Place: London - Brussels - Pinkpop Music Festival (Landgraaf, Netherlands)
Date(s) of Travel: June 14 - June 16, 2013
My Experience:
Friends(Mariana and Court) from Amsterdam, whom I met during skiing trip in Alps asked me, it would be nice if I could join them for an upcoming Pinkpop Music festival in Netherlands. I really like music festivals in Europe and I promised to join them.
On Friday morning(I took friday off from work), I started from London to Brussels by Eurostar. I found a ride from Brussels to Pinkpop festival site in Netherlands in a carpooling website. The drive was so much fun with strangers from Brussels as we were all enjoying to techno music all the way. Once we reached the festival site, it was hard to find a parking slot and we decided to park the car in the city centre of Landgraaf and walked to the festival site. After reaching the site, I said bye to my carpooling friends and walked to campsite B(little far from festival site) where Mariana, Court and their friends were camped. Court and his friends came to the entrance at campsite B to pick me up and we reached their tents. After saying Hi to everyone, me and Mariana went to get my festival band and in the meantime their friends pitched my tent. Fran and Anais from skiing trip were also came along and it was nice to meet them again.
After few beers, around 3 PM we all walked to the festival site to catch some music. The festival site contained 3 stages namely Mainstage, 3FM stage and Brand Bier stage and in which last one was the smallest among three. The weather was nice and sunny and I drank only beer for the whole day and had lot of grass(Common the festival was happening in Netherlands). We watched bands like Jimmy Eat World, Queens of the Stone Age(I liked it), Script and Killers. There were plenty of beer shops, food shops and falafel was quite tasty. The festival closes at 11 in the evening and everyone goes to their respective campsites either A or B and party till wee hours in the party tents in each campsite. The party tent in campsite B where we were camping was full of techno music with DJs giving their best. After partying for a long time, I went to bed around 4 in the morning as was very tired due to the long day.
Next day was same routine as previous day and watched some bands like Gaslight anthem, Phoenix and Kings of Leon and also partied in the campsite B for long time in the night. On Sunday around 12 PM, I said bye to everyone as I had to get back to work on Monday morning. After so much delays in the train, I reached Brussels around 6.30 in the evening and stayed in a hostel where I had stayed 3 years back. I went for a stroll in the city centre and tasted some belgian chocolates and local bakery food. Next day morning, I took the early morning Eurostar at 7 AM to reach London.
Thought of Day: The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - Saint Augustine
Place: London - Paris (Roland Garros)
Date(s) of Travel: June 8 - June 9, 2013
My Experience:
It was a friday afternoon and I was very nervous and couldn't concentrate on finishing my work in the office. It was because, my favourite tennis player Rafael Nadal was gonna compete against Novak Djokovic in the french open semifinal. This match had a very high significance for both the players, for Rafa it was to reaffirm his authority as king of clay and for Novak to achieve the career grand slam.
I am following tennis from a very young age and I used to be a very big fan of Pete Sampras and for the last seven years I am a even more a fan of Rafa. Whatever timezone I am in, I try to watch his match live on television. This french open 2013 was the first grand slam he was playing after seven months injury. All the tennis pundits and fans were predicted that Novak would thrash Rafa. But as a hardcore Rafa fan, I had hope that Rafa would win the match. I was following live scores then and there in between work and some of my colleagues too and were updating me. When the match went to fifth set, I couldn't hold my nervousness and went for a walk in the office corridors. The moment I saw the score on my mobile and knew Rafa won the epic, I ran to my desk from the ground floor and shouted Rafa won. Lot of my colleagues were aware that I am a big fan of Rafa and they all laughed due to my craziness.
I was very happy and suddenly decided to fly to Paris to witness Rafa clinching his 8th french open. I booked a flight for saturday morning, booked a hostel and bought a ground pass ticket to Roland Garros in Paris. The ground pass ticket allows me to enter the Roland Garros but will not allow me to Philippe Chatrier court which is the main/centre court. My plan was to watch the final in the giant screen adjacent to centre court and if possible try to have a glimpse of Rafa holding the trophy. I was so excited to do these crazy last minute trip just for the pure passion of following Rafa and his never say die attitude.
