Day 0, Terminal
The biggest let down was the avg age figure of the people in our tour which was nearing 60 + ( no exaggerations ) and seemingly i'll be the only factor which will be countering the avg figure. Damn , am the only youngster ( Till now ) !! But, there are still arnd 20 more people joining from Mumbai and its-bits from other places, so lets hope the figure comes down considerably.
Ok, coming back to the boarding, there were whole lot of movies to watch but as it goes, its never good to be too much updated. I had seen almost all the movies which were on their playlist and i didn't have that much dominance over my sleep so just gulped down the bfast and fought for every inch of space i could manage from every side possibly i could make on the seat to sleep comfortably.
After appreciable amounts of rolling, reached Doha's airport and the first thing which could hardly be missed was whole lot of laptops people were using. No need, to say the next line really ? Without any delays, opened the Mac and wala.. Free net :-) Its the best possible thing which could really tranqulize the situation a bit (6 hours, damn). And to my surprise, most of the people here speak hindi on the airport. The airport is a bit empty, (maybe i just came from a VERY crowdy Delhi airport) t. But its awesome ! No questions about it. Mac's battery is in the red region but i wont charge it any further though as the charging points are not at a very desired places. Enough for the 7 hr journey till now.
This has just started boys !!
ROMA
Bounjur no ( Good morning ), Well this is the first word i heard over the phone at 6am ( oh god ). This is a wake up call in the hotels for the tour people. After having to wait for an hour more at the Roma airporte for our delayed luggage, we reached the hotels at around 9ish. The first night in the hotel just went by eating then falling ( on bed ). Morning as i said, started at a time with the feel which i had long forgotten ( or did i experience it ever ;-) ).
First day , First morning, Ouch !
Swallowing breakfast with hopes and guess work ( bad ones mostly ), managed to get myself some really pathetic tea. But after some hit and trys with the wending machine, got a nice hot chocolate with croissant finally. The first place we started was with 'The Colosseum'.
The Amphitheatrum Flavium or in simple words where Gladiators ( The movie one ) fought. There are actually no words to describe the Colosseum and its architecture. Despite of so many shambles and holes ( lead was taken out ), the once wonder of the world stuns you really. But the tour people didn't take us inside, which i really wanted to, so all the pics are from outside but i tell you what, pics from outside are enough to just say the word "wow". And never in my life i have experienced such kind of weather like here in Roma ( almost everywhere in europe ), it starts to rain with a flash and stops the minute you decide to dig into your pockets to buy an umbrella.
After roaming around a bit, we headed to CLEMENS XII PONT MAX.
A fountain, or rather a very famous fountain, it possess all the grandeur and art to bolster its importance. Its somewhere in the middle of an alley, where i had some awesome Lasagna ( i just can still conjure the taste on mu buds ). It was something which i never had anywhere, not even close. There were some jerseys as well, though all of all italian clubs but one player's who's fame finds it way in the Roma's alley also is C.Ronaldo. Amazing he has achieved at the age of 23. But the jerseys available here were no better than the ones our palika has. As for that, Roma ain't that rich city but the style, fashion and attitude people carry is something you wont miss out.
Then we zoomed around in the city for sometime before going to the most awaited place ( or state ? )
Yes the Vatican. St. Peters Basilica was ( i wont say the finest i've seen, even india has many work of arts ) simply huge and carved to finesse. I know the word 'huge' injects a slight contradiction for a place like Vatican. But after you see the Basilica, you'll understand the unsuited word i used. I wont be able to write much about it because you'll end up reading lots and lots of awesome's and stunning's for the work of arts inside it from Michael Angelo to some other really big names. The pics got a bit messy inside ( due to i don't know ), sorry for that. I took a panoramic view of the outside of the Cathedral, hope i'll be able to edit it nicely. Here i had some weird pizza which i want to forget really. Most of the restaurants or shops you go in, i don't need to say it but there's a BIG BIG language problem ( Wish the subtitles worked in real life ). Your dexterity will help help the way out or your hand actions might actually end up punned. People who have seen Russell Peters and seen his interpretation of what kind of hand actions people in Italy say for the word Fuck, ( Goto to Youtube and search for Russell Peters Italy ) you'll get the drift of it :-) .
Roaming around for 2 hrs there, we finally started moving towards the Motor way ( for high ways ) through an drop-dead country side. And finally managed to charge my Mac ( Plug is somewhat a prob ) and empty the 120 photos i clicked today. The place called is Arezzo. Its in some far far away land with wine farming everywhere. Its a small town yet very picturesque.
