I decided to spend the day there. I went there after class this morning. A friend joined me as well, so we were able to but the Dayticket for €23 for 1-5 people so it worked out cheaper. After getting my Visa, we went to the Altstaadt (old city) for lunch. Ate at a nice Italian restaurant. After lunch we walked to the riverside. There were rows of riverside bars and Ice cream shops. We spent the afternoon at one of the these bars. It was really nice. Ok actually it was very hot and I was complaining about it and I dozed off at the bar for a little bit I think but I actually enjoyed being outdoors, by the river, people watching (when I was awake). It seems that I can never dress appropriately out here. The weather has been so unpredicatble. Days that I think it will be warm and I wear a tanktop, it turns out to be so windy and chilly. And then today I had jeans and a jacket and it was blazing hot. However by evening it cooled down. We found a park and I plopped down on the grass there and took another nap. That was so awesome. I love walking and sleeping on grass. I hate the bugs but its a sacrifice I am willing to make :). So yes, besides getting my Visa, I really did not acomplish much today. I did not study for my big exam on Friday and I did not do any sightseeing in Düsseldorf. Instead I was just like any other local enjoying a nice summer day doing nothing for a change.

Vienna, Austria
April 19th – 22nd 2007

Thursday evening my friend and I took a flight today from Köln to Vienna (Or Wien, as they call it there). It feels so nice to live in a city from where I can take a direct flight to some place. Always, I have had to take a train to another city or change planes. We arrived Vienna at around 8pm. My friend Jeff had booked the accommodations and did not tell me where we will be staying. Typically we stay at a Hostel since they are the cheapest options and quite practical for us. However this time Jeff apparently booked us in a 4 star hotel. He got it at the same price as what a hostel was priced at..or at least that is what he says). We arrived at the hotel by 9pm. My first impression – I was so impressed that I am staying at a hotel, where I can have my own bathroom. However quite soon we had a rude shock. The receptionist at the hotel told us that our reservation has been cancelled and now the hotel is fully booked. Apparently Jeff’s card did not work as he might have mistyped the number. And the hotel gave the room away that morning. The receptionist, Jasmin, said that the manager told her that we do arrive to tell us that there is nothing they can do to help us as our card had declined. Not a good move by the manager. I guess he did not realize that he was going to be dealing with an ex-travel specialist. I ended up arguing with Jasmin who happened to be the duty manager that evening. Strange thing is that while she was the person in charge that evening, she was given no power to make a decision. So I demanded for her to call the general manager of the hotel at his home. She reluctantly did that and he said the same thing that he can’t do anything for us. Jasmin found us another hotel for that night which was more expensive than what we had booked with them. All I asked from the hotel was that they pay for the difference in price and our cab fare to and from that hotel as this hotel could get us rooms for the next two nights and was just sold out for tonight. Sounds like a reasonable request right? Apparently they thought I am asking for the stars. After one hour of arguing with them and making a scene at the front desk, Jasmin finally allowed me to talk to the Manager when I had her call him for the second time. Long story short though, he eventually agreed to my terms, and also offered an upgrade to a suite when we returned the next day. Not bad – but I do not understand why it took them so long to come to that decision. I guess I have worked in the Travel biz and with customers for so long and with a company that values customers so much, that the situation at the hotel seemed so unbelievable. We took a cab to the new hotel, which was quite nice as well. But by the time we checked in, it was 11pm. I was so hungry earlier at the airport and was planning on having a nice dinner, but by then my appetite was shot. So all we did was check in and then sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel (a bonus included with our room) and planned our day ahead. Actually we dint have much of a plan, expect to go to the city center and take it from there. First we went back to the Kaiser Frank hotel to drop our bags and check in there. Then we went to the city center. We visited a Medical museum which was quite interesting and at the same time quite gory. It had wax figures of the human insides. On one hand it was remarkable to see how the human body functions but on the other hand it was so creepy. I felt I was in a haunted house. That museum visit did not take too long. After that we went to the city center and walked and stopped by anything we found interesting. Mostly churches and palaces. That morning we visited the Votivkirche, Minority Kirche, Peterkirche, Michaelkirche and StephanDom. It was ironic that we visited five churches in one afternoon considering that I am a Hindu and Jeff is an atheist. But each one of them was spectacular. We then visited the Rathaus (City hall). On the grounds of the Rathaus there was a fair with local specialties and folkdances. It was fun to spend some time there. (Photo of the fair at the Rathausplatz). Later that evening, we visited a Heuriger (a Wine Tavern) in Grinzing. That was the best part of my trip. I really loved it. It is nothing spectacular, but the atmosphere there is so nice. Heurigers are basically places a little away from the city and they make their own wines. It is typically outdoors and people gather around large picnic style tables with friends and families and share wine food and stories. Definitely a must do if you visit Vienna.

