Amsterdam

Amsterdam - capital of Netherlands, known for Tulips as we all know it, with one of them named after our very own Aishwarya Rai!

I visited Amsterdam on Saturday, 25th Nov. - took a guided bus tour from Brussels. The distance between Brussels and Amsterdam is a mere 220 km, which we covered in around 2.5 hours. I managed to catch the last trip of the season, no trips will go from the next weekend till perhaps March / April, when the spring sets in.

Needless to say, I had a lot of expectations from this visit, and perhaps because of that I ended getting not so impressed by what I experienced and saw. Of course, Amsterdam is beautiful, and I suppose for an art lover offers a lot of choices and options with the famous Van Gogh museum and one other museum whose name I have forgotten. If one wants, you can also have the beer making experience at Heineken brewery, very close from where the canals cruises start.

The canal ride for 1.5 hours was a little too long I felt, the boat was covered, and I found the canal waters to be not so clean, especially after seeing the nice, small canals of Brugge. The boat ride experience in Brugge was far too romantic, beautiful and scenic as compared to the one in Amsterdam.

After the boat ride, our guide took us for a small tour of the Red Light District of Amsterdam (ahem! :-)).. honestly we were out of it in 5 mins :-)..

We were pretty much on our own after that, and I happened to be the only one in the group who knew about Anne Frank, and so set out on the search of Anne Frank's house.. It was not too far away from the famous Dam Square of Amsterdam, but unfortunately, there was a long queue outside the house and so couldn't see the house from inside. I had to content myself with a photo next to the Anne Frank statue.

The Dam Square of Amsterdam is I suppose the oldest square and has the Royal Palace from where the Queen of Amsterdam works. One thing you cannot help but notice in Amsterdam is the number of people - for a city in Europe, there are too many people, it happens to be the highest density city in Europe. And you really see a lot of people, merry, happy people, walking, on cycles, in trams, cars.. so much that crossing the road was getting a little difficult for an Indian like me.

Some facts about the Dutch are very amusing - around 80% of the Dutch population owns a bicycle. They say almost every Dutch family goes for a long trip at least once a year, these people like to enjoy life.. and it was evident from the people I saw at the Dam square. Holland or Netherlands (actually Holland is just one province of Netherlands) was a very poor country, and the wooden clogs that are so famous were the cheapest and hence were used in the olden times instead of using leather boots.

We visited a clogs workshop, where the person told us about the various types of clogs - Red clogs for dancing, Carved ones to be worn only on the wedding day, yellow ones for working and white plain ones considered to be the most ordinary and cheap. Today, Amsterdam is one of the biggest exporters of cheese, milk, electricity (wind-mills of Holland are famous), and tulips of course.

All in all - I felt one day did not do justice to the city of Amsterdam, and then I think one should visit this city in April-May when you get to see the tulips! It was a nice trip, because I got to visit Amsterdam after all, but I guess it was a case of what happens when you have far too many expectations from a place to begin with ! :-)

btw - that one is me, with the Amsterdam canals in the background :-) For a few more photos, take a look at: http://picasaweb.google.com/arati.rahalkar/Amsterdam25thNov2006

Brugge

Canals, chocolates, cycles, horse carriages, paved roads, old style architecture buildings and churches dating back to the 13th, 14th and 15th century, shops full of lace work, a nice mix of old and new - that is Brugge for you.. or Bruges - the way the French will like to pronounce it.

Brugge is perhaps the third largest city of Beligum, part of the Flanders region of Belgium, around one hour by train from Brussels. It is referred to as the Venice of North, and is famous for chocolates and lace making. And you get to see ample of chocolatiers and lace work all around the place. It is unique in its own way - the best part is having paved roads everywhere.. Gives it such a different feel altogether..

I spent almost one entire day in Brugge, roamed around with a Mexican group I met at the train station. They, like me, were there as tourits for a day, and it was a nice experience roaming around with them - telling them tidbits about India and Indian culture and arranged marriages and trying to dispel their misconception that in India the bride and groom see each other for the first time on the day of the marriage! People still have such ideas about India - though I agree there must be lots of places in India where it still does happen.

The best part of the entire Brugge day was the half an hour boat ride in the canals.. It feels so great to pass from below the small bridges, with people walking on the roads alongside, lined by beautiful houses and bungalows, and really old tall buildings looking down at you.. Brugge is definitely a very romantic city, I had read that in one of the reviews and I totally agree with that reviewer..