Rest, The story continues tomorrow. I wonder how many photos i'll click in the rest of the 13 days. Damn.. !!
Day 2. Ferenze ( Florence ) & Pisa
Ferenze
After, we headed to Pisa for the very famous, Leaning tower. There is very peculiar but interesting thing which guide pointed out ( not a fact ) that the place near Leaning Tower, there is a place where children were Baptized, then there is a church next to it for the child when he grows old. Then the Leaning Tower itself which depicts old age and just behind the Leaning Tower, there's a grave yard which depicts the end of life, i.e. death. Quite interesting theory i must say and was amazed myself to see all the things lined up in such a astonishing hierarchy. One thing also again which you wont miss is the typical souvenir shops have Bangladeshi owners and lots and lots of Blacks who were quite friendly in their typical Yo Brother style ( I like it honestly ). All these are illegal immigrants. There's a huge lawn besides Leaning tower where people were playing football and nothing to say really but i had a few kicks there as well :-) .
Then we headed to PONDOA near Venice and finally got net for an hour in the hotel, and thank god receptionist spoke english so it didn't take long to get the things working on Mac.
Venice
Aqua ( something ) it is called and among the most beautiful places in the world. There are no cars scooters allowed in the city. Just boats ! So we went by a boat to the island. Here we got to see The Morano Glass Factory where glass were actually blown up and given different shapes. Here's a video .
Things not be missed in Venice, the world's only building which is a Church as well as a Mosque.
There are lot of pigeons ( real fat ones ) which jump onto you if you feed them with corns. This was real fun i tell you !
It was so funny, old ladies first came sportingly to feed and then started running in different directions when pigeons sat on their heads. And some of the ladies in our group are actually spending like hell, to such an extent really that they forgot and kept on converting everything they bought with a multiplying factor of 6 instead of 65 ( thats gonna hurt real bad ). They bought telling everyone that they got such a good leather purse for 180 Euro's and when something hit them that everybody's awing to what they bought, they themselves joined the rest :-). Europe, everywhere is too much expensive, whether you go to buy something from a thele wala type shop or a proper store.
This is the very famous Bridge of Sighs which some king got it made for killing people by cutting their heads, Guillotine is the name. Interesting really !
Traveling another 500 kms to Innsbruck sounds scarier than what it was actually. Time passed away quite smoothly watching Bheja fry ( movie ) and then people went to the mic and spoke something which they wanted to share. And for the avg age thing i mentioned, it was a mistake bcuz those were the people who were on the 15 day trip. In our group, people belong from every part of the India really. Some cheap ass started dividing themselves in groups, but Maharastrians and Northies were jelling well. People from south or with big bank accounts ignored others most of the times , even if you sit on the same dinner table.
[ From here, am writing after the whole trip. Didnt get time :( ]
Austria, a German speaking country was a chilly one. Again the 6 o clock wake up call and gulping down breakfast had become a routine. We headed st. to the Swarovski Crystal Factory which has a famous entrance of a grass face with a water fall tongue.
Swarovski is an international brand of crystal jewelry and show pieces, i guess female part of the section knows more about it. It had a 10 min walk in show as well, sort of a museum i can call it. Which had the worlds biggest crystal right in the center. It had a Maharana Pratap's horse Chetak bedecked with lots n lots of crytals, n damn very expensive ones. After the 15 min tour indside, you end up in hell aka heaven for women. Yes, the last thing is the shop where females go crazy. Trust me on this. But not to take nething away from them, the things are simply awesome in the store.
The Crystal Studded Chetak
After a guiding city tour of Innsbruck, we went through Zurich, stopping at the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen. The largest waterfall in Europe !
Sounds good but the good part is just in the sound. It wasn't that impressive honestly having seen the very famous Kempty falls here in india. All we did was, clicked pics, duh and had some very expensive yet pathetic tea.
Arriving at Lucerne in Switzerland on the 6th day, we were all set for Mt. Titlis. Hell ya we were. This was the last time for the skiers this season to really rub off some skills on the board. Mt. titlis in Swiss Alps is at a height of 10,000 ft. There was a heavy snow fall in the morning the time we started to ascend in rotating cable car up the mountain. The moment we reached up, people who havnt had any experience in snow started jumping like kids. The snow was so white, that i bet you havn't seen such bright white in your life. I couldn't keep my eyes open due to glaring snow. We could hardly see anything after 15ft and it was impossible to make out the edge of the cliff, thats why the whole mt. titlis view of the alps was washed out. And when we talk about Switzerland, only 3 things strike our brains, Chocolates ( which i had the luxury to eat ), Watches ( which my mom dad availed ) and swiss bank ( which our ministers are availing ). Oh ya, our country's black money is all up there.