On Saturday morning when we were having breakfast, I had a big surprise. In that room walked someone I know from Columbia SC. My professor from USC, Dr. Tatiana Kostova. She was so surprised to see us too. I mean what are the chances of meeting someone you know in a different country! She was staying at the same hotel and was going to be leaving on Sunday as well to go back to the US. She was in Vienna as a visiting faculty to the Wien University where USC’s IMBA program has a connection. After a day of aimless sightseeing and visiting the Kunsthistorisches (Art) museum we joined Dr. Kostova for dinner. She was so nice, she actually tried to get us Opera tickets for that night but there were only two tickets available. So instead we went to the city, walked a little and got more information from Dr. Kostova who has visited the city so many times that she had all these awesome stories and tips of places to go visit. I wish I had bumped into her earlier. We had dinner at a pizzeria, a casual student hangout place, and then got back to the hostel for an early night, especially since all of us had an early flight the next morning.

On Sunday, we took our flight at 8:55am from Vienna back to Köln. Arrived Köln at 10:30am. Hmm.. a whole day to relax and catch up with emails and perhaps some studying too. :-)

Arweiler, Germany
April 17th 2007

Today we had an excursion with school to the city of Arweiler. This tiny city is famous for its wines. In fact, our visit today was centered around visiting an old family run wine company and learn how wine is made. (All in German of course, after all this was a “study” tour).

The city itself is located near the banks of the Rhine, between Bonn and Koblenz. It is a charming little town, probably a nice place to spend a weekend – away from the hustle bustle of the city, clean air, great restaurants and cafes, and of course vineyards. We had a small city tour at first, and then we broke out for lunch. After lunch we visited the wine company.

We did not spend much time with the actual wine making process tour. This was a really small business apparently so it took us about an hour to learn about the wine making process. After that – the treat we all had been waiting for – wine tasting! This was no wine tasting; it was bottles of wine and a lot of wine at that. Reminded me actually of the wine tastings we have in school at USC. How I miss those. Anyways, this was just as nice. Sitting in the cellar and trying the different wines. My favorite was a Lieblich white wine which was a little sweet. I found that so refreshing. We tried about seven different wines and were given the whole bottle. Considering that there were 10 of us drinking wine, we all probably had about ¾ of a bottle each. Not bad at all. :-)

Adam, Wes, Andy, Ellis, Josh, Jeff, Me, Abby, Brandi, Jeff and Anna

Maya posing with Fruh Kolsh beer :)

Amsterdam & Keukenhof, Netherlands
April 14th – 15th, 2007

I had been contemplating whether or not to go to Amsterdam this weekend. I actually really wanted to visit Keukenhof gardens near Amsterdam. I have wanted to go there for at least 10 years, but the problem is that the park is only open for 8 weeks in the spring each year and it had been impossible to time my vacations around that (and that I did not think of going there when I was in the US). Now that I am living only 3 hrs away from Keukenhof and Amsterdam it really is so tempting to go visit it. However, (I never thought that I would say this) the truth is that I have been traveling so much in the last few weeks that I really would like to spend one weekend at home. (By the way, home is Köln at the moment). So on Friday a couple of friends and I decided that we would go just to Keukenhof or the day on Sunday. Anyways that was not meant to be. My friends really wanted to go to Amsterdam as well, so we ended up renting a car on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm.

