European tales!!! :)

Bangalore-  Mumbai-Berlin-Rathen-Prague-Vienna-Porto-Seville-Cordoba-Granada-Barcelona-Naples-Pompeii-Rome-Siena-Mumbai-  Bangalore : 27th June to 26th July 2017

Every trip there is always a self revelation

This time its been no different from the start, There was the last minute visa jinx, reapplication, almost missing the connection flight, phone screen shattering, shoe bites, rain pouring all over an outdoor day plan, hurting the shin twice, ankle spraining, a few impolite people, one thing after the other.

But every other day had a 'ray of sunshine' Yessss I said the most corny thing, whether be it meeting totally chill- like minded people, getting lost again and again at the same place and discovering town squares by chance, beautiful Public parks, soaring high, drinking unlimited sangria in a public park under the stars, soul filling colourful, sinful, melt in your mouth food, the trip was a delight....!!!

Berlin, Germany -The Field of Stelae in Berlin, Berlin wall, Jewish Museum....

Rathen, Germany (Germany-Czech Republic border) - Basteii bridge, serene small town, trek...walk....

Prague, Czech Republic - Public Park, Town Plazas / Squares, Castles, Museums......and heavenly cheap food.....what a delight!

Vienna, Austria - Museum Quartier- Leopold museum, Art curation, Egon Schiele, Most Picturesque town!!!

Porto, Portugal - Hilly river town, abundance of plums, nectarines, peaches.... yummm, and Sea food!!!

Seville, Andulucia- South of Spain Food capital, thousands of tapas bars, the beautiful Alcazar complex.... small delightful and power packed town!

Cordoba, South of Spain-  an interesting mix of Islamic-Gothic-Jewish architecture and influences

Granada, South of Spain, The Grand city housing the sprawling Alhambra complex

Barcelona, Spain- The mugging capital of Spain,:) Short stopover before heading to Italy,  in-between all the shady shifty characters every 100 metres in this crowded city, with Gaudi throwing in his interesting mix of curves, beautiful Basilica and interesting modern facades and some churros and chocolate :)

Naples, Italy- Large, Odd, Historic port town with monumental sized buildings neglected, peeling of paint, and cigarette butts all over the cobbles stone pathway with some mix of unfriendly Italians to a nice welcoming airbnb host!!!

Pompeii, Italy - the most visited historic site of Italy, sprawling over 170 acres, one whole day only to cover the same, on a hot and sunny day, hoping to have seen better conservation than these odd looking metal gates and barriers for protection of the sites all around
I wish I had time for the smoky towering Mt.Vesuvius in the background!

Rome, Vatican, Italy - the colosseum to the pasta to the Vatican museum and the sistine Chapel, a small hectic run around between the Rome metropolitan and the Vatican but Grandness & Opulence is not to be missed!

Siena, Tuscany, Italy - small hilly town outside of Florence, was a welcome relief after all the towering monumental architecture of Rome, which had stunning views, from uptown, bright orange sunset washing over the whole of the town, Music and food & wine festival with locals coming out with their families to celebrate a usual weekend.

People.....
Its easy to meet people, smile, be happy, no body wants to start a conversation with a grouch, say hi, if somebody doesnt smile back, move on :)

Whether be my wonderful airbnb host at Prague, or the two sweet girls from DC at the Seville bus station, the Singaporean who was on a WALKING tour for 3 years, (this is for people back home who think I am the crazy entitled one who travels for 1 month :) ) someone whom I met at a tedious change over at a bus station or figuring out how to head to Siena town after alighting outside a bus terminal from the same bus with the Australian musician, boring long waits at the airports, you always meet people at transit, exchange snippets about your journey, some are just random conversations, some are truly enlightening, inspiring, some are just the most chill......these small moments are the most memorable ones of my trip.

Totally against all the learning from your childhood, where you are always told to NOT TO TALK STRANGERS!!!!!, I would say,  ALWAYS SMILE TO STRANGERS!!!. It could be the most interesting conversation or a moment shared, and will be engraved in your memory way more than those countless random pictures we take against a backdrop filled with ourselves which we even forget we had taken.(even though you reach Bombay airport, reality strikes when the smile is returned with a 'why you acting like a lunatic' kind of look, and you know you would not sustain the smile for long now that you are back home and you are back to being glued to your phone)

People always ask me to share the pictures of the place, and in the end, would question me, but where are you in the pics???, and I would wonder, why do i need to time stamp myself, like on Bastei bridge on south germany or the castle at Vienna, etc,  I have these memories engraved in my brain, deeply, with all the ups and downs inbetween, I register these moments and sights more significantly, because its not through a lens, not about the angles, but the arches, the sky, the trees, the alleys, the colours, :) which explains all the random pictures of sky, roofs, ceilings, etc from my very humble cheap phone.

Significant moments of the trip

Trek to Bastei bridge, climbing the small hill for the moment on the top, with shoebites, and injured shin, was exhilarating to finish the climb even in my unfit state.

Prague, with broken phone on the start of the day, ended with a beautiful Sunday, at Regrovisady Park, Prague 2, sunset, at 9pm, with the castle in the view, most self absorbed, romantic moment of the trip, where I realise what 'Freedom' meant to me.

Vienna, Leopold Museum, Museum Quartier, 3rd floor, Egon Schiele was a revelation, goosebumps, choking moment for me, I never thought I would react to ART like this, beautifully curated museum, and wonderful story line weaved.

Porto- Fruit market, happiness of getting Plums, Nectarines, apples, Bananas, buying and eating all the fruits together, because it was cheap, hahaha, and one of the most simply prepared octopus salad, and bachlau croquettes (dried cod fish) to die for.

Seville -Random selection of cafe and having foi gras, melt in you mouth beef carpaccio, and the most beautiful looking plate of food, for reasonable price, was a shocker...and to top it off the Stunning historical Alcazar....!!!!

Italy- last country to visit, after three weeks of travelling through 5 different countries, mostly with no common language of communication, upon reaching Italy felt for the first time i was in a foreign land due to the not-so welcoming people I met while travelling and first time wondered how it felt for lakhs of immigrants who live outside their comfort zone in these so called developed parts of the world in the name of better lifestyle and prospects, and adapting to the new culture and people and being submissively coexisting, with the subtle layer of disrespect from the locals who have not evolved mentally much over centuries I feel.

Thanks to Siena (small town outside of Florence) which changed my mood and uplifted my spirits ended my trip on a pleasant musical, and fullfilling food mood!!!

Cheers to more real travel, real people and real food in the future !!!!

P.S:  all of the above travel with an ultralight 7kg hand baggage and a smaller handbag, :) with all the essentials needed, the necessity of a budget traveller :)