Before heading to THE place, we stopped in Lucerne city for the famous (but not known to many, which includED me ) The Saddest monument in the world. The Lion monument of Lucerne. It commemorates the 800 swiss soldiers who were massacerd in the French revolution in 1792. It was indeed sad i tell u. A dying lion with a spear across its belly. uuhh.. Though people there , specially ladies mind you, had all the attention on the tulips just beside the monument. Then we went to shop ( THE mentioned before ) which has the world record of selling wrist watches and not just any watches, the best of the best you'll get here. Bucherers ! n pls, don't pronounce it BUCHers. say with the german style with lot of stress on CH and say it as Bukerers. You name it, and they have it. Every world class brand in that shop, the thing which was really a shell shocker, the price tags ! Rado's seemingly were looking cheap in-front other never heard brands. Most of all, some Leonardo Da vinci ( IWC ) collection sort of desk which had the most expensive watch of the store ( from the ones i saw ). It was worth 50 lakhs . Damn.. !! You need to earn a fortune really to wear something thats costing the earth and that which does nothing but shows only time. My mum dad bought watches for themselves but certainly i cudn't even think of buying any. The only thing i bought from that place were chocolates. I tell you, i don't have any words to describe the taste of those chocolats.
Next stop while going to Chamonix, we drove through Geneva. Palais des Nations - U.N building was the place to visit in Geneva which had the famous 3 legged chair ( huge ) .
Reaching Mont Blanc ranges, we stayed back in Chamonix and roamed around around in the city.
Weird dogs we saw in Chamonix
Shopped a bit there in the market, and there you get to see myriad of dog breeds, some which you wudn't have even heard of. We went to casino in the evening where we just lost lost and only lost. Casino wasn't my thing really, but just had to curiosity to play on the slot machines and wanted to listen to clanking noises of the coins dropping, well this sound you only listen when you win something.
The next day was a long long drive to Paris, City of Lights ! We stayed in the periphery of Paris, but in the eve we went to the place where we can get the full Eiffel tower in our camera lens ( don't no the name to be honest ). Its just awesome to see the lighting effects of Eiffel Tower which start from 2100 hrs and goes on hourly till 0000.
We were then taken to a sort of city tour to Champs-Elysees, the most expensive and one of the hottest streets in the world. ( n where the famous Lido show is as well ). Throughout europe, most of cities are full of many obelisks around the city. In Paris also, there is an Egyptian Obelisk in Place de la Concorde, one of the major squares in Paris.
We also got to see, just see ok, the famous Louvre Glass pyramid outside the VERY famous Louvre museum.
We wanted to go but on tues it was closed. In paris, not infact in just paris, in total europe, you get to see sittings outside the restaurants which is supposed to be a very inn thing these days. So i guess, dhaba's on the delhi chandigarh highway are totally dominating the pizza huts and mcdonalds aye in respect to european style :-) Evening is the time to roam around paris really when its all dazzling with lights. And , to add to the list of things to see in Paris, there's yet another Statue of Liberty which was gifted to Paris by the creators of the original Statue of Liberty. Yes ! there are more than 1, and that too the count is 7 to be precise. ( this number can be wrong ). Entering into Paris is honestly a revelation from the countries like Austria and Switzerland. Revelation in the sense, the people, place is obv which obviously wont go unnoticed.
The next morning, we headed to the Eiffel Tower ( to actually touch it ). n hell its huge honestly. Photos don't really encapsulate the magnitude of the steel structure. We were taken to 3rd level which had some shops and a cafe. The view from the top is awesome really of the whole city. We werent suppose to go the 2nd level but the height of that thing really pushes you to take a bold step to climb 10 stories and boy that effort is worth it. The view gets even better on the 2nd level. It takes time to catch your breath again but the view just emollients the pain.
ROMA
Bounjur no ( Good morning ), Well this is the first word i heard over the phone at 6am ( oh god ). This is a wake up call in the hotels for the tour people. After having to wait for an hour more at the Roma airporte for our delayed luggage, we reached the hotels at around 9ish. The first night in the hotel just went by eating then falling ( on bed ). Morning as i said, started at a time with the feel which i had long forgotten ( or did i experience it ever ;-) ).
