tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55106354141509557412024-03-13T18:19:50.739+05:30Munchausen Adventuresfor fellow travellersNamita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-82267436182501031232016-03-24T10:14:00.000+05:302016-04-08T00:36:46.389+05:30In Tromsø, floored by the northern lights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was more of an expedition, than a pleasure trip. Things became further exciting when Shaleen insisted on renting a car in <a href="https://www.visittromso.no/en" target="_blank">Tromsø</a>, that too, right from the airport, and good sense would just not prevail with him. Anupam supported him in this madness, though to his credit he did suggest that we should hire a driver as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We were a group, which had hardly ever experienced snow and now we were traveling to the arctic circle that too in winters, though it was the fag end, but still too much folr us. We were warm blooded creatures used to 42 to 46 degrees centigrade going to a land where temperature became minus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyhow we booked an apartment in Tromsø which costed us the earth, and later did decide to switch to hotel rooms, but alas we couldn't make up our minds in time and were stuck with the apartment. Had I known that I would slip and fall 3 times, going to and fro to the apartment, which was on a slope (these were stand alone apartments where the snow was not cleared from the road and pavement), I would have taken care to make the switch to hotel rooms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we reached Tromsø, we had got used to seeing snow in Helsinki and then in Oslo, mainly through the windows from planes and trains. We were awestruck when we reached Tromsø, (pronounced तृम्सो)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the thought that we were on our own, driving out from the airport, in a rented car in snow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the car was a huge, nine seater car....!! Opel Vivaro</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After picking up the car from the rental, we started on our way towards the city. The car supposedly did not have GPS, we had to pay extra for that, which we did not and decided to rely on Google बाबा on our phones or our old GPS which had miraculously started working, a day before leaving India, on its own, after years of playing dead. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things were ok till we entered a tunnel, which seemed unending and the GPS, phones etc all stopped working. To top it all, there were roundabouts in the tunnel, we followed the sign boards somewhat and luckily when we came out we seemed to be on the correct path.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tunnel which seemed to be a network, also had the parking at the other end closer to our apartment, a 7 -10 minutes walk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We reached the Viking hotell and apartments where they had, on their own converted our booking of a 4 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom one, along with either a 2 bedroom apartment or a refund.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The reception area of the Viking hotell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The DIY waffles were a great hit, with three types of preserves and complimentary tea and coffee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We visited the grocery store, Eurospar and were specially enamoured with the basil and other herbs being sold in small pots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bought provisions for the next 2-3 days. Back in the apartment we made the most amazing pizzas yet, had a hearty meal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After settling in the apartment we were unsure about venturing out again in our rented car to see the northern lights, but a glimpse of them from the apartment window was enough to motivate everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As thought of before we took the road to Tromvik, of course that was 46km away but we never meant to go all the way there. We saw a wonderful display of northern lights on the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The route which we took towards Tromvik from Tromsø on the map.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-58666293063379175562014-08-31T23:18:00.000+05:302017-07-05T23:19:42.714+05:30Reaching the airport, Munich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We headed for the Olympia park but our main focus was a music shop " just music " in that area. Nalin wanted to buy a violin from there.<br />
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Last day in Munich, we did some shopping. </div>
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At Karlplatz stachus, a junction of trams.</div>
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At Suhag, Indian restaurant, we had a fun evening.</div>
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Returning to the apartment in the tram.</div>
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We reached the airport through the train & tram, Spending a total of €15. We started at 11.30am took, the tram till Hauptbanhouf. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">And then S train to the airport. Reached terminal C, claimed our tax refunds, immigration and boarded the plane at 2pm.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-41646101177514813002014-08-28T07:02:00.000+05:302017-07-05T23:16:36.130+05:30Hofbrauhaus, Munich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We took a three day inner zone ticket to commute in Munich. The tram stop was just in front of the apartments. We took the tram to Hauptbanhouf, the main station and then the required U train from there. The Deutsche Museum was on the tram line only. I persuaded the children to visit this museum but the children did not enjoy there as there were no signages in English. All the exhibits were in German.<br />
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We headed towards the famous beer hall of Munich "Hofbrauhaus". It was a huge place with seating for more than 3000 people and it was more noisy than a fish market.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-59831461874054362782014-08-18T06:56:00.000+05:302017-07-05T20:57:11.391+05:30BMW Welt & BMW museum, Munich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was raining most of the days we were in Munich. We took a taxi from the station to our apartment Citadines Arnulfpark.<br />
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It was a nice apartment but not as good as the one we had in Budapest. We went to the BMW welt & museum. The welt was free entry, it was there showroom. The museum was a 12€ ticket for the family.</div>
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the football fever was running high. There was a short parade in the welt like the carnival in Rio.</div>
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A bridge connects the welt with the museum.</div>
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I particularly enjoyed the Rolls Royce exhibition. Especially the part about the interiors and the accessories like the picnic basket.</div>
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There are cafes in both the places, the one at the welt seemed to have the better ambience.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-88350371588657847112014-08-16T20:44:00.000+05:302017-07-05T22:50:39.348+05:30Vienna, of Palaces<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We had booked a taxi through the net for an early morning drop to the station. We kept a margin of one hour, just in case the taxi was not there.<br>
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The train was better, and it was already there when we reached the station. The journey was comfortable and we reached Vienna at 9:25am. Took a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was disappointed to see the address of our hotel as it was quite near the station. Hotels were expensive in Vienna. Our hotel was nothing great but done nicely. We kept our luggage in a room there and left to see the city. The receptionist helped us with directions to the nearest metro station. </div>
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Our first stop was St. Stephen's cathedral which had free entry, but we did the catacomb's tour also which was €5 per adult & € 2 per child. </div>
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From there we walked to the Hofburg palace.</div>
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The Hofburg palace was mainly the crockery and also the Sisi museum was interesting. From there we sat in a very nice Italian restaurant and had a great meal of Pizza, ravioli etc. The bread was particularly tasty and reminded me of home made bread made by a dear friend.</div>
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The we took the U4 to Schonbrunn U stop and went to see the Schonbrunn palace. It was somewhat similiar to the Hofburg palace. </div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-724672638889402502014-08-13T06:12:00.000+05:302017-07-05T22:45:12.511+05:30Salzburg, of the trick fountains<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shaleen had again booked a taxi for the station from our hotel. But we were outside with our luggage but the taxi did not come. Meanwhile we hailed another taxi at 5am in the morning. As we already had our tickets he dropped us just where we were to board the train.<br>
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Salzburg was a day trip for us. For €4 we got a luggage locker for our luggage at the station for 24hrs. Here only we bought our Salzburg day cards, which gave us free entry to all the places we wanted to go and access to all transport in the city.</div>
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We sat in the bus number 25. And decided to go Untesburg by cable car. It was a clear day. Going up was awfully crowded, we were literally vertically packed, and there were three pet dogs also in the cable car. </div>
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After having some snacks in the cafe. We headed back and were better able to take in the view from the cable car this time. In the return journey we got off at the Helbrunn palace and the trick fountains. </div>
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We caught the first English tour at 12noon. It was an enjoyable tour.</div>
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We went to see the Sound of music pavilion in the garden, which was nothing great. Though the garden itself was good.</div>
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We took the same bus back to town and decided to see Mozart's birthplace. It was a nice street to loiter around. We saw a music shop, got some zotter chocolates. Bought something to eat and sat outside in a square and ate it.</div>
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Saw a few churches along the way. A lovely town where you can spend hours just strolling about.</div>
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One of the squares in Salzburg.</div>
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Around 5pm we decided to take the funicular to the hohenburg castle.</div>
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As we were very tired we just sat in the cafe and had Apple Strudel & coffee.</div>
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View from the hohenburg castle.</div>
