Munich, Germany

23rd April 2011

We started Munich with a visit to the information center in Hauptbahnhof (Train station) where we were pleasantly surprised when the German wished us "Namaste". Not just that, he spoke good Hindi.

From there, the BMW museum. Nice one, definitely worth a visit.



If you haven't already, check out the youtude for a video on "BMW Gina concept". Mind blowing, talk about thinking out of the box. Thats the car to your right in this picture.



From there we visited the Viktualienmarkt, a bustling shopping market for gourmets in the heart of the city. We had never seen so many people cramped in one market, not even in India. We tried our first German sausage here reluctantly, but to our surprise was quite palatable. The range of olives you could get at this shop below was quite interesting.



Next we walked past the Marienplatz Square in the center and the heart of the city. Close by, the Frauenkirche, a Gothic cathedral and municipal parish church with its onion domed towers is Munich's unmistakable landmark. Only one of these towers is seen in this picture as the other was covered for maintenance.



The Konigsplatz Square, Munich's first splendid boulevard was a calm and peaceful place for an evening outing.





A beautiful garden in Karolinenplatz close to the Konigsplatz Square forming a round about for trams and vehicles



A church outside the Royal Residenz



The Bavarian state Opera, right next to the Royal Residenz at night.



The last stop in Munich, but the best one was The HB. Hofbrauhaus (HB), a traditional inn in the center of town is home to the Oktoberfest and has been making beers since 1612.





The last gulp of the 1 liter HB beer.



So far, one thing we have noticed in Europe is that food, no matter where is of very good quality and reasonably cheap compared to Australia. The restaurants and Bier Gartens (beer gardens) serve good food although your choices on the menu are limited.

Our most anticipated part of our trip was to begin the next day. So a good night's sleep was essential. After gulping down the beer, there was nothing, that was going to keep us awake.

Frankfurt & Berlin, Germany

21st & 22nd April 2011

Frankfurt, our first city in Deutschland. A quick dash in this city between our flight landing and the train to Berlin.





Romerberg, the historical city centre.
















Romer or the city hall. Frankfurt's city hall since 1405.











The Eiserner Steg, an iron footbridge built in 1868.











The Euro tower





_____________________________________________________________________________________

Berlin was next. We took a train from Frankfurt to Berlin. About 600 kms in 4 hours. Was a breeze, fell in love with the trains here.

Berlin is a beautiful city with lots and lots of buildings. Each and every building in the city has a character to it and is very neatly maintained. It feels like this city has some poshness to it. And this is where I saw the most expensive coke in my life yet. 7.5 Euros for 200ml! The only speciality it had was that it was served in a hotel just outside Brandenberg Gate.

Museumsinsel, the museum island.




The Berlin Dome and the TV tower.





Gendarmenmrkt, the Berlin Concert House.






Check Point Charlie.


href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTk1ihe0UURHEWPrwpHhD5G_yrcj84-PxBimc-2KaBPobdOS85O4rEOMIKoUKuUzUP66zQqP8vgIkYETNUifim6PvcsZdOImxK_WT4wXeklRy65K3e_y2Ch1nmwISs8gZsdIEza71sTI/s1600/IMG_2700.jpg">


One of our much anticipated spots was the remaining Berlin wall and it really didnt dissapoint us.




The Parliament house, quite majestic.





And ofcourse, the Brandenburg Gate or the Brandenburger Tor

Kalambaka, Greece

April 18th - 20th 2011

Kalambaka is a small city about 5 hours by train to the north of Athens. This city is know for its one and only attraction, Meteora!

(Click on any image for a larger picture)

Seeking retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, the Eastern Orthodox monks found a perfect asylum here. Inaccessible rock pillars scattered over this uniquely sculpted landscape along with caverns and tall terraces provided an ideal place for spiritual contemplation. Although more than twenty monasteries used to perch on the steep rocks, only six remain today constituting one of the most important complexes in the country. ‘Suspended in the air' as the name translates, the monasteries are accessible only by steps cut into the rock formations. So up you climb contemplating earthly matters, but first of all, the impressive views!





You can see four monasteries in this picture.



\



\



\






The sceneary here is nothing less than breath taking. We took a taxi ride to the top most monastery called the Great Meteora and walked back through the winding roads and hiking tracks through thick bushes passing through each of the monasteries. The views were amazing in any direction we turned.



From every monastery, the views are just beautiful. It's said that the saints came to these monasteries to avoid distraction of the world. Anil questions that, as the beauty around here in itself is a big distraction. Neverthless, the monasteries are very peaceful and serene.