Some people will say Ghent and Antwerp are perhaps more beautiful and scenic than Brugge, but nonetheless, I found Brugge to be a must-visit place if you are anywhere near it.. A very relaxing and pleasing one day get away from Brussels - that is Brugge!

Check out photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/arati.rahalkar/Brugge19thNov2006

Tourist friendliness

Fate has been kind to me in some ways, it has given me a few chances to see places that perhaps not all get to see.. I have been to a few foreign countries, where I got to roam around alone. And I did - and though at the beginning I never used to be sure, the more I went out on my own, the more I realized that it really is easy to travel in foreign countries and cities - by these foreign countries I mean some big cities in US and now a few places in Europe.

And that got me thinking about what made the travel so easy..and so pleasant. These are a few points I think that make these cities "tourist friendly". I would love to see something like this happening in India.

1. Metros and buses have very good online sites that one can check out, and see the timings, maps, schedule and the ticket rates. Most of these cities have three modes of transport - Trams, Metros and Buses. All three put together, you have an excellent cheap means of travel.

2. Detailed maps of the city can be found on all the roads and at bus stops.
The sign boards, directions are very consistent and can be found all over the city - though I agree, unlike India, you don't always find a person whom you can ask for directions, but these good sign boards, maps kind of make up for it.

3. In every train and bus, the name of the next station / stop is displayed one stop prior to reaching it. Just make sure you sit facing that display.

4. I feel the best way to promote tourism is what these people do - have weekend tickets / culture tickets which are really cheaper as compared to the ordinary tickets. For example: The train ticket, return journey from Brussels to Brugge cost me a mere 7 Euro on Sunday instead of the normal 23 Euro ticket! One day passes, weekend passes - good thing to remember and ask for something like that if you are traveling on a weekend.

5. One of the other smart things these people have done is having Gift / Souvenir shops at the exit of the tourist spots. It is kind of made mandatory that you get out via one - so I guess at least half if not all of the tourists will end up buying something. A cool idea to make money, apart from promoting the tourist spot.

6. Photos - Yes, if you have traveled in US, you must have observed that at almost each big tourist spot, you will have a photographer taking photos at the entrance, whether you like it or not!. And then, when you are just about to leave the spot, you will see your photo staring back at you, in the form of a key chain or a post card - surely tempting you to buy one as a souvenir..

7. You have to give it to these people for the way they present and package the entire thing. Most of these places have nice guided tours, good information placards all around the place telling you about the history / significance of the place.

Facility of toilets at all the tourist spots, cleanliness, great roads - all these are bonuses on top of all this. Everything put together - traveling in developed cities in Europe and US is definitely a pleasure and an amazing experience in itself.

Brussels

I roamed around Brussels city on 18th Nov, Saturday.. Caught the early 7:00 am bus from near my apartment to Gare Centrale Station, reaching there at around 8:00 am.. Started my day pretty early as I was not very sure about the distances and about finding my way around, but it turned out to be really easy.. with most of the places very close by and at a walking distance from each other.

Grand Place - the oldest sqaure of Brussels is very near from the Gare Centrale Station. Finding the routes is really simple with the maps along the roads and at the bus stops.. And with an occasional helpful pedestrian to tell you the way if the sign boards on the road seem a little confusing, I reached the grand Grand Place just in time.. when the place was just about coming alive, with all the small hotels and shops opening up for the morning. It took some time for the grandeur of all the tall buildings and the old architecture around Grand Place to sink in..

Once I had enough of it, I ventured on the task of finding the elusive, small little Manneken Pis.. Not that it is difficult to find really, but I was expecting to see something much bigger than the really really small statue of the kid...that too in a small obscure lane. If it wasn't for the sign boards and for the souvenir shops you start seeing as you come near to the place, it is very easy to miss the child.. Overall - Manneken Pis is a sure disappointment, especially after you have heard so much about it. It seems though this kid is real famous in Brussels, has a lot of stories around it and has a big wardrobe of around 600 costumes by now.

From the old part of Brussels, I went to the other end - Heysel station by Metro to take a look at the Atomium - which is an iron molecule magnified 165 times. It has 9 big spheres, and you can go to 4 of them by elevators or stairs and to the topmost one by a real high speed lift. The best part of the Atomium, of course, apart from its size and the sheer engineering effort is the beautiful view of Brussels you get to see from the top. The ticket is a total of 9 Euro, which I suppose is worth it.

