The Backpacker Co

on to suomo!!!

2010-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

the next day we headed off to Suomo where an action packed 2 days awaited us.

en route we OFFICIALLY entered the ARCTIC ZONE!! whilst doing so we visited the grand old man himself in his house........Mr. Santa Claus!!! totally worth the trouble of coming to the north pole. also gave him my 'list' and made sure that he memorized my address.

after that we headed to this local couple's - Irene & Ari's house. there we were introduced to the local culture and food and had a great interactive q & a session with them. if you really want to 'know' a place - visit a local's house.

we also broke bread with them and made some local souvenirs for ourselves. these will always be cherished by us, as will the entire experience. there were such a great couple and there house was so warm and welcoming.

after that we headed to Suomo. the hotel was amazing and we had a jacuzzi and steam in our rooms! what a relief to get back from -20 to a toasty +40 degrees!!!

so what did we do in Suomo:-

we 'skidooed' around in the middle of the night, where the temperature touched -28. so if u calculate the temp whilst doing 80kph, the wind was hitting our face at -55 degrees!!!! now beat that!!!
en route we visited a husky camp ( whilst freezing our butts off ) and were introduced to these lovely animals. even a non dog lover like Suchna was willing to adopt one of the pups. also what really added to the fun was the freezing weather and the nocturnal surroundings. it was quite a setting.
there were stretched where we touched 100kph on the skidoo and that was some adrenaline rush
post the skidoo ride, we retired for some 'liquid refreshments' in our rooms. NOW the fun actually started.....late night we got a knock on our doors which sent us rushing to wear whatever layers we could and then we bundled ourselves in the car and off we were to.....catch the NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!! and we actually chased them and with some luck, our friend and guide - Jonathan, helped us catch them. what a sight!!!!
it was another think that i was in my SLIPPERS and had close to nothing on ( as per the weather outside ). have never ever felt so so cold !!!!

ice skating at rovaniemi..such a hit!!

2010-03-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

ok guys,

the train ride went awesome and in the morning we reached Rovaniemi, where our friend Jonathan was ready with his trusted steed to fetch us. only one small problemo!!!

it was -12 and his boot was FROZEN SHUT..so there we were all freezing our butts off trying to open a frozen boot! luckily for us we finally managed to get our luggage and frozen asses into the car. next stop our fabulous hotel in rovanemi which was bang in the middle of the town. after digging into an amazingly huge breakfast spread of, we quickly headed off to the artikum which is the museum where we got an amazing insight into lapland and also got a peek into how awesome the northern lights look, thanks to a short brilliantly shot film.

from here we went straight to a nearby park which was completely snowed in to show off our ice skating skills....it's another story altogether that the lil kids around were craking up seeing us falling all over the place! the guy who rented us the skates did'nt want to charge us for the skates hire since we had provided free entertainment!!

post that we hit the pubs of Rovaniemi and what a night that was!!! started at Hemingways and then to UITTO and then where not???

finally dragged our frozen & quite ' pissed ' butts to the hotel as we were headed up the Arctic circle tom.

more tomorrow..........

from Rovaniemi ...

2010-03-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

hello people,

the Northern Lights trip of The Backpacker Co is up and away!!!

we took a Turkish Airline flight from Mumbai, which was quite nice except that they did'nt have individual video screens and they could give apna Air India a run for their money in the service department. as long as one reached on time, i was happy.

istanbul airport has become a second home to us,esp after the 7 hours spent there last time. we met up with another part of our gang - manan there and off we went to helsinki, again on our beloved Turkish Airlines.

getting out of helsinki was another thing all together!! a -2 degree announcement by the captain had us rushing to take out our thermals and jackets before we could get out of the airport...to an amzing sight ( at least for us from india ) SNOW!!! and lots of it!!!

took the ever efficient bus to teh central bus station where we deposited our bags in the left luggage and headed out to discover Helsinki.

i quite liked the place and since time was short, we decided that we would just do a recce this time and spent much more time on our return. incidentally helsinki has been nominated the DESIGN Capital of Europe for 2012, which is big!! what i also noticed about Helsinki is that everyone wore a lot of BLACK!!

so if u want to fit in ....wear BLACK.

we caught the overnight train to Rovaniemi and what a train!! excellent compartments, 2 beds to a cabin and so comfortable and clean!! also the fact that we had bought some 'refreshments' ( read FINNISH VODKA ) helped!! so between the entire gang travelling with us we knocked off 2 bottles in just a couple of hours!!

what a great train journey all of us had :-)

getting ready for FINLAND

2010-02-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

wassup!!!

been a longtime but better late then never!!!

suchna and me r getting set to share some really cold vibes between us...lol!! actually COLD!! -30 degrees cold!!!!!brrrr!!!! we are in the midst of packing for The Backpacker Co's Northern Lights trip to Finland and Estonia.

the warmest winter clothing i have is a sweat shirt. now where in bombay do u require anything warmer then that. going by the list of warm clothing required.......i have absolutely NOTHING!!!

anyways will keep u guys in the loop from now on with how our packing goes, as well as how the journey pans out.

keep in touch,

yogi

paris

2009-06-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

PARIS

We took an AIR BERLIN flight from Vienna to Paris which was quite ok. We had great visions of CDG airport but alas we were sent to Terminal 3 which is a kind of punishment meted out to people who travel on budget airlines. From there we took the metro to Gard du Nord, the central station from where we made our way to our - for the lack of words – COMPACT hostel room.

A word of caution about European hotels – they are SMALL. Please do NOT have any illusions of big grand asian kind of rooms. They are small and just about 3 people can fit in and with luggage you can’t but help bumping into each other!!!! And the bathroom is best described in the words of CIRCUIT in the film MUNNABHAI ‘ aandhar aate aate hi khatam ho jata hain ’.

Nevertheless since we had no intentions of spending more then sleeping and changing moments in the room, it was ok.

Since it was pretty late by the time we settled in we went for a small stroll around Montmatre and got our bearings.

It was a Sunday night and the next day was a holiday for the Summer Solstice. What a crowd was there on the roads. I guess all the Viennese citizens might have come here coz there was hardly anyone on the Vienna roads when we left. Also the weather here was excellent and summer had fully set in.