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After that we headed back to the station and no sooner had we reached the platform it started raining heavily. The platform was covered so that was no problem. We were lucky that it did not rain while we were doing sightseeing.</div></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-54749592510274986312014-08-10T01:35:00.000+05:302017-07-06T09:31:53.410+05:30Budapest of Baths, Squares and Piers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We had breakfast at our apartment with the full fledged kitchen. After a long debate as to how to start the day we decided to the Szeneychi baths first. We had already purchased one cabin and three locker tickets at 5% discount from the reception yesterday. The cost was 16000HUF, the towels rent was 700HUF for 3 towels. We again purchased the family day metro card and reached the baths. The cabin room was at the ground floor and all four of us could use it. We went to both the heated pools one by one. It was great to lie in the warm water. With great difficulty I persuaded them to one out of the water at 12noon. </div>
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Outside the baths we had some snacks from a vendor. Bread with cream and cheese. Coke potato wedges, some sandwiches.</div>
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Then we walked towards the Heroes square.</div>
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Then we walked down the Andrassy avenue towards the House of Terror. Though they were great exhibitions, but not in English and mainly concerning the history of Hungary we could have given it a miss. We were looking for a book cafe, which we did not find, meanwhile Soumya realized that she had dropped her jacket in the House of terror. My phone got discharged, which was a big setback as we were mainly navigating with my phone through trip advisor's city guide, which did not need an Internet connection. Walking on Andrassy avenue was lovely almost like the Champs Élysées in Paris, but we were all tired, so we took the metro back to the apartment. The apartment we had in Budapest was the best accomodation so far. It was almost as big as home. After resting for a while we again ventured out and decided to do some shopping too. We bought some ties from Kaczan ties, did a bit of souvenir shopping, then decided to go to castle hill.</div>
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As we were dead tired we decided to take a taxi.</div>
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He dropped us at castle hill. There were very few shops which were open. We sat in a cafe. </div>
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The Fisherman's Bastion<br />
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The view from Fisherman's Bastion<br />
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The Mathias Church</div>
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The Buda Castle</div>
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The Mathias church was also worth visiting and the choir was singing in the church. A gentleman atthe door told us that if you go inside the church then you must stay till the end. After leaving the church, we decided to go down using the funicular, which was a waste as the tickets had to be bought separately and they were not included in the day pass.</div>
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At the bottom of the Funicular.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-10549587558101082572014-08-07T00:28:00.000+05:302017-07-05T20:32:43.740+05:30Claustrophilia - the Room Escape Game in Budapest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We reached our hotel and put our luggage in the room next to the reception. We would only get our room at 2pm. Meanwhile we had to reach by 11:30am to the venue of our Room Escape game "claustrophilia",which we had booked on internet, while planning the trip in India. Payment was to be made after the game. With the help of the Trip Advisor City Guide on my phone, we were able to find our way in Budapest and reach the building which housed Claustrophilia.<br />
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A dental clinic on the way to the metro station</div>
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We walked from our hotel to Deak ferenc ter, the main metro station and bought a family card for 3300 HUF. We reached the building where the room escape game was to be played 10minutes before time, and spoke to a lady at no 10.on speaker phone. The door was open for us and when we went inside and shut the door we were locked inside and had to search for clues and with their help locate the key to the door and hence escape from the locked room. It was one fun filled hour, we did not know when the time passed, it was an interesting game, full of surprises. We were being watched on CCTV and the lady concerned gave us <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">hints at two major places, we were able to get out of the room in 1hr and 5mins. It was a great fun activity for us as a team and as a family. The cost was 5000 forins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Then we went to The Dohany street Synagogue which was just nearby, world's second largest synagogue, the first being The Dohany street Synagogue in New York. We took a ticket for the synagogue and museum both and both were guided english tours.</span></div>
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The tree of life at the Synagogue.<br />
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After that we made our way back via the metro to our apartment.</div>
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The Gozsdu court apartments were really comfortable. In the evening we had booked a dinner & show cruise on the Danube from 8pm. We planned to reach there at least half an hour before time. The operettaship left from pier 8A. We crossed three ships to reach our ship. We had a really wonderful evening that day. The cost was 39000 HUF.</div>
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At the metro station<br />
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The dinner was great, the ambience good. And performance was excellent. The view was simply amazing.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-45986858475904543592014-08-03T19:06:00.000+05:302014-08-03T19:06:22.802+05:30Krakow Glowny to Budapest keleti - by sleeper train.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These two journeys, to and fro from Krakow, I have deliberately put on the blog, because we had a tough time getting these tickets and that too, was through a third party, <a href="http://czech-transport.com/" target="_blank">Czech-Transport</a>.com, not the official railway website itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These were the tickets which had been the most difficult to purchase. Quite a bit of time which we spent planning, was devoted to this leg of the journey, and these were the costliest tickets too. Contrary to the impression which one gets through reviews on the internet, t<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">he station in Krakow was good. The best part was that there was a lift direct from the parking to the platform. As we already had the ticket with us we went to our designated platform and there was hardly any walking involved with the luggage. We went down the escalator from the platform to confirm our train number as the number on the ticket and that on the display board was not matching.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our ticket this time was in couchette(equivalent to sleeper in India). It was a compartment of six berths but had been given to us as four berths. We had the compartment to ourselves and the water closet was outside. It was cramped after all our luggage came in. As there were heaters installed below the berths there was not enough space for the luggage. The compartment was not air conditioned and neither did it have any fans. It was a little stuffy initially but as the train started it became pleasant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Budapest Keleti. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once reaching Budapest, we had to buy tickets to Vienna, as it was not possible to purchase them on the net. At the international ticket counter. There were small boxes from where you could get a token number, and the number was displayed on the counter where you were supposed to go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The clerk was helpful because she asked us if we were traveling as a family and advised us to take a return ticket, instead of one way, to Vienna, because it worked out to be cheaper, as then our 13yr old would travel free. We had asked us for the 5am tickets but she said that as maintenance work was going on, the train is usually late, so better to go for the 6:30am one. We were more than happy that she had taken the pains to help us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just outside the station towards the left was the taxi stand, from where we took the taxi to our apartment.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-60086070504154809192014-07-31T18:05:00.001+05:302014-07-31T18:05:48.462+05:30Kazimierz and The Oskar Schindler factory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Once outside the Wawel castle, it was 2:45pm, we wanted to go the Oskar Schindler factory. We were wondering how to reach it. We were approached by two girls in an electric car ( golf buggy) who offered to drop us to there and included a tour of the Jewish area for 160zl (1 polish zloty= Rs.20). We bargained with them and they agreed for 100zl.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">They had a recorded audio on their iPhone giving a description of the places we reached, which one of them would connect to the speakers. As we wanted to reach the Schindler factory by 4pm, we thought it would be a good opportunity to see the Jewish area also.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Poland is a place where Polish Jews and Polish Catholics lived together side by side for generations. The Jews had been present in Poland and Kraków since the very beginning. Their population grew rapidly over time, thanks to the religious tolerance and social autonomy they were granted here. The Jews, who had been expelled from countries all around Europe, found their home in Poland.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We went to a couple of churches along the route.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Then to a few synagogues.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kazimierz – the district south of the <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/krakowoldtown">Old Town</a> between the <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/The-Vistula-Wisla_72158f">Wisła River</a>(Vistula river) <br />and ul. Dietla (where a tributary of the Wisła once flowed) was the centre of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years, before it was systematically destroyed during World War II. Rediscovered in the 1990s, thanks to the fall of the regime and worldwide exposure through the lens of Steven Spielberg, traces of Kazimierz’s Jewish history have not only survived, but literally abound in the form of the district’s numerous <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/kazimierz-synagogues-cemeteries">synagogues and Jewish cemeteries</a>. In fact, no other place in Europe conveys a sense of pre-war Jewish culture on the continent better than Kazimierz. Peeling façades and obscure courtyards hide dozens of bars and cafes, many affecting an air of pre-war timelessness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I was excited as this was the first synagogue we were going to see. The synagogue is not only a religious place but also a meeting point for the jewish community. The genders pray separately inside. The Temple Synagogue had very grand interiors. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Temple Synagogue</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Old Synagogue</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The old Synagogue also had an exhibition regarding the customs and lifestyle of the Jews. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_XnmNdrphSM/U7OixZNQvkI/AAAAAAAAGcs/ByQaThOc3i0/s640/blogger-image-586611438.jpg" width="279" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y-TJcAzjKLg/U7OjNS3rFlI/AAAAAAAAGeU/WX7LZgRG3uI/s640/blogger-image--1032777791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y-TJcAzjKLg/U7OjNS3rFlI/AAAAAAAAGeU/WX7LZgRG3uI/s640/blogger-image--1032777791.jpg" width="296" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1796 Kraków came under Austrian control, and four years later Kazimierz was incorporated into its neighbouring city. This brought about the area's rebirth as the Austrians worked hard to redevelop the city: the streets were cobbled, the crumbling defensive walls were torn down, the first gas lamps were illuminated in 1857, and the suburb had a power station by 1905. The governing Austrians also ordered all of Kraków’s Jews to resettle in Kazimierz, and a rich cultural life arose around them; by 1910 the Jewish population stood at 32,000, a figure that was to nearly double during the inter-war years. This came to a dramatic end with the Nazi occupation of Kraków and Hitler’s systematic extermination of the Jews of Europe. Herded across the river to a <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/The-Jewish-Ghetto">ghetto in Podgórze</a>, Kraków’s Jews met their end there, in <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/Plaszow">Płaszów</a>, or Bełżec (primarily). A mere 3-5,000 survived the Holocaust, a large proportion of them saved by <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/Oskar-Schindler_73046f">Oskar Schindler</a>.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', helveticaneue-light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Although 5,000 Jews were registered as living in Kraków in 1950 any hopes of rekindling the past soon vanished. The anti-Zionist policies of the post-war communist authorities sparked waves of emigration to Israel, and by the 1970s signs of Jewish life had all but disappeared and the area had become a bandit suburb. The fall of communism in 1989 sparked new hope, however; investment began trickling in, 1988 saw the first Jewish Festival take place, and five years later the <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/usefulcontacts/Judaica-Foundation_16508v">Judaica Foundation</a> was opened. That was also the year Spielberg arrived to film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List" target="_blank"><i>Schindler’s List</i></a>, a film that would put Kazimierz on the world map and irrevocably change its fortunes. Today a visit to Kazimierz ranks just as high on itineraries as a trip to <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/sightseeing/wawelhill">Wawel</a>, illustrating the historical importance and public regard the area possesses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Then they dropped us to the <a href="http://www.mhk.pl/branches/oskar-schindlers-factory" target="_blank">Oskar Schindler factory</a> around 4pm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The exhibition at the factory was very good and was also about Poland during the world war II and not just about</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> the Jews or just about </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Oskar Schindler</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', helveticaneue-light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">(28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was an ethnic German industrialist, German spy, and member of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_party" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Nazi party">Nazi party</a>who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="The Holocaust">the Holocaust</a> by employing them in his <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enamelware" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Enamelware">enamelware</a> and <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammunition" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Ammunition">ammunitions</a>factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively. He is the subject of the 1982 novel<i style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_Ark" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Schindler's Ark">Schindler's Ark</a></i>, and the subsequent 1993 film <i style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Schindler's List">Schindler's List</a></i>, which reflected his life as an opportunist initially motivated by profit who came to show extraordinary initiative, tenacity, and dedication in order to save the lives of his Jewish employees.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Just before leaving for Europe, Shaleen and I watched the movie <a href="http://youtu.be/dwfIf1WMhgc" target="_blank">Schindler's List</a> again. After watching it, I was seriously wondering if I had done the correct thing to plan a trip to Krakow. We were stunned to think that we would soon be standing on the same soil where all this had taken place. Poland has spent centuries at the pointy end of history, grappling with war and invasion, and, the point has most often, than not, been Krakow. The exhibition at The Oskar Schindler factory was par excellence. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It required more than the the two hours we devoted it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> We took a taxi back to the town square from there. We sat at the <a href="http://www.harris.krakow.pl/" target="_blank">Harris piano jazz bar</a>, at the square. Our target was to pick our luggage from our hotel and leave by 8pm for the station. </span></span> <br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">At the Harris Piano Jazz bar</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Europe's largest medieval town square"Rynek Glowny" once more</span></span></div>
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Entrance to our apart hotel. We took a taxi to the station. The fare was around 20zl.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-23237606760217907612014-07-29T16:31:00.000+05:302014-07-29T16:31:57.422+05:30Wawel castle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The <a href="http://wawel.krakow.pl/en/" target="_blank">Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill</a> constitute the most historically and culturally important site in Poland. For centuries the residence of the <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Polish_monarchs" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="List of Polish monarchs">kings of Poland</a> and the symbol of Polish statehood, the Castle is now one of the country’s premier art museums.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A column fragment of Wawel Castle has been incorporated in <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>'s <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Landmark" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Chicago Landmark">landmark</a> <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_Tower" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Tribune Tower">Tribune Tower</a>. Located in its own niche over the upper-left corner of the main entrance, it is a visual tribute to <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_Chicago" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Poles in Chicago">Chicago's large Polish populace</a>, the largest such presence outside of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Poland" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Republic of Poland">Republic of Poland</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had decided to go to Wawel castle in the morning and the Oskar Schindler factory after that. Breakfast was at the hotel, assembled ourselves, we had wai wai, mathri and tea in the kitchenette, in the apartment. We checked out of the hotel, and put our luggage in the room next to the reception. There was a water dispenser in that room also, from where we filled up for our drinking water. Drinking water was an additional expense in Krakow, as we were not sure if tap water was safe for drinking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The receptionist told us it was best to walk down to the<a href="http://wawel.krakow.pl/en/" target="_blank"> Wawel castle</a>, or rather upto the castle, as it was an uphill walk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Just outside the hotel</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">on the way to the castle, we bought a pretzel from a street vendor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The ticket which we bought was for circuit A, the family ticket cost us 222zl, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The lady at the counter guided us, she told us to do the Lost wavel first at 11:30am, then the Armour and Treasury, next the State Apartments, then the guided English tour of the Royal Apartments at 2pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We took two student audo guides. The audio guides were modified iPods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We had to store our backpack in the locker room before entering the state apartments</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We took a break after the State apartments as we had an hour left for the guided tour of the Royal Apartments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">There was a lovely cafe in the grounds with a great view.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A panoramic shot from the cafe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We had blueberry and strawberry tarts. Coffee and sandwiches (open sandwiches on flat bread). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Wawel castle is a historic residence museum. We got familiar with the history of Poland.The palace was not opulent as it has been plundered several times.</span> The striking part of the apartments in Wawel castle, were the <a href="http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/index.php?op=18" target="_blank">stoves</a>, which were there in most rooms. They were to keep the room warm. Servants would put keep putting the wood from the outside and would ensure that it would keep their masters warm. Along with the stove there was the fireplace also. Another thing was the 'small beds' only 5feet in the apartments, the kings used to sleep half sitting up, as lying down was a posture of the dead. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III_Sobieski" title="John III Sobieski">John III Sobieski</a> was the most impressive of the Polish kings, he was married to </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Casimire_Louise_de_la_Grange_d%27Arquien" target="_blank">Maria Kazimiera</a>. </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Royal couple became famous for their <a href="http://www.wilanow-palac.pl/astrea_and_celadon_or_the_letters_of_jan_sobieski_and_marysienka.html" target="_blank">love letters</a>, most of which
were written from 1665 to 1683, when they were parted either due to John
III Sobieski's military engagements or her travels to Paris.