It was sunday afternoon in Paris and I went to Roland Garros. This time in Paris by a surprise, whomever I asked for directions/help were happy to help me and replied in english. I went to Suzanne Lenglen court and watched senior doubles final match. Inside Roland Garros, there was a festival kind of atmosphere as artists were entertaining the crowd with music, dance and acrobatics. I went to the racquet stringing zone where they were telecasting the matches live on Ultra HD television. There were some kids painting activities, flight simulators and even you can try tennis in nike dark room with radium coloured tennis balls. When the time was just 15 minutes before the start of the match, I decided to go near centre court and see what's going on.
I could watch some sports celebrities like Usain Bolt, Mary Pierce entering the court through the tunnel. Then finally, I went and stood near the Court 1 which is adjacent to centre court to watch the match on big screen. There were lot of people and it was fun to watch among them. Near the end of final set, I started watching people coming out of the centre court knowing that Rafa was gonna win the match. I ran towards them and asked for their tickets, if I could watch the remaining match. Finally, sixth person whom I asked gave me his ticket and I ran to the top of the centre court to watch Rafa. I still remember the moment when I was one among the thousands of people watching the epic match. When Rafa won the match, I felt elated and stood calm due to thousands of things going on my mind. Usain Bolt presented the trophy and saw the presentation speech by the runner-up David Ferrer and winner Rafael Nadal. I was the last person to leave the centre court till Rafa left the court after doing press meets and photoshoot.
Then, I went to the Roland Garros museum where they had a section for the french aviator Roland Garros and a section for all the tennis players who won the french open. I talked to fellow Rafa fanatics and it was so much fun sharing the passion. After few hours, I left the stadium with loads of nice memories.
Thought of Day: Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. - Steve Jobs
Place: London - Geneva - Val D'Isere
Date(s) of Travel: April 6 - April 13, 2013
My Experience:
I heard about skiing from my colleagues for the last two years. I am always up for adventure sports which is more fun than sitting before a computer all day. After getting few suggestions from friends, I decided to go to Val D'Isere resort in the french alps. I booked a ski holiday package through a non-profit french organisation called UCPA which was suggested by my french colleague Xavier. The holiday package includes dorm stay, ski rentals, ski passes, trainer/guide and food for a week. I bought some last minute winter clothes and a ski goggle from sportsdirect shop, since they were cheap and I only need them for a week. On Saturday early morning, I flew to Geneva from Heathrow and took a bus from Geneva airport to Val D'Isere resort which is operated by a coach company called benbus. The bus journey was quite amazing and the views of Alps on both sides were stunning. After a few stopover in different resorts, I reached my resort in the afternoon.
I was little anxious, because I am aware that french people tend not to speak english. But to my surprise every french person in the resort spoke english and were very friendly. Then I realised non-english was more of a Paris thing. After dropping my bag in the room, I went for a stroll round the town and to the resort base. In the evening, I collected my ski equipments from UCPA store which is in the hostel ground floor and put them in the locker room. To my surprise, all my roommates were British guys and as usual they started drinking from the moment they checked-in to the room.
Next day afternoon, I went for my first ski session and I was very excited. Actually, I was enrolled for Beginners course and in my group there were four girls and me and our ski trainer who was a girl too. :). First they taught us how to walk, side walk, applying brakes etc. Skiing looks easy but putting them into practise was tough(at-least for me). I fell down so many times, crashed in high speed into a corner and I got tired of it very quickly. But I was determined to learn the basics as I had paid so much money for the trip. In the dinner, I met some nice people like Mariana, Court, Fran, Anais and started to hangout with them for the whole week.
The Ski pistes are classified by colours like green, blue, red and black with green being the easiest and black being the toughest one. For the first 2 days, we trained in the green pistes and still I couldn't get my turning correct and fell down more frequently than others. But in the third day, suddenly I started picking up things and was able to control my speed in the downslope, able to turn and brake too. In the mid week, most of the people from UCPA including myself went for a night out and it was so much fun in getting to know lot of people. In the last two days, we went to the upper slopes mostly blue pistes and it was stunning to see white snow everywhere. Some of the blue pistes were little steep but over a period of time you get used to it, but I learnt them in a hard way by falling and rolling. :)
The other thing I want to mention is the food in UCPA. The lunch and dinner were so awesome and I ate so much food for the whole week. French people love their food especially dinner along with wine and also they chat a lot while eating. Basically I like french food and in UCPA, I loved the salad with blue cheese, chicken drumsticks, potatoes, baguette, cheese fondue, different types of cheese and deserts. I made so many friends and everyone I know offered me wine during dinner. In the last day of our course, our group decided to have lunch in a restaurant at the top of the resort. It was a sunny day so we went for a barbecue and it was nice but little expensive though. There is a party place called "La Folie Douce" at the top of the resort where you can party during the ski break. In the evening, we all went there to have few beers and the techno music with trumpet was mind blowing. In the night we partied in the resort clubs till wee hours and it was fun. I said bye to all the nice people I met during the trip which is always a little sad feeling.
Next day morning, I had few hours of time before catching the bus back to Geneva and I decided to practise one last time. I did few blue pistes and one small red piste and it was quite a nice feeling. Evening I got back to London with lot of nice memories and a sore bum. I hope I go back next winter and hone my skiing skills.
Thought of Day: To travel is to take a journey into yourself. - Danny Kaye
Place: Amsterdam - Marken - Volendam - Zaanse Schans
Date(s) of Travel: March 29 - April 1, 2013
My Experience:
My friend Dinesh who lives in Amsterdam decided to go for higher studies in USA and in 2 weeks time he leaves for good. I had visited him 'N' times in Amsterdam and I love the place. I decided to visit him one last time and spend the easter weekend with him. I took the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam with a changeover at Brussels. After 4 hour journey I reached Amsterdam and it was bit cold. This time of year it should be warmer but spring was late this year over whole Europe. The whole day we were just listening to music in his Bose speakers and relaxing. In the evening we went for a small party and met some Dinesh friends and colleagues.
Even though I have been to Amsterdam for few times, I never been to nearby country side which is a popular day tour. Finally, we booked the tour and went the next day. Before entering the tour coach, the tour guide(an old lady) asked us where are we from?. We replied, India and she said, she had been to India and lost her shoes near Ganges river. Ha ha, it was funny. The first stop of the tour is a wooden shoe factory in Marken which is a small country side village. In the factory, they demonstrate making shoes and also one can buy wooden shoes in the souvenir shop. Then we walked along the small streets full of wooden houses to reach the river side where a tour boat was waiting for us. The boat took us to a fishing village called Volendam. In Volendam, we went to a cheese factory where they explain how they make cheese and also you can buy different types of cheese. Fish food is very famous in the restaurants but as usual I ate chicken for the lunch.
Then after lunch, we went to a settlement museum which exhibits the traditional people culture and early days of Volendam. Then the tour coach picked up after an hour long wait to Zaanse Schans which is a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. Some of the windmills are still in operation and they have been used for land drainage as some of the places in Netherlands including Amsterdam are below sea level. The place was really beautiful during the evening. Finally we reached Amsterdam and we walked through Dam Square to reach Dinesh's house. There was a little carnival went on at Dam Square and there were some fun rides. I always wanted to do the Booster Maxx ride for a long time and decided to go ahead, but Dinesh wasn't interested or rather scared. The ride was about five minutes and it was so much fun. I could feel my blood pumping through my head when it reaches the top.
Next day on the way to catch my train to London, I smoked some funny ones in the famous Bull dog shop. It transported me mentally to different part of the world and I am still not sure how I reached Amsterdam train station and how I got back to London. Lol.
Thought of Day: A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. - Tim Cahill
Place: Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza, Frankfurt
Date(s) of Travel: November 2 - November 13, 2012
Barcelona
Madrid
Ibiza
Frankfurt
Some video Links:
My Experience:
It was getting cold and dark early. Signs of winter around the corner. Winter in England is quite dark and dull and you can get into depressive mode unless you gotta a goal to achieve. To motivate myself and face winter, I decided to go for a backpacking trip in Spain which is warm enough during november. There was no planning other than I decided to visit Barcelona first and go forward from there.
So I reached Barcelona on a fine evening. Oh my god, the weather was a bliss and you can roam around in a t-shirt. I boarded a bus from the airport to the city centre and as usual I got down at a different place because I was dreaming. After few hours, reached my hostel called "Hostel BCN" near the metro station called parallel. People in the hostel were helpful and friendly. The hostel is very near the famous "La Rambla" and has lot of restaurants around. The one thing I noticed about Barcelona is, people are so laid back and food is cheaper compared to other european countries.
The hostel organises lot of night out events and it was a way to socialize and get to meet people. I went to quite a few night clubs and especially the trance music in "Razzmatazz" club was mind blowing. The next day, I went to camp nou to watch a Barcelona football la liga match. It was a really big stadium and it was fun. There are quite a few sight seeing places in Barcelona. Since, I was partying all night I had visited only Sagrada Familia which is a church built by famous architect Antoni Gaudi. It was one of its kind and I recommend to everyone.
After three days in Barcelona, I left for madrid which is the capital city of Spain. Madrid is a vibrant and small city compared to Barcelona. I stayed in a hostel called "Hostel One Centro" near the city centre. The city centre was always buzzing with tourists and adding to that, there were loads of Borussia dortmund german football fans. There were so many restaurants and tapas bars around that area and you never feel alone for a moment. The next day, I went for a walking tour. It was one of the best way to experience the history and culture of the city. In the evening I went for the champions league football match between Borussia dortmund and Real madrid. It was one of the thrilling game ended with 2-2 score and I enjoyed every moment in Santiago Bernabeu stadium as a fan of Real madrid because of Rafa Nadal.
I met few people from Germany in the hostel. I hanged out with them for a few drinks and went for two night outs in a row. It was really fun and we became close friends. Hope one day I visit them in Germany. There was one day, I slept whole day because of heavy hangover from the previous night. Gotta hate hangover. After three days in madrid, I decided to go to Ibiza island in the Mediterranean sea.
I reached Ibiza in the late night and I boarded a bus to my hotel. Murphy's law struck again and I am in middle of nowhere. Finally, boarded a taxi to reach my hotel called "Hostal Marino" in San Antonio. It was already near midnight and still there were loads of people in the hotel restaurant eating dinner. It was one of the best hotels I stayed in my life because everyone was so friendly and the room was quite good too. The hotel was very close to famous "San Antonio beach" which is very famous for beach parties and sunset experience. Since I went in an off-season things were very quiet. The next day, I went for a walk around the beach and I got lost. I was looking for people who can speak english and then I bumped into this girl who is from Oregon, America. She was quite friendly and helpful and after few conversations I came to know she stays in the same hotel as mine.
The next day I hired a motorbike to roam around Ibiza to see few more places. I asked this girl, if she would like to join me for the bike trip and she agreed. :). Sometimes its better to have company rather than travel alone when the girl was pretty. We visited Cala D'Hort beach where you can see Es Vedra which is a small rocky island and it was quite beautiful. Then we went to the old city in Ibiza town which is near to the port. I liked the old city which is surrounded by a castle. Another thing I need to mention is, driving in the right hand side was a thrilling experience as I am used to drive in left side.
The next morning, I left Ibiza for Frankfurt, Germany. I couldn't say bye to that girl but I was little sad because beautiful moments got over very soon. On the way to Frankfurt, I have to catch a connecting flight via Palma de Mallorca. This was the first time, I travelled in a small propeller plane and it was fun as it flew over lot of islands. Finally, I reached Frankfurt in the evening and met my travel friends from two years back. I stayed in their house itself. It was really nice and I love Frankfurt city since I have been there often.
It was very cold in Frankfurt and I was less prepared. The city has a quite a few high rise buildings and some of them let people to visit the top floor where you can have a panoramic view of the city. I went to one of them and it was brilliant. In the evening I went to the botanical gardens in the city which was nice and there is a building in the garden which emulates tropical climate and they grow tropical plants for experimentation. Then along with my friends, I went to a music concert by a band called "The Reader" in a church. Yes, a concert in a church and I was surprised too. It was one of the nice bands where all the songs were almost like story telling and soothing to ears. After spending 10 fun filling days in Europe I left for London to face the winter.
Thought of Day: It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. - Ernest Hemingway