I don’t take too many impromptu trips.. especially not to another country. I should have figured this would not be that great an idea. We booked the car, the hotel, got directions to get to the hotel in Amsterdam online. Picked up the car, and tried to get out of the city in Köln, but lost our way. Of course in a hurry, we forgot to get our map. Not that it would have helped much as street signs are not too easily identifiable. We took several wrong turns and asked a few people for the right way. The last couple we asked for directions to “A3”, the interstate that takes us to Amsterdam, they told us we ought to actually follow A4 and that is a better route. So that’s what we did. Not a good idea! We did not have a road atlas and had no idea after A4 what road to take. In any case, a long story short, it took us 6.5 hrs to get to our hotel. (Had we gotten the directions right, it would have taken 2.5 hrs.) So we checked in close to 7pm. The hotel was listed online as being 4km from the city center. Wrong! It was probably 14km from city center and was actually an airport hotel. In any case, we found a tram line close by that took us to the city. We walked around a lot. My first impression was that of amazement. Not at the city itself but at the number of tourists. I learned later that the actual population of Amsterdam is approx. 7.3 Million, but on any given day, the average number of tourists is 15.4 Million. No wonder. I saw plenty of great restaurants and bars all bursting with people. We walked in the sex district (Photo 1:in the sex district) and I was amazed that people brought along their young (read 7ys) kids too there. We got bored quite soon and walked later to find a place to eat. We found a Mexican restaurant which advertised a decent priced menu, but when we sat down it was actually a lot more expensive. So we just had a drink there. By then I was tired. and just went back to my hotel. I must say the hotel was really nice. A 4 star no less. I almost forgot what that is like, having stayed at hostels with most of my travels in the last 4 months. Needless to say, I had a great nights sleep. (Photo 1: Abby and I, in Amsterdam)

The next morning, we headed off to Keukenhof. This time we had all the directions printed out. We got there without any problems. I was simply dazzled by the tulip fields.. rows and rows of gorgeous blooming tulips. (Photo 2: At a tulip field near Keukenhof garden). It was really incredible. We spent about 4 hrs in Keukenhof Gardens. The weather couldn’t have been better. It was 27°C and sunny. I took plenty of pictures. Around 4:30 pm we finally headed off home. This time it took us only 3hrs to get from Keukenhof to home. In all, the day spent at Keukenhof was worth all the trouble and hassle we initially had with our trip.

Keukenhof: A photographer's delight (even for amateurs)

Fuzzy tip tulip

Bonn, Germany
April 12th, 2007

Wow, just got back from India yesterday and today headed to Bonn for an excursion. The ex-capital of West Germany. I was quite surprised by how small this city is. We spent the morning at the history museum. It was quite informative, even though everything was in German, but Dietmar did a great job of simplifying the stories in understandable German. After the museum visit, we broke out for lunch and then after lunch we had a walking tour of the city. The weather was fantastic, and we really enjoyed the walk. The tour ended at a Biergarten (of course). It really was fun, sitting outdoors by the rhine and enjoying our drinks in the company of friends. (Photo 1: with Dietmar, my german teacher and Abby at the Biergarten)

I had heard that drinking age is lower in Europe, but I did not realize just how much lower :) ...Jeff with his 7mth old daughter, Maya

Bombay, India
April 5th- 11th , 2007

I had planned this trip for about a month. I have 2 days of Easter break, and I have taken 3 days off from school, to be able to go to India. I figured I haven’t visited my family since a year, my brother and his family would be in Bombay at that time as well, so I could meet with them too (They live in Kuala Lumpur). Besides I have yet to meet my 2.5 month old nephew Keshav, so even if this trip is only for 5 days it would be worth it - And it was.