The letters give insight not only into the authentic feelings of the
loving couple, but also their reflections on contemporary issues and
difficulties, as well as down-to-earth matters concerning the royal
household and little day-to-day decisions made by the monarch, who often
consulted his wife about them.
Published long after the death of both of them. After that we started the return journey by returning the audio guides, going out through the Dragon's den.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-91268226603972780692014-07-20T01:18:00.002+05:302014-07-20T01:18:20.959+05:30Wieliczka salt mine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We started from Birkenau at about 12noon for the <a href="http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/?__utma=1.53395929.1405770940.1405770940.1405770940.1&__utmb=1.1.10.1405770940&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1405770940.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=%28not%20provided%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=166965950" target="_blank">Wieliczka salt mine</a>. We reached there around 1pm. Philip our driver parked the car in the parking and we walked up to the ticket office to buy our ticket for the English tour which started at 2pm. Its not possible to tour the salt mine unguided. The family ticket for the tour cost us 222zl (1 polish zloty =Rs.20/-). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our driver
suggested that we buy the tour tickets before having lunch, which was a
good suggestion. He showed us a cozy place to have lunch in, <a href="http://www.halit.krakow.pl/" target="_blank">Karczma Halit Restaurant</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had goulash soup, Herring fish with cream and cheese. Chicken breast with cranberry sauce. As rice was separately available as a side dish, we ordered for two plates </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and shocked the waitresses by having</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> soup with rice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 minutes before 2pm Philip came to remind us that we should proceed for the tour. We reached the place from where the tour was to start. We were all given receivers with earphones and we tuned to channel 44. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We went down 53flights of 6-7 wooden steps each. It was a long way down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The salt mine tour was interesting with a lot of exhibits, multimedia presentations, we visited three chapels inside the mines. We walked around 2 km inside the mines. And our guide told us that there were around 200km of walking trail in the mines. Several rooms of which we visited only a few. The miners had carved a lot of statues from the salt, and since the place got air conditioned they were now preserved in good condition. The humidity was detrimental to the statues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Everything is made of salt. The floor, ceiling, walls, carving, chandeliers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This huge Unesco heritàge site has almost 6000 to 7000 visitors everyday. There were many school groups. The exit is the most time taking part in the tour. The exit is through two narrow lifts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It took us an hour to reach Krakow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We were in our <a href="http://www.ahsm-krakow.com/n/" target="_blank">aparthotel Stare Miasto</a>, at about 5pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a shower and tea and some snacks, from home, in our apartment which had a functioning kitchen also. We had some Maggi (also got from India, because it tastes different in different countries). Then we just walked down to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Square,_Krak%C3%B3w" target="_blank">the main market square, Rynek Glowny.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The square was huge, much bigger than that of Prague. And not so crowded also</span>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We sat under the umbrella of <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d2467522-Reviews-Vintage_Restauracja_Winiarnia-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html" target="_blank">The Vintage</a>. Few musicians came over and played. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A couple got up and started dancing. We sat till late in the night.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-14129494967177134992014-07-16T19:27:00.000+05:302014-07-16T19:27:11.750+05:30Auschwitz - Birkenau<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We reached Auschwitz 15mins before opening time which was 8am. The place was deserted, I had expected it to be very crowded. I guess with some help from the train schedule we had managed to 'beat the crowd' here. There were two more groups other than ours, which were mainly student groups. The entry to both Auschwitz and Birkenau is without any fees and there is a free shuttle from one camp to another, every 15mins. The English tours start at 9:30am, which are paid. We had purchased a guide book from there, to see the camp ourselves as there was no tour available at that time. There was no audio guide tour either. But as we started to go about we realized that we would miss half the things without guidance. Shaleen had read on the website that they arranged for guides for private tours, so he went to find out if we could get one. The lady at the desk had to ring up a few people to see if any one was available, and to our luck we did find one. We found a guide by the name of Sussana. Arranging for a private tour put us back by 25minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Above the main gate at Auschwitz, ironically written in German "Arbeit macht frei" (work brings freedom), while the work was designed to kill in the concentration camps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For five long years the name of <a href="http://en.auschwitz.org/m/" target="_blank">Auschwitz</a> aroused fear among the Nazi -occupied territories. After the defeat of the September Campaign of 1939, the Polish town of Oswiecim and the surrounding areas were incorporated within the Third Reich. At the same time it's name was changed to Auschwitz. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Auschwitz was a sombre place and most of the exhibits were quite shocking, the brutality with which the concentration camps had functioned was unbelievable. In the initial phase it functioned as a concentration camp where in, not only Jews, but many Polish politicians, intelligentsia, academicians etc were rounded up and made to do hard labour here. Many times summarily executed also, for frivolous crimes such as 'listening to BBC' or 'possessing a radio'. The life expectancy in the camp was 3-6 months from the time of entry for the inmates. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the second phase, since 1942 it became the biggest centre for the mass extermination of European Jews. Majority of the Jews deported there were led to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived, and those who escaped initially met there death due to starvation, unhygienic conditions, cold and hard labour. We were so shocked on seeing the exhibits that we even forgot to take snaps, or maybe we did not, out of respect for those killed so mercilessly. There were individual rooms filled with human hair, (which had been shaved off before herding them into gas chambers), a room full of spectacles, another one with shoes, then one with household utensils. The worst were exhibits such as a cigarette case made of human skin, cloth made of human hair. The Jews had been told that they were going to be relocated and hence were asked to gather their most valuable stuff and board the train, instead of relocation they met with death. There was a crematorium and gas chamber also, which had been preserved, parts of it were also reconstructed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Around 10am we had finished the tour of Auschwitz. The parking was full of buses, when we left. Around six to seven thousand tourists visit this place every day during the summers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We took some sandwiches from the cafe in the parking and proceeded in our car to Birkenau. Our guide came in the shuttle bus and met us at the gate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Inhuman conditions of living, designed to kill. The inmates got only one piece of bread a day, other than a bowl of soup, despite doing rigorous labour. Just a set of blue striped shirt <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">and</span> pajamas, no other cloth, even in winters. No bathing facilities and no toilet facilities</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the number of inmates increased in Auschwitz, the area covered by the camp also grew, until it was transformed into a gigantic and horrific factory of death. The monstrosity in Oswiecim - KL Auschwitz I - became the parent to a whole new generation of camps. In 1941 the construction of a second camp, later called Auschwitz II - Birkenau, was commenced 3 km away.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Birkenau was a much bigger place and is the place where there were four huge gas chambers in the past, whose remnants can still be seen, they had been destroyed by the fleeing Germans.This camp was built by inmates from Auschwitz. The buildings were built on the design of horse stables. The gas chambers and crematoria have all been destroyed here, but we saw the one in Auschwitz. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Birkenau was the concentration camp where the train entered through the central gate and sealed rail goods wagons full of Jews were offloaded here, already half dead from the journey. Here they were cursorily sorted out and their fate decided at the whims and fancies of the Nazis in charge there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The parking in Birkenau was a little way away, we had to walk to and fro to it, and quite a bit of walking in the camp, we must have walked around 3-4 km during the full tour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While we were planning this trip. I tried to prepare the children for a visit to this camp. We watched the movie 'Life is beautiful' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RZHqCIy9M" target="_blank">(trailer)</a> together, that's the only movie I could think of, to introduce my younger one to this gory past in human history.</span></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-50695662377246237212014-07-15T16:45:00.001+05:302014-07-15T18:33:34.438+05:30Prague to Krakow - by overnight sleeper train<div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"> <div style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We reached the station well before time. The hotel had called for a taxi. Just a little distance away, outside the pedestrian area. This leg of our journey had been the most difficult to organize and the most costly as well. We had decided to visit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w" target="_blank">Krakow</a> in Poland, instead of Warsaw, because Krakow is the historical centre and it is near the border. Kraków remained relatively undamaged at the end of World War II, sparing most of the city's historical and architectural legacy. </span></div> <div style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L1AGWeZpscQ/U8UOEmLQQCI/AAAAAAAAGzY/vtkFl5twKcU/s640/blogger-image-1250524124.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L1AGWeZpscQ/U8UOEmLQQCI/AAAAAAAAGzY/vtkFl5twKcU/s640/blogger-image-1250524124.jpg" width="503" height="664" /></a></div> <br /></span></div> <iframe style="width: 634px; height: 192px" src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vKCu2S_rJDUoD3qTEYCJndOs7EEhh89Zk4M5kv1j6EU/pub?embedded=true"></iframe> <br /> <div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div> <div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"> <div style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The train tickets for this journey, could not be bought from Internet, the official rail sites were showing the train schedules but not selling the tickets. After trying several times Shaleen was able to get reservations through the Internet for sleeper berths from the <a href="http://www.cd.cz/en/" target="_blank">official railway site of the Czech republic</a>, but we could not purchase the tickets. So we had to buy them on reaching the station. While Shaleen was buying them, we were waiting and doing people watching. I discovered that almost every 4th person was accompanied by a dog. </span></div> <div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"> <br /></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Xx36mz77v_Q/U6uzGa1XKiI/AAAAAAAAGXs/gWM1F10hdfs/s640/blogger-image-1582802569.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Xx36mz77v_Q/U6uzGa1XKiI/AAAAAAAAGXs/gWM1F10hdfs/s640/blogger-image-1582802569.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-size: x-small"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Numerous cyclists going down the escalator with their cycles.</span></span></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> <br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We reaches the platform and the train was standing there. We boarded it comfortably half an hour before time.</span></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"> <br /></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WmBSxtEChNU/U6uzVETzNwI/AAAAAAAAGYs/5W7Haf5ELfs/s640/blogger-image-666760767.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WmBSxtEChNU/U6uzVETzNwI/AAAAAAAAGYs/5W7Haf5ELfs/s640/blogger-image-666760767.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"> <br /></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F2kHwqdGi2I/U6uzIeEeI1I/AAAAAAAAGX0/TH48YmE69b8/s640/blogger-image--486787845.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F2kHwqdGi2I/U6uzIeEeI1I/AAAAAAAAGX0/TH48YmE69b8/s640/blogger-image--486787845.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"> <br /></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sX281n2Op5w/U6uzRlzhk3I/AAAAAAAAGYc/5qYTBoh8ry4/s640/blogger-image--1838525195.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sX281n2Op5w/U6uzRlzhk3I/AAAAAAAAGYc/5qYTBoh8ry4/s640/blogger-image--1838525195.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We had two sleeper cabins of two berths each. It was an air-conditioned coach. The cabins had wash basins inside them. But toilets were outside the cabins. (In contrast to the train we had taken in Spain, last year which had a bathroom with shower, basin, and WC.) It was equivalent to A/c first in India.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">They had shower facility in the train, but the coach attendant said that it was not in use. So our planning of having a shower early before leaving the train was foiled. We had a full day of excursion planned directly from the train.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We were to reach Krakow early in the morning at 6:30 am.</span></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v-WvyoYcxwA/U6uzP97Rj9I/AAAAAAAAGYU/-YReDa2dunY/s640/blogger-image-1426116886.jpg" /> <br /></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4r1r6artZEM/U6uzKMODrUI/AAAAAAAAGX8/TSmK5aceXrk/s640/blogger-image-442414612.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4r1r6artZEM/U6uzKMODrUI/AAAAAAAAGX8/TSmK5aceXrk/s640/blogger-image-442414612.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We reached the Krakow on time. We got a cup of coffee and a croissant complimentary, from the coach attendant. </span></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cEvVahx_FOk/U6uzMtGiv3I/AAAAAAAAGYE/KVNkvjJatkU/s640/blogger-image-1912729103.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cEvVahx_FOk/U6uzMtGiv3I/AAAAAAAAGYE/KVNkvjJatkU/s640/blogger-image-1912729103.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify; clear: both" class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">As the train reached the platform and we took out our luggage. I got a call, from the driver who had come to receive us, on my international number. He said he would meet us at the platform. His name was Phillip and sure enough he met us with a placard. We had arranged the car, for pick up from the station and then proceed straight away to <a href="http://en.auschwitz.org/m/" target="_blank">Auschwitz & Birkenau</a> and then to the <a href="http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/" target="_blank">Wieliczka Saltmine</a>, and then back to Krakow. This was through <a href="http://www.krk-krakowtours.com/" target="_blank">KRK Krakow tours</a>. As I had badly wanted to visit both the places and we calculated that it would be impossible to cover both of them through public transport in one day. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The idea of hiring a car for the trip, came from </span><a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif" href="http://www.tripadvisor.in/" target="_blank">Trip Advisor.</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">  </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">I liked the railway station, </span><a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_G%C5%82%C3%B3wny_railway_station" target="_blank">Krakow Glowny</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> as we just had to take the elevator up from the railway platform to reach the parking. It was very convenient.</span></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sZ9FjOmnb9A/U6uzOa9tZDI/AAAAAAAAGYM/AB52MbH3sFU/s640/blogger-image--248489341.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sZ9FjOmnb9A/U6uzOa9tZDI/AAAAAAAAGYM/AB52MbH3sFU/s640/blogger-image--248489341.jpg" /></a></div> </div> </div> </div> Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-15880793660303595622014-07-14T23:30:00.000+05:302014-07-15T19:23:31.664+05:302nd day in Prague<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We had breakfast at the hotel. The only hotel where we had breakfast included with stay.<br />
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We checked out of the hotel kept our luggage with the concierge. And then asked the receptionist as to how we could reach the <a href="http://www.hrad.cz/en/prague-castle/guidepost-for-visitors/index.shtml" target="_blank">Prague castle</a>. She suggested the metro. We walked down to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%AFstek" target="_blank">Mustek metro station</a> and bought tickets from the machine 3adultsx24Kr, 1childx12Kr (1Kr equals Rs.3/-), for half an hour for three regions. The Mustek station itself was nothing great, though its listed on trip advisor as one of the places to visit. The escalator was steep, like the King’s Cross station in London, even more so.<br />
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We caught the green line and got down at Malostranska metro station.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', helveticaneue-light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The same ticket was valid in the tram. Taking the tram 22, we got down at Prazsky hrad, and walked to the castle with the rest of the people, who had got down, all were heading for the castle (dashing all our hopes of beating the crowd). Just inside the castle entrance, towards the left was a small ticket room. We got the family ticket for circuit A for 700kr. We took an audio guide from the office inside for 450kr for the whole day.</span><br />