Just next to the Atomium is Mini Europe, a fitting place for such a place to be, what with Brussels being the capital of European Union. Perhaps Mini Europe will be a much better place to visit in Summer or Spring, but, on that day, with the cold and dry weather, it wasn't a place I considered worthy of a 12 Euro ticket. The point is - you appreciate the miniature monuments from all around Europe, if you have seen the real ones or the pictures of the real ones. Otherwise, it is more like seeing a model of some building, which exists in some part of Europe. But yes - for a tourist like me, who is probably going to visit Brussels once in a lifetime, it was a must-see place and I paid my mandatory visit to it.

By the time all this got over, it was around 3 pm and I had already started feeling a little tired and suddenly jetlagged. I decided to call it a day, and returned to my apartment by the same route, happy and content with my first day out.

Check out more photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/arati.rahalkar/Brussels18thNov2006

Encounter with Pakistanis in a foreign land

I have been in Brussels for the past 5 or 6 days now.. As in most of the major foreign cities these days, Brussels has its share of Indians and Pakistanis too.. with Pakistanis pre-dominantly in the shop business, owning small shops that remain open till a long time in the night, unlike the other shops that close by 6.

After the first day struggle with finding a SIM card for my mobile, trying to find a person who understands English, it was really pleasant meeting a person who looked like an Indian, someone who could speak English as well as Hindi and who actually helped me find a good enough, relatively cheaper card for my mobile. I did not really mind it when I came to know that he is a Pakistani. He was sweet enough to talk to me at length, enquire about me and tell me to ask for help anytime I need it because he is like my "bada bhai"...

The other day I had been to Grand Place, Brussels and incidentally again found myself in need of buying batteries for my camera at the last moment (what with my rechargeable batteries ditching me when I needed them the most!).. To my rescue came another Pakistani, who when he came to know that I am an Indian, gave me a 50 cents off and a plastic bag for my umbrella without even asking for it..

So here I am, an Indian, with two pleasant experiences with Pakistanis.. It is funny how the age-old enmity between the two nations seems to not really matter once you are on foreign land. Out here, at a place which is not home for both of us, we become neighbours, people who both understand and speak Hindi.., people coming from countries which are so alike in more ways than one..

Automatically opening dustbin

Came across an automatically opening dustbin in Brussels.. A very simple idea, but found it to be innovative and really convenient. You neither need to use your hand to open it up nor do you need to step on some lever.. All you have to do is place your palm over a sensor on the lid of the dustbin - it senses the hand movement and the lid opens up!

Clean, convenient, simple, innovative... Technology put to effective use for a very pratical reason!

Journey from airport to air-craft

I have traveled quite a few times (if not too many times) by an airplane - but somehow always forget the exact steps one has to follow once inside the airport till actually boarding the plane.. This time I made sure I jotted down all the things I did and wrote it down here - for my own future reference!

1. Always keep ticket and passport handy, you get a nice passport bag in the market

2. Stand in line for the check-in bag to be screened. Make sure you don't keep an alarm clock somewhere deep inside your bag with batteries inside it! (I had to open up my bag at the airport just because the lady realized that the batteries are left inside :-( All the effort in packing up the bag neatly gone waste)

3. After screening, the bag is normally strapped.

4. Stand in the line at the respective airline counter for the bag to be checked in.

5. Once at the counter, you will get name tags for all the bags - the bags to be checked in as well as your hand luggage. Put them on the bags with your name and address.

6. Show the ticket and your passport to the lady at the airline counter. She will give you an immigration form and a boarding pass. After this step, you will need only the passport and the boarding pass. You can keep the ticket inside safely.

7. Fill the immigration form (it is very simple to fill with name, address details) and stand in line for the immigration check. Normally this will be a nominal check, nothing serious or time consuming unless there is a big line at the immigration counter.

8. Now proceed to the gate number specified on the boarding pass for the security check. Wait till the security check for your aircraft is announced and has begun. Till that time, you can try to kill the time - though there is not much of an option there. This is the place where you can charge your mobile phones if needed. After this point, there is no way of doing that.

9. During the security check, your hand luggage will be screened. There are different lines for ladies and gents.

10. If everything is ok, the name tags on your hand luggage will be stamped. This means you are free to proceed.

11. Wait for the