Another Legendary Weekend :)

The party was planned, the grills were ready, the meat was about to be bought; it was all planned out when all of a sudden there was a storm predicted for the evening.If it were in India, I would have of course switched the channel when the weather report would have started but out here that wouldn't be the case.Even the clouds seemed to obey the weather report and started darkening. It was 3:30 PM and the party had to be called off.It was 5:00 PM and the weather cleared all of sudden.The forecasts go wrong here too :P. So the party was hurriedly fixed up albeit without those who wouldn't be reading their mails again would miss it.

BArbequing at the lakeside

I went with Alwin and Andrea to the mart to get the necessary stuff and an authentic Bavarian Shopping experience.Even the coal comes packaged for barbeque here!So all setup we headed to the lake, setup the grill, got everyone ready, discussed things about the guy who came from the same Romanian village that dracula did and all kinds of blah..with a dose of grilled meat and drinks to drink.Two students who hadn't read their earlier mails (fortunately!) turned up and well..! An advisory to all who go swimming or diving in frozen lakes, take a roap with you 'coz once upon a time a couple of swimmers did go and were lost inside, normally you would just blow the bubbles and see where they head, but with the ceiling packed with ice you have no option but to....so be careful...That was the middle of the week.


The next night I left for Werfen and Salzburg where the Biggest system of Ice Caves in the World and the life of Mozart awaited us respectively.The German trail at Munich for Salzburg was canceled and we had to board the Austrian Express with a DB pass and surprisingly no-one noticed.The Nordic woman sitting with me again had an Indian connection;she had seen 'Little India' in Singapore.Its surprising how everything somehow connects to India here and even Goa.

From the top of the Cable Car at the largest network of Ice Caves in the world

So we finally reached Salzburg, shopped a bit and reached Werfen which is an amazingly beautiful town with the Austrian Snowy Alps,' Gaei ' and deers, flowers with houses or atleast it looks like that, castles on the horizon and our journey to the top of the Alps where the Ice caves with all the stalactites and stalagmites, Elephant like structures with the ashes of the guy who discovered them , chilly high pressure winds blowing us away, magnesium ribbons to illuminate the interiors and Govinda burning his pant at the -10 degree Celsius or so temperature inside the caves will remain legendary! That sure was an experience..

We returned from Werfen only to realize that the optimal solution would mean we skip Salzburg night to spend time at the Munich station so that we could be early next morning to the Disney castle.So our second sleepless night at the Munich station with the blabber king from Pakistan and some more cute people, along with a walk on the street which would put Amsterdam to shame helped us stay awake till we took the train to our next destination

Bridge et Fall

The less I say about this place where Michael Jackson spent most of his time the better.However a few points to note:

1. The Japanese love this place and are have inbuilt GPS systems which aids them reach this place without looking at any map or sign.They have mastered the art of digital photography in positions we would refer to Yoga.
2. No one knows why king Ludwig and his doctor were found dead just 172 days after this Disney castle.It wasn't even completed and the Servants quarters here are too awesome for modern day Kings.
3. One of the many enlightening international conversations we overhead :P
   

Joy(An American lady)-My name is Joy.
Prachi (An Indian girl)-Did you know that Joy means happiness in Hindi?
Joy(spitting chewing gum)-Oh..that's nice !
Prachi- Gum means sadness.....

Next we headed back to Munich where the Deutsche Museum-The worlds largest Science and Technology Museum made us feel tiny and amazed at everything from Nanotech devices that could play football, to the Inside of Space Shuttles to the Sundials and Pianos which almost led to another WW.Dachau was next and we made a bus tour of the concentration camp with a guy holding a knife about to....err I guess he was trying to open the ventilator coz his doggy was feeling stuffy :)

Dum Dum

Allianz Arena, Food, food and time to board for our next destination:Lindau.The plan was to catch sleep at the Lindau station.We reached at midnight and for the first time this station had to close down at midnight.What followed was a nightful of experience roaming on the streets, the seafront bordering Swiss,Austria and Germany on Lake constance providing the perfect backgroud for drunk guys and girls trying to think we were the Loch Ness monster and monsteresses and ofcourse for the set of decent guys et gals who almost ran over us, shocked, awed, made us sleep in the Deutsche Post Office, PDA's that were passe by now and in general A Night to remember.That made three sleeplesss nights for me.Amazing Euro Trip :)

Lindau :)

Lindau is an amzingly beautiful Island and we experienced the Sea and Europe at its best with its set of Ducks, Swans and Lions. Alligators and fishes or poodles and dragons-They all looked same to me in the end, I had seen sooooo...much.

As Pure White as a ....(I did offer my donut, but she wanted a pizza..ofcourse its more than just a birdie :) )

On my way back I was almost fined for having my shoes resting on the seats, simple strategy of not understanding worked and I didn't have to attempt more advanced acting skills like getting hysterical and making monkey grunts and scratches.

....Sing

Finally I was home :) .The sign above is almost home. I love you :)

Another weekend, another week-Time just flies by with or without you...

Chao

Pratik Mandrekar

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