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As it was Sunday. The St. Vitius Cathedral was open to tourists at 12noon. We saw the other exhibitions till that time. The Royal Palace (exhibition I) , was just ok.<br />
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The story of Prague castle was a detailed Exhibition II, and required more time, though we rushed through it. Just outside the exhibition there was a courtyard which was of particular interest for children. There were people dressed in medieval times clothes with different stalls.<br />
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The St. George's Basilica was exhibition III. That did not require a lot of time. Soumya and I were sharing the audio guide.<br />
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St. Vitius cathedral which was exhibition number V, was a lovely cathedral and requires more time. If you go through with the audio guide it will take around 2-3 hours. It is a grand cathedral.<br />
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After that we were feeling hungry so we ate just outside the cathedral at a nice cafe. They were quick at serving.<br />
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After that we walked to the Golden Lane. But we should have given back our audio guide before that as we had to get back a deposit of 250 kr also from the same place where we had rented it, and not just drop it off like we usually do at other places. So we walked downhill.<br />
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We returned the same way we had reached. The tickets were bought from a machine at the tram stop. But as it accepted coins only and we were short we lost around 45 mins arranging the change.<br />
And because of that we missed the free walking tour we were supposed to join at 3pm from old town square.<br />
On reaching old town square, we met a man who asked Nalin if he wanted a free Segway ride. Nalin was more than happy to try it. As it is, he had been after us to take a Segway tour.<br />
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After the free ride, we decided to take a Segway tour of Prague from the stranger. He gave us a discount and it cost us 55€ per person for 2hrs. His office was near our hotel, so we walked till there.<br />
The Segway tour was fun and adventure, though I felt quite out of my league with the Segway, would have been more comfortable on a bicycle, but the children were comfortable. I fell down once , and Shaleen too fell off once. I was so scared I did not try to take any pictures.<br />
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In the square, after the segway tour. We went to see the Jewish quarter but there was not much to see.<br />
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After buying some souvenirs, we ate a nice meal from an Italian restaurant, in the old town area, we were sitting outside, another table was occupied by two girls. We saw the danger of sitting outside on road side cafes. The shopping bag of one of the girls was kept on the floor. A pet dog, very cute, almost peed on it, though she saved her "Mango" shopping just in time.<br />
We took our luggage from the hotel concierge, and called a taxi there, a little way off as it was a pedestrian only zone.<br />
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-1430317554149346462014-07-14T11:24:00.000+05:302014-07-15T18:27:16.075+05:301st day in Prague<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We were dropped outside the station by the IC bus 375. From there we took a taxi to our hotel <a href="http://www.pragueleondoro.com/" target="_blank">'Residence Leon d Oro'</a> in the old town area. It was on a pedestrian area so the taxi had to stop a few meters away. Shaleen used the ATM to get the local currency Czech Korunas(1 Czech Koruna is worth Rs.3/-). The hotel checking in was smooth with Barbara at the desk. We asked her how to reach the National Opera Theatre, "<a href="http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/en" target="_blank">Narodini divadlo</a>" as we had tickets for the opera at 6o'clock. She said it was best to go on foot, would take 10 mins.</div>
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So all of us got ready really fast and put on our formal clothes for the opera. We were around 5 mins late. It had already started and our tickets were for the upper balcony, so we had to climb a lot of stairs, running up in heels for me.Our seats were right in the back but we still got the full view of the stage. </div>
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We watched <a href="http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/en/show/5691" target="_blank">Enchantia</a>. All of us liked the opera. There was a live orchestra playing. It was easy to follow the dialogues with the help of subtitles, which were being displayed at the top. </div>
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From there we walked along the Vltava river to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge" target="_blank">Charles bridge</a> on the way we bought water,which we could have avoided, as here the water in the hotel taps was drinking water, unlike in Krakow.</div>
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In the setting sun the whole city was glittering gold.</div>
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We walked down at the other end of the bridge and there was a sort of no. Stall of eateries. Shaleen and Nalin decided to eat something from there while Soumya and me walked a little way further off to the park.</div>
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Then we walked back to the old town square to the <a href="http://youtu.be/NebyX6-GUTM" target="_blank">astronomical clock</a>. Every hour, by the hour, a large crowd gathers in front of the clock, to see the parade of the twelve apostles.</div>
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We sat down outside at a restaurant at the square. <a href="http://www.limeandtonic.com/prague/en/experiences/2069/old-town-dinner-jazz" target="_blank">The white horse.</a></div>
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They had heaters switched on, which made me more comfortable as the night air was chilly.</div>
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Salmon with potatoes</div>
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Goulash soup which was served in a bowl of bread.</div>
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Consommé soup. And pasta. The food was good. And two drinks<br />
The cost of the meal was around Rs. 3000/-<br />
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After that we walked back to our hotel. The hotel had a lovely open to air terrace on the sixth floor, room no. 505. The view of the city was good.<br />
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-69522348261358926172013-07-24T17:16:00.000+05:302017-07-06T10:35:57.629+05:30Cordoba another Constantinople<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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While planning the trip, two cities which we were visiting in Spain were fixed Madrid and Barcelona in that order. The tricky part was to plan the rest of it. We could do the <b><i>northern part</i></b> with Bilbao, San Sebastián and Pamplona, which is pleasant in the summers and that could have been clubbed with the French Riviera, to really make it a happening trip. The time we were travelling almost coincided with the <b>bull run</b> in Pamplona. A festival which is now so familiar to Indians because of the movie <b>'Zindagi na milegi dobara.</b>' We did watch the movie again to see if we could get some help in planning the itinerary. But they have changed the timing of the festivals according to the story line. In actual the Tomatina festival takes place in August and the Bull run in July, while in the movie the order is reversed.</div>
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The request for Spanish visa by Indians has increased manifold after the release of the movie. It does take a while to procure the <b><i>visa for Spain</i></b> it's best to apply for it, at least a month prior to the visit especially in summer. <br />
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Or we could take it easy and do <b><i>central Spain</i></b> near Madrid, Salamanca, Valladolid, include the nearby places Segovia, Toledo.</div>
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The <b><i>southern part</i></b> which is more touristy includes Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Valencia. It's warmer in the south especially Seville. But people said that to see Spain it is a must to visit Seville. Then of course we could include Malaga in the south.</div>
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We decided on Southern Spain, despite the heat. As we did not have many days with us, we planned on day trips for Cordoba and Granada. That was how we reached in Cordoba on a Monday, a day when many attractions are closed, but the main, Mezquita, which we wanted to visit was open. We took a superfast train (Ave), this time from Atocha Station at 7:00am in the morning reaching Cordoba at 8:42am. We were quite impressed by the coach. We boarded the train like one boards a flight.</div>
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At the station there was no locker facility, we asked an official for such a facility nearby. Outside of Madrid and Barcelona, the locals are not versed in English, but they are helpful and use sign language to help. He told us to look right after leaving the station. We could not take our luggage with us while going for sightseeing, so we had decided to keep it in a luggage locker. we<br />