The street café’s were full, kids were playing in the parks, couples were doing what all couple in Paris do – kissing, hugging and expressing their undying love for each other. I just love the way they sit at café’s and can chat endlessly ( interrupted only when they need to kiss each other ) and expressively whilst they smoke. All through our trip I was thoroughly impressed by the way Europeans look forward to summer.

Paris is also a melting point of kinds, quite similarly to London. You have a lot of immigrants from French colonies who have made Paris their home. So to find a ‘typical’ Parisian as shown in movies can be quite difficult. Also this has led to various kinds of cuisines being available to sample. All over Europe, barring the UK I feel there is one staple dish that can be found and that is FALAFFELS / SHWARMA / DIRTY KEBABS / GYROS..same dish other names. Apart from the ubiquitous Pizza that is.

I have never had to mess up my diet as during this trip. There was bread, bread and only bread. No doubt there were options but from a backpacker’s point of view it was quite difficult to get a decent veg wholesome meal. Lucky for us we got one in Vienna.

We hit the sack as we had a hectic day tomorrow and had to cover all the sights and Paris is not a small city.

Early in the morning after much bumping into each other we headed to the Notre Dame, what a magnificent place that is. Post that we walked around the Siene river and since it was an added holiday there were hordes of people everywhere including on the borders of the river. They were sunbathing, rollerblading, cycling, playing the guitars….and doing what all Parisian couple love to do..kissing!!!

We chilled there for some time and then walked to the Louvre. Whilst walking we took in the sights of these small stores that are interspersed through the banks selling antique books, photos, postcards etc run by some very quirkily dressed people. Wish I cold have bought half the stuff they were selling as it was awesome.

I don’t think anything can prepare you for 2 sights in the world – the LOUVRE and the EIFFEL TOWER. both have been photographed extensively and are very well known but to see it in the real is totally another experience. If u want to enhance the experience many times over, then see them in the night when they are lit up….you will flip out.

However for me Paris is about people and people watching. I did a good share of that when I sat at the steps of the Sacre Cour with some cheap wine and a pack of chips for about 3 hours or so. It was a holiday and everyone, including the locals were out. They carried their music, wine, food etc and had a great time singing and dancing. Sitting at the steps was a great experience and totally out of the world.

We also did the ‘touristy’ stuff like walk from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe ( hope my spelling is right ) through the Champs de Eleysses, a bit over rated as per my opinion.

What I also enjoyed were watching the match with the general public on a square where a huge screen was put up. Nothing like it. Though we did go to Roland Garros to get in the atmosphere. I was hoping that we would get cheap tickets but somehow today was’nt my day. They going for 300 Euros a piece and that was like ¼ my travel budget. So we got a couple of pictures outside the centre court and walked away happy with the knowledge that we at least got till here and thanked god for all his blessings.

I also liked chilling at the Place de Concord where there was this huge open air concert happening and the public was out in full force.

Apart from that I would say though Paris is a great city, it is a city not for me. maybe because of the over hype and over expectations that the name Paris has conjured up since time immemorial that one expects far too too much from this city.

So we took a train to Amsterdam.

vienna

2009-06-17T01:28:00.001-07:00

VIENNA

Post are rejuvenating break in Salzburg, we proceeded to Vienna – the city of music and opera and all things Baroque. We took an OBB train which got us there in about 3 hours. Needless to say the journey was great and the scenery awe inspiring.

Once again I was trying me level best to look for a farmer or some kind of activity on the well cultivated and huge farms but there was no one on sight. They maybe having some magical elves who do their farming for them in the midst of the night.

Most of the houses had these portable swimming pools, beach chairs, tables etc all set up outside on their yards getting set to enjoy the summer.

We reached Vienna but the welcome was far from ‘warm’. The breeze was blowing and the sky was overcast. Our hostel was a couple of minutes walk away but in this wind chill, it seemed like an eternity. Somehow we made it there without any frostbites.

Once settled in we hit the streets. Quite literally for suchna as her shoe broke on the subway and the braveheart that she is, she walked around the chilly city in socks, even whilst it was raining. Now that is what you call a woman driven with a sense of purpose. What was her purpose????? To sample the famous Viennese pastries!!!!!!

We headed to this place called CENTIMETRE which is kind of a local joint and you can order by what else…the CENTIMETRE!!!! We were gulped down the local STEIGER beer and since we were quite hungry all ordered individual dishes knowing little what was in store for us.

The portions were HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I really mean HUGE!!! They would give American portions are run for their money. Looking at the food made our apprtite go for a toss, atleast I know mine did. Nevertheless it was a great place, full of locals getting away from the cold rain and enjoying some hot food and wine.

Then next day was a tosser!! It was overcast and raining. Until now, by god’s grace we had great weather and this was the first day of crappy weather. Not that it downed our spirits but it was cold as cold could be outside. In our hearts we knew that sometime soon when we landed in India we would all miss this chilly weather.

So we put on our thermals and overcoats and headed for the city centre. We traveled by local trams and subways ass this gives you a sense of the ‘real’ city. Luckily for us in a couple of hours the weather cleared and it was bright and sunny again.

In the interim we took a city centre ring route tram which takes you to all the places of interest and more or less quite had our fill of the sights. Once off we headed for what is Europe’s largest pedestrian shopping street. The fun part of visiting shopping streets is to window shop, look at people, open the sandwich you packed in you hostel dorm, have a swig of the cheap wine bought at the local superstore and see the world go by.

Suchna and me are not big shoppers but what we love to see is the energy of people walking in such streets. There are Buskers who perform trying to get everyone’s eye, the street musicians and dancers and wot not. We caught this amazing group of dancers who were ‘hip hoping’ and they were a riot. We might have spent at least an hour just chilling there and enjoying the atmosphere.

In the evening we headed towards what is known as the BERMUDA TRIANGLE of Vienna. Before this I would like to share with you an observation I had about the ‘weekend culture’ here as well as in a lot of other cities where the subway infrastructure is good.

On Saturdays you will find a lot and I mean a lot of people, be it couples, bunch of friends etc etc waiting for their friends, partners etc outside the metro stop of usually the place where all the bars and clubs are. Seeing them greet each other when the other comes up from the metro is a joy in itself. I could spend an hour or so just watching this sight.

Also you will find the ubiquitous flower sellers who have an ‘ all access pass’ to all the pubs and bars and there are quite a few takers for their wares too. Also you will find a lot of ‘hen parties’ and ‘stag parties’ making their way from bar to the other. Mind you police presence is tremendous and they swoop down on anyone who crosses the line.

