11th Nov: We take off for our last lap [or so I thought], it was the biggest of ‘em all…just like they keep the best for the finals. This particular trip taught us more in planning than 1387193 lessons in the same had even come close to. We also came to know the actual meaning and the relevance of the term itiniery which is a word highly abused by all…u had to see ours…n then you would agree with me….whole heartedly and sympathetically. 15 days with pin point timelines and around 7 countries to be covered…..from the Mediterranean beauty to the Scandinavian beauties…aha wata plan….after all we were pursuin an Mba, we woudnt dare let the educational system of India down like this.
We leave Marseille on the 11th and comfortably take our plush seats. After switching trains at Lyon en route to Geneva and spending time switching seats for an hour or two everything is and goes as per planned which we were not quite used to….something’s gotta give way…damn it, it’s a Euro-Trip and we were obliged. Such spectacular scenes pass by that we were more than certain that Switzerland couldn’t be far off now thanks to the image we carried in our minds thanks to Mr. Yash Chopra and his brethren. The arrival time passes by and we haven’t reached our destination of Geneva. Well either the train’s late which is next to impossible [as impossible as trains are on time in India] or we are in for something unplanned for. The latter sounds better…only in a story though. After much deliberation of nonsense amongst us we found out that we were sitting in the wrong compartment and the train had split in two in midway at one of the stations. We were still very much in France and had mistaken its beauty for Swiss lands. We got off at the next station and somehow managed to reach Geneva at the earliest. Oh wata start to the final course….we were oozing of confidence….lol….wateva.
We obviously were delighted at being in Swiss land mainly for two important reasons: firstly, we were in SWITZERLAND!!! And secondly we had reached there without visas and free of cost which was a point of achievement especially for Jajoo. As we could not betray our past we decided again to travel without buying tickets. We strongly advocate that travel must be made free to Man…one n ALL!!!....and we practice this religiously. We roamed the whole of Switzerland professing this concept and lived the Swiss dream munching on Swiss dark chocolate which btw we had to buy as shoplifting comes with a high fine package along with it. We crossed right through the country and finally reached Innsbruck in the middle of the night to chance upon our first meal at Burger King and to Jajoo delight a yum V-E-G-etarian burger on the menu…officially. To add bring in some amount of craziness we decided to switch plans and leave for Vienna the same night as we were way too lazy and tired to find a place to crash.
Vienna : chilly winds greeted us to the land of Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart and the seat of Western Classical music in the world. We saw the infamous Opera and other popular tourist sites after which as fate would have it we got divided in two groups of two each losing our way. Jajoo and myself in one and Tapan and STD aka Sashi in the other. Both of us decided that we just had to visit the United Nations headquarters at the UN Centre in Vienna. There are only 4 UN headquarters in the world and we were lucky enough to be too close to one of them to ignore it. We again made a risky trip via multiple trams, trains and subways to finally reach the tall and commanding structures. This is where we met our 4th or 5th angel…am losing count now…As the timings for tours and visits had just gotten over we got into the Bollywood acting mode and gave a Filmfare winning performance with lines such as “We have come all the way from India just for this” and other such preposterous and horrendous stuff. We finally got the best deal, not only did we get to enter the area but also a free guide just for the two us…I mean next stop’s gotta be Mumbai for both of us. The tour was quite nice and we felt qite important for no obvious reason as such apart from clicking away millions of snaps amidst the flags of the member-nations of UN. Luckily we met the other two at the station and made our trip to Salzburg.
Salzburg: Reaching in the middle of the night we somehow managed to find our hostel and the next morning made our way to certain gardens parks and museums in the light shower. This is was the land of Sound of Music and scenic landscapes and this is where we met an Indian lady selling interesting flavored and creamish alcoholic drinks. We then made our way to Hangar 7, a display section for Red Bull the energy drink manufacturers. That’s all we knew and we headed out again via free transport mediums. We reached the last bus stop but coudnt find the Hangar. We were stuck in the middle of a highway with rain and wind blowing on our faces. Finally after a stopover at McD we decided to carry on our search and finally chanced upon the place. The Hangar 7 was tastefully done showcasing everything Red Bull was associated with especially the sports and its sponsorships. Various models of planes, bikes and other automotive works were exhibited. The ride back was known this time around…thankfully so.
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