First day , First morning, Ouch !
Swallowing breakfast with hopes and guess work ( bad ones mostly ), managed to get myself some really pathetic tea. But after some hit and trys with the wending machine, got a nice hot chocolate with croissant finally. The first place we started was with 'The Colosseum'.
The Amphitheatrum Flavium or in simple words where Gladiators ( The movie one ) fought. There are actually no words to describe the Colosseum and its architecture. Despite of so many shambles and holes ( lead was taken out ), the once wonder of the world stuns you really. But the tour people didn't take us inside, which i really wanted to, so all the pics are from outside but i tell you what, pics from outside are enough to just say the word "wow". And never in my life i have experienced such kind of weather like here in Roma ( almost everywhere in europe ), it starts to rain with a flash and stops the minute you decide to dig into your pockets to buy an umbrella.
After roaming around a bit, we headed to CLEMENS XII PONT MAX.
A fountain, or rather a very famous fountain, it possess all the grandeur and art to bolster its importance. Its somewhere in the middle of an alley, where i had some awesome Lasagna ( i just can still conjure the taste on mu buds ). It was something which i never had anywhere, not even close. There were some jerseys as well, though all of all italian clubs but one player's who's fame finds it way in the Roma's alley also is C.Ronaldo. Amazing he has achieved at the age of 23. But the jerseys available here were no better than the ones our palika has. As for that, Roma ain't that rich city but the style, fashion and attitude people carry is something you wont miss out.
Then we zoomed around in the city for sometime before going to the most awaited place ( or state ? )
Yes the Vatican. St. Peters Basilica was ( i wont say the finest i've seen, even india has many work of arts ) simply huge and carved to finesse. I know the word 'huge' injects a slight contradiction for a place like Vatican. But after you see the Basilica, you'll understand the unsuited word i used. I wont be able to write much about it because you'll end up reading lots and lots of awesome's and stunning's for the work of arts inside it from Michael Angelo to some other really big names. The pics got a bit messy inside ( due to i don't know ), sorry for that. I took a panoramic view of the outside of the Cathedral, hope i'll be able to edit it nicely. Here i had some weird pizza which i want to forget really. Most of the restaurants or shops you go in, i don't need to say it but there's a BIG BIG language problem ( Wish the subtitles worked in real life ). Your dexterity will help help the way out or your hand actions might actually end up punned. People who have seen Russell Peters and seen his interpretation of what kind of hand actions people in Italy say for the word Fuck, ( Goto to Youtube and search for Russell Peters Italy ) you'll get the drift of it :-) .
Roaming around for 2 hrs there, we finally started moving towards the Motor way ( for high ways ) through an drop-dead country side. And finally managed to charge my Mac ( Plug is somewhat a prob ) and empty the 120 photos i clicked today. The place called is Arezzo. Its in some far far away land with wine farming everywhere. Its a small town yet very picturesque.
Rest, The story continues tomorrow. I wonder how many photos i'll click in the rest of the 13 days. Damn.. !!
Day 2. Ferenze ( Florence ) & Pisa
Ferenze
After, we headed to Pisa for the very famous, Leaning tower. There is very peculiar but interesting thing which guide pointed out ( not a fact ) that the place near Leaning Tower, there is a place where children were Baptized, then there is a church next to it for the child when he grows old. Then the Leaning Tower itself which depicts old age and just behind the Leaning Tower, there's a grave yard which depicts the end of life, i.e. death. Quite interesting theory i must say and was amazed myself to see all the things lined up in such a astonishing hierarchy. One thing also again which you wont miss is the typical souvenir shops have Bangladeshi owners and lots and lots of Blacks who were quite friendly in their typical Yo Brother style ( I like it honestly ). All these are illegal immigrants. There's a huge lawn besides Leaning tower where people were playing football and nothing to say really but i had a few kicks there as well :-) .
Then we headed to PONDOA near Venice and finally got net for an hour in the hotel, and thank god receptionist spoke english so it didn't take long to get the things working on Mac.
Venice
Aqua ( something ) it is called and among the most beautiful places in the world. There are no cars scooters allowed in the city. Just boats ! So we went by a boat to the island. Here we got to see The Morano Glass Factory where glass were actually blown up and given different shapes. Here's a video .
Things not be missed in Venice, the world's only building which is a Church as well as a Mosque.
There are lot of pigeons ( real fat ones ) which jump onto you if you feed them with corns. This was real fun i tell you !
It was so funny, old ladies first came sportingly to feed and then started running in different directions when pigeons sat on their heads. And some of the ladies in our group are actually spending like hell, to such an extent really that they forgot and kept on converting everything they bought with a multiplying factor of 6 instead of 65 ( thats gonna hurt real bad ). They bought telling everyone that they got such a good leather purse for 180 Euro's and when something hit them that everybody's awing to what they bought, they themselves joined the rest :-). Europe, everywhere is too much expensive, whether you go to buy something from a thele wala type shop or a proper store.
This is the very famous Bridge of Sighs which some king got it made for killing people by cutting their heads, Guillotine is the name. Interesting really !
Traveling another 500 kms to Innsbruck sounds scarier than what it was actually. Time passed away quite smoothly watching Bheja fry ( movie ) and then people went to the mic and spoke something which they wanted to share. And for the avg age thing i mentioned, it was a mistake bcuz those were the people who were on the 15 day trip. In our group, people belong from every part of the India really. Some cheap ass started dividing themselves in groups, but Maharastrians and Northies were jelling well. People from south or with big bank accounts ignored others most of the times , even if you sit on the same dinner table.
[ From here, am writing after the whole trip. Didnt get time :( ]
Austria, a German speaking country was a chilly one. Again the 6 o clock wake up call and gulping down breakfast had become a routine. We headed st. to the Swarovski Crystal Factory which has a famous entrance of a grass face with a water fall tongue.
Swarovski is an international brand of crystal jewelry and show pieces, i guess female part of the section knows more about it. It had a 10 min walk in show as well, sort of a museum i can call it. Which had the worlds biggest crystal right in the center. It had a Maharana Pratap's horse Chetak bedecked with lots n lots of crytals, n damn very expensive ones. After the 15 min tour indside, you end up in hell aka heaven for women. Yes, the last thing is the shop where females go crazy. Trust me on this. But not to take nething away from them, the things are simply awesome in the store.
The Crystal Studded Chetak
Sounds good but the good part is just in the sound. It wasn't that impressive honestly having seen the very famous Kempty falls here in india. All we did was, clicked pics, duh and had some very expensive yet pathetic tea.
Arriving at Lucerne in Switzerland on the 6th day, we were all set for Mt. Titlis. Hell ya we were. This was the last time for the skiers this season to really rub off some skills on the board. Mt. titlis in Swiss Alps is at a height of 10,000 ft. There was a heavy snow fall in the morning the time we started to ascend in rotating cable car up the mountain. The moment we reached up, people who havnt had any experience in snow started jumping like kids. The snow was so white, that i bet you havn't seen such bright white in your life. I couldn't keep my eyes open due to glaring snow. We could hardly see anything after 15ft and it was impossible to make out the edge of the cliff, thats why the whole mt. titlis view of the alps was washed out. And when we talk about Switzerland, only 3 things strike our brains, Chocolates ( which i had the luxury to eat ), Watches ( which my mom dad availed ) and swiss bank ( which our ministers are availing ). Oh ya, our country's black money is all up there.
Before heading to THE place, we stopped in Lucerne city for the famous (but not known to many, which includED me ) The Saddest monument in the world. The Lion monument of Lucerne. It commemorates the 800 swiss soldiers who were massacerd in the French revolution in 1792. It was indeed sad i tell u. A dying lion with a spear across its belly. uuhh.. Though people there , specially ladies mind you, had all the attention on the tulips just beside the monument. Then we went to shop ( THE mentioned before ) which has the world record of selling wrist watches and not just any watches, the best of the best you'll get here. Bucherers ! n pls, don't pronounce it BUCHers. say with the german style with lot of stress on CH and say it as Bukerers. You name it, and they have it. Every world class brand in that shop, the thing which was really a shell shocker, the price tags ! Rado's seemingly were looking cheap in-front other never heard brands. Most of all, some Leonardo Da vinci ( IWC ) collection sort of desk which had the most expensive watch of the store ( from the ones i saw ). It was worth 50 lakhs . Damn.. !! You need to earn a fortune really to wear something thats costing the earth and that which does nothing but shows only time. My mum dad bought watches for themselves but certainly i cudn't even think of buying any. The only thing i bought from that place were chocolates. I tell you, i don't have any words to describe the taste of those chocolats.