The fun part of partying in these cities is that normally about 40 – 50 bars are located in one area making it easy to bar hop and see a lot of different kinds of places at one time. Also the transport infrastructure is in place wherein there are special night buses and trams to help you get home. All this makes places like Vienna a great party zone. But one has to realize that this frenzy only takes place on the eve of public holidays or weekends, other then that, the place is quite empty.

Coming back to our weekend. We first hit a Mexican bar and had a couple of vodka shots as the Happy Hours were going on. ** always a good idea to make FULL use of HAPPY HOURS should you be on a budget. After that we settled down at BERMUDA BRAU which was quite happening and what a farewell night we made it out to be.

The next day our flight to Paris was in the evening so we decided to make the best of the remaining day.

Luckily for us it was a clear sunny day and we headed to the SCHLOSS SCHONBRUNN – the 1440 summer palace of the Habsburg dynasty. It was massive and the gardens surrounding it spectacular. Since it was the beginning of summer they were setting up for the VIENNESE PHILAMORNIC ORCHESTRA to play there. What a setting and it was FREE!!!!!! All in all I guess there was only a crew of 50 people setting up the stage etc, whereas the same thing we would need about 200 people. The level of automation all across Europe, even in the Eastern parts is amazing,

After that we headed to grab a bite in town and it was a GHOST TOWN. Not a a singl soul in sight. Everyone was either at home or had gone out of town. If any Bombay person were to be sent here they would think it was a general strike or something. We could hear ourselves whispering in the streets.

We found this amazing asian pace to eat which was serving buffet all you can eat meals, for people who were just eating bread this was godsent. I have never loved my greens more then I did that day. I can safely say all my fellow travelers felt the same way. It is not that I don’t like bread, but the concept of eating carbohydrates post 7 unnerves me.

salzburg

2009-06-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

SALZBURG

First off please let me give you some trivia on SALZBURG and THE SOUND of MUSIC movie….the English version was only released in Austria 8 years back!!!!! Also it is partially a true story and Von Trapp family does exist and the family moved to the States when the Nazi’s took over Austria.
In the States they used to perform all over before which they performed in the UK. Some other observations about Salzburg and The Sound of Music:-
• The production house thought they would finish the movies in 3 months but owing to bad weather the movie took 11 ½ months to complete. This can be noticed when you realize that they had shot the end at the first schedule and the remaining movies in parts over the 11 ½ months. So basically the children look older in the beginning and look younger at the end!!!
• In the movies they are shown escaping over a mountain which INCIDENTALLLY leads to GERMANY!!!! So that is artistic licensing for you!!!
• Apparently the Austrians have NO FONDNESS for the movies despite it having millions of fans across the globe.
• In Salzburg every year in July / August there is a SOUND of Music festival where about 2 million people visit the city and the current resident population is just 150,000 only. So around the festival time most of the city residents move bag and baggage as the city infrastructure cannot cope with the influx.
• In the movie the butler squealed on the von Trapps but in reality it was he who helped them escape

Now that we are done with that, we can go ahead and enjoy the real Salzburg. It is a medium sized town with the hills all around and the river flowing through…quite picturesque actually.

When we were there we got hit by a spell of cold weather and it was quite windy, not that it dampened our spirits.

We had taken a train for BUDAPEST to SALZBURG and I just cannot compliment the efficiency and service of the Austrian OBB train service. The train was on time, clean and the seats comfortable. Do remember ( talking from this experience ) that normally if the seat is reserved then the destination is marked on the electronic seat number above it. If blank then this seat is unreserved.

After checking into our hostel we headed to look for a lunch place and what a discovery we made – a place called PASTA VINO. I can easily tell you that I have never ever come across such a great restaurant before.

The reason why I am praising it – the people running it. There was the cook / chef / owner called VINCENZO was the most entertaining person I have met. He made the meal so lively and exciting as only an Italian could make it. Regards the food…simply spectacular and the house wine an amazing match. There is no menu and the pasta is cooked fresh, so depends on when you go you may get pasta, spaghetti, fettuccine etc. also there is one option from chicken, fish or veg. the meal is simple and that is what adds to the flavour. It was a GREAT meal.

That night we headed to AUGUSTINER BRAUSTUBL BREWERY.& BEER GARDEN. This place is run by the monks who brew the beer at the same location. What an EXPERIENCE especially for a beer lover like myself. If ever you are in this part of the world DO NOT MISS IT. It is not one of those tourist traps and is so so local that you will stick out like a sore thumb.

The way the system works is that you pick up your glass after choosing from either 500 ml or a 1 litre one. then you pay a grumpy person, for which you have to stand in a huge line. Then again line up to get the beer filled where the person doing this has made it into an art form. Then you head to one of 3 cavernous halls ( outdoors gardens if the weather permits ) and take a place wherever available.

For food you can either choose from 6 food court kind of places and if you want you can get your own food!!!!!! The taste of the beer – PRICELESS!!!!!!!

Another place worth it’s salt is the BIO BISTRO café which sells only organic veggies dishes and is run by an amiable Punjabi from Jammu & Kashmir called Sayal who is based here for the last 20 years.

Other then eating we did actually do quite a lot else. We visited the Mirabell Gardens and the Castle ( though by now I could not make the difference from one castle / palace to the other ) and saw MOZART’s birthplace.

We just walked and people watched and took in the atmosphere as that is what I like the most. There were these people playing chess in the open air on this huge painted chessboard. I met have spent a good part of an hour watching too locals fight it out with their supporters giving them all the possible advice. An afternoon well spent!

Another bit of trivia on Salzburg – the promoter of the all famous drink for die hard party lovers – RED BULL originated from here and has his HQ here. Infact he has an entire island where his HQ is. Also he has an entire Hangar at the local airport where his cars and airplanes are open for public display.

zakopane, slovakia andd BUDAPEST

2009-06-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

ZAKOPANE

From Krakow we moved to Zakopane a hillside city which is famous for it’s ski slopes and even more so for it’s ski jumps. The world ski jump cup held here.

We were the for the summer and it was what a picture perfect postcard would be like. I cannot but imagine what it would be in the winters when the small pedestrian’s street would be filled with people walking with their skis and wearing their warm overcoats and chatting over a cup of hot cocoa.