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-29709448840854244642013-07-21T10:36:00.000+05:302017-07-06T10:43:56.892+05:30A lazy Sunday in Madrid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We reached Madrid by 2pm, so I decided to catch the flea market in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Rastro" target="_blank">El Rastro</a> which is there every Sunday till 4pm in summers. We quickly made our way there. It was an interesting market but already winding up, strange that though the Spanish seem so laid back but they are very punctual. <b>The trains are on time and especially if the superfast (Avi)train is late they give compensation, if its late by less than 15mnts, and full refund if they are late by 15minutes or more,</b> quite unlike the trains in UK which are late by the norm. We had to buy a shoulder bag and some other general stuff and souvenirs. On the way we spotted a candy shop and clicked a snap for Soumya as the shop was closed & we couldn't buy anything.</div>
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After that we went into a sleepy cafe just to give our feet some rest and catch a coffee. </div>
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Then we headed for the Plaza Mayor, which is a large open space, square, to enjoy the distinctly european culture of sitting in an open cafe. Madrid seemed to me a city of squares, innumerable and this was the largest of them.</div>
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We sat in an outdoor cafe and tasted the Mediterranean cuisine. </div>
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As we came out of the square there was a parlour of frozen yoghurt which seemed to be a rage all over Spain & to which Shaleen took a liking with a vengeance, I think there was hardly a parlour we crossed where we did not stop for the yoghurt, no matter how much we had just eaten.</div>
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By now it was time to head for the <a href="http://www.museodelprado.es/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Museo del Prado</a>, it was free entry time between 5-8pm on Sunday, (but they closed down by 7pm). As we walked along Paseo del Prado I had planned to just take a look at the <a href="http://www.esmadrid.com/en/caixaforum" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Caxia Forum</a>, which had seemed an interesting building with a vertical garden.</div>
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We reached Museo del Prado, along with free entry, there were free locker facility to keep our stuff, usually all over Spain there were lockers where you could put a one euro coin, lock your stuff and when you retrieve your belongings, you get it back, the euro. </div>
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We quickly headed towards the 1st floor, took a look at the Ruebens, few Goyas. In general it reminded me of Louvre, which is the better of the two. But the art is different and that cannot be compared. Photography is prohibited inside. Much to our disappointment they herded us out one hour earlier than what we thought was the closing time.</div>
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There were scores of tourists just lazing around outside and we did the same. </div>
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Next we walked to the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/madrid/sights/gardens/parque-buen-retiro" target="_blank">Parque del Buen Retiro</a>, just close by, something similar to the Central park in New York. Bustling with activity. the artificial lake being the centre of things.</div>
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After spending some time in the park, we took a metro to Gran Via, most cities in Spain have a main road, which is known as the Gran Via, something like the Mahatma Gandhi marg in India.</div>
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Gran Via we thought would be comparable to The Champs Elysses in Paris, although that was not so, but it still had its own charm.</div>
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This was the scene as we walked towards our hotel. <br />
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-672252725973470892013-07-19T02:05:00.000+05:302017-07-06T10:38:20.799+05:30Segovia - one of Spain's most bike friendly cities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Segovia was a day trip from Madrid. It had been a difficult choice between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Spain" target="_blank">Toledo </a>or Segovia. After reading several reviews on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>, I decided that Segovia would be the more picturesque of the two. Segovia is one of Spain's most bike friendly cities. As we had got down from the bus, there had been several cyclists just getting ready for a race. We tried to take bikes on rent but could not manage it. As we walked back to the area where we were supposed to catch the bus. It was fun to loiter around on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes just lying down under the trees, having more of the wonderful cherries, buying souvenirs from the local shops, catching a bite to eat. <br />
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Entrance to the cathedral<br />
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Just near the Plaza Mayor in Segovia was a patisserie <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187494-d2260653-Reviews-Pasteleria_Limon_y_Menta-Segovia_Province_of_Segovia_Castile_and_Leon.html" target="_blank">Limon y Menta</a>, where we bought the Segovian speciality <i>ponche segoviano </i>a rich lemon infused sponge cake coated with marzipan and topped in icing sugar. <br />
We were back in Madrid around 2pm, but we had missed the bus to the station and had to take a taxi. </div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-17567856789609598912013-07-18T03:17:00.000+05:302013-07-21T22:04:55.462+05:30Fairy tale city of Segovia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After the Flamenco show at Villa Rosa tablao, where we had food also, we roamed the streets in Madrid, tried tapas in one restaurant. It was like a party going on in Madrid at night.<br />
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As the lonely planet guide says, no night in Madrid is complete without <i>chocolate con churros </i>(deep fried doughnut strips dipped in hot chocolate)<i>, </i>we made<i> </i>our way to <a href="http://www.chocolateriasangines.com/Chocolateria_San_Gines/Bienvenidos_a_San_Gines.html" target="_blank">Chocolateria San Gines</a>. By that time we were so full, we could hardly appreciate the churros and lovely chocolate. The central location of the hotel where we were staying proved to be a big advantage to us as we ,we just walked everywhere.<br />
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Next day, we started early as we had decided to reach Segovia in time to beat the crowd. We got the renfe train from Chamartin, it was a half an hour journey. As we had the tickets to Segovia from Chamartin, we were issued free tickets on the cercanias train to the station concerned, from our metro stop,next to the hotel. The train's speed was more than 200km/hr.<br />
The video shows the huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Chamart%C3%ADn_railway_station" target="_blank">Charmartin station</a>. Both the videos in this post are by mistake in the portrait mode.<br />
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Going by train definitely cut short our commuting time, than if we had gone by road, as we had been planning earlier, but as fate would have it Shaleen could not get an international driving license issued in Lucknow due to some glitch. Though we had done a lot of research into going by road. Major hurdle to that was the lack of parking space all over tourist places in Spain. Even the hotels charge for parking,. many parking areas charge by the hour and they may be full, esp. the peak season in which we were traveling. So in the end we traveled everywhere by train, which had its own advantages of being faster, more relaxing time for sightseeing, no parking hassles, all railway stations were in the centre of the cities, so we just walked to our hotels rolling our luggage along.<br />
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We got a bus from outside the Segovia- Guiomar station<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>.</u></span>and got off at the stop for the roman aqueduct. Hot air balloons were visible in the sky and one of them landed just by the side of the road as our bus was passing by </div>
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El Acueducto (Roman aqueduct) is an 894m long structure made around AD 50 as a part of complex system of aqueducts and underground canals that brought water from the mountains more than 15km away. Major restoration work took place in the 1990s.</div>
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cathedral</div>
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We walked uphill towards the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A1zar_of_Segovia" target="_blank">Alcazar</a>, a prototype fairy tale castle, which inspired Walt Disney's vision of Sleeping Beauty's castle. On the way we bought some cherries which were the best we've ever had. We also meandered into the cathedral and had a look around.<br />
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It was a lovely walk along the almost deserted roads.
