Travelogue

My blog is evolving into a travelogue of sorts (though I didnt mean it to be, initially). But when you are lucky enough to travel to places that many people have just read and dreamt of, you gotta brag like hell! Besides, it gives me a readymade subject to write on that my friends would actually enjoy, rather than read about my opinionated notions about the world that's all centered around me. Excuse me sometimes, puhleeaaase! :-)

But hey there is another positive. Maybe I'd get really famous writing about my expeditions, maybe TOI would do a cover feature on me, maybe 'Lonely Planet' would discover my hitherto hidden talents and give me a handsome advance for my first Travel book, alike Ms. Kaavya, and maybe a part of the advance would be a free cruise to Gibraltor so that I could write about the island and the mediterranean - some 5-star resort treatment thrown in as well!!! Woooh!

Ok. Ding Dong! Landing back to reality!

I now present, short descriptions of two very eventful excursions - Munich Oktoberfest and the Swiss Alps! :-)


Oktoberfest

Germany and specially Munich is world renowed for its Oktoberfest. Its a 3 week long Beer fest that happens every year in the later part of September. Every self-respecting beer drinker in the world considers this as a pilgrimage that one should do, no matter where in the world! Munich being just 3 hours away in the train, was an easy choice, so we went there on the Sunday when the Costume parade takes place. We reached Munich just on time when that started. The main streets where the parade would move through, had people decked up on both sides waiting to watch the visual extravaganza. There were the locals dressed in traditional attire walking in sync, with different kinds of props, orchestras walking and playing the music, decorated vehicles, bob-carts, horse carriages etc. all walking gallantly. And we happily watched and took pictures.

The parade pathway led to the big ground where the tents and the rides were set up. The tents accomodate between 6000 to 9000 people each and have tables spread all over. A group wud be lucky to get a seat on a weekend. And there were waitresses carrying oversized beer jugs, sometimes 7-8 of them together (1 ltr each!) and serving it to the ppl on the tables. And loads of carnivorous dishes (and some veggie ones) to go with that....

I personally have a very sporadic intake of the spirits (pun unintended :-)), and even those rare moments have been in good times only with friends around. This was one of those times - so I enjoyed. :-)

The parade


One of the 10 big tents (each seats around 10000 ppl!)


The waitresses who manage to carry all the heavy beer mugs with striking ease



Switzerland Ahoy!

Quick. What comes to your mind when you say Swiss?
Alps? Chocolates? cheese? watches? bells? Army Knives? banks?

Switzerland is all of these..... and much more!I might as well spend the next few thousand words describing about the Swiss experience, but it will still fall short of describing totally what this heaven is all about. All superlatives would not be enough. Probably it would be an insult to 'write' about a place which has to be 'seen' to be experienced.

So I'll leave you with only a few glimpses of heaven on earth.... (maybe I'd write more about that when my I'm done with the hangover that this beautiful place has left on me)







I'm still hopeful about the Gibraltor cruise, though... :-)
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