My first day in Bombay, I spent almost all day at home. It was a full house, what with my mom, my brothers family, my sister in laws mother and I - all 7 of us in one apartment and all of them had just arrived the night before. So the day was filled with excitement catching up with all, and of course seeing Keshav (who is so adorable) and my niece Anchal. (Photo 1: Keshav and Anchal) In the evening my friend Vrinda stopped by. After dinner Vrinda, her husband Kartik and I went to a movie: Namastey London. An 11pm to 2am show. The movie sucked, but I still had a good time. There is something about watching Bollywood movies with my friends - regardless of how pathetic they are we always end up having a good time. Vrinda, do you remember Jo bole so nihaal.. :) ?

The next day, I had a haircut appointment. I can’t tell you all how much I was looking forward to this haircut. One thing I am paranoid about, is having a haircut. The only place that I have been happy with a haircut has been at Juice or Bi Blunt, both in Bombay. I usually avoid a cut (except for occasional trims) until I get to India. As always, I was thrilled with my new cut. It looks so different from my typical straight hair. I now have lots of layers and have still managed to keep it long. I think it looks great.

That evening, I had an engagement party to attend. My cousin Ajay was getting engaged to his girlfriend Ami. Yes, in India we have engagement parties. We have parties for everything, and it is always a big affair. This one had about 300 people attend. I enjoyed the party but hated the drive to the reception hall. It took us 2.5hrs to drive one way from my house to this place. With 7 of us, decked up in Saris and formal wear and cramped in an SUV. How I hate the traffic in Bombay. It just seems to be getting worse each year. Anyways once we got there; it was really nice to be able to meet most of my relatives and family friends. Typically in my short visits to India, it is hard to get to meet everyone; hence these types of events are great for me. In one evening I met people who I probably would not have met for a long time. (Photo 2: Me, with the engaged couple; my cousin Ajay and his fiance Ami)

On Sunday, I stayed at home all day. My brother left for Malaysia that evening. (Photo 3: My brother Shreelal and sis in law Hema) On Monday, I traveled to Bandra (a suburb in Bombay) to shop. There are 2 stores there that I like. It is not too far from where I live (only about 10km) however it typically takes 45min to an hour to get there. The shopping trip makes it worthwhile. I bought some summer clothes as I will need it in Europe now that spring is here. On the way back home, I stopped by to visit my uncle’s family and cousins. That evening I caught up with my friends in a coffee shop.

My friends are really something else. We have known each other since 1988, our first year at Sydenham College (FYJC). While three of them live in Bombay, they are so caught up in their lives that they do not have time to meet each other. Yet when I get to Bombay, we somehow manage to have a reunion. All these girls have computers but are plain lazy to write emails. (Ok they may have other reasons, but personally I think it is all excuses). In any case, in spite of not being in touch for a year at a time, it is amazing how we can just pick up things from where we left off the previous year. I have so many fond memories of my college days at Sydenham. It is amazing to see the changes in each of us since the college days:

There is Vrinda, who hasn’t actually changed much. She looks more and more gorgeous each time I see her. I guess hobnobbing with the Bollywood stars and models rubs off. She works in Event management and has managed shows like the Filmfare awards and Miss India, Fashion shows etc..

Then there is Radhika. A girl who did a complete turnaround from her first year of college to now. She was “Miss Popular” in college. Gorgeous, friendly, loud and spunky she definitely caught everyone’s attention in college. Now she acts so mature – well I guess she would after all she is a lawyer by profession.

And Sunita: who actually has changed a lot too over the years. She is the shy and quiet one (or that’s what it seems in the beginning) but once you get to know her, she has a sharp wit and a great sense of humor. I used to tease her when she got her first job that she would not last there for more than 6 months. I have to eat my words – it has been 10 years, and she is still with the same company handling real estate work.