We reached Alcazar at its opening time, with two or three people around, and by the time we had completed our visit the place was swarming with tourists and school groups. We purchased tickets with a tower visit and audio guide included for 16Euros. </div>
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Inside the Alcazar<br />
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famous pine cone ceiling view of the city from the alcazar<br />
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video from the tower of alcazar<br />
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-42592263285092931792013-07-17T05:11:00.001+05:302013-07-21T22:04:55.467+05:30Killing the night - Madrid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">We reached Madrid, later than we were supposed to, and the airport was quite outside the city, it was like the countryside. Arrival time in Madrid was 20:25 local time.It was sunny outside like 3pm Indian time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">We used the metro to reach our hotel '<a href="http://www.hostal-madrid.info/en/estaticas/index.asp?wm=56&id=23" target="_blank">Hostal Madrid</a>', which was near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerta_del_Sol" target="_blank">Puerta del sol</a>. We took the train, it was quite simple. Our hotel was a short distance away from the metro station we just walked over to it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">The Hotel's lobby. We had a room with a balcony overlooking the street. Soon after checking in we decided to hit the streets.The friendly hotel staff helped us make a reservation at a <a href="http://www.villa-rosa.es/English/inicio.php" target="_blank">tablao "Villa Rosa"</a> for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco" target="_blank">Flamenco</a>.</span><br />
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We had some food there during the show. Then we decided to explore the area some more and had some food in another restaurant nearby, before walking over to our hotel.</div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-5583015322470793162011-12-31T06:53:00.001+05:302011-12-31T06:53:33.163+05:30Road trip to Rajasthan<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/doctravels/trIrHuCtdtolaAkcfrsIujqpmnlnxgEEBFhcgrBpiFhDIimnxvmsHDsrznwd/p47.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="P47" height="374" src="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/doctravels/trIrHuCtdtolaAkcfrsIujqpmnlnxgEEBFhcgrBpiFhDIimnxvmsHDsrznwd/p47.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile4.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/doctravels/nHqtFbbolFxgDkppEnlIaazqrItGzbxfqglGGbxvdymslDmxJGIerHCylueC/p48.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="P48" height="374" src="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/doctravels/nHqtFbbolFxgDkppEnlIaazqrItGzbxfqglGGbxvdymslDmxJGIerHCylueC/p48.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://doctravels.posterous.com/road-trip-to-rajasthan">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p>We started from Lucknow at around 8:10am for Jaipur. Though we had planned to start earlier. We had food packed, courtesy mom & dad with us so that we would not loose time for food. <br />The four of us enjoyed ourselves immensely, entertained by the lovely songs which were being played on Nalin, my son's iPod. <br />Enroute we crossed Ferozabad<p>We took the route via Agra. It took us around 8hrs to reach our destination and at 4:10 we had reached Hotel Ganguar</p></div>Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-10316555873785523502011-08-19T23:33:00.000+05:302011-08-19T23:33:47.551+05:30Gangtok 1st day sight seeing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In the morning we got up early and looked out from the balcony to behold a beautiful breathtaking scene. From all the three rooms, we occupied the view was fantastic.<br />
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We enjoyed tea on our balcony. And then went down for a leisurely breakfast, to the restaurant. At around 10:45am the taxi came for our one day local sightseeing in Gangtok. We got one Alto and one Wagon R for the day-trip, as SUVs are not allowed for local sightseeing in Gangtok. Our first stop was Ganeshtok temple which wasn't far from our hotel.<br />
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After that we went to the Himalayan Zoological garden just opposite the Ganesh temple. And we really enjoyed ourselves there. It was a nice trek as well, as we walked from one huge enclosure to the other. <br />
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The red panda<br />
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The Tibetan wolf<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">A viewing tower which we did not climb, near the enclosure for the snow leopard.</div><br />
There were refreshments available in the zoo and also toilet facilities were there at two places. Weekly off for the zoo is Thursday. The zoo is a must see.<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">We then proceeded to Tashi point, from where the Kanchenchunga peak is visible. As it was a cloudy day we just saw a few snow laden peaks. The children wore the local dress and we took pictures.</div><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/dr.namitachandra/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnN0sHrg62wUw#5610699432629816642"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Jo7u0fnhczs/Td01aD9izUI/AAAAAAAAEfc/FHv8P7PHEp0/s640/14.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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We had lunch at the restaurant near Tashi point. It was average fare. We had momos and chowmein and manchurian.<br />
Next on the itinerary was a monastery, though we decided to forgo that and went on to see a waterfall.<br />
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Here Samya did some adventure activity at the waterfall.<br />
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From here we went to see the flower exhibition. It was drizzling by now. This was a lovely place to visit. The ambience was good and lovely flowers too<br />
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This photo some how misses the crowds that were present at this sightseeing point. It was really crowded. We also purchased some bulbs of these beautiful flowers.<br />
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After the flower exhibition we went for the ropeway which we could easily have missed.<br />
The ropeway was no great experience and certainly not worth the one hour wait.<br />
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From here we went to the office of the person who was arranging this trip for us, for the balance payment and to give him the papers regarding issuance of permit for North Sikkim, photo ids etc<br />
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We requested the taxi driver to take us to the market as we had to purchase woollens for my son. The main market was closed that day, so he took us to another market, Lal Bazaar . The market was dirty but we found some good shops on the second floor. As we were short of time we shopped in a hurry. In one of the shops we left our handycam behind by mistake!!<br />
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</script></div>Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-5904435655789487732011-06-21T11:12:00.000+05:302015-01-15T17:42:11.355+05:30The Royal Demazong, Club Mahindra, Gangtok<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We reached Gangtok by road from New Jalpaiguri, where we reached by rail on the Dibrugarh Rajdhani express, which goes via Lucknow, two days a week. We booked tickets from New Delhi to New Jalpaiguri and converted them to boarding from Lucknow. Return tickets were bought from Guwahati to Lucknow, boarding from New Jalpaiguri. <br />
I was travelling AC 1st class for the first time. The cabins were very good and we had a nice journey except that the train's engine developed some problem and had to be replaced hence our train was delayed by 2 hrs. The train which usually arrived early was delayed. We reached at 1:30pm</div>
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The road trip from the station (New Jalpaiguri to Gangtok) was around 125 km but it took us 6hrs. The road was in a bad condition and at one place, road construction activity held us back by 2hrs. Usually it takes around 4hrs to go from NJP to Gangtok, the road is not very good.<br />
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Entrance to Sikkim</div>
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The Club Mahindra hotel in Gangtok was not seen on my map my india GPS map and neither was it correctly marked on the google map on the mobile. <br />
We had arranged pick up from the station through Tamu travel and treks. We had to depend on the Taxi drivers. By the time we reached our destination it was 7:30pm.<br />
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Checking in to Club Mahindra was a breeze as usual. This property has been leased by Club Mahindra. Hence the hotel did not have that feel which we associate with a Club Mahindra property, but it was a comfortable stay and we enjoyed the food. </div>
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Our room </div>
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The activity centre was good. It had the provision of borrowing DVDs as well as books, Table Tennis and Carrom etc. Restaurant was pleasant.</div>
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Location:<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kazi%20Rd,Gangtok,India%4027.326511%2C88.612623&z=10">Kazi Rd,Gangtok,India</a></div>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510635414150955741.post-3437952355321352942011-05-05T00:34:00.000+05:302017-07-06T10:48:35.858+05:30Millenium Park, Chicago<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Day 2 in Chicago, guess our biological clock was confused we were up at 2:30 am feeling rested and relaxed. So we started to do some net surfing and calling home as it was the best time to call India. We realized the phone which we had purchased did not have international calling. Shaleen purchased some Skype credit on the net and we called from that. As we usually take the pains to book our stay in hotels which provide wireless/wired Internet connectivity (it always comes in handy esp. in US). Then we had some tea and got ready and decided to go to the Millennium park walking from our place along the north shoreline drive.</div>
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On the way as it was pretty cold we decided to have some coffee and hence entered the <a href="http://www.fox-obel.com/about-us">Fox & Obel </a>food market. It was the most fantastic food market I have seen till date. We took a large coffee and shared it and got fresh fruit tart packed and started on our way again. </div>
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We loved the Millennium park esp. the Bean a sculpture made by Anish Kapoor. It is fascinating to look at. It looks like a drop of mercury.<br>
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Namita Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09307163842243844890noreply@blogger.com0