This is a very ‘active’ town as in the number of outdoor sports equipment shops it has. I am a sucker for such stores and I spent a better part of the day going from one store to the other like a kid in a candy store. It was an other thing that Suchna had taken away my money or god alone know what I would have bought.

We also trekked up a hill and the view from there was fantabulous. Just sitting up there and not having to talk or ‘do’ anything is as MASTERCARD puts it….that moment was PRICELESS!!! What a view and once again I was picturing the winter here, which incidentally is PEAK season here.

We stayed at a hotel which I think stopped in time when the communist were still around. Each room had those radios which if sold in the States would go as antiques.

Other then that we just unwound here and did NOTHING. It was a good and much needed break for all of us after the constant traveling.

They have these local cheese stall that has got a huge variety of homemade cheese in all shapes and sizes. These guys here LOVE their cheese and I could see locals taking huge bits of what would have been a years supply of cheese for me. I did taste some and they were very tasty and delicious. This was a cheese lovers paradise.

Also since this is the polish countryside we got a great insight into the local life. They get around in tractors and these have huge trailers attached to them ferrying a host of things for the farm. These tractors are open and normally have 2-3 people sitting along with the driver. Also the local women here wear head scarves and pitch in with the farm work.

SLOVAKIA

I must say I can tick this country off my list as we did stop in Slovakia albeit ina lovely meadow to enjoy a picnic lunch. It was such a great affair as all of us had ‘stolen’ a lot of bread rolls, butter, jam, yoghurt etc etc from the breakfast counter at our Zakopane hotel, and along with some amazing Polish wine we had what was one of the best and inexpensive but memorable meals.

Slovakia is truly a very beautiful country and I am sure that someday it will give the other countries a run for their money in tourism. These were some of the BEST roads I traveled through in my entire life.

BUDAPEST

Here the saying ‘THE FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION’ does not apply for us. When we reached Budapest we were not at all impressed and wondered what was so special about this place. it was a run down city and need more then a spit and a polish.

But we were quite wrong…very wrong. The reason for this wrong impression was that we had taken a couple of wrong turns and ended on some random streets. Luckily this mistake was soon sorted out when we found the actual city centre.
We could never have been more wrong. I concur totally with anyone who says Budapest is one of the best and prettiest cities in Eastern Europe. We did a Danube river cruise in the night and what a sight it was to see the palace and bridge lit up. We went crazy clicking pictures, me trying to be artistic and take ‘blurry’ pics et al. also on the boat we could complimentary wine and beer and that was enough to get us going.

After that we went to this AWESOME bar / nightclub. From the outside it was like a garage and you wouldn’t even know what was inside. Once we entered this place it was this kickass nightclub with room after room. It was a industrial shed turned into a club. The interiors were of these old computers and computer paraphernalia and a very grungy kind of look. There were sofas made of cut bath tubs, old PC’s and what not!

Inside there was a projector where they screened movies sometimes and the screen was near a huge open air atrium. What a great place to catch a movie!

The next day we went for this cycle tour, led by one of the most prettiest tour guides have come across. ** I really recommend city cycle trips for anyone who wants to get the feel of the city and places like Budapest have exclusive cycling roads and what a joy it is to use these roads. The cyclist and pedestrian are treated like gods here and everywhere in western Europe.

Hungarians have this history that they have always supported the losing team and this has quite affected their mentality. Also most of their uprising have always failed and that has also affected them.

Notwithstanding this place has some great history and they have built some mind blowing monuments. They also have this statue of a lady called Liberty, who they jokingly call the ‘bottle opener’ because of the shape it is designed in.

They also have this amazing palace and like all other European cities they have a lot of history attached to them. For eg: they have this bridge where the architect proudly claimed that if anyone could find one single mistake then he would jump from the bridge into the Danube. Soon one small boy pointed out a flaw, that the lions at the beginning of each sides of the bridge did not have a tongue. Folklore has it that he jumped of the bridge, but there are some people who say that the architect did make one other tunnel.

The town is actually in 2 parts – Buda and Pest, on either sides of the Danube. Buda is the older part where the palace etc is and Pest is where downtown is.

Another thing about Budapest is that they do not clink their glasses when they cheer. This tradition goes back to the time when the Austrians ruled Hungary and there was an uprising. During this uprising the Austrians killed a lot of Hungarians and as a memory to that the Hungarians swore that for 150 years they would never clink their glasses. It is another thing that 150 years have just passed but the tradition stays.

We also caught the Manchester United v/s Barcelona Fc UEFA Champions League final at this amazing bar in one of the by lanes frequented by locals. The atmosphere was so charged up and a great time was had by all. We had quite a few ( putting it mildly ) beers and by the end of it the entire bar was cheering together and all had become the best of friends. Sumit had bought this red wig which he wore to support Man U but unfortunately it did not help his team win.

Budapest is comparatively much poorer then the some of the other parts of Eastern Europe as is evident from the number of homeless and vagrants on the streets. But if you were to compare it’s beauty, give me Budapest anyday.

Also it was here we had to bid adieu to a lot of friends we had made and especially we would miss Carlos and Owen. These 2 guys really made our trip a grand success and it would not have been even half as fun without them.

A lot of HUGS and KISSES ( carlos’s staple line ) were passed around and over a ginormous pizza ( for 3 euros only ) everyone said adieu. I do hope soon our paths cross again.

auschwitz and krakow

2009-06-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

AUSCHWITZ

En route to Krakow we stopped at AUSCHWITZ. What can I say? I just pray to god that such history is NEVER repeated. One has to be here to realize what might have transpired here and that would not even be a tiny percentage of it!!!

How can people do such things? The fact that after these atrocities the Nazi’s would go back to their families and enjoy dinner with them and do normal kind of stuff withour batting an eyelid. It was so normal to behave like that!!!!

We did a 3 hour tour of this place which was literally HELL for the jews and one could not but feel for what they might have gone through. There is so so much that can be written about how bad this place was but it would not be enough.

There are two concentration camps – Auschwitz and Birkenau. The first one was Auschwitz but they needed a bigger one as this one was not enough!!!! They designed a bigger, better and more efficient one!!!! Earlier they used bullets to kill but that was getting expensive so they looked for cheaper alternatives and ‘experimented’ with other various methods before settling on gassing them.