These are the girls I met in Bombay. (Photo 5: With Sunita, Vrinda and Radhi). The rest of the group consists of : Usha who lives in Surat India and Monica who lives in Hong Kong. Shiraz is another friend who lives in Bombay but I haven’t been able to meet her as often. I don’t want to get started with my “Sydenham days” stories – If I start it will take me a long time to complete this blog. All I can say is that they were the best years of my life.

Tuesday, the entire day just flew by. I had crammed in so many appointments that day, it took all day to finish. A dentists appointment (Going to a Doctor in India is so much cheaper), followed by all the girlie grooming appointments (facial, manicure, pedicure, hair coloring) by the time I returned home it was 7pm. I still had to pack for my trip back to Germany. I had to leave for the airport at 4am the following day. So that night, I packed and then spent my last night at home with my mother, Hema; my sister in law and my niece Anchal and nephew Keshav.

Köln, Germany
April 1st 2007

My first day at the CDC – Carl Duisburg Centrum, where I am taking Business German classes. I was pleasantly surprised by the agenda that our teacher, Dietmar Vogt, had put together for us. There was very little grammar lessons, more of case studies, learning about German business and vocabulary enhancing classes. Also we have a couple of interesting trips lined up: A day trip to Bonn next week, a day trip to a Vineyad, and today a city tour of Köln. Dietmar has talked to us in German all day, and the strange thing is I can understand almost everything he speaks. I guess he has taught for so long, he knows how to communicate to basic German speakers like me. This seems like a pretty laid back class so I think I should have ample time to explore Köln in my free time. (Photo: The Kölner Dom)

Tübingen – Köln, Germany
March 31st 2007

This was one long journey. Typically a train ride from Tübingen to Köln takes 2.5 hrs, with just one stop in Stuttgart. However that is on the ICE (fast trains), which costs a lot of money. Actually it was only 80 Euros one way, but heck when you are a student with negative earnings and you are presented with cheaper alternatives, the 80 Euros is expensive. So the cheaper alternative was to take the “Schönes Wohenende” (Beautiful weekend) ticket. This costs 30 Euros for 1 to 5 people to travel all day on the Deutsche Bahn anywhere in Germany. Of course, there is a catch to it: One can only travel on the regional bahns (the slow trains). Travel time from Tübingen to Köln was 8.5 hrs. (I also had to change trains 5 times). No one other than Jeff thought this was a good idea..(hmm I wonder why J ). Anyways, so it was Jeff and I and our 5 pieces of luggage that took this trip.

It actually wasn’t that bad. Just the first leg, from Tübingen to Stuttgart was real crowded with no place to sit, but then we found out that there was a football match in Stuttgart. Changing the trains wasn’t as much as a hassle as I thought it would be. Our layovers were anywhere between 10 to 20 min, so it wasn’t bad. Jeff had tons of movies on his laptop, so we ended up watching a movie. Star Wars IV. And this was the first time I watched the movie, yes I know you all find it very strange that I haven’t seen any star wars movie before. In fact, in class in Tübingen we were playing a game where each of us were assigned the name of a famous personality and we had to ask questions to the others to figure out who we were. I was Darth Vader. Of course I had no clue who Darth Vader was, so I wasn’t able to guess who I was. That’s when Frauke (our German teacher) and the other students ragged me about it and made me promise that I have to watch it. So well, I did watch it, just one so far, but it is a start. And now I know who Darth Vader is.

From a little south of Koblenz, the train ride was so picturesque. The train tracks ran along the Rhine for about 2hrs. The scenery was spectacular. I lost count of all the castles and manors we saw overlooking the Rhine. One day, I would love to drive down that road and stop along at any place that caught my fancy.

We reached Köln at 7pm. Took a taxi from the station to our Hostel and checked in to my room. It is like a dorm room, with 2 twin beds and a desk, refrigerator, a closet and a sink. I have access to shared bathroom and kitchen. I haven’t lived like this, so it should be an interesting experience.

