Czech Republic and Austria Trip.. the beginning

Prague

A few days before this trip started, few events made me realize how easily some friendships could break down in the absence of proper communication.   If my emotional side had succeeded, this trip might have never seen the glimpse of reality. But, thankfully, logic and common sense prevailed along with the tinge of stubbornness. So what the plans had to be remodeled, so what the stops had to be rearranged … the show(in this case, my journey) was ready to begin and there was no time or need for delinquency. Lest this post gets mired by the unfortunate events that led to this strange beginning, I end this paragraph with a mental note that bears a cautionary warning to myself against any miscommunication between friends in future.

Not often at the start of my journeys, do I get ready on time. But this time, I was ready well before the time of departure from my room. I know it doesn’t sound something extraordinary if not seen in light of the facts that most of my earlier trips had always found themselves in a state of unpredictability at the starting point. Let’s see it more graphically… imagine that a guy has only 20 minutes to catch a train but out of those 20 mins, 18 minutes are required to reach railway station and 3 additional minutes are required to withdraw money from ATM. Throw in the random event of ATM machines breaking down just at that very moment when that guy inserts his ATM card. Numbers don’t add up you see… it is highly unlikely that guy will be able to catch the train. But he does reach the station 30 seconds before train’s doors close and climbs  around 30 steps of stairs (damn escalator is not working so early in the morning) and just manages to squeeze in before doors kiss each other. These events have the bad habit of turning up every time in similar fashion (although in different combinations) when I go out. Now you know why I was so happy when I got ready on time.

To be continued….

Becoming Dutch

A windmill in Leiden: Typical Dutch symbol

‘When in Rome, do as Romans do’ is quote that has origins in year as far away as 387AD but it still holds good for people who move a lot between different places. Taking a cue from that wise saying I too started following some of the practices that the people in Netherlands do. Knowing all the things I have tried, will neither be interesting to you nor will it be easy for me to explain. Some things change without the conscious knowledge of the person who is the object in which change has found a place. Here are changes in my thinking that have brought me close  to being a Dutch…

1. Bread and Cheese are my new bread and butter

2. Bread and Cheese can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and the snacks in between. You can literally live on those two things.

3. Warm food is for lazy people. Eat it cold.

4. Bikes are my new cars. And one is not enough.

5. Locks are more important than bikes.

6. Who told you to go to bicycle shop? Get a repair kit and fix it yourself.

7. A small plateau is mountain.

8. It’s alright to greet strangers.

9. Coffee shop is not only for coffee. Wanna gave coffee.. go to a cafe or a restaurant.

10. Divide and then pay in a restaurant.Don’t be generous and pay for everybody 🙂

11. Sunlight is a rare commodity. Enjoy it while it lasts.

12. A day is not for only one type of weather. Expect anything from sunshine, to snow, rain and hail.

13. No meeting without coffee. Coffee is starter as well as dessert.

14. Working everyday is not good. You must take a vacation for at least two continuous weeks.

15. Drug addicts are ok. They are harming themselves.

16. Don’t say that Dutch is related to German(although it is).

17. Want to meet someone? Don’t you dare to drop by without appointments.

18. Living together is a status in itself along with single and married.

19. The traditional Dutch cuisine is Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, Greek etc.

20. It is easy to keep your partner happy…you see, flowers are not so costly.

21. Tea with milk is too English. Try without milk. Sugar is not a necessary thing.

An interesting style of presentation…

Control-Shift-Escape

Control-Shift-Escape encapsulates what I have been doing for last 2-3 weeks. I had to leave my old place as my contract was getting over and I had no intentions of extending it. This was my 5th shifting in last 12 months (no.. I was never thrown out.. I always moved out because of boredom with one place) and based on my experiences, I knew what to do before moving out. You see, shifting to me is routine now. And that’s the reason I don’t have to tell my brain to get ready for it. My brain, automatically, gets into the shifting mode!!