The worst part was that the jews that were being killed were never told what lay ahead for them. They were told that they were being taken to other camps and for that they needed to shower and to the extent that the Germans told the Jews to remember where they kept their clothes so they could collect it on the way back………

There is so much that we were told of and one cannot but feel saddened and the atrocities that took place. for me what touched me most was when I saw the rail lines end at the camp, for that literally meant the end of the line for a lot of people.

All I can do is pray that such instances are NEVER repeated again and that the world has learnt their lesson from this horrific time in history.

KRAKOW

If there were ever a city I would want to come back to it would be Krakow. This town bustles with energy and enthusiasm. Basically this is an university town and is the seat of learning for most of eastern Europe. It has about 33 universities and 25% of the population are students.

There are about 1000 bars and restaurants ( you cannot blame me for liking this places ) and some bars go 3 floors underground!!!! We were there for 2 nights and I really don’t know where the nights went by. We used to get lost in the underground rooms only to discover different bar counters and DJ’s spinning some funky tunes. Post Krakow all of us would need some SERIOUS detox programme.

We did an amazing and superbly informative cycle tour where LUCAS rather DR LUCAS was our guide. Post the communist era and lot of people hold amazing degrees but have hardly any work so they take up part time jobs like these. We surely weren’t complaining as Lucas was heads above all the guides I had ever met.

Below are some of my observations, as well as what we did in Krakow:-

Pope John Paul II was from here and was a cardinal in Krakow before being ordained. They LOVE him and really look up to him. We visited the place where he stayed when he was n Krakow and it is said that from his window he would talk to hundreds of students till 2am!!!!!
The gardens are just brilliant and so full of life. Everyone cycles here and it is such a perfect place to just ‘be’.
We ate some amazing falafels and kebabs at the corner stores and they are like what our bhelpuri wallas are to us
We spent some amazing time watching the festivities around the square as it was the weekend and people from neighboring villages and towns came here to take part in what I felt was a competition of sorts. They were dressed in their traditional clothes and what a photo op that was
We went salsa dancing and it rocked
We visited Oscar Schindler’s factory and house. Here also it was saddening to here how the Jews were treated and the atrocities they had to endure. It also saddens one to know that Osacr Schindler who helped save a thousands of Jews died a penniless man in South America.
There are also stories of how other helped the Jews and despite being threatened, beaten, tortured continued to do so. There was this one lady ( whose name I don’t recollect but is a national hero and also was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize ) who everyday went to the Jewish Ghetto and would try and save one child. This she did for 4-5 years and eventually the germans SS caought her. They broke her legs and were going to hang her but someone bribed the SS and got her released….do you know what she did after that? Once her legs were ok, she went back to the ghetto and started saving other lives. She lived till she was 98 and she said that there never was a bad person, it was only the circumstances that made a person how they were and see forgave the Germans what they did to her. Just amazing. Oh! She did’nt win the Noble though…Al Gore beat her to it for Global Warming!!!!
Learnt a lot about the history of Krakow and Poland in general and that would take a full day to write down.

olomounc

2009-06-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

OLOMOUNC

Leaving Prague we started our journey to this quaint little town. En route we stopped at this place called KUTNA HORA.

At one point of time centuries ago, this town was a very important trading city and was very famous. Over the course of time this place lost its importance.

So the king decided we must make it famous again as we need revenues from tourists so he asked one of his artist to design a CHURCH made of BONES..yup you got that right. A church of bones dedicated to god, and it was a HIT. People started coming in droves and all was hunky dory again.

What an eerie place the church is, the lamps are made of bones and skulls, the tapestries are made of bones and trust me you want to click your picture and move on. All in all a great day stop from Prague.

When we reached OLOMOUNC it was windy and the ‘mard ko dard nahin hota’ type I was, I forgot to carry my pullover for the walking tour of the city and boy! Did I regret it. There is a lot of history too this place, as is to every nook and cranny of Europe and it is a town worth visiting.

We had lunch in this amazing local place where we had the local wine and I rate it quite high. The overall ambience of this place was very basic and not touristy. The service was what we had come to realize of the Czech Republic, cold and efficient. Please shed all illusions of an south east asian beauty smiling at you and willing to pamper you kind of service, after all the communist have left a mark on their psyche.

We walked around town and stayed at this AMAZING place where they had the most amazing breakfast by far. The rooms were clean and huge.

In the night we went to this PLANE BAR which was…this plane converted into a bar ( simple ) and what a rocking time it was.

The other thing about OLOMOUNC was the parks huge and well used. Whilst we were returning from the bar at about 1 am, joggers were pounding the pavements and at it.just amazing.

on the road

2009-05-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

ON THE ROAD

Bidding adieu to Praha we set off in our trusted steed a state of the art bus, to OLOMOUNC a city which was once the capital of the Moravian Empire. Tons of history to that but what I actually want to write about is ROAD TRAVEL.

It is simply the best way to travel. You see the changing countryside and as the city gives way to the suburbs and the suburbs the countryside, you get a voyeuristic look at how people go about their daily life and what that place is all about.

We will be doing the next couple of cities by bus and I just am so so looking forward to it.
OLOMOUNC

Leaving Prague we started our journey to this quaint little town. En route we stopped at this place called KUTNA HORA.

At one point of time centuries ago, this town was a very important trading city and was very famous. Over the course of time this place lost its importance.

So the king decided we must make it famous again as we need revenues from tourists so he asked one of his artist to design a CHURCH made of BONES..yup you got that right. A church of bones dedicated to god, and it was a HIT. People started coming in droves and all was hunky dory again.

What an eerie place the church is, the lamps are made of bones and skulls, the tapestries are made of bones and trust me you want to click your picture and move on. All in all a great day stop from Prague.

When we reached OLOMOUNC it was windy and the ‘mard ko dard nahin hota’ type I was, I forgot to carry my pullover for the walking tour of the city and boy! Did I regret it. There is a lot of history too this place, as is to every nook and cranny of Europe and it is a town worth visiting.

We had lunch in this amazing local place where we had the local wine and I rate it quite high. The overall ambience of this place was very basic and not touristy. The service was what we had come to realize of the Czech Republic, cold and efficient. Please shed all illusions of an south east asian beauty smiling at you and willing to pamper you kind of service, after all the communist have left a mark on their psyche.

We walked around town and stayed at this AMAZING place where they had the most amazing breakfast by far. The rooms were clean and huge.