Tübingen, Germany
March 31st 2007

My last day in Tübingen. The last three months really flew by. I guess I am happy to be moving to a new place, a bigger city, but I am definitely going to miss a few things here in Tübingen. First, my host family who I was staying with, Albert and Monika Petersen and their daughter Hanna and her boyfriend Marcos. We have spent many evenings together cooking, talking about and my day at school, discussing about German social system and politics etc and playing card or board games. Intially we played a lot of card games like 6 Nimmt and Canasta, but one day Marcos got Carcassone (a board game) and ever since then I have been hooked. So much so that the Petersens bought me my own Carcassone set. On my last day Hanna and Marcos surprised me with yet another extension of Carcassone: The River set. That extension is apparently a limited edition and is not made anymore. However you can print the tile pieces online, order blank tiles from the game company and make it yourself. I know you all think I am crazy to be gushing so much about this game, but seriously if you haven’t played it, you ought to try it. Another game I enjoy is the Siedler von Catan (Settlers from Catan). Hmm, I guess I got sidetracked a bit. Well going on to the other things I will miss in Tübingen, my salsa class at Adriana’s, my teachers in Tübingen namely Karen, Frauke and Ursula. (Photo 1: Dawoo, Jeff Dawson, Jeff Poquette, Brandi and Adam in class). I really enjoyed most of my classes. Especially Karen’s. She taught us the “intensive German” which was the last class of the day, and by then all of us used to be brain dead and not really wish to study and listen to more German. But she always found a way to arouse our interest. Actually we used to come up with crazy ideas of things to do and most of the times she actually agreed with us and let us do it. For example if the day was beautiful we asked her if we could have class outdoors, so we ended up going to a coffee shop, or having class with lunch at some restaurant, or playing Carcassone in class and talking in German, or going to her house for lunch and cooking lunch together (Photo 2: Jeff, Karen and Brandi - at Karen's house for lunch). Now Tübingen itself is a beautiful town, however it is a really small town. After about a month the charm wore out. I guess it would be a nice place to live, but when you have only 4 months to stay in Germany, you don’t want to spend 3 months in Tübingen. Anyways I may take back what I just said.. who knows if Köln is not all that nice as I expected (though I seriously doubt it)). In any case I had a great experience here in Tübingen, and made some good friends.

Albert, Monika, Hanna and Marcos

Ludwigsberg, Germany
March 26th 2007

Today, my class took an excursion to Ludwigsburg, a small town 15 min away from Stuttgart. On the agenda was to visit the Residential Palace and then the Märchen (fairytale) garden.

The Palace was built in 1733, and is the Swabian equivalent to Versailles with its Baroque architecture. It was the residence of the kings of Wuttemburg. The tour inside the castle was in German, and the tour guide spoke so fast that we could barely understand anything. I think after 10 minutes of listening to him, I stopped paying attention. The Palace itself was beautiful with most rooms decorated with the original furniture and upholstery.

My favorite part of the trip was the Märchen gardens. We only got to spend 15 min in the gardens, as the tour inside the Palace took a lot longer than we had anticipated. In anycase, we saw the Frog Prince’s seat (Photo), Rapunzel’s and some other cool stuff. I liked it now, but I would have totally loved it had I been younger when I read all those fairytales. It really was quite cool.

Freiburg, Germany
March 24th, 2007

We had an excursion today with SIT (my language school) to Freiburg, a university town on the southern tip of the Black Forest that is considered to be the sunniest city in Germany. We drove down from Tübingen through the Black Forest to Freiburg. Unfortunately the sunny city was not sunny at all. In fact it was cold and it rained all day. A tour guide in Berlin had once mentioned that statistics showed that it usually rains on weekends in Berlin. I think the same is true for all of Germany. So far, except for Heidelburg, all the rest of my travels in Germany had cold weather and rainfall.

The drive through the Black Forest was spectacular. I do wish that the bus had cleaner windows as it was hard to appreciate the full beauty of the landscape through the dusty dark windows. Perhaps sometime in the summer I will be able to retrace this journey.