Next stop while going to Chamonix, we drove through Geneva. Palais des Nations - U.N building was the place to visit in Geneva which had the famous 3 legged chair ( huge ) .
Reaching Mont Blanc ranges, we stayed back in Chamonix and roamed around around in the city.
Weird dogs we saw in Chamonix
The next day was a long long drive to Paris, City of Lights ! We stayed in the periphery of Paris, but in the eve we went to the place where we can get the full Eiffel tower in our camera lens ( don't no the name to be honest ). Its just awesome to see the lighting effects of Eiffel Tower which start from 2100 hrs and goes on hourly till 0000.
We were then taken to a sort of city tour to Champs-Elysees, the most expensive and one of the hottest streets in the world. ( n where the famous Lido show is as well ). Throughout europe, most of cities are full of many obelisks around the city. In Paris also, there is an Egyptian Obelisk in Place de la Concorde, one of the major squares in Paris.
We also got to see, just see ok, the famous Louvre Glass pyramid outside the VERY famous Louvre museum.
We wanted to go but on tues it was closed. In paris, not infact in just paris, in total europe, you get to see sittings outside the restaurants which is supposed to be a very inn thing these days. So i guess, dhaba's on the delhi chandigarh highway are totally dominating the pizza huts and mcdonalds aye in respect to european style :-) Evening is the time to roam around paris really when its all dazzling with lights. And , to add to the list of things to see in Paris, there's yet another Statue of Liberty which was gifted to Paris by the creators of the original Statue of Liberty. Yes ! there are more than 1, and that too the count is 7 to be precise. ( this number can be wrong ). Entering into Paris is honestly a revelation from the countries like Austria and Switzerland. Revelation in the sense, the people, place is obv which obviously wont go unnoticed.
The next morning, we headed to the Eiffel Tower ( to actually touch it ). n hell its huge honestly. Photos don't really encapsulate the magnitude of the steel structure. We were taken to 3rd level which had some shops and a cafe. The view from the top is awesome really of the whole city. We werent suppose to go the 2nd level but the height of that thing really pushes you to take a bold step to climb 10 stories and boy that effort is worth it. The view gets even better on the 2nd level. It takes time to catch your breath again but the view just emollients the pain.
Another thing which i came back to write it here is that, driving sense ( blatantly ) is the most admirable part of european living. But when you come to france, specially paris, you tend to notice the difference in the driving style. Its like going from Chandigarh to Patiala ( or maybe Rajpura ) . Its that big diff i meant to say. Specifically the 2 wheelers in Paris drive in an absurdly manner.
Staying 2 days in Paris , we set for the last destination. yes London. To cross the english channel, we first headed to port Calais which connects England from Dover. There is an underground tunnel in which trains go and the whole bus goes inside the train( damn ). The journey lasted 35 min or so in the tunnel before we entered England.
This is the Train for the English Channel
Staying 2 days in Paris , we set for the last destination. yes London. To cross the english channel, we first headed to port Calais which connects England from Dover. There is an underground tunnel in which trains go and the whole bus goes inside the train( damn ). The journey lasted 35 min or so in the tunnel before we entered England.
This is the Train for the English Channel
England ( with the tour) was a speedy jaunt where we covered most of the sight seeing places in a scuttling fashion. London bridge , Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and few more, all done seen in 3 hrs.
Outside Buckingham Palace
This sort of rushy sight seeing scooped out the excitement for the places which i had. But anyways, i wasn't disappointed as we had another 3 days to measure every inch of carpet in london ;-) The best part of first day in london was the hotel in Wembley. The first time i saw the hotel's place ( wembley ) i was delighted to know that the place would be near the New Wembley stadium. And when we headed towards out hotel, from extreamly far off, i saw the white curve of the stadium and started jumping with delight ( ya i no , like the type i mocked previously in this post ). Started clicking pics from wherever i could get a decent enough shot of it so that i could probably say proudly that i saw The Wembley. But clicking shit pics from so far off went all worthless. You know why ? Our hotel was right next to it.
Haha. I couldn't believe it really for first 5 min and our tour guide went on blabing about the stadium and this that (which i hardly paid any attention to. i knew more than him about it ). I went at night to see the stadium from outside and my word for that, it was so huge. Well, i wanted to see Anfield honestly but my count of stadiums didn't kick start badly . Not a chance in hell !!