In the night we went to this PLANE BAR which was…this plane converted into a bar ( simple ) and what a rocking time it was.

The other thing about OLOMOUNC was the parks huge and well used. Whilst we were returning from the bar at about 1 am, joggers were pounding the pavements and at it.just amazing.

our trip to prague

2009-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Santorini – Athens – Budapest – Prague

What a leap. From the islands to the centre of Europe. Today was a long long travel day, not that we minded it. The tourist season in Thira had picked up so the airport was a mess ( literally ) and it could do with a major renovation.

We caught an Aegean flight to Athens where we connected to a Malev Hungarian flight which got us to Prague via a transfer in Budapest.

when u fly these so called full service european airlines you will realize how lucky we Indians are to have so many airlines fighting over us. Literally our Indian carriers and heads over heels higher in comparison to their counter parts in Europe. The only service we got was a glass of water / softdrinks and a bun!!!!

Nevertheless we got to Prague safely and that is what counts. I just wanted to make a point that we are lucky to have what we have in our part of the world.

Prague of PRAHA ( as they call it locally ) airport was awesome and we were out in no time. We were staying at PLUS PRAGUE a great hostel but a couple of metro stops out of the centre.

It was neat clean, spacious and a great place to stay at. They also have free wi fi and hence I can blog easily. They have a great bar ( open all night ) and a kickass atmosphere.

We checked in and headed to the city to get our bearings. Unlike in India where you can see people EVERYWHERE at ANYTIME, in Europe post 6 it is difficult to spot a peron on the road esp in the NON TOURIST areas. Gets quite eerie actually.

Anyways we went into the centre of town and chilled over some great Czech lager and enjoyed a night out on the town.

leaving greece

2009-05-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

Leaving Greece

Today we leave Greece for Prague. It will be sad to leave this beautiful country but one has to move on. Listed below our some of my personal insights to this lovely country:-

Worry bead : something like the have in the Middle East. Most of the greek men have ‘worry beads’ and moving it around is an art form. Ask me, I tried to act cool with the entire swinging of the bead thing and made quite as ass of myself at the souvenier shop
Smoking : Greece is an all smoking zone, at least that is what I have observed. You can smoke at airports, restaurants, parks, cabs..anywhere
Food : the staple diet is GYROS and SOULAKI, both available almost at every corner and a backpackers delight
Café’s : almost on every pavement you will find a table and a couple of chairs ( with ashtray of course!! ) where Greeks of all ages will sip their expressos and debate.
People here freely talk on their mobile phones while driving. Maybe we should send our RTO there
The history behind this amazing country

yorgi

2009-05-24T22:04:00.001-07:00

YORGI

In Thira we met this guy called YORGI who spent a couple of years touring India and the knowledge he had about some places puts Indians like me to shame.

* on a side note here I must say that whenever a greek asked us where are you from and we mentioned India they would say how envious they are that we live is such a beautiful place with so much history and tradition. It sure did make me proud and want to wish and hope that our government does much more to preserve and protect our heritage structures etc

So Yorgi was telling us how he knew so many people in chor bazaar and the surrounding areas and regaled us with his stories and his life in India that we grew a bit homesick ( just a wee bit ( akhir DIL HAIN HINDUSTANI ).

One word would be enough to describe him…DEDICATED. He is trying restore a WWII BMW motorbike for the last 10 years or so and that is amazing. How many of us are so devoted to just one thing. He was showing us pictures and he had a story to tell about each nut and bolt of the bike and how he either had made it on his own or had walked around flea markets / chor bazaar’s and where not to find the parts for his bike.

some pictures of greece

2009-05-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

some pictures of greece

sunset at THIRA

2009-05-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

SUNSET

If ever there was the perfect sunset then it would be here. South of Thira there is this town called OIA ( EE AH ) where there are hordes of people with tripods, lenses the size of bazookas and what not, who assemble religiously to click the sunset.

You have to see the jostling around for premium postions, esp if you don’t have a huge budget to blow by sitting at one of the café’s. Once the sun starts setting you can only hear ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s’ by this entire horde of people, apart from camera shutters clicking away to glory.

If only I had paid more attention in my literature class I could have written more eloquently about this stunning sight, but for now you have to be satisfied by my layman’s wordings.

SANTORINI

2009-05-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

SANTORINI

As we waited at the IOS port for our ferry we saw this massive ‘thing’ sailing..which was our ferry to Santorini of THIRA. It was huge and very very modern. It transported cars as well as passengers. The inside was even better then the best of our best airlines. The travel time from Ios to Thira was just about 30 mins.

Where do I start writing about Thira….it is BEAUTIFUL!!! It is one of those picture perfect places where you can aim your camera anywhere, click and you’ll have a marvelous award winning picture.

The central town on FIRA is located high up on the edge of the Caldera and to stay in one of these Caldera facing hotels costs quite an arm and a leg..but what a view they have…..STUNNING. some of them have small pools and they are an ideal place to spend the entire day lazing around, high over the aquamarine sea and thank god for making the world such a beautiful place.

They have a beach stretch – Perissa which reminded me a lot of Goa albeit a much much cleaner and well looked after version. The beach is made of BLACK SAND and is lined with bars and cafes. The accommodation options around here are much more and you can find some great budget stays.

A lot of Brits come here as Thira is well connected by air from London and if u book early on one of the low cost carriers a good deal can be had.

To roam around they have they RV’s which are just amazing as well as you can hire cars, bikes and what not.

We pretty much spent our time in Thira walking around the streets and discovering new views from the top. The alleys are choc a bloc with souvenir shops as well as shops selling expensive jewelry. When we were there a huge cruise liner had docked there and a lot of the passengers had come to Thira for a day trip. On speaking with a local shop guy, I found out that Thira was one of the main day stops for a lot of cruise liners and hence a high source of income for the shop keepers, restaurants etc.

In GREECE ( as well as Thira ) our staple ( and low budget ) diet was GYROS. It is something like the greek version of the Falaffel. Being a veggie I have not faced any problems with regards to food. If you are not too finicky then I guess that should not bother you much. The point is that in Thira we ate regularly at this amazing corner store called Mc Daniels which served the most amazing Gyros at a great price.

IOS

2009-05-19T14:08:00.001-07:00

IOS

The ferry to IOS was a super fast one and got us there in a couple of hours via Paros. The ferries are neat clean and seats like an airline. They were bang on time and efficient.