In Freiburg, we had a short city tour in the rain, which ended in front of the impressive large cathedral (Muenster unserer lieben Frau) in the city center. I climbed to the top of the tower, but that area was under renovation so we were not able to get a good view outside. So when all else fails, one thing always works out.. the restaurants, cafes and bars. I had lunch at a real nice Italian restaurant, and then joined the other group from my class who were at an Irish pub. In a way it was good, as I was able to watch the cricket world cup match between Australia and South Africa at the pub. It has been so long since I have seen cricket, I really enjoyed. Of course the other people in my group dint seem to care too much about it, and not being able to understand how people can enjoy watching a game that lasts for 8hrs. Tough! They don’t know what they are missing out on. This match was in St Kitts in the Caribbean, and my friend Spencer was actually at the stadium watching the match live. Lucky guy! Hope you enjoyed the match Spencer :)

At 5pm, it was time to drive back to Tübingen. It was a two-hour ride. Upon reaching Tübingen, I went out with Cecilia and Jeff to Schoss Café for wine and a game of Carcassone. The rest of the group joined us an hour later to celebrate our last Saturday night in Tübingen.

Spain (Madrid & Seville)
March 9th – 13th

A friend from USC was traveling to Madrid over spring break and I thought it would be a great place to visit as well. I haven’t traveled out of Germany since January (that was the time I first arrived here ). I have been to Madrid before in September 2005 and loved it there, so I am was really looking forward to this trip. We stayed with friends in Spain, Jesus and his fiancé Christina. I haven’t seen better hospitality than that which we got from Jesus and Christina (Photo 1 - in a Tapas bar with Jesus and Christina). They were really awesome, and took care to make sure we had a great time, which of course we did.

I flew with Lufthansa on a special advertised fare from Stuttgart to Madrid. I met Jesus and Roy at the airport in Madrid. Jesus had arranged an apartment for us to stay at. It belongs to his niece Barbara who was traveling out of town that weekend and let us use it in the meanwhile. Also, I got to learn that Jesus who planned our stay in Spain, had ncluded a couple of days in Seville in this visit. So, we ended up spending 2 nts in Madrid, and 2 nts in Seville.

In Madrid, the only thing I really wished to see which I had not been able to the last time I was there, was the Prado museum and the Reina Sofia Museum. I did not mention it though as I did not think that the others would be interested in spending a few hrs in a Museum.. however much to my surprise, Jesus himself recommened that we go to the museums if we have any interest in art. He said that he enjoys art and will go back. So, on Saturday we went to the Reina Sofia. I did not know much about this museum, but It was incredible! I particularly loved Picasso’s Guernica.. <Photo 1> (I am not necessarily a big fan of Picasso, but this work was really awesome.) I was quite awestruck with the painting.. I never did study or look at the painting closely before but now, looking at it in such close quarters I could see all the different elements of the painting. Also in an adjoining room were all the sketches he had made before the painting ended up in the form it actually is. It really is a must see if one is in Madrid. The other section of the museum I really enjoyed was seeing Dali's works. I have been a big fan of Dali since I was a teenager, but as yet I had not seen any of his original works. I did not realize that the Reina Sofia housed his paintings, and it came as a real pleasant surprise. The paintings were a lot more magnificent than I had imagined. The colors so bright and vibrant… it looked like the painting was just recently completed. Well, yes.. just my day on Saturday would have made my trip worthwhile.. but there was more. My experiences actually just got better every day.

On Sunday, we visited the Museo del Prado… I wasn’t too familiar with most of the paintings in the Prado, but of course the collection was incredible. There was no way we could get to see even a fourth of that museum in half a day. We spent the majority of our time looking at Goya's works. It was really interesting seeing his paintings and especially the radical changes in his painting style with the “black paintings” .. the ones he painted when he was going blind .. and probably insane. Again, it was one of those things that I hadn’t heard of before, so it really was great to be able to see all these masterpieces.