The Trafalgar Sqaure
Buckingham Palace
The next 3 days
Second day, we came to Ashford, in Middlesex to our relatives place.A nice peaceful place, typical england type houses. The first day ( of the 3 extended days ) , we went for shopping and to some really big toy store Toys are Us.
Weird name i know for a toy store but it was simply awesome, though i crossed the age bar for every toy there in the store but even a 60 yr old will chuckle and have a nice time watching the new gen toys. And i tell you what, had i been 10-12 yrs younger, i would have gone mad with excitement in front of so many toys. Its a heaven really for kids.
The next day, we had a 24 hour traveling ticket for England, where you want to go , however you want to go. We had all the plans chalked out with bus maps to tube maps. Everything ! The whole transportation system is very well organized and brilliantly explained on the stations. We took a bus to the Feltham station from where we took a train which took us to Waterloo Station, which is quite a hub for trains and tubes. We a took a tube for the Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum and stood in the line for around 45 min in the queue for the tickets. But entering in Madam Tussaud's was worth waiting honestly. It was simply awesome ! The moment you enter, you have The Rock standing with his trade mark eye brow raise with Beckham n Posh posing for a pic. Ok, i wont go on touching every facet but ya, some are worth mentioning. Like, Boris Becker and Lady Diana's was statue were the best really out of all. I mean the finest , doesnt mean rest all are bad, i guess all have been made to perfection really.
You know what am saying !!
Loosing track of time in Madam Tussaud's , we went to to the oxford street, another fashion street of europe. Very famous !! But i liked Champs-Elysees more. ( My opinion.) Spending there, most of it was consumed by Marks n Spencers really ( doesn't imply that we shopped a lot from there ) . Its just the size of it which is really mind blowing. And after all, mum were along, so we had to really hunt all the places in London to visit right at the rush hour. We took a bus to THE most expensive store in London, Harrods and maybe in Europe and not surprisingly again each and every brand, no matter even if you havnt heard off, you'll get there. It disguises the amazingly built architecture inside from the simple structure outside.
The last day was a bit relaxing with some shopping and some pizza added to the days list.
London as such you wont find anything that appealing when you come from Italy or Paris but its just that feel of living 3-4 days there what makes London a must-go place in Europe.
Finally , on sunday ( phew ) cuz i had lost track of days in the whole trip which day was which, we headed back to our mother land with 80 % of the plane empty. Came back laying across 4 chairs in the plane :-) Coming back to delhi was hot and i mean that !
Outside Buckingham Palace
Haha. I couldn't believe it really for first 5 min and our tour guide went on blabing about the stadium and this that (which i hardly paid any attention to. i knew more than him about it ). I went at night to see the stadium from outside and my word for that, it was so huge. Well, i wanted to see Anfield honestly but my count of stadiums didn't kick start badly . Not a chance in hell !!
The Trafalgar Sqaure
Buckingham Palace
The next 3 days
Weird name i know for a toy store but it was simply awesome, though i crossed the age bar for every toy there in the store but even a 60 yr old will chuckle and have a nice time watching the new gen toys. And i tell you what, had i been 10-12 yrs younger, i would have gone mad with excitement in front of so many toys. Its a heaven really for kids.
The next day, we had a 24 hour traveling ticket for England, where you want to go , however you want to go. We had all the plans chalked out with bus maps to tube maps. Everything ! The whole transportation system is very well organized and brilliantly explained on the stations. We took a bus to the Feltham station from where we took a train which took us to Waterloo Station, which is quite a hub for trains and tubes. We a took a tube for the Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum and stood in the line for around 45 min in the queue for the tickets. But entering in Madam Tussaud's was worth waiting honestly. It was simply awesome ! The moment you enter, you have The Rock standing with his trade mark eye brow raise with Beckham n Posh posing for a pic. Ok, i wont go on touching every facet but ya, some are worth mentioning. Like, Boris Becker and Lady Diana's was statue were the best really out of all. I mean the finest , doesnt mean rest all are bad, i guess all have been made to perfection really.
You know what am saying !!
The last day was a bit relaxing with some shopping and some pizza added to the days list.
London as such you wont find anything that appealing when you come from Italy or Paris but its just that feel of living 3-4 days there what makes London a must-go place in Europe.
Finally , on sunday ( phew ) cuz i had lost track of days in the whole trip which day was which, we headed back to our mother land with 80 % of the plane empty. Came back laying across 4 chairs in the plane :-) Coming back to delhi was hot and i mean that !