First things first, I stopped buying extra groceries and food items 10 days in advance. When I live for long at once place, I tend to buy some items which I buy based on my temporary moods. Those moods sometimes never return and, as a result, those items lie in my kitchen shelf untouched and neglected for weeks. For example, I bought some biscuits which looked good from packing but after eating one, I never had the wish to eat its remaining companions. There was some wine which I was saving for special times. Unfortunately, special times visited me less often than I expected and wine was left to become older and tastier 🙂 I finished all my wine and stopped buying another drinks. Similarly, there were other things that I bought in recent weeks but never cared to use. I was going to throw them and just to feel less like a wastage-causing-fella I thought not to accumulate the stuff that was, in the end, going to land in a waste bin. That was CONTROL part of my recent life.

As I wrote in the beginning, I was moving to a new place. That means my present stuff had to be shifted from present place to new place. But, since neither I have a car and nor I intended to buy or rent one[even if intended, I didn’t have a driving license], I had to ask for somebody’s help. I turned to a nice colleague who gladly accepted to bail me out of this difficult situation(i like going to new places… but I hate shifting ). In the beginning I told him there would be only 2-3 bags. He ended up carrying 3 bags, 1 box, one laptop bag and 2-3 small bags 🙂 Life gives you more than you expect… sometimes that becomes too much to carry around!!! Should I tell you that was the SHIFT part I was talking about in the title? 🙂

The ESCAPE part is a little subtle. I was not living in a jungle or a bad place. It was awesome place. I had my own facilities, my own space and my close friends. The problem was that my friends were going to leave the place. One had, in fact, already left and another is going to leave next week. Without them it would have been so difficult to live in same place. So, I too decided to leave.  That was my way of escaping the loneliness!!

Chinese new year party in TU Delft

Salsa Dance

There is one more video of amazing fireworks.

Notes from Luxembourg: Reached Hostel

Z left Leiden and I am back to being damn lonely. For a traveler like me, who doesn’t stay at one place for long time, goodbyes are used more often than I would like. When I look back, I realize that the life of  traveler is nothing but the series of goodbyes punctuated by good times that are shared with wonderful people in this world. The funny part is that, although I like traveling, I don’t want to lose those wonderful people. But, at the same time, it is only because I move that I meet new people. It is kind of weird,…isn’t it? 🙂

Forced by the weird missing-friend sickness, I decided to add something to the pending post of my Luxembourg trip. Where did I stop last time? Oh yeah… I had just talked about getting down from train at Luxembourg station when my patience ran out and I stopped writing. It was the first day of new year and, thanks to  boredom in Leiden, I was there… cursing grey weather in Luxembourg. Nothing else was on my mind  except the task of searching for some food.. I hadn’t eaten anything for 9 hours since I woke up and the low level of  glucose was showing up as high level of anxiety… it was time to find a McD. Why McD? Because that place has highest probability to be present near main locations such as train station. And I was at a train station. I didn’t have to look for long because there it was… just 100m from station… a McD displaying special offers for new year. But who cares about special offers when the hunger is killing you so fast!!!

Fast forward to 20 minutes and I was walking back to railway station.Why back?? Oh come on… where else I could have got more information about the hostel I was searching for without any map? I should have asked the information center first… but I didn’t. No no.. I was not being adventurous and neither was I so stupid. The information center was closed because of new year!!! So  I caught the attention of three old looking guys and asked them. 10 minutes later, I was more confused than I was earlier… those guys spoke French and I replied in English…neither of us understood each other!!