After the Prado, we hopped on the ACE (super fast) train to Seville. The train ride was fun and extremely comfortable. The trip took 2.5 hrs. Can’t believe in such a short time we were in the south of Spain.

Seville is something else! The two days spent there were absolutely perfect! Surprisingly, that also includes the weather. (If you have read my previous blogs you will understand why I am so happy about this great weather) Jesus and Cristina live in Seville.. Actually Jesus just moved to Seville recently even though he still spends some time in Madrid during the week. Their apartment was beautiful. The building was an old monastery that was converted into apartments. (Photo 3: View from the terrace of Jesus's apartment). The rooms, the décor the old rustic furnishings was all so pretty. It really made me wish I had a house too.. gosh how I would love to decorate that! Anyways, back to Seville.. the night we got there, we ate Tapas at a Cerveceria in the square in front of the apartment. (Don’t think I can travel to someplace and not mention food somewhere :). I got to drink my first Sangria in spain in this trip. I had been craving it in Germany, but couldn’t find a place that knew how to make a good one. This was not too bad. However the tapas, those were fantastic. This place had so many vegetarian options for Tapas.. We ordered about 8 different kinds of dishes and they were all so good. Well, that started the Tapas tradition. Every meal after that night was at a Tapas bar, and I got to have Sangria a couple more times. There is just something about the Tapas bars and the “cerveceria’s” of Spain that is so unique.. I think it is the atmosphere more than anything else. It is hard for me to describe it in words.. it just needs to be experienced. Besides food, Seville is still an awesome town. There is an enormous cathedral, supposed to be the biggest in Europe.. (which Jesus said that Sevillians generally think that everything is bigger and better in Seville) however in this case I do think that they were right. It was a huge cathedral. Because we had limited time, We did not go inside the cathedral, but walked around the old city, soaked up all the sunshine as I had been craving for that for weeks. The city is so incredibly charming. Tiny passages, cobblestoned streets, old houses with lots of flowers hanging from the baconies and windows, small gardens and squares.. it really was awesome!. We also walked towards the newer part of the city which was nice but not as spectacular as the old city. I did enjoy the Place de Espana though, as well as the walk by the river.

On Tuesday I had my flight scheduled from Madrid back to Stuttgart. This was the only downfall of my trip. I am embarrassed to even write about it in my blog, but it is also so funny when I look back upon it. I wanted to book a flight around 7pm from Madrid and thought that it was exactly what I booked with Lufthansa. So, on Tuesday morning we were shopping in the city, we came home at 1pm to collect our luggage and take the 2pm train from Seville to Madrid which would get us in Madrid at 4:30pm at the Atocha rail station. I looked at my Lufthansa flight itinerary to see what terminal my flight leaves from and to my horror, I read that my flight is at 17:00 and not 7pm. Being in Seville there was nothing I could do. The first train I could take was in 45 min .. at 2pm. And getting to Madrid station at 430 would not help as the train station was about 30 min away from the airport. Anyways I did end up taking the train, and then going to the airport. I was hoping that Lufthansa would perform some miracle and I could take the next flight home. Jesus and Christina were in Seville and Roy and I went to the airport together. Everything was all right with Roy’s flight which was at 7:45pm so he checked in and was able to travel. With my flight, I came to find out that it was the last flight to Stuttgart. There was nothing available until the next day. I know from experience that I would have had to buy a new one way ticket to get to Stuttgart as this was entirely my fault, but I also know from experience (and being a travel agent at one time) that nothing is impossible at the airport. So with some sweet talking and a little tears I was able to get the girl at the Lufthansa counter change my ticket to the next morning without charging me anything. Jesus in the meanwhile was so wonderful too. He arranged for me to stay with a friend (actually a friend of a friend) that night in Madrid. So eventually it all worked out. I flew home the next day. It sucked that I had to miss another day of school, but really it could have been a whole lot worse. I guess I need to learn my lesson .. watcj out for the military clocks and the am pms..:) Anyways in spite of the bump at the end of the trip, it still turned out to me by best travel in Europe this year.