At IOS we were received by MIKE, who along with his sister Maroosa runs an excellent ( and budget ) place called IOS RESORTS. It was a neat clean and central place. the brother sister duo were very friendly and really helpful.
* infact one thing most be said of our GREEK ODYSSEY is that all the people we met and interacted with were very friendly and not in the ‘touristy’ kind of way.
Also a mention goes to MIKE – he lifted suchna and anoopa’s bags ( together!! ) as if they were shopping bags when we struggled to sort of lift just one of them.

So after resting a bit we headed to what is the central alley of IOS – if at all there is something called a “BAR STREET” this place would win hands down. There were bars of all kinds of shapes, sizes, from various countries ( I spotted atleast 4 IRISH bars )…all within spitting distance of each other.

These were all small alleys that one got lost in and everytime we took a turn a new bar would appear. It certainly did not help that at each time we set off from one bar to the other our alcohol levels were rising and so were the bugs in our ‘navigation’ system. It was a joy to keep getting lost in these wonderful alleys.

The good part was that the area is not that huge and the people quite trustworthy so we were not overtly afraid of anything as such.

Eventually paying heed to our growling stomachs we ducked into a place called LORD BYRON and what a discovery it was. I have yet to sample a PESTO as good as theirs. This is what travel is all about…getting lost and making your own discoveries.

The next day we decide to move to SANTORINI. It was a tough decision as we really liked IOS, apart from the bars et al, it was in a way a ‘real’ greek island and you could see what it was like. Also Mike, Maroosha and their dog Tyson ( get it…MIKE…TYSON!!! ) had become great friends. As a parting gift we gave them some of our Indian foodstuff / namkeens and they loved it. I have also promised to send them some Indian music.

athens - mykonos

2009-05-16T02:35:00.000-07:00

athens to mykonos

Got up early and sorted out my blog, uploaded my pics on PICASSA and packed my bags.

We decided to leave as soon as possible to beat the traffic and reach the airport weel in time. Did’nt want any issues like last time when our flight was cancelled.

In Athens they have this unique system ( actually not that unique, we have it in Bombay too ) of shre a taxi. They have a small sign on the cab which when lit shows that there is a passenger in the cab an you can share it. Quite cool.

Hailing a cab was as big a task as it is in any metro and Athens was no different. Since we were wise enough to leave early in due course we managed to get one.

Here there you got note a point. Greece is primarily as per my observation a very smoker friendly country. Everyone smokes…at bars, restaurants, shops, offices and even our very own cabbie lit up whilst dropping us to the airport. So all in all I have come to the conclusion that next time I come to Greece I will wear a nicotine patch for all the second hand smoke I take in ;-)

But suchna and me loved Athens and the people there, as well as we had a great time taking in the sights, sounds and idiosyncrasies of the Athenians ( is that what they call themselves ?? )

Athens airport was quite good and had a good number of shops and food courts to kill time. Aegean air was quite good, infact very good and the aircraft was quite new. Should any of you be planning to fly BUSINESS CLASS ( something I can only do when I get that impossible free upgrade ) then do remember that it is NOTHING like our Indian business class.

The only difference is that there is a wee bit of legroom and the curtain. Instead of a 2 seat configuration, they have a 3 seat configuration and one really questions themselves ( if they are paying and not corporates as to why would I pay so much ).

Mykonos airport was like any of our B town airports and we were met by Andreas the owner of Kaymata Pension – a very helpful guy. He was gracious enough to waive off our last nights room charge as we canceled for no fault of ours. This also meant we had one day less in Mykonos and we had to make the most of it.

The room was decent and there was enough place for all. There were fresh towels and the linen was new. Great value for money considering its location near the city centre and the windmills.

We quickly caught the bus to PLEASURE BEACH ( one every hour ) and were set to hit the water….just a small little hitch. We had miscalculated the weather esp the water temperature and it was quite chilly. So we dipped our feet and chilled on the beach chairs.

In the evening we watched one of the most glorious sunsets in the world and thanked god for everything. Then whilst walking the promenade we saw all the lights coming on and dusk settling in..what a sight. One thanks god everytime for making the world such a beautiful place and giving us a chance to experience it,

Mykonos is a labyrinth of small streets, originally made to confuse the pirates ( they are still successful at confusing us tourists too ). Everytime I though I had cracked the code….there it was another street from no where. But since the place is so small, try as u may u wont get lost. Just don’t tell your travel companion to mete you back where you stared from caz u sure wont know how to get back an if you do, you’ll be wondering how u did it.

We chilled and just window shopped and took in the sights and sounds of the town and were amazed at how style conscious people here are. Also they love to sit on roadside café s and talk.

Tomorrow we headed off to IOS – tha bad boy of the Cycladic Islands and that too on a weekend………………………woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s that was a pic of our breakfast served in our athens hostel

love the confusion

2009-05-14T09:51:00.001-07:00

the reason i love travel is the uncertainity. if one travels with a fixed mind / itinerary you will never be able to face situations like we face today.

we were all set to leave for MYKONOS and reached the airport well in time and guess wot???? there is a traffic air conttrollers strike and all flights are CANCELLED!!!!! so what do we do? do we rant & rave and shout at the airline staff for what is surely not their fault or do we say OK, we have one more day in Athens...let's enjoy. we did the latter. so we are back in our lovely hostel room and all set to hit the bars and PLAKA seats again.

earlier today we chilled and after doing our 'touristy' bit we were doing what i love the most....people watching. we went to this amazing place to have lunch, a very local kind of place with pictures of the onwer with everyone and their neighbours. it had tons of energy and was frequented by loads of locals and they really did a quick turn a round. this is what travel teaches you...to observe, to absorb and to help open one's mind to different cultures. i really loved the restaurant and took a pic with him....got free dessert too;-) so now u know what u have to do to get free dessert.

earlier toyed with my new CANON G 10 and tried to take some 'street pictures' for a photo exhibition i intend to have.

so today we chilling in athens..more in a bit after we settle down

athens

2009-05-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

amazing place this...athens. reallt loved my walk up the ACROPOLIS and my visit to the PARTHENON. the first thing that got my attention was how much care the Greeks take care of their national monuments. amazing!!!

it was pretty crowded but still well managed. also most most important it was CLEAN!! and well respected.. works has been going on since ages to get it back ship shape and they really make an effort.

