Place: Kent, England
Route: London - Kent - London
Date(s) of Travel: July 30, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Kent, Surrey, England
My Experience:
1. It has been sometime I have been to a trek or long trail walking. So I decided to go for a small trek on the weekend. Since I don't know much about the countryside walking in england I joined a meetup group called trailblazers. These meetup groups in england, charge money for guided hikes and transportation. But its a nice way to meet new people and infact girls :).
2. There were around 25 people and we all started by train, reached a small village (i forgot the name) near kent. It was a sunny day and quite a pleasant weather to walk. Our group leader/navigator was a professor and he told us that we will follow a trail map.
3. We started walking through villages, abandoned farmhouses, small hills, golf courses. It was quite scenic and beautiful to see the english countryside. Man, the farmhouses are so big and people in countryside lives a king size relaxed life. But local people were quite friendly and happy to see people like us from concrete jungle. After walking and little hiking we stopped at middle of a small forest for lunch. It was nice to meet new people and sharing food with each other.
4. After some rest, we again started walking and reached a small village pub in the evening. They told us that, charles dickens was a regular to that pub during 18th century and wrote some of his best work in the pub. I had a few pints of guiness after a long walk and it felt like heaven.
5. Finally, after walking through lot of apple farms we reached the village where we started in the morning. It was fun experience to learn lot from the guide about the history and the culture of the people.
Thought of Day: To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. - Aldous Huxley
Place: Oxford, England
Route: London - Oxford - London
Date(s) of Travel: July 24, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Oxford, England
My Experience:
1. Since the weather forecasts showed that it would be a sunny sunday, myself and my friend kiran decided to go to oxford. The plan was to just walk the city whole day and see as much places as we can. As usual, I was late and we reached oxford only by 11 AM. Almost close to lunch, so kiran was bit angry for waiting in the london paddington for about an hour.
2. Kiran had a city map and we stared following a trail which covers few castles, parks and some colleges. The whole city is full of colleges and all of them wore a medieval look and carrying the traditional english culture. There were students everywhere and all of them carrying a smile no matter what. It was nice to see lot of people enjoying the city.
3. The main thing is, the colleges are open for public and you can visit all the facilities inside for a small charge. When you visit residential dorms, there were students reading, surfing, debating on something. The gardens inside colleges are quite big and well maintained. If you are interested, you can take a nap under the big trees. I met a girl from spain studying summer course in one of the colleges and enquired her what is the fees for a 45 days course. She told me the fees is 5000 GBP. (oh my god that amount is bigger than what I have spent my whole education).
4. We went to Ashmolean museum in the city center. It was quite good and you can very well spend a whole day if you can appreciate cultures and traditions of different countries. Ofcourse, I don't have any artistic appreciation so finished seeing the museum in less than 2 hours.
5. There are some residential boarding schools for boys and girls and they told me only english upper class can afford education over there. The girls are so tall and damn hot. Some schools even have their own private lakes for rowing practise.
6. Finally, went to a big cathedral which was quite good and some people were practising choir. Very nice. There are quite a few colleges where they told us that Harry potter pictures were filmed. I ain't watched a single Harry potter movie, so din't give a damn about it.
Thought of Day: To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. - Freya Stark
Place: Mainz, Germany
Date(s) of Travel: June 10 - June 13, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Mainz, Germany
My Experience:
1. On my way back to India, I decided to take a stopover in Frankfurt, germany to visit my friends...When I reached frankfurt, my friends told me that we will be going to a music festival (www.openohr.de) in Mainz which is 40 kms from frankfurt and also we will be camping there over the weekend..That sounded like a fantastic idea and we headed to Mainz...
2. The festival venue was totally awesome and we made our tents in the camping site...This is the first time I camped in tent and it was a good learning experience for me... The whole festival was full of young german people from all over germany...It was so much fun to be part of a big festival...
3. Met lot of hippies and they all have visited india some or the other time...some of them spoke hindi fluently...i was amazed and even one guy from venenzula talked tamil...he became my good friend...Interacting with them was an quite a eye opener kind of experience towards relationships, money, travelling, communism...hope i took some best out of them and apply in my life...
4. Lot of bands/groups performed in the festival...Totally kickass...drinking beer and even i managed to meet some young people who shared some weed with me...holy moly...enjoying the music with a pint of beer was totally awsome experience...
5. There were lot of small shops, eateries, tattoo place, antiques, indian dress shops by the hippies inside the festival grounds...there was a small indian food shop and the guys became so friendly to me over the three days...german people are loving indian food but with little less spices though...
