Student Exchange to Europe- Journey of a Lifetime- Part 2!
This is the second of a three-part series covering my student exchange journey to Europe in my MBA at IIM Calcutta. Here is Part 1
So after exploring three countries in our previous trip, it was time to explore three more with the last being Germany where we planned to attend Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest ‘beer festival’.
Trip 3: The Explorers- Prague, Budapest and Munich
So we started with Prague (Praha) on this trip and were well advised to be aware of ‘innovative’ tourist scams and heavy pickpocketing around famous tourist places. We had booked an Airbnb and were met with a great Pakistani fellow called Chand. He welcomed us warmly, offered us beer and narrated his tales about his struggles, shift from Pakistan and experiences in Prague (some looked made up though :p) but were fun to hear. We visited the famed Prague Castle which was huge and beautiful. We also took the Walking Tour of Prague which was a great way to soak in the history and culture of the place and really informed us so much about Prague.
Things missed out on: Kutna Hora and Lennon Wall
Our next stop was Budapest known as the ‘City of Baths’ which is definitely amongst the cheapest parts of Europe with regard to food, accommodation and parties! It is here that for the first time in Europe we could eat a good three course Hungarian meal paired with wine at a fancy restaurant that even fit our budget :p. Visited the famed castles but felt that we missed out on a lot of good experiences here such as the Thermal Baths (The Szechenyi Bath has 18 natural pools with healing qualities) and the possibility to Skydive due to a packed booking calendar (blessing for the best was yet to come!). Again took the walking tour here to explore the historic Castle Hill, Chain Bridge, and Parliament Building with its amazing architecture and Crown Jewels.
Things missed out on: Bath Parties (only Saturdays argh!), Thermal Baths
Our last stop on this trip was to the eagerly awaited Oktoberfest!! We especially went to Munich for it and planned to explore Germany later if we got time. The accommodation was jam-packed everywhere and a decent place tough to find. With an estimated six million visitors a year in just over two weeks to the fest, this was something inevitable. Thankfully Stoke Travels came as our savior. It offered a night’s stay in sleeping tents, dinner, unlimited beer and sangria and breakfast the morning after in 60EUR! Though we did realize that spending the night in the tent with freezing cold and rain was a terrible idea and our body was almost frozen till the morning :p
Oktoberfest was a delightful experience. It is like one of that big Indian melas with lights, music, laughter and merry making but much cleaner and well organized. There are around 14 big tents able to fit between 5,000–11,000 people (space is hard to find let alone finding a table!) with different ambiance in each of them. We visited 3–4 tents with each of them more awesome than the other and jampacked! Watching people from different nationalities sing German songs even if they had heard it for the first time, drink the fantastic Oktoberfest beer (1 liter beer mugs in a few minutes) and rejoice with each other was such a heartwarming and ecstatic experience. Reflecting on the experience, I realized it was one place where there was no religion, culture, class, rich or poor but only happiness and enjoyment. Took the topsy-turvy ride here which was superb especially after our own tipsy turviness :p
Trip 4: The Best Organized One- South France, Austria and Berlin
Well, so we went to Germany again! Although it is a good country I feel that the public transport especially the train sucks big time here with all their delays. The best part though is the McD here which serves McVeggie (impossible to find in France) :p We spent two days in Berlin but our schedule went haywire with rough weather and heavy rains. Visited the Berlin Wall and experienced the horrors of the Jewish-Nazi War at the Topography of Terror. Some of the stories on separation, injustice and the sheer ruthlessness of it all were especially grim and heartbreaking. Also visited Checkpoint Charlie the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin.
Things missed out on: Reichstag Dome Visit (Once by weather and second by Mr Singh’s laziness :p)
Our next stop was at Austria which is again a very scenic lovely small place. Although there were lush meadows and snow-capped mountains in the background the place did not feel so cold. Visited the Hohensalzburg Castle at night, one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. Also took the Nordette Alps cable ride here and got a bird’s eye view of Innsbruck (splendid to say the least and has been my FB profile pic ever since :p).
Explored the town and some of the cottages were extremely beautiful in a chocolate brown color complemented with colorful flowers. Finished it off with Lindau and visited the harbor which has the famed Bavarian Lion Statue and a stone lighthouse with lake and mountain views.
Things missed out on: Werfen Ice Caves and Opera at Vienna
The last leg and the best part of our trip was exploring South France. Visited Nice, Monaco, Eze, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, Cannes, St Raphael, Antibes and Marseille
The beauty of this leg was that you could experience all of it in one trip. The Amazing beaches in Nice, the royalty and luxury living in Monaco, the legacy of the famed film festivals in Cannes, the beautiful and grand homes in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat (second place to have a retirement home indeed!), the southern-most tip in France, the ports and harbours in St Raphael and the grand French Riviera. We also had a dip at one of the beaches here.
Our return journey to Bordeaux, however, was tumultuous and unexpected. As we reached the train station at Marseille we saw it shut with huge crowds waiting outside and a heavily secured station. On enquiring came to know that a knife attack had taken place a couple of hours back just outside the station. An illegal immigrant had stabbed two women and had been shot dead by the soldiers who were part of Operation Sentinelle. It was scary, to say the least and we waited for a couple of hours outside the station. Post reopening of the station we had to face tough times as our train was canceled for the day and we spent the night in one of the stationary TGV’s (trains in France but all necessary support provided by the rail staff). Phew, a trip to certainly remember this one!
Things missed out on: Nothing but rather explored the unexplored!
If you enjoyed reading the piece, don’t forget to hit the ‘Clap’ button on the left :). The final trilogy to the travel epilogue will be out soon where I explore Italy, Spain and Portugal!