then went and explored ( rather let oursleves get lost on the labryinthine of streets around Plaka, Syntagma Sq, Monastiraki street, Ermou. gorged on street food of athens - GYROS ( veg option available, ask me) and bought some typical touristy t-shirts. the always remind me of the places i have been to and our cheap.

also looked at expensive store, eateries which charge an arm and a leg for food, caught the changing of the guard and wot not!!!!

i ahve come to realise that travel is one way to open up the mind to different cultures, the way they speak, they behave, they go about their daily routine, they dress, they smoke ( yup in Athens they smoke a lot! ), they have road discipline etc etc.

i love to travel and hope to keep traveling with suchna and the kids always.

first day of our trip - athens

2009-05-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Took a connecting flight from Istanbul airport to Athens. A comment must be made about the staff at the Istanbul airport – very honest guys those! Suchna forgot her mobile phone at the PP lounge and she discovered that….20 mins later. When she huffed and puffed her way back, it was lying with the desk manager, who incidentally tried to find her.

Athens airport was a breeze, friendly immigration staff signed us through ( a rarity for Indian passport holders J ) and we were in ATHINA!!!! Since there was routine maintenance work going on at th metro, we decided to take a cab to our hostel. A couple of friendly locals at the airport told us that since it was the 3 of us only the cost would be roughly the same. Also we were quite tired and wanted to plonk ourselves and start our trip.

The cab drivers was chatty & honest ( any stories on honest Indian AIRPORT cab drivers??? ) and got us to our hostel – ATHENS STUDIOS properly.
one thing I strongly believe in is that to know a city, talk to its cabbies. Great insights to the hidden aspects of the place.

Our hostel receptionist – bob was cool and English speaking and we were signed in and our trip was onway.

The hostel was great and we had four bunk beds, a kitchen and tv..all for about 30 euros + brekkie.

Then we went for a walk around the PLAKA area where our hostel was located. Loads of roadside restaurants, café’s, shops, trinket stuff etc. we met a greek lady who ran a imitation jewellery store who had visited India and loved it. She was genuinely happy to meet Indians ( not in the pushy saleslady kind of ways ) and gave us a spiel on how alike greek and Indian history was.

bombay airport rocks!!!

2009-05-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

What a revelation the Mumbai international airport was!!!!! Very very impressive. What private public participation can do..amazing. am itching to fly out of that airport again. Way to go GVK ( and I did’nt get paid to say that!! )

Took the Turkish airline flight to Istanbul, a red eye one as it takes off at 0450. so no sleep but the adrenaline was pumping to keep us wide awake and looking forward to the trip.

Note to self: next time take a quicker connection as we had to spend 8 hours at the Istanbul airport. Nice airport and good facilities, but next time quicker connection, even at the cost of a few extra rupees. Will compensate that with having a couple of drinks less :-)

ready get set go.........

2009-05-11T01:16:00.000-07:00

tonite's the night ( rather twilight!!! ) we are off on turkish airlines to athens via a loooonnng stopover in istanbul - about 8 hours :-( so should any of you people evr want to know anything about istanbul airport, you know who to contact.

such are the ways of backpacking that you spend 8 hours to save what is 2 rooms acco.

yesterday met up with the others who would be joining us in prague and the vibe was quite good. there was ashwami - who is an film student, manali - a to be lawyer, shrirang - our in house doctor ( we always go well prepared ;-), shrikant - a six sigma black belt (for quality purposes), anoopa - a captain with a pvt airline, paurin - who looks much much younger then his age, sumit - a marwari from goa along with his enthsiastic wife shweta. incidentallly this is shweta's second backpacking trip. and suchna and me.

am quite looking forward to the trip and places like PRAGUE, OLOMOUC, KUTNA HORA, AUSCHWITZ, KRAKOW, ZAKOPANE, BUDAPEST, VIENNA & SALZBURG.

will keep u people posted

getting addicted to blogging

2009-05-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

surely but surely blogging is sucking me into the big black cyberspace hole!!!! ( god alone know what that meant ;-)

but am quite liking it.

am wearing my thinking cap and wondering why countries promote tourism when their visa departments do not care if anyone visits that country or not! we have had to cancel our Croatian part of the trip as we did not get the visa processed in time, though our hearts were set on visiting this 'pearl of the Adriatic'.....c'est la vie!!!

last minute packing / instructions are on as we leave day after tomorrow for the Greece part of the Backpack Central Europe trip.

will keep u posted on how the trip unfurls..

yogi

pre trip jitters

2009-05-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

last night we were sitting down and going thru the paperwork, air tickets, budgets, itinerary, packing list etc. irrespective of how much you have travelled before, each new trip brings with it a fair share of excitement.

this time though we are leaving our 2 kiddos with my esteemed and much revered mother in law ( god bless them - kind souls!! ) and we are feeling a bit sad. normally we take them for all our trips but they will have to sit this one out.

this trip also entails a lot of currency exchanges and this needs you to be at your calculative best. you dont want to end up with 100 dollars worth of currency of a country whose exchange rate when you go to sell....spells disaster.

visas...grrh!!!!

2009-05-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

have been running pillar to post trying to sort out the CROATIAN visa. the embassy is in delhi and i am in bombay so it is equal to chaos!!!! it dosent help that i am leaving on monday and today is tuesday.

the Czech Consulate was quite cool and our SCHENGEN visas were sorted out quite well.
note to self: there is never enough paper work for visas. the more the merrier

i have tons of last minute errands that have been piling up and the fact that the Croatian visa is taking time, is not helping.

2009-04-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

have been reading a lot of blogs over the week and am trying to figure out what is it that i want to use my blog for?
currently i am just about getting a hang of it and i guess that as time goes by will get more with it.

backpack central europe

2009-04-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

hi guys,

am just getting the hang of blogging...a bit late in the day but nevertheless am getting there. just started the visa process for our trip, suchna myself and a adventurous bunch.

we going through countries like GREECE, CZECH REPUBLIC, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, HUNGARY & CROATIA and visiting cities like PRAGUE, KRAKOW, BUDAPEST, ATHENS, MYKONOS, SANTORINI, PAROS, DUBROVNIK, SPLIT, HVAR, ZAGREB, OLOMOUNC.....and where not.

am getting myself a nifty Canon G10 to click away.

more details soon,

yogi