6. Took some time off from the festival and walked around the city mainz...it was a small but beautiful city...Hope i visit the festival next year and meet the beautiful people again...
Thought of Day:A person starts to live when he can live outside himself. - Albert Einstein
Place: Frankfurt, Germany
Date(s) of Travel: April 30 - May 3, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Frankfurt, Germany
My Experience:
1. The last time when I did a small trip to europe, I stayed in youth hostels wherever i went...It was an awesome experience of backpacking and i met lot of people and made good friends...i promised one of the friend that if i get a chance to visit germany, i will visit frankfurt and meet you again...As promised i made it to frankfurt...
2. Frankfurt is a beautiful city and it has the river mainz going thru it. You can walk the whole city in a day and have some pint of beers in the river side...as i mentioned in one of my earlier blog post, germans are one of the most friendliest people..may be next to indian people...
3. Stayed with friends from germany and god!..that was one lovely place and the german hospitality was awesome...The only thing was german people eat lot of bread....Met sandip, one of my college mate who is working there...went to a small indian restaurant where the food was awsome...heard the stories of the indian people how they settled in germany...quite fun...
4. There are quite a places to visit in frankfurt...lot of art museums, river mainz..i visited a dance club in lokalbahnhof with my friends on may 1st eve..which they call as "dancing in the may"...quite fun and drank lot of german beers and some wheat beers...And also for a relaxed walk, one can go to Sachsenhausen...it was one hell of a beautiful place...i just loved the place...
5. I visited goethe university and listened to some of the german world war stories...that was sad though...but people have moved on from the sadness..if you visit any of the festivals or nightclubs you get to meet lot of young happy people...they all love to visit india...you are all welcome guys...
Thought of Day:The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. - Albert Einstein
Place: London, UK
Route: Tallinn - London - Tallinn
Date(s) of Travel: April 1 - April 4, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Trafalgar Square
My Experience:
1. I had some personal work in London so I thought April 1st weekend would be the right time to go as I was in Tallin which was 2.5 hrs away by air. But my goodness, India reached world cup cricket final and they were about to play against sri-lanka in April 2nd, Saturday.
2. After meeting friends and finishing the personal work I went to a sports bar on saturday with my colleague to watch the cricket world cup final..It was very nervous and all the time I was sipping guinness without taking my eye out of TV.
3. The moment dhoni hit the six and India won the match... I shouted crazy and running around here and there..Did some nadal fist pumping to some of the white guys who invented cricket...damn you guys and pakis...we are the world champs...
4. We know there will be huge celebration in trafalgar square and we ran to the place from picaddly circus...god! that was one crazy night...everybody was shouting india and holding indian flags...Got to meet lot of desi chicks...shouting, vuvuzelas, candle lights, dancing crazily in joy....all for india and being indian...
Thought of Day:Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. - Albert Einstein
Place: Tallinn, EstoniaDate(s) of Travel: March 14 - June 10, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Tallinn, Estonia
My Experience:
1. When I reached Tallinn for the first time, I felt.. oh god this cold is killing me..Straight from 35 C (Bangalore, India) to -15 C in 24hrs is quiet a thing to adjust both mentally and physically...
2. I stayed right in the middle of old town which is a happening place in tallinn all the night..Initial days were really boring as hell as I was very alone other than sharing dinner with my colleagues everyday... But slowly i started moving around the old town everyday to have a feel of estonian culture..
3. Lot of good restaurants from all over europe and few Indian restaurants are also there...Prices are little bit high though(at least for me).. But there are plenty of bars to drink and plenty of nightclubs(dance) to hang-around during nights. The good thing is you get Guinness and Corona everywhere...The local beer from estonia is saku which is quite good though...
4. When it was very cold and few sunlight, I found people were kind of depressed and not so friendly..But once spring/summer started people were opened up (both dress and friendly)...Made a lot of friends and hanging out in alfredo's (mexicano) house was quite fun...
5. Flying remote controlled planes was awesome though i was just watching and even made a motor bike trip to country side which was very beautiful...There were few shopping malls available and my favourite is solaris where there are good foodchains like lido and vapiano available as well as a movie theatre and a big grocery store..
6. There are few beaches around tallinn..i have been to estromi and piritia...where the later has good life...Getting around tallinn in cycle is a good idea as it is a small city compared to other european cities...It was a very hard feeling to leave the place as i enjoyed so much there...but tallinn..i will visit you
Thought of Day:If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut. - Albert Einstein