Youth hostel in a valley

Let me cut straight to the point now when I left bus and found myself looking down into a deep valley. I was on some sort of bridge that ran across the two ends of valley. There was no sign of road which I intended to take in order to reach my hostel. Armed with total ingnorance and a mind, full of optimism, I continued walking down. I had walked only 5 minutes when a sign board, hidden beind a awkwardly located building, pointed towards the downwards winding road. It was more a narrow alley than a road. This was fun… the road was steep and covered with ice. Two times… no three times.. I had to shift my center of gravity to avoid the slip. A nice lady, standing near the entrance of her house, confirmed that I was going in right direction. Walking, stooping, running… all helped me in making the trip to hostel slip-less!! The reception desk was occupied by a beautiful girl who helped me in filling the form. I was handed over my electronic key(nice touch for just a hostel) and a pack of linen sheets and pillow case. I was not expecting anybody in room at that time since it was late afternoon and people, generally, like to travel in the day time especially when day light is so scarce in winter. Just a cursory look around the room told me that I was alone. Yahooooo… I was paying for a hostel room even after living in a single hotel room!! Looks like it was good idea to travel on new year day!! Oh… I forgot to mention.. the room was not very big but it had a neat layout. Filled with 6 beds (3 two-tier beds), 4 chairs, six lockers with space to hang coats, and a wooden table, the room had enough space to walk around. Add to that a wash basin and big mirror… it was the best HOSTEL room I had ever lived in, The only let down was shower… it was just a hole in wall. There was no possibilty to change the direction of water flow. It was not all.. the weirdest part was its handle. Actually there was no handle or knob or anything that you work with normally… it was just a push putton type user interface… water comes out only for the duration you push that button. The harder you push the higher is pressure. I understand it was to conserve water…but not user friendly at all. Hostel guys, if you are listening, please change that!!!

Looking for travelers…

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

This quote comes from one of the most entertaining and reputed writers of all time. When I read this, I forget all the things that may accompany a travel: risk, boredom, tough life, strange people and on top of everything- home sickness.  I don’t know what will happen in future and, frankly, no body else knows it either. There have been many instances when I asked my friends to travel together and 95% of the times I was forced to realize that I was the only pathetic  jobless guy in this world. Most of them were always having deadlines to finish, work to do and their leaves were either finished or they were kept as reserve for a visit to home. Nearly everybody is always having some urgent things to do… looks like no work in their lives is less important than urgent work. Years pass, months pass and days pass [I was counting them from present to past ] and they are stuck in same web of busy life. People are always busy in making plans for future(by saving money and leaves) .. they are busy in present and they will be busy in future too. For them, the future is always something elusive and present they don’t care about.

I like to think in opposite way!! Present is important so I enjoy it. Future will anyways be present at some point of time so I will enjoy that too. Why to worry now for future and spoil the present? 😉 As a result,  when I find myself getting bored, I take my bag and go out to explore something new. Yes, I am alone most of times (because of the reasons mentioned above) but then this single status provides ample opportunities to mingle with new characters. I have done that many times and in the process, I met several new and interesting people.

Now, because I travel so much and gather so many experiences, I feel I should write them down and exchange the first hand information with others who may want to travel to the place which has already been visited by me. But there comes the mental obstacle- I lack enough motivation to write everything down(some of my half-completed travel stories on this blog are proof of that). I know, if there were more people like me, who want to explore the world and exchange information, I would be more motivated to keep up my travel writing work. I could also start a travel journal online which would serve as authentic information source for real life stories and trivia. This is only possible if I have more co-writers to keep up this type of journal.

And that brings me to the main aim of this post: I am looking for enthusiastic people who share the same passion for travel and who would be glad to share their experiences on my proposed travel journal. So, if you are interested, please comment on this post with your email and I will contact you as soon as possible.

Hope to hear from some of you at least!!!

Notes from Luxembourg trip…

Not all the journeys should be planned. And I always plan for unplanned journeys!! My plans are always very simple: buy the ticket, make sure I have proper documents to visit the place, pack bag- the usual stuff, and withdraw money. What happens later, I leave for future- a classic example of procrastination.

This Luxembourg trip was close to perfect when it comes to totally unplanned trip. I bought the ticket just 12 hours before the departure and booked the accommodation even later; that I was going to totally new country was not a problem. I am European resident and hence, I am allowed to visit schengen countries for as long as my resident permit is valid. Also, because the availability of phone might have tempted me to look for timetable beforehand, I left my dear gadget-the iPhone- in my room. And carried with me a commitment with myself that unless I am forced at the point of fully loaded gun, I will not use computer during this trip!!

As usual, I was late for the train and again, as usual, I got into the train just a second before doors met each other. To catch this train, I had first walked slowly- that warmed me up- then increased the tempo by walking fast and then came to halt. Oh.. I had to withdraw the money. You see that is the part of unplanned journey planning. So, I stopped, took my card out and then put it back inside my wallet- damn ATM was out of order!! It happens when I am in hurry. The whole world conspires against me when I am late. Never mind, I was expecting the unexpected failures. I went to another ATM, withdrew money and ran fast. There was no time to be lost. I knew from my previous experiences that there was no fast train to next station for another 30 mins. The next station was where I had to board my international train (i knew at least that thing). Catching this train became more important in the light of that fact. Only 4 minutes remaining, the station was visible. But my platform is the last one… did I make it? Yes, I did… oops I told that in beginning itself.

The train, as I expected, was devoid of human crowd. Not many people travel to another country on first day of new year at 9:20 in morning. This journey to Brussels was quite uneventful and when I was showing my ticket to conductor she told me my next train was from Brussels station’s platform 7 at 11:40. Such a nice lady!! People in Europe are really friendly and helpful. I reached Brussels at 11:36. 4 minutes to next train but I was hungry too. I stopped at vending machine, put a coin and selected the number for chips, chip packet fell down but somehow got stuck in the middle. Only 3 minutes left. I banged the machine… inserted my palm to separate the flaps so that packet could fall down… 1 more minute wasted and I am still away from platform. Packet came out… I ran. Both of us arrived at platform together- I and the train. By the time train left Brussels, after stopping at 3 small stations, the head count had swelled to a significant number. I too had company in the 3 seats- 2 in front and one by my side. Front seats were lucky… warming them were 2 lovers. A weird looking guy and a lean and attractive but addicted-to-that-guy girl. For next 3 hours, my time was spent in listening to music and looking outside. In between those two things, my eyes were making frequent sweeps from the inseparable and entangled-into-each-other couple in front to the seats across the aisle. The guy on the aisle side of opposite quad-seats looked like Sheldon from ‘The Big Bang Theory’. He was acting quite weirdly too, sample this- he took out his razor and started shaving right in the compartment. His friend in front, was so fast asleep that he was now leaning on the shoulder of other guy beside him who was apparently looking quite embarrassed because his own girl friend was sitting just in front. It was funny situation until his friend intervened and moved the sleeping friend to another position.

The scenery on the way to Luxembourg was awesome- by the way, awesome is an understatement for that beauty!! Looking out of the window when my eye sight was not wandering inside, I could see valleys, hills, gorges and cute looking houses which were located so far from each other that I was wondering whether the people living inside them had any social life. The houses were similar to few punctuation marks in a long fascinating novel… dotting the amazing scenery with man made structures.

Just when I was getting intoxicated with this scenery, a voice yanked me back to reality with an announcement that we were at Luxembourg city station. Armed with an excitement derived from the expectation of surprises waiting ahead, I strapped my backpack and set out to find the youth hostel with only its address in my hands and without any directions to reach there. Turns out, it was not a big problem. What happened next is still in my mind and I need some time to shape those thoughts into readable sentences. Until then, enjoy the pictures!!!

Ice skating…my first shot

I added another ‘first’ to my growing list of  ‘do-things-i-never-did-before’ . It was not planned and not until 1 hour before actual skating, did I see myself wearing those skates.

Christmas time

Christmas time, originally uploaded by Vikaz.

This is the tree we are decorating in my office room.