Then there was Germany...Chapter 1

Our conquest of Western Germany began in the year 2008 in the cold and wet month of March. Over the course of these 4 days we managed to get around to visiting 6 cities & 4 countries in 4 days.

We had planned for a different holiday this time around. Going to Germany and not driving on the autobahn was something I have been dreaming about for a while. This was the perfect opportunity. We had decided that Dusseldorf would be the base for this trip. It's a beautiful city within a few hours drive of quaint historic towns in western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands. We booked our tickets and off we went.

Upon landing at Dusseldorf airport, we made our way to the rental car place. We had booked a compact car and I was expecting a Renault or a ford or something. Instead, she gave us a cool Merc with a navigation system and winter tires. Unsure of driving on the wrong side of the road, I slowly and hesitantly drove out of the airport but seemed pretty much at ease about as soon as we got out of the airport.

We stayed at the Nikko in the center of the city. The Nikko was a cool hotel that is designed primarily for Japanese tourists. Well, we had a great buffet lunch at an india restaurant right opposite the hotel and headed out on our drive to Koln. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Koln from our hotel. Of course it was 30 minutes at about 180kph average. I even touched 200kph at one point.

The Kölner Dom is one of the largest churches in the world. It's a perfect example of Gothic Architecture with really sharp edges, gargoyales, ornate enterances and the works. From the inside, the dom has humongous and beautiful stained glass windows. We spent the day hanging around Köln, walking around the bustling shops even on a cold rainly day. Eventually, we headed back to Dusseldorf, this time taking the winding country roads through a very pretty countryside.

The room we first checked into didn't have the air conditioning working effectively and after speaking to the front desk, they switched us to a cool executive suite with its own cappuchino machine :-). A few cappuchinos from that machine was a great way to start the day.

Stockholm Day 2 & 3

Day 2 started extremely well. We woke up just in time for the buffet breakfast. The best spread of fresh fruits, yoghurts, breads, cheese, cereals, eggs etc. that I have seen in a long time. We had our fill and took the bus out to town to spend the day in the city.

We spent the first part of the day roaming around aimlessly in the city just exploring areas and then we ended up at the Vasa museum. The Vasa was built in the 1620's on order for king Gustavus Adolphus. The scandinavians were building a great empire around the Baltic Sea and the Vasa was expected to be the flagship of the fleet. It was loaded with guns and was expected to lead the assaults. They spend tons of money and lots of labour in building this great ship and decorated it woth gold etc. In the greatest anticlimax, it sailed for a grand total 5 minutes before it sank to the bottom of the sea. Not the best story for a "great ship". However, what was great indeed was how they savaged the ship from the bottom of the ocean in the cold baltic waters and recreated the magic of the Vasa. We spent the best part of the day in the museum, playing around with the various things. everything from the physics, imitating history to designing warships.

After finishing up at the museum, we walked out, got something to eat from the local street market and headed back to the hotel to chill out for the rest of the evening. Once back in the hotel, we hit the gym and the sauna for some relaxation.

Day 3 was greeted by heavy rain. We had plans of getting to Sigtuna, a local historic village, but the rain played spoil sport and we ended up just train-ing around town before heading our to the airport.

Stockholm - Ikea Town - Day 1

Spent about 3 days in Sweden - NO IKEA !!!! They work through other retail outlets in Stockhom though., every single furniture store you come across has Ikea furniture !

Walking into Stockholm, we were greeted by huge pictures famous personalities from Sweden, everyone from Bjorn Borg to ABBA.

The Stockholm Archipelago is one of the largest in the world and the largest in the Baltic sea. Stockholm is a really nice city, with a very quaint old-town with waterways running through it. Add to it the Scandinavian architecture style and it makes for a very picturesque holiday. [Picture borrowed from wikipedia]

Making our way from the Arlanda airport to town was fairly easy. It is amazing how all these citites we have been to in Europe have amazing public transport making travelling around so easy. Stockholm has the mainline trains, the subways and an extensive bus network. Anusha made sure that we take all modes of public transport possible. We bought the 16 trip ticket which we needed to get validated at entry into a mode of transport. I must admit that I do like the Oyster card mode of payment a lot better though but I guess they can trust their people more in Stockholm that we can in London.

We took the bus from the airport to the main bus station in the city. Once in town, we were greeted by a very cold but sunny day. We walked around the main streets walking through the city soaking the ambiance. It was a very nice day (by swedish standards) and people were out biking, ice skating, shopping etc. For us, it was still very cold but we braved it nonetheless.

Walking through the city, we got to the "Gamla Stan", old town, with its museums, pretty & narrow medieval streets, fantastic cafes and small quiant stores. We stopped by a local cafe and got some coffee and hot chocolate and something to eat. The hot chocolate was almost the best we had. The best one being undoubtedly the one we had at the train station in Rome.

Anyway, after spending the day in the Gamla Stan, we headed to our hotel in the suburb of Bromma. We took the subway and then the bus and it took us roughly around 30 minutes to get to the hotel. The room was very nice, big window and a huge bathroom. The entire room was Ikea. The cupboards, the beds, the painting, the table/chairs you name it!

Bulk processing of posts !

Finally after a long 4 month break, I'm back.

Somehow this busy world has a way around letting me get to my blog. It seems like a big conspiracy. Thinking a slight bit harder, I realize how un-important I am it is probably my incompetent time-management skills, when it comes to my personal life, that allow time to dictate what I do and don't do.

Anusha and I have had an eventful past 4 months. Trips to Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, had my parents over here for a month, then a trip to Austria.

The last 4 months have also contained unknowns about the future leading to Anusha's failed trip to Hyderabad (and she is not happy about this) and my failed trips to Singapore and Oz.

Finally, we have about 4-weeks of visibility. Thats 4-weeks more visibility that I have had in the past. Will start writing more.