Our engineering minds could not stop wondering about the haulage of construction materials to the top when they were built 600 years ago. Today, these monasteries that are still operational are more a place of interst to the visitors.


The old town of Kalambaka in itself is a place to marvel. An old town with narrow path ways lined with old brick and tile houses and a smoking chimney. It is quite an experience to walk through these streets. It reminded us of home and our childhood memories!
The newer side of the town has lots of cafes, parks with fountains and ofcourse plenty of views from anywhere. The main street called the 'Trikalon' runs the length of the town and is completely lined with shops. We wondered why every second shop was either a shoe shop, a bakery or a chemist. The slow paced town offers plenty of time to relax and unwind. So much that we were scratching to spend a couple of spare hours we had today. That is when we realised how busy we have been lately that running around every minute has just become a part of life.



This was the view from our hotel balcony. When we arrived we were so excited about it. The second day, after visiting the monasteries, it was just another view. The Meteora just blew our mind. Infact, these photographs don't do justice. You can never capture the marvel of nature in a camera.
Our Greece experience without a mention of Greek cuisine is incomplete! We loved the Soulakis, Greek Salad, Baklava and a bit of Mousakka. Even the Pizza and Pasta tasted so good here that we're wondering what to expect in Italy! All in all, we had a great time and a wonderful experience during our stay in Greece. Any day, we would love to come back again.

Athens, Greece

April 15th - 17th 2011


Athens, our first stop around Europe. Greece was our starting point to tick one more wonder of the world in our list, the Acropolis. Defnetly a wonder on how it lasted 2000+ years.



This shot was taken from on top of Lykavittos Hill (Mount Lykabettus) which was a damn steep hike - 250 meter ascent. The plan was to get up there before sunset and get this shot, stay there until dark and then take a night shot. It was a nice plan, except that I did not include variables like weather & sunset time.



After waiting for nearly 3 hours and braving the intense chill and rain on top of the hill, we finally managed to get this picture of Acropolis at night. I owe a big one to Ramya for her patience on my photographic endevours. She says, its coming in Venice.




This is the home of Olympics. There is a lot of history about it, but the story in short, it was first built many many centuries ago. It was re-constructed in 18xx something year when the first ever modern day olympics was held.




This is the Ancient Agora, one of the well preserved structures. Agora is a place of assembly.









This one is worth a mention, any guesses why? This was built I think around 200 BC and is the birth place of the "Theatre".









The city of Athens has ruins everywhere. This picture was taken in the Acropolis Museum, that is built on top of ruins. The ruins are in the Metro stations, parks you name it.





There are many more sites with broken columns and fallen walls. By then end of the second day, we were over it. Overall, Athens is very similar to cities in India, believe me, it is very much so. Houses are all built the same way, similar people attitudes, same nuisance in public places but much cleaner. But by western standards, it is not what we would call "clean". The Metro trains are great, frequent, cheap and well connected. 4 Euros lets you ride all day everywhere.

Food, ah almost forgot. Good food. The souvlakis and spagettis were a great hit with us. Did try the Mousaka, they are OK but not worth raving about. The food is reasonably cheap. The Greeks are almost half immersed in Olives and Olive oil I must say. Oh by the way, there are olive trees every where.

The Top 30 To Do List!

1. Ancient Acropolis
2. Cliff top Monasteries in Meteora
3. Berlin Wall
4. Brandenburg Gate
5. BMW Museum in Munich
6. Click 200 kmph on the Autobahn
7. Neuschweinstein Castle
8. Roam the Austrian & Swiss Alps in a convertible
9. Scenic Swiss train to Interlaken
10. The Rhine Falls
11. Walk the oldest bridge in Lucern
12. The Last Supper in Milan
13. Gondola ride in Venice
14. Leaning Tower of Pisa
15. Colloseum in Rome
16. The Vatican City
17. Eat pizza in Naples
18. Watch a bull fight in Madrid
19. The Royal Palace in Madrid
20. Dine in the oldest restaurant in the world, Sobrino De Botin
21. Gaudy Entertainment at the Bourbon Cafe
22. Gaudi Cathedral in Barcelona
23. Ride a TGV to Paris
24. Climb the Eiffle Tower
25. Watch the Moulin Rouge Show
26. Nostre Dam
27. Mona Lisa in Louvre
28. Sky Deck on the Burj Khalifa
29. Sleep under the stars on a Desert Safari
30. Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi