Facebook For Dummies

I have been on Facebook for almost 5 yrs now (was an Orkutter before that). During this time I've made a lot of silly mistakes, some which I regret even now. There are also some stuff I learnt by observing others ( not stalking, mind you). I also had a period of addiction and had to go into rehabilitation for facebookoholics about which you can read here. These trials have given me equipped me with some knowledge which makes life easier for me(Online and Offline)  So here are some commandment for the newbie and some reminders for the pros in there:

• Thou shalt add only those people thou knoweth
• Thou shalt use thy real name for thy profile not 'Tintin' or 'Tooth Fairy' or 'Edward Cullen'
• Thou shalt not use ridiculous middle names like Nazreen 'Head-banger' Fazal or Charlie 'Anonymous' Chaplin or Raj 'Heartbreaker' Kapoor.
• Thou shalt not poke people thou don't know
• Thou shalt not poke back strangers that poke thee online
• Thou shalt not poke people in real life
• Thou shall not respond to messages which commence with 'Hai gorgeous! Want to make fraandship with me...'
• Thou shall not diss thy parents online or this might happen-eth :  

• Thou shalt not change thy relationship status every 5 seconds
• Thou shalt not use the picture of Ms/Mr. Universe as thy profile pic. Thy friends aren't dumb. Or blind.
• Thou shalt refrain from posting bathroom pictures
• Thou shall refrain from pouting too much as thy picture might end up here
• Thou shalt never initiate a chat with anyone unless thou knoweth what more to say than 'wassup?'
• Thou shalt not create groups like 'Tuna stick lovers' or 'Frenz' and add all thy friends to it. Thy shalt be loathed if thou shalt do so. 
• Thou shalt not say LOL in real life instead of actually laughing. 
• Thou shalt be hung upside down and shot in thy head if thou dareth say 'O-M-G' in an actual conversation.
• Thy problems are thine and not for the entire world to know. Keep-eth it that way. 
• Thou shalt not bitch about anyone by indirectly referring to them in thy statuses. Everyone knows whom thou art talking about. Even that person.
• Thou need not 'check-in' to thy class room every single day. We know it, no need to remind us every morning. 
• Thou shall not 'like' every comment that a person makes just because thou have nothing better to say.
• Thou might maketh a picture black and white but everybody knoweth that thou art just hiding thy pimples and spots. 
• Thou shall be blocked if thou post statuses such as '...'  or '<3' or '</3'
• Break up with thy loved one? Cry on thy pillow not my news feed. 
• Enjoy thy time on Facebook. While it lasts. 

Note: These are just for fun and some of them are applicable to me too. So relax! :)

And feel free to add your own 'Facebook Commandments' in the comments section!

Commandments contributed by readers:

• Thou shalt not tag thy friends in thy statuses and pics just so they see it (Malavika Varma)

Nostalgia....Life before we got facebooked

Today morning I was just sifting through all the files on my laptop when I came across some of the old pics of our family. Needless to say, nostalgia struck and I was left missing them. It’s been a few months since I saw my parents and almost half a year since I saw my brothers, we talk on the phone, skype, chat and stuff but still…something seems to be missing. I miss the times when my dad was in Airforce and all of us would move from one city to another, literally living out of boxes. Three years in each city. By the time we got used to a place and made friends, it was time to leave. Even then, we had each other. As a kid all I could think about was how much I hate my brothers for being two annoying pests, but now, I can only remember the fun times. Like when the three of us would feast on mangoes which our gardener would pluck for us, or when Shereef and I took it on ourself to teach 3 yr old Bilal the alphabet, on an imaginary black board (But must say, for a 3 yr old he was pretty patient with us :D),or when the three of us waited for guests to leave so that we could pounce on the snacks mom served for them (usually bourbon biscuits which were oh-so-exotic back then)

Umma, Uppa, Baby shereef and me. Before Bilal was born. (Don't cry Bilal!)

Then I remember the family trips we used to have. We had this ugly green van, (which now people can mistake for a kidnapper’s van) in which all of us used to bundle in to set out to explore the places around us. We kids loved the van, especially during the trips. We would fight in it, play games, sleep, feast on some of the stuff mom would cook for the trip….the van was a part of so many of our happy times.

We also used to have trips with other families (Mostly the Malayalee families in the campus). There would be kids of all age groups and you are bound to find a companion for the trip. The mommies on the trip would group together and chat(read-gossip), the men would start with their jokes and the kids would run around the entire place screaming.

Shereef and I. Before we started plans to murder each other

Some of the most memorable trips were when we were staying in West Bengal. Our favourite destination was Kurseeong, Darjeeling’s lesser known cousin. I still remember us driving through the fog and looking at the top to down houses built on the slopes. We would spend 2 days in the Air Force guest house there, all huddled in warm sweaters and shawls...and how can I forget the infamous 'monkey caps'! (It must be the single most detested piece of clothing by defence kids) Sometimes we would go higher up and go to ‘Tsanko lake’. Once when we were there, there was snow all around and the lake was completely frozen! I remember how excited we were on our drive up as we saw trucks covered in snow coming down. Once we reached there seeing all the snow around, I went a little crazy and jumped out of the car as soon as we stopped and for some reason I thought it was a good idea to start running around. I ended up fainting and spent the rest of the time there inside the car while my brothers and friends had snow fights outside. I remember when the pictures were developed, there was one pic in which everyone posed near the car with snowballs in their hands and you could see my lonely silhouette in the car. *sniff*

Oh yes, I was one cool kid

As kids what we used to look forward to the most was the summer vacations (Like duh!). This was the time for trips to kerala! Even though we didn’t like Kerala much back then, the prospect of being pampered by grandmothers and aunts was very tempting. I remember our train rides which would take 2 or 3 days and were usually quite eventful. Now that I think of it, I really can’t imagine how my mom must have managed two days stuck in a train with 3 unruly and hyper kids. I was still tame compared to my brothers, who would run the length of the compartment and would demand for every single food item that passed our way, Loudly. As a small kid Bilal used to love tea, so much that once in the train when our co passenger, a grumpy old man, started drinking tea from his flask Bilal went ‘Mujhe chaay peenay ka mann lag raha hai’ ( I feel like drinking tea) to no one in particular. The old man caught on and instead of graciously offering him some tea said ‘Lekin isme cheeni kam hai’ (But it’s not really sweet) again to no one in particular. My diplomatic brother then says ‘Kuch nahi hota’ (that’s alright!). Finally the man had to give in and poured out a cup of tea for him. For the rest of the trip my mother and I pretended that we didn’t know this annoying kid. If I were my mom during these train rides, I would have pushed my kids out of the running train. Like seriously.

Bilal, 'posing' for a picture

On visits back home we enjoyed being the centre of attention. What used to amuse us kids the most was when we went out people would stop us and ask us if we were from Bombay after they hear us speak in Hindi. We never failed to get a kick out of that. Of course, there were some relatives (of the older variety) who used to hate us speaking in hindi. My grand dad especially, he made it his mission in life to get us back to speaking in Malayalam, our ‘mathrabhasha’. He didn’t succeed.

Family with grand dad. (Sans the pests)

What was amazing was how close we were to our cousins and the other family members despite the fact that we met them only once a year. And this was before facebook and skype and stuff where you can stay in touch with them every single day. When all the cousins got together, especially during the weddings, it was one crazy house! Now that we are all ‘grown up’ we are expected to behave and not run around chasing each other. *shakes head sadly*

With our cousin

 

What I realize now is that we had really fulfilling childhoods. We didn’t have cell phones, ipods or facebook accounts. We had fixed tv times which would be spent changing channels between WWF and Tom and Jerry. But we were happy with our lives. We had real friends with whom we would play out in the sun till we got so tanned that grandma would ask us ‘Ninte colour enth aayi’ (‘What happened to your colour’ which means you have tanned…it’s weird, in kerala ‘colour’ means ‘fair’, so ‘more colour’ means fairer skinned hence better…yeah doesn’t make sense).Without all the stuff that kids have today ( I have seen three yr olds with Ipads, I swear!) we had our share of fun. We climbed trees, broke bones, broke teeth, fought with friends, made up, fought again, got scolded for coming home late, sneaked into the store room to steal mom’s 'guest-food supplies', ran to our school buses with breakfast in one hand and shoes in the other, pretended to fall sick on the day a home work was due....looking back, we couldn’t have asked for better childhood. All praise is to god for blessing us with it!

Now my entire family, cousins, aunts, uncles (even some grandmothers) included, is on facebook. We even have our own family website. But sometimes I can’t help feeling that there is something missing. I miss imagining how my cousin would have changed in the one year I haven’t seen her. I miss seeing the new born kids in the family, for real instead of on facebook. I have to admit I am hooked to facebook and sometimes spend more hours than I'd like to admit on it. But there are times when I wish I could go back and not know anything about facebook or gmail chat and just be that girl with a chipped tooth chasing her brothers around the house for a piece of coffee bite.

Aviyal

One of my many pet peeves is talkative taxi drivers. You know the ones who start talking once you enter the taxi and won’t stop even when you try to get rid of them with the fare. In Malaysia I have had to put up with so many of such rides that I have borderline taxiphobia. One more ‘teksi’ ride with a human radio and I will give up on this endeavor all together.

Here the conversations they start follow, more or less, a predictable pattern.. ‘Miss, where you from?’, ‘You Arab miss?’, ‘Miss you Pakistani?’. None of them so far have guessed it right. And once they get the answer that I am from India they start churning out a list of Bollywood actors and movies. ‘ Aaah…Indiaa! Amita bacha!’, ‘Sharoook!’. And then they ask me how India is. To avoid much conversation I try to keep my answers as short as possible, so I say it’s like Malaysia. Are there any mountains one of them asked me. I said yes. Then he started listing out the benefits of living near a mountainous region and I spent the rest of the trip kicking myself for answering with a yes.

One of them was more daring and called me ‘girlfriend’. Of course he didn’t mean it in that sense. He just figured that since I am a girl he might as well call me that. Another one spent the whole trip telling me about his life and his plans for future. He told me about his kids who are studying outside Malaysia and how he is working for them. This guy really moved me because he was working so hard so that they could have a comfortable future. Charlie a 60 something portly man proudly said halfway through the trip, ‘Anyway you vann go, just call me lah !’. Then he went on to assure me that I can trust him blindly and helpfully quoted testaments from parents of other students extoling him for his knight like qualities when it comes to taking naive and innocent university students from A to B.

One thing I found common in all these drivers is their love for Malaysia. Almost all the taxis I got into I have heard this question ‘You like Malaysia?’. I say yes so that they don’t have to feel obliged to make me like it. (I do like Malaysia ). But my plan fails as they continue and give me reasons why Malaysia is the super awesomest country in the world. ‘Man man equal here’. ‘No fighting here’. ‘So many culture everyone same’. Looks like the government’s latest ‘1 Malaysia’ propaganda is working after all. 

While in practice this might not be true yet (Malays are ‘more equal’ than Chinese and Indians…go figure) it is still a novel idea. Especially when compared to what’s happening in Europe now. Yes, I am referring to the recent niqab-o-phobia that seems to be doing rounds in some European countries. I don’t want to dwell much on the reasons here as it upsets me. As some one said…for decades women fought for their right to bare and now they have to fight for their right to cover…*shakes head sadly*

One of the main arguments that comes up for this ban is that the burkha (I totally hate the way they pronounce it.. Brrrr-ka..sounds like shivering crows) is against the ‘culture and values which the French cherish’. Of course what it means is be like us or get out of this country. Some people seem to be under the impression that if you dress differently your values must also be different. They have decided that the French citizen should look a certain way, believe in certain things and by extension live a certain way. I can understand if you want to ban the burkha because everyone who is wearing it is forcing it upon others (Imagine veiled ladies walking with bags full of ‘niqabs’ jumping on unsuspecting bystanders and forcefully covering their faces with it – COVER YOUR FACE YOU INFIDEL!!!). The world we live in now is really strange. You burn the bra and ban the burkha. Honestly, sometimes I feel like some of these people are not really humans, but aliens who want to take over earth and turn everyone into robots. Robots who study through their youth, work through their prime years and then are ignored the for rest of their lives. If the ‘wiring’ of one of the robots ‘goes wrong’ and it decides to ask questions and decides that it doesn’t want to be like everyone in everything, that it wants to show it's individuality the aliens brand it as ‘traitor’ or ‘eyesore’.

Apparently you can’t be religious and patriotic at the same time…Really? Since when do we have to choose what we can be? ‘So mam, what do you want to be? Indian or Muslim?’ ‘Errmm..both?’ ‘No mam, you cannot be both!’ ‘ Um…why?’ ‘Because I said so.’

I grew up in different parts of India. I began crawling in Delhi and walking in Pune. I started kindergarten in Bangalore, moved to West Bengal in 1^st grade, was in Pune again by 4^th grade, then back to Bangalore and there till 10^th grade, this was followed by an international move to Saudi Arabia where  I did my 11^th grade and then finally to my home state of Kerala to finish my school education. By 18 I had studied in 10 different schools in 4 states and another country. What this drilled into my mind was an appreciation for other cultures. I grew up speaking a language which was not my own but eventually became a part of me. Till this day, after 7 yrs away from the ‘defense life’, my siblings and I converse in hindi (despite numerous efforts by my parents and relatives to revert us to our ‘default’ language), we’d have roti and daal any day over rice and sambar. At the same time we love our Malayalam movies (We laugh shamelessly at Salim Kumar’s lame jokes :D) and dig grandma’s special pathiri and chicken curry. I am like the Aviyal which keralites make for Onam. Aviyal is a kerala speciality. More than 10 vegetables go into the preparation of this and make it every mom's favourite dish for her child.

It’s one crazy mixture! But each of this contributes to the unique flavor that only aviyal can have. I do not want to be told by anyone that I need to lose any of these bits of India in me and retain only one. Similarly, I do not want to be told that just because I have a piece of cloth on my head or maybe in future if I decide to cover my face that the rest of the bits in me get nullified. I am an Indian by nationality, Muslim by faith. These two DO NOT have to be mutually exclusive. I guess this is why I balk at the idea of flattening out these ‘differences’. I feel we should celebrate our differences along with our similarities as it’s only because of these differences that we learn to appreciate the similarities.

If you still feel that your identity cannot be plural then...don't worry I won't kill you, I will just invite you over to my house. Maybe we can talk over a cup of coffee? Or better still you can stay for lunch and have some aviyal and rice :)

Mozart, Sound of Music and more- Salzberg, Austria

Salzburg- Salt Mountain.

Salzburg is the town which gave the world the gift of musical genius Mozart. However, it is known more widely as the hometown of the VonTrapp family in the 1965 movie ‘Sound of Music’ (SoM). Romantics swear by this place where Maria, Captain VonTrapp and their 7 children frolicked around on the green meadows and fell into ice-cold lakes while singing about their sorrows and happiness.

The name 'Salzburg' is derived from the Salzwelten Hallein (salt mines) located near the town. These mines  made Salzburg one of the important trade hubs of the Austrio-Hungarian empire. These mines were in operation from around 600 BC until recently. Now there is a museum near the mines. Apparently, visitors can also take a guided tour through the mines. And they can actually go on slides across the different levels of the mines! Unfortunately, due to time, constraints we weren't able to visit it on our trip.

However prosperous Salzburg might have been, it has had it's own share of bad times. Time has seen it being attacked by many kings and empires, and more recently, by enemies during the second world war in which almost half of the city was destroyed (Much like Munich). Now it is the capital of the federal province of Salzburg.

We reached Salzburg around 2 in the noon after a two hour train ride from Munich. Our hotel- The Best Western Hotel- is very close to the railway station so we walked from there. After dumping our bags in the cozy room we made way to the town.

 Salzburg is a small town with a river cutting it into two halves. The river is called Salzach, literally the name means ‘Salt River’. It’s named so not because it’s salty, but because it was used in earlier days to transport salt. The banks of Salzach are connected by various bridges (which, btw,  have been spots for many movie scenes. The town has an excellent Public Transport system, with frequent shuttles running through almost all the streets. However, the austere Indian family that we are, we took the bus no. 11 and walked around the city..

We reached the ‘Zentrum’ of the city to find the glistening blue waters of Salzach.  While crossing the bridge we heard people chanting something. At the end of the bridge we found a huge group of Chinese men and women with placards. Turned out that Chinese president Hu Jintao was in town and these people were participating in a pro-Tibet protest. There was also a group protesting against other human rights violation in China. Later we saw an entourage of black cars, near the residence square, surrounded by ‘Men in Black’...guess who was in there!

Leaving the President behind we made our way to St. Peter's Abbey. It is one of the oldest, built in 696 AD. 

 


While checking out the abbey we accidentally walked into the cemetery attached to the abbey. We found a lot of people surrounding the graves holding flowers and lighted candles. We found out later that it was All Saints Day where people pray for the souls of the departed. 
We made our way out into the square in front of St. Peter’s cathedral to find some old men at a game of life-size chess…missed my chess fanatic brother Bilal then.

We walked through narrow roads lined by Mozart Cafés and Sound of Music Souvenir shops. Salzburg is also famous for Mozartkugeln or Mozart Balls. It’s chocolate with a pistachio core. The creator of this named it after Mozart, which was indeed a clever move as now they are part of the souvenirs that tourists take back from Austria. We also fell victim to this tourist trap and bought them as gifts for friends.

The chocolates aren't the only tribute to Mozart...Mozart has a square named after him, situated in the centre of the city. The mozartplatz has a statue of Mozart in the middle. The square is more than 150 yrs old...

My father was more keen to watch a Mozart Concert than eat the namesake chocolate. However when he found out that he’d have to shell out 150 Euros for the three of us to ‘witness a musical evening’, he decided that he’d rather visit the opera house of YouTube from the comfort of his room.

After this disappointment we were looking for something to cheer him up. Following the directions of an Arab couple we met while walking back to the hotel, we reached a Turkish restaurant. We had a delicious Turkish dinner which immediately lifted my father’s spirits. (As always :) )

Next day we booked the Sound of Music tour which would take us around to all the important locations where the movie was shot. Our driver/guide, Sonia, an enthusiastic lady, greeted us at out hotel entrance and took us from there to Mirabell Gardens. It’s a beautiful 18^th century garden with pretty flower beds and some interesting statues (Which I later found out symbolize the four elements of nature). This garden is where Maria and the kids sang the famous ‘Do-re-mi’ song’. (Doe a deer..) However, in the movie the song begins with them on a Mountain slope then within minutes they are in the garden…this, I was informed, is humanly impossible as the opening scene is about 45 kms from the garden… Hollywood….:D

At the Mirabell gardens we were joined by a Mr. Rajesh and his family from Pune, The children were big time SoM enthusiasts who made the trip more fun by singing along with the songs of SoM played in the minivan. For my benefit they told me the entire plot of the movie. Sonia was impressed with how much they knew about the movie and suggested that they come back to Salzburg as guides for children. We Indians, we can win even Austrian hearts!

Sonia was an interesting guide. She kept us all hooked on to her words as between stops she related the story of the actual Von Trapp family. Yes, it’s a real story! I wasn’t aware of that till she told me. Apparently, the Hollywood adaptation of the Von Trapp family’s story is not very popular among the locals, even though it is one of the major contributing factors to the booming tourism in Salzburg. Sonia herself, even though she benefits from the ‘Sound of Music industry’, mocks the romanticization done by Hollywood. She says, to appeal to the American audience you have to throw in a few kisses here and there and make the leads fall in love with each other.

The next stop was at the Schloss Hellbrunn, mainly to see the Gazebo which served as a meeting point for the lovers in the movie. An imitation set of the interiors of the gazebo was used for two songs.

 

The first is Sixteen going on seventeen, where the Captain’s oldest daughter, Leisl courts a young Nazi soldier, who later breaks her heart. The dance for the song involved jumping from one bench to another. A lot of stupid tourists tried to do that and ended up breaking arms and legs. So for the public’s safety they decided to lock it and let the tourists hurt themselves somewhere else.

 The second song is when the leads, Maria and the Captain confess their love for each other and then…sing. What else?
The palace grounds were quite amazing too...

From Hellbrunn we headed to the Leopoldskron palace, a re-creation of which was used in the movie as the back of the captain’s not-so-humble abode. On the way we made a stop at a view point from where we could see the Nonnburg abbey. This is the convent where Maria first stayed as a novice, in both the movie and real life, before she was sent to the VonTrapp family as a governess (As a tutor to one of the children in real life). Many of the important scenes were shot here, including a song ‘Maria’. The abbey is a female Benedictine convent, the oldest one in that area, it has been there since 714 AD.

After some quick snaps we were back on track for the Leopolskron palace. The palace faces the Leopoldskroner Weiher- A beautiful lake!


 


I fell in love with that place right there! I don’t mind waking up in a huge chamber in the palace, ringing a bell for my morning fresh juice then throwing open the curtains to let the sunlight stream in while I sit pondering about life, looking at the lovely blue lake. *sigh* However, if I actually wake up in the palace like that now I would be surrounded by students staring at me, as now the palace is used as a center for conferences. And, the interiors are closed for public view. We could, however, spend some time near the lake. In the movie the kids and Maria and fall into this lake while waving to the captain and the pretentious baroness. 

Tourists take pictures here pretending to fall into the lake. I am pretty sure many actually fall in the process…for the fear of it, I stayed rooted in my spot. No sir, I am not going to risk falling into liquid ice for a silly snap!

Our last stop on the SoM tour was at the Mondsee (Moon Lake) It is actually a small village which has a lake which is named, surprise surprise, Mondsee.  The drive to Mondsee was wonderful. As we went higher and higher it grew mistier. It was still lovely.
 The roads on one side had charming wooden cottages, we then had occasional posh hotels popping up which had surprisingly traditional architecture. On our way up we made a small stop to take pictures from this lovely view point- 



Maybe it was because of the time but when we finally reached Mondsee we found a small sleepy town. It is however quite unique with bright, colourful houses and cafes. 




This charming village houses the Mondsee cathedral which was used in the movie to film the wedding scene of Captian VonTrapp and Maria. 



We had a quick look inside and found a middle aged couple on the altar steps holding hands and looking at each other, as if they are going to get married, while their daughter clicked away on her camera. *shakes head* Tourists….

The church has an attached souvenir shop in which we found over-priced DVDs of the movie and postcards of the actual wedding scene from the movie. We also checked out the Mondsee lake… The walk to the lake was lovely. We walked through a narrow path lined by trees with yellow and orange leaves…

and when we finally reached the lake, it was breath taking.. what can I say except that I have fallen in love all over again..It was calm and peaceful, there were a lot of birds around...It was really out of a post card! I would have like to stay there longer but we had to go back…

That was the end of our ‘SoM tour’. And as a parting song she played 'So Long, Farewell' from the movie.

As we trundled back into our rooms, for a small break, we still had some some sounds of music still running in our heads.

After the quick break we headed to the city’s fort- the Festung Huhenburg. We didn’t know much about it, we just went there as it was supposed to offer a nice view of the Salzburg town. What we didn’t know, however, that it is a steep climb upwards. Had we known that, we would have taken the cable car to the top from the base. Those kings sure did put in all efforts to protect themselves. So panting and heaving, we finally reached the top and let’s just say the view was worth the climb! Laid out in front of us was the entire Salzburg with the beautiful Salzach gracefully curving her way through it. 

Of course the fortress itself was worth seeing. As we were walking through dim hallways and on cobbled roads I was imagining how it would have been when the kings and their subjects lived here...think of the sound of horse hooves' on cobbled streets, the king's messenger coming out to make the latest announcement...Okay, I think I am confusing it with some medieval Period film...

The sun was setting as we walked down from the fort. After reaching the base, instead of feeling tired we felt rejuvenated somehow…My dad was happy that he was still somewhat close to his former shape. While we were walking back to our room we saw a Sikh family with two cute little sardarji boys with pagri and all. Just on an impulse we went upto them and introduced ourselves. They seemed happy to see people We spent a nice few minutes talking to them about the sights in Salzburg and the other places we visited.

By the time we reached our room we were dead-tired and in this exhaustion we made history by not having dinner that night.

The next day we were to travel to Vienna at 9 am. Before that we made a small visit to the local weekly market. Held on every Thursday, The Schranne market is an open market  near the Mirabell Gardens. 

You can find all kinds of stuff you can imagine. Fruits, Vegetables, flowers, meat, different varieties of cheese, shoes, hand bags... There were some small kiosks selling Korean medicines as well! A heavenly aroma led me to a kiosk selling freshly baked cakes, croissant, strudels and pretzels. 

We finally got to taste Austria’s famed Apple Strudel and I must say, I wasn’t really impressed with it. The butter croissants though, are to die for. I can still feel the soft croissant melting in my mouth.

There was a kiosk selling home made chocolates, the seller an old gentleman let me have some samples... I would have bought some had it not been so expensive. Most of the customers here seemed to be old couples. Some lonely old people with their dogs and occasionally a middle aged person. That’s another thing we noticed here, most of the population seems to be in their old age.

The market was a bit expensive but the art of bargaining never fails..

After half an hour of buying knick knacks and snacks, it was time to leave.

After a wonderful 2 days stay it was tough to leave this beautiful town. The lakes and mountains of Salzburg were on our mind as our train rambled towards Vienna, accompanied with the Sound of Music of course. :)

 

So Long, Farewell!

Europe Tour- Munich, Germany

Since the beginning of this semester I have been on my toes. I know now that attempting to read your coursework is a real drain of your time. I have also been busy with other activities on campus. My father saved me from premature graying when he suggested a week-long trip around Western Europe. I convinced my professors of the necessity of this trip, packed my bags and left the remote corners of Semenyih to the shores of Brindisi. It took me four flights and two sleep-less nights to reach Brindisi (My mom joined me from Cochin. From there we flew to Rome via Doha and then to Brindisi.)

The travel plan was already charted out by my Dad- three countries in a week. Two days in Germany, four days in Austria, two in Switzerland- Parfait!!

 30th Oct : We flew from Brindisi  to Verona (In northern Italy) early in the morning  and from there we took a train to Munich (Muenchen). 

It was four hours of travel through picture-postcard scenes. Our train rambled through the great Alps, we passed tiny European villages with green pastures and rolling hills with cows grazing on them...(The setting reminded me so much of Dil Waale Dulhaniya Le Jaayeenge , and of course I had a middle-aged version of the Kajol-Sharukh jodi with me for entertainment :D) 

We could guess we were in Austria when we saw the plains. I was now seeing what I studied in my geography textbooks back in school! The architecture was also a pointer. There is a marked deviance from the Italian architecture. The churches can be mistaken for mosques with their prominent domes. Of course the most obvious difference is the language. The names of the stations changed from Bolzano and Bressanone to Innsbruck and Worgl. We were willkommened  in Germany by box shaped houses and buildings. In a train journey that lasted less than 6 hours I had seen three different architectural styles!

Once in Munich we checked into our hotel- Hotel Wallis- and set out to explore the city in what little day light was left. Btw, on 31^st Oct all European countries set their time one hour back. So now the sun sets at 4.45 pm :D

It was freezing cold outside. However, after 8 months in boiling Malaysia I embraced it with shivering hands. Our walk led us to a Pakistani Restaurant where we had excellent Chicken Shorba which warmed us up from the very inside. Afterwards we took a tram ride to see the city by night. Back in the room- jetlagged souls that we were- we collapsed into our beds

Next day we decided to take a Hop on-Hop off bus tour around the city as we had just one day and absolutely no clue about what we need to and can see in Munich. It turned out to be a pretty good idea…

Munich is the capital of the state of Bavaria. It is one of the biggest and most populated cities in Germany. Munich has a lot of history to its credit, some parts of which are dark. It was one of Hitler’s strongholds when he was in power. The first concentration camp was built a few miles away at Dachau.

What’s impressive about Munich is how it was rebuilt, to its current grandeur, after it’s almost total destruction in the 2^nd World War.Walking along the streets of Munich today you can’t but admire how in just 6 decades the city has restored its past glory.

It’s amazing how the past and present go hand in hand in Munich. While the city still has it’s gardens, fountains, monuments and squares, it is also a business hub with headquarters of some of the world’s leading automobile companies. I never knew BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works (As opposed to Beloved My Wife :D)

Our first guide in the Hop on- Hop Off, Ursula, was a pretty dynamic German lady. While talking about the beer-obsession in Bavaria she said, ‘Half liter of beer a day keeps a doctor away in Bavaria’. You can see people- old and young, men and women-sitting outside cafes and in restaurants talking over gigantic mugs of beer and digging into greasy hot dogs and burgers.

Our first stop was at Hofgarten. We hopped off there and made way into the famous English Garden. It’s a huge garden, one of the world’s largest spread around an area of 3.7 km.

It’s a beautiful place! And autumn made it all the more beautiful. Yellow, orange, crimson red, sneak peaks of surviving green leaves…on dark trees, falling, gently swaying in the air and scattered on the cobbled streets…It somehow made the monuments look grander. Many people find autumn depressing. I find inspiration in it. Autumn is nature shedding it’s past…it’s somehow nature’s way of telling us that nothing is worth clinging on to, for in the end there is always spring, rebirth-regeneration, new beginnings…

We spent a good two hours in the English Garden, even then we couldn’t cover even half of the sights there. We were informed later that the garden’s (artificial) stream is popular among surfers (Apparently they surf even in winter!)

After a cappuccino break we hopped in again. Next stop: Marienplatz. This is one of the city’s main attractions. It’s a huge square buzzing with tourists and tourist traps. The square houses the new town hall- Nueus Rathaus. It’s a grand structure built in the gothic style.

                                                                 

 It took almost 3 decades for the completion of this hall. Moving ahead from the square you’ll see streets lined with branded outlets- Zara, H & M, Mango… There were quite a few sales on so the place was really crowded. From there we proceeded to Viktualien Market. It was built as a substitute for the Marienplatz which was the city’s first shopping area.It’s a huge square with various kinds of food stalls. 

It was surprising to see so many people around even though it was a weekday…There is also ‘bier garten’ here where people sit nursing cold beer. There are hundred of wooden chairs and tables set out for visitors to have a quick bite on. We stopped for a small meal of grilled fish from NordSee and pickled olives from a local herb shop.

The next stop was the Nymphenburg Palace, It is one of Germany’s many palaces built on sprawling grounds, set amidst calm lakes. This was the summer residence of the Wittelsbach family.

 Apparently, the palace wasn’t big enough to accommodate their guests also, so they built a few guesthouses also near it.

It was here at Nymphenburg palace that Bavaria’s ‘Fairy Tale King’ Ludwig II was born. He is known so for his penchant for commissioning the building of many extravagant castles in and around Bavaria. Some of which have, apparently, served as inspiration for Disney castles.

Our last stop was at the Olympia Stadium, the site for the 1972 Summer Olympics. It still seems in pace with the modern world with its unique tent like design. 

The sporting facilities are now open for public use. The area around the stadium has been landscaped beautifully with lakes and pathways. There were families and couples there, kids chasing ducks and some crazy people jogging in shorts in 7 degree Celsius. We strolled around Olympia till sunset and then set back to our hotel room.

Despite our resolve to cut down on desi food and try some local food, we found ourselves in another Pakistani restaurant at dinner time. This time to pay a ridiculously over priced bill with an extra 20% ‘service charge’. Needless to say the server didn’t receive any tip.

Next day we had till mid day in Munich. After a ‘full-filling’ breakfast offered by our hotel we set off to Marienplatz to see the ‘Glockenspiel’. (It’s a traditional ceremony followed since 1908 and witnessed by thousands everyday. It involves life-sized figures on top of the tower, enacting Bavarian folk tales, set to musical tunes.)

With this we wrapped up our stay in Munich. Packed our bags and off we went to Salzberg, land of Mozart….More about it in the next post!

Auf Weidersehen for now!