Underwater

"Ok" I signalled to dive instructed making circle with thumb and index finger and leaving the other fingers straight.

"Jump into the water" called my Dive instructor, Lucy. She was Brit though had been in Australia for a while now.

I was quite nervous, wearing about 8 kgs in weight and huge and heavy oxygen tank on my back I couldn't see how I would float. Surely the little air we let into my vest wasn't going to be enough. I jumped in and to my surprise I did float. "Ok"

"Lets swim to the mooring line"

Four of us and the dive instructor headed to the mooring line. I was going to be the first one to go down. Lucy took air out of my vest and signalled to my mask. "Ok" I replied. Then to my ears "Equalise air pressure". I held my nose and blew "Ok". Final check, take out the regulator and breathed out "bubble.. bubble...bubble....". Back in "Ok" I signalled.

I am couple of metres down when the dive instructor leaves me to get the others. Somethings wrong, 2 people have already panicked and want to abandon. Meanwhile I am underwater alone and getting quite anxious. I am breathing heavily and the dry air from the tank still makes me feel like choking. My mask is not right, its filling with water. I look up and blow in attempt to clear it but instead it fills with more water. Shit!! I can't go up my vest is without air, I need the dive instructor to come down. I breath faster and faster as time goes by.

Finally Lucy is back, I signal to her that something is wrong, its my mask. She asks me to clear it, but that doesn't work. Now I am frantically signalling her to take me up, 3 breaths a second heart rate close to 180 or so. She fills my vest and we finally go up. Within 5 minutes my dive is over, I abandon head back to the boat. That was scary, it was my first dive!

An hour later next dive session I vow to try again. This time I won't panic, I tell myself. We dived again on the mooring line. I try to relax and think about the reef and fish. We dived to about 10 metres and it was fantastic. Unbelievable number and variety of flora and fauna of all colors imaginable. It was a totally different world, one I had never seen before. I touch and hold of couple of things that the dive master oked. Even gave out couple of "wicked' signals that she had taught me earlier. Among the coral was this huge thing that closed it mouth if you touched, fauna that disappeared if you clapped and the biggest sighting of them all a "black tip shark" passed us about 5 mts away. In all its strength and glory it passed us a lighting speed. We were back up in 30 mins and the dive was so amazing that I did another one next day.

The dives were part of the offering in this trip I was taking on board the "reef encounter" where stayed overnight near the reef. There were about 6 dive/snorkel session that one could indulge in and when I was not diving I was snorkeling. It was so much fun to go out on the reef and explore this part of the world we had never seen before. We've all seen glimpses in national geographic but i didn't care much for sea life till I got a first hand glimpse of its diversity and colour. At diving takes you to a new high! Now I was hooked on this adventure activity. I'll be back soon for many more dives.

2009: A Good Year

Accomplished in 2009

• Graduated from top Business School
• Got a job at the company I really wanted to work for
• Backpacked across Europe covering 10 countries, 15 cities
• Traveled more cities in the US
• Spent good time with family
• Read about 20 books both fiction and non-fiction including Politics, Philosophy, Society, Pschology and sciences
• Watched over 50 movies and documentaries
• Completed 3 big oil on canvas paintings
• Moved to Australia
• Started working and still have a job :)
• Watched the NYE Sydney harbor bridge celebration (always wanted to do this one)
• Abseiled for the first time
• Snorkeled for the first time

Didn't accomplish

• Not enough diversity in activities
• Didnt learn a new skill
• Wasn't able to learn spanish
• Didn't spend enough time on sports. (in hind sight not as true. Did play lot of volleyball, some basketball and Tennis. Could have done more though)

Priorities for 2010


Travel

• Trip to New Zealand – 10 days
• Travel back home for holidays
• Great barrier reef
• Perth on a weekend
• Planning south American backpack for 2011
• One or two more random short trips

Activities

• Get better at Salsa. Learn Tango or swing!
• Learn surfing
• Learn Spanish – Join classes?
• Improve fitness
• Some more outdoor activities and sports
• Learn some non-Indian cooking
• 3 more Oil paintings during the year
• Exploring writing and documentary film-making
• Read min 20 books, atleast 10 fiction/10 non-fiction

More as I think of them...

Skipping a few personal items from the list for obvious reasons.

Euro Trip - All about the Expenses

As promised I'm posting the details of the expenses on 50 day Euro trip by category. I would have loved to find something like this while planning my trip and thus decidde to record, consolidate and post these details. I hope this helps others plan their trips.

My total expenses for the trip were Euro 3,635 over 50 days all inclusive. I'd say that we were careful with our money but not too stingy. We did save a lot on food and hardly ate any expensive meals. I didn't do any shopping other than souvenirs. Still, its possible to do this on much smaller budget. Eastern Europe is especially great value for your money!

Here are the details below:

Notes:

Northern Europe includes Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark

Eastern Europe includes Poland, Czech republic, Hungary and Austria

Southern Europe includes Italy and Greece

Tips:

1. Make sure to book your flight tickets early

2. Optimise your Euro rail pass. It helps a lot in Northern Europe but some of the Eastern European countries are not included. To save money you could book a pass with lower travel days and pay on the go for one or two trains in Eastern Europe

3. Train reservations cost about 5-10 Euros per reservation and are mandatory on most trains

4. While booking Hostel look out for ones with good kitchens; will help you save money on dinner

5. Be careful about cleanliness while picking hostels. Sometimes you'll pay a premium for Hostel fun and culture but in our experience it was always worth it

6. If you like to go out and have fun, definitely don't restrict yourself. Its better to buy few beers at groceries and have them to start of your night and save $$

7. If you are student, make sure that you get an international student id which costs about $24. It saved us over 50 Euros each. Especially useful on longer trips

8. Be aware of the transaction fees charged by your cards. Always use your debit card to withdraw cash. Pay by cash everywhere. The exchange rate and fees on credit card is a rip off

9. On Inter-city transport Euro Rail is worth it for longer trips. For short trips consider your alternatives such as the bus and sub-urban trains and not using your EU rail pass

10. For Iintra-city travel figure out whether you can cover city on foot or you need to take the metro. If latter, how often. Sometimes its better to buy individual tickets and other times a day pass, multiday pass or group passes. Ask at the Hostel about this the day you arrive.

11. Evaluate howmany museums/sites you are going to visit and whether a pass is better than individual entry. You get great discounts as a student under the age of 26. If thats available to you make sur enot to miss it.

I'll add other thoughts as and when I remember

Look back at Euro Trip

My 50 day long trip acroos Europe covering 15 cities was exciting, adventurous and exteremely enjoyable. Though I kept a personal journal noting down events and thoughts it would be quite some effort to type that online and would be incredibly long as well. Also, not everything in there is for public consumption. However, so those who did not follow me on twitter as i kept tweeting along the trip, I decided to compile all the tweets into one blogpost. This might provide you some idea of my day to day expereince. For my friends on FB you have access to my pictures too. I plan to follow up this post with another about some planning tips and Finances for anyone intending to do something similar.

Day1: Super excited as I startmy 2 month, 14 city Euro trip today!
Day 2: Just landed in Amsterdam and checked into my hostel. Looks great, right in the center of everything. Ready to head out after a shower
Day 2: walked around, explored the city and did what everyone does in Amsterdam on Day1
Day 3: headed for the museums today. Took the walking tour yesterday which was fabulous! Slept at 3:30AM last night, easing into party mode!
Day 3: Break on through, to the other side!
>Day 3:Escape nightclub was good but have seen better!
Day 5: End of exciting but exhausting and expensive Amsterdam! Heading over to Brussels today
Day 5: Found the 'Grand Place' in Brussels truly awesome. Lots of museums to cover tomorrow before heading to the Euroferia festival!
Day 6: Really enjoyed Brussels, it has some amazing sights and vibrant street culture. Also managed to dance salsa at 'Euroferia' festival
Day 7: Antwerp is lot more than a Diamond trading city; great plazas, cafes, restaurants, cathedrals and other sites. Loved the day trip out
Day 7: People mainly speak French in Brussels but I don't really mind, its great to hear even if you don't understand most of it!
Day 7: Caught up with Henri at 'Delirium', exchanged travel stories and drank some delicious beers!
Day 8: First long EU rail journey from Brussels to Hamburg. Enjoyed the countryside scenery and the rail trip
Day 9: Hamburg: took the walking tour to cover most of the city; checked out the port and other areas in the evening. Beer's cheap here!
Day 10: Its been 10 days of rain, wind and chilly weather, come on, I thought I was on a summer tour.
Day 10; Hamburg: Kunsthalle (Arts Musuem) and Maritime museum were both amazing; 'Reeperbahn' was interesting, though less said the better!
Day 11: Took the train that loads on to a ferry onroute hamburg to Copenhagen; so cool!
Day 11: Reunited with Kapil!
Day 12: Copenhagen: walked around the city; checked out Christiana, Rosenberg Garden and castle and the little Mermaid
Day 13: Copenhagen: covered the national museum and Glypototek; Copenhagen is a pretty expensive city but has beautiful parks and sights
Day 14: Long train ride from Copenhagen to Berlin. The hostel looks amazing, good, cos we are here 5 days. Lets get the party started!
Day 15: Berlin: Took the walking tour and explored the city on foot for almost 9 hours. Berlin is an amazing city with so much history!
Day 16: Berlin: Sachenhausen concentration camp by day; Pargammom Museum in afternoon; Pub crawl at night; Partied till the sun came up!
Day 17: Berlin: covered 4 Museums, climbed up Reichstag for an awesome view and checked out the WWII ruins of the old church
Day 17: Berlin: 10 hours on foot + 7 hours pub crawl - 5 hours sleep + 10 more hours on foot = Very Very tired!
Day 18: Berlin: The palaces in 'Postdam' were great; so was the east side gallery. Another pub crawl tonight....yipeee!!
Day 19: Long train ride from Berlin to Warsaw. On first sight Warsaw looks great. Its Saturday night....ready to head out and party!
Day 19: Lithuanians, Mexicans, Indonesian, Taiwanese and Indian all partying together in the polish capital....how about that!
Day 19: Third night this week of partying till the sun comes up, Phew! Didn't know Warsaw was such a party town. Now I know!
Day 20: Warsaw: Walked around and covered the Royal Castle and Starego Miasta.
Day 20: Warsaw: Gorgeous city with beautiful and nice people, lovely squares and streets. I <3>
Day 21: Warsaw has some excellent expansive parks; 1944 Uprising museum was great; Completed bookings for stopover at Krakow & Auswitch
Day 22: Just landed at Krakow from Warsaw. First sights are interesting; btw have I mentioned I love the Polish, they are nice.
Day 23: Went saw Auschwitz. No words can describe the madness that happened there. Headed to prague tonight.
Day 24: Stranded somewhere in between the Czech and Polish border! Hurricane; No trains, no Buses...No-one speaks English!
Day 24: 7 AM-Bonhium...8AM-Train to Ostrava..9:30 Train to Polom...10:30- Bus to Hranice...4:30PM - Prague..finally! 10 hrs behind plan!
Day 25: Prague: Walking tour was amazing! Prague is such a colorful city; great history and sights. Prague castle is magnificent!
Day 25: Prague :7:30AM back from a night of partying....need some sleep! btw advice..never try 4 shots of Absynth in one night!
Day 26: Walk along the river was great. Hard to keep up the pace on 3 hours sleep. Prague is amazing though, on every level!
Day 26: Prague: "Karlovy lázně" one of the best night clubs I've seen. 5 storey, different music every level, packed and awesome!
Day 27: Traveled through Slovakia to reach Budapest. Slovak countryside was beautiful. Budapest at night looks awesome!
Day 28: Budapest: Checked out the 'Pest' area. 'Heroes square' looks imposing. St Istvan Bascilla and Vajdahunyad castle were interesting.
Day 28: Budapest: Covered National Museum and Buda area including the Royal castle. View from up top were amazing! Enjoyed the Turkish bath!
Day 29: Budapest: Drank some beers in the park and played bridge to celebrate Yohan's b'day. Doesn't seem too exciting but it was fun!
Day 30: Traveled from Budapest to Vienna. Wombat's hostel is awesome. Watching Wimbledon & doing laundry today. Hang out at the bar later
Day 31:Interesting night last night at the Hostel! Sleepily explored Parliment, Gothic cathedral and Museum of Fine arts today. Tired now!
Day 32: Vienna: City of Palaces that reflect the pomp and glory of its Imperial past. So many of them, I wonder if they had other hobbies?
Day 33: Vienna: Covered Pasterplatz and Danube island and feel like dancing to Viennese waltz. On to Italy; headed to Venice tonight!
Day 34: Arrived in Venice via overnight train. Getting lost in Venice is not too bad, beautiful streets, canals and scenery.
Day 34: Sitting on the Venice waterfront on a beautiful full moon night listening to Pink Floyd..dreaming...drifting...
Day 35: Venice: Palace Ducale was quite intriguing. Blue waters, canals, gondales, tourists..beginning to see what Venice is about.
Day 35: Venice: 1.5 Ltr wine for 2 Euros is a very good deal. It makes me :)
Day 36: Venice: Moreno Island is a real gem. Narrow alleys, lovely bridges and great waterfront views! btw plenty more wine tonight :)
Day 37: Enjoyed the train ride from Venice to Florence. Nice Scenery. Archi Rossi Hostel is Florence looks great!
Day 37: Florence: Blown away by the beauty of Florence. Night life on Wednesday is top notch as well!
Day 38: Florence: Explored sights around the city. Florence has an long and interesting history. Its also a great place to people watch!
Day 39: Straighened theLeaning tower of Pisa, walked city of Sienna and was thrilled at the site of 'Il Campo'
Day 40: Not sure if two hour wait for The Uffizi gallery was worth it. Good but not the best Ive seen. btw toooo many Americans in Florence!
Day 40: Florence to Rome. First night in Rome, a night of partying. This Hostel is crazy!
Day 41: Rome: Everywhere you look in Rome you find things from thousands of years back. 'Trevi' Fountain is incredible!
Day 42: Rome: Colusseum is magnificient. Was amazed walking through the old Roman city. Its amazing how advanced Roman's were!
Day 43: Vatican is Grand; Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo - Magnificient, breathtaking, jaw-dropping.. words don't do justice!
Day 44: Borghese gallery is one of the best Private museums I have seen; Rome has too many great Plazas; Last night in Rome :(
Day 45: Rome to Athens: Ran for about an hour with 25kg backpack thanks to italrail efficiencies, $#@#; lost 15 Euros to Ticket machine :(
Day 46: Acropolis is quite amazing though I wish it was better preserved. Its hot, Hike up is not fun, New Acropolis Museum is good though
Day 46: Athens: Checked out the night scene and local drinks with a Franco-Greek group! Interesting experience, made for good conversation.
Day 47: Hiked up Fillipananou Hill. Another very hot day! Guess who found in Athens - The Indian Navy - crew from INS Delhi and INS Beas.
Day 48: The Roman and Ancient Agora are incredible. Some ruins date back to 6th century BC. Might the beach parties tonight!
Day 49: Day trip to the Island of Aegina. Crystal clear waters, green sea and sandy beaches. Drove around the island on scooty. Good fun!
Day 50: In Abu Dhabi enroute to Mumbai, then onward to Bangalore. Will be home in about 16 hrs!

51 days,15 cities,10 Countries,100+ sites,60+ Churches, over 30+ Museums, 25+ drinking nights, 10 pub crawls and Euro trip is finally over!

Europe Travel Itinerary

Posting my Europe travel itinerary on popular request

Reflections on my four year in USA

I first came to US in March 2005. It was my first time away from Indian shores. After graduating from college I had started working for IT services firm in Pune, India in 2002. This was the first I lived away from home. Three years down the line I had my opportunity to play a client interfacing role by moving to Minneapolis US. Something, that was meant to bring both money and career opportunities. 

Even though I was brought up in a pretty liberal family and grew up watching western television, NBA, listening to Bryan Adams, Bon Joni, GNR, my first impressions can still be described as a culture shock. Though, an infrastructure shock more aptly describes it. I was amazed at the scale of everything, the roads, highways, the number of cars, Malls, numbers of stores, the downtown landscapes. The culture shock was more confined to the openness of society and what was considered acceptable.

Minneapolis was where I was going to be and as expected I was greeted by chilly pre-spring weather. I took up work with all excitement at both working with new and different people as well as enthusiasm stemming from a new role. Over the couple of years, my biggest lesson at work was perhaps the professionalism that everyone showed in how they acted and communicated. Though I always considered myself well equipped on the former, I developed significantly on the latter aspect. Outside work I was thrilled by the number and diversity of opportunities for entertainment. America is a much more open society than India which offered its own benefits and I came to like it very much. Like everything that has its ups and down but for now I was enjoying myself thoroughly.

Suburban life in Minneapolis didn’t appeal to me as much and I moved downtown. Though I enjoyed living in downtown much more, I realized that it had its own drawbacks.  I then moved uptown which was perhaps one of the best living experiences I have had in my life. The big lakes close by provided ample space to run, walk or hang out. With plenty of small bars, cafes at stone throw and very diverse, open and young crowd, every day was exciting and fun.

Slowly but surely I got introduced to US consumerism. At first I was amazed at the quantities and numbers of products each individual buys and consumes. As time went on, I was appalled. Most people didn’t need as much but they used it anyway because they could! Having grown up with lot of poverty around in India, I felt that I had more appreciation of what it means to live modestly and within means rather than being extravagant. I ended up having many arguments and discussions on the topic with friends. Opinions were always divided.

My stay in US and increased dollar salary opened up opportunities for further travels. Within US I visited New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Niagara Falls, Detroit, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Yellowstone, and places in Illinois, Dakotas, Minnesota countryside, and outer banks.  I even went up north to Toronto and surrounding areas in Canada. Pretty soon I started looking beyond US shores and visited France, Spain, Australia in the last couple of years and while at Darden.

Having lived in US for couple of years I realized that higher education especially Business education was really good here and decided to apply to the top business schools in the country. Fortunately I made it to Darden and headed down to Charlottesville for my MBA. Darden experience was fabulous and enriching. I’ll skip the details here as I already have several posts on my Darden MBA experience.

Socially, however, Charlottesville was a very different experience than Minneapolis. I had encountered some bias or differentiation in the past in US but frequent and systemic way it happened in Charlottesville had a profound negative effect on me. In fact I have no come to believe and accept that outside the bigger cities in US which are cosmopolitan and diverse; people are very conservative in their beliefs and narrow minded in their outlook. I can also say that this is not a US problem alone and I have seen it everywhere I have been and I am pretty sure that India suffers from such prejudices as well. On the other hand on the issue of religious freedom, US is surely are far behind other developed countries. I would definitely contest about US’s secular credentials. There are so many references to God, Christianity and Christian beliefs in everyday life that it would be difficult for anyone of a different faith to not feel marginalized. I could be right or wrong about all this but I talk from my personal experiences.

On the positive side I really appreciated US entrepreneurial culture and economic freedom it provides to its citizens. There are but few hurdles to starting your own business and people seem to take that option more than anywhere else in the world. Once you been here some years you realize that why indeed US has become so prosperous. I admire the fact that US has preserved its founding fathers vision of individual rights and liberties. However, sometimes it takes the notion of capitalism too far and does not think of providing for the needy. I do not like how socialism is portrayed in the US and I hope thinking will progress in future. After all the underlying concept of socialism is equality.

Focus on economics perhaps leads many to develop the Winner-loser mentality. There is great appreciation for money and power. You are somebody if you have either or reflect it in some way. At the same time, you can’t get far unless you market yourself well. This is why people spend so much on appearance either personal or household. I would like to think or it is my opinion that in the East, at least in Asia, people are judged on action and character more than on appearance and this in turn converts to status and appeal. This however is broad generalization and like every such generalization somewhat inaccurate and definitely controversial.

It’s quite hard to cover over four years of my life experiences in one post. I have been blogging for about the same time and have written over hundred posts. So this is post is by no means comprehensive but rather the few things that come to mind immediately about my experiences here. The thing I cherish the most about my experiences here are the friends I have made and the amazing moments I shared with them. I have indeed learnt a lot and developed as a person both in personality and intellectual thought. I am certain this change wouldn’t have occurred if I was in very familiar setting I grew up in. I believe that diverse experiences are required to develop a person.

In conclusion I leave US with mixed feelings. I am certainly going to miss my friends. There are many comforts and opportunities that US provides that I am going to miss as well. However, the most comforting thing I find is to be close to your good friends and family. Since India is on the other side of the world, anywhere I move gets me closer to family. Nevertheless, I have more good friends in US than anywhere else in the world and I hope I can keep in regular touch with them and see them often. I am on the other hand excited for a new phase in my life, new adventures and opportunities. I leave with mixed feelings. 

Post Graduation plans

Can't beleive that I am graduating in almost a month. As I indulge myself in social and recreational activities going on almost every day this last quarter I am also enthusiastically planning my travel plans post graduation. I plan to backpack Europe for about 2 months in June and July. Here is what the plans are looking like

I plan to travel by rail so this is the image I have in my mind. 

Not sure if I am more excited about graduation or my upcoming Europe trip. 

Philadelphia

I visited Philadelphia over the weekend and I was pleasantly surprised by this cultural and historical city.  Its also one of the few US cities one can explore by walking around.  It seemed very culturally diverse with plenty of things to do as a tourist and a resident. Here are some pictures from my trip.

View of the independence hall where the declaration of Independence and US constitution were signed. 

Looking back at downtown from the park

View of the museum from the park. 

Elfreths avenue - some of the oldest houses in Philadelphia. Where the original settler stayed.

Found an interesting mural as I was walking in the streets

View from Downtown looking towards the Philadelphia Museum of Arts. The street is lined with flags from every country. Its the only city I know that has such a things.

Backpacking in Europe - Paris : Day 3-4

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things!

Having covered a lot in the first 2 days, the next two were less hectic but equally enjoyable. Weather wasn't the best though but the slight persistent drizzle didn't stop me from seeing what I wanted to. My disappointment was not being able to see Palace of Versailles as it was closed on Mondays. I only got to see it from outside and walk around in the gardens. However, the visit to 'Hotel des invalides' on Day 3 and Basilica of Sacre Couer, Notredame and Ste Chappelle more than made up for it!

Catching the RER train to Versailles
Palace of Versailles

Gardens in Palace of Versailles
More from the gardens

Pillars opposite to Hotel des invalides

Hotel des Invalides

Moulin Rouge in Montmartre Basillca of Sacre Couer
Notredame
Inside Ste-Chappelle

Paris has way too much stuff to see in 3 or 4 days. Everything is spectacular and interesting, city is diverse, exciting and on top of all that, Romantic. I definitely think it lives up to all the hype that is created around it.

This brought and end to my 2 week backpacking trip. I felt I wanted to travel more, a lot more. There were so many places in Europe left to cover, I had to come back. I felt such incredible energy and freedom during this trip. I was doing whatever I wanted, going where ever I wanted staying as long and enjoying myself to the fullest. At the same time I learned a lot about Europe's history, art, culture and lifestyle. I felt enlightened enough to the recognise the limited extent of my knowledge and understanding. This trip certainly cleared some misgivings I had about Europe and Europeans. It came at the right time for me as I try to be more open minded and perceptive. I have always been on a quest for meaning and purpose, and this experience was another critical element of my construction and philosophy.

I leave you with a famous quote from Mark Twain

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

Backpacking in Europe - Paris : Day 1-2

Paris, je t'aime! Well what else can I say. A lot has been said and written about Paris. I definitely found it to be a very romantic city; beautiful with great history and culture. At the same time I was amazed with the number of people. A huge urban sprawl wasn't one of things I expected to see in Paris and it was that neat either. This facts apart it still was a really delightful place to be in and I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 day stay. In fact there is so much too see in Paris and I took so many pictures I'll have to narrate my story in 2 posts. Here goes

Beautiful narrow streets in Latin Quarter

River seine from one of bridges

Famous Pyramid entrance to the Louvre. The museum houses over 200,000 paintings. It took me about 5 hours to cover. Most people stay for the entire day

Napoleon's dining room(Part of Napoleon's quarters) Inside the Louvre

Obelix at Placa de la concorde. You can also see Champs-Elysees and Arc de triomphe in the backgroundView of Champs-Elysees from in front of Arc De Triomphe

Arc de triomphe at the end of Champs Elysees

My first close look at Eiffel tower

Champs de Mars as seen from an Eiffel tower. A concert had just started.

Spectacular view of Paris from Eiffel tower. You could identify many landmarks. Can easily see Hotel des Invalides with golden crown, place where Napoleon is buried.

The other side from Champs de Mars. View from Eiffel tower

Eiffel tower lit upFirst two days were indeed exhausting. There is so much to see in Paris and the streets are so inviting that you could walk them endlessly. I certainly ended up doing that a lot. Next two days were quickly exciting. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Backpacking in Europe Part 2 - Barcelona

My second stop on the backpacking trip was Barcelona. I was not staying in a hostel this time around but I heard 'Kabul' is a really good one and located very close to 'La Rambalas'

I had been to Barcelona before, in March, and covered most of the popular sites. I have written all about it here

http://anandologue.blogspot.com/2008/03/barcelona-gbe-part-two.html

http://anandologue.blogspot.com/2008/03/barcelona-gbe-part-two.html

this time around I chose to enjoy the Barcelona Nightlife and cover sites around the city. I'll describe those in this post.

Sitges beach as you approach from the town

Streets of Sitges

View of Barcelona from Mirablau bar on Mt. Tibidabo

Exotic Restaraunt in midtown Barcelona. It had couhes and beds for couples to lie on and eat. Never seen that before. Barcelona has excellent variety of restaraunts with great food. Its much cheaper than other European cities. It also boasts excellent nightlife with clubs open 7 days a week, packed from atleast wednesdays to sundays and open till about 7 am in the morning. Sorry I dont have more pictures for public viewing ;)

Heading towards Monserrat on cable car

Looking down at the tram system from St. Juan

Beautiful shrine atop St. Juan

Approaching the Monastery in Monserrat

Monastery entrance

This trip to Barcelona was little bit different from my earlier one but equally if not more enjoyable. Barcelona is a beautiful city with lot of character. It boasts a variety of sites from historical, architectural splendours, musuems, palaces to gardens for recrreation to variety of restaraunts, bars and clubs for exciting night life. If you haven't been here you are really missing something!

Backpacking in Europe Part 1 - Madrid

Here is my travelogue on the backpacking trip in three parts. Since there is a lot to write and pictures tell a thousand words, I will make this a photo-blog, mainly narrating my travel through pictures. It so happens that this is also my 100th post and writing about my Europe trip seems an apt way to go about it. When I started this blog I never would have wondered that I would reach this milestone. Anyway, here goes. Hope you enjoy this 3 part series

First Look at Plaza Mayor. it was originally founded in 15th century

walking down calle mayor. One of the beautiful streets in central Madrid

Kids dressed up for Festival of San Isidro. The celebration marks the beginning of the bull fighting season

Traditional dance form I caught in Plaza Mayor

Cathedral Nuestra sra. de la Almudena. Right next to the the royal palace

Palacio Royal. view from the cathedral. Palace is magnificent and the luxury reflects the grandeur of Spain in medieval times

View of Madrid from the cathedral

Fuente de neptuno (Fountain of Neptune) on Paseo del Prado

Entrance to Museo del Prado. One of the most famous museums in Europe. Has a great collection from 14th century to modern times

Downstairs Bar at cats Hostel. Hostel I stayed at. It was a fun and exciting place to meet travelers from all over

Parque Del Retiro. A huge park near the center of Madrid. Houses 2 museums, a lake, rose garden and was the biggest park I have ever seen

Rose garden at the park

More from the Park

The magnificent entrance of the National Library

Goodbye Cats Hostel. I am Leaving Madrid for Barcelona

I did also manage to see Musuem Thyssen Bournemisza, Archaeological Museum and the Atocha station. Also of note is the fact that night life in Madrid goes from 12 am to 7am every night, yes 7 days a week. The flurry of tourist does help to keep it going but the lifestyle amongst city's younger population is pretty much of living life and partying. Not only did I enjoy the great sights and museums Madrid had to offer but also the exciting and energetic nightlife. I Definitely recommend a visit to anyone who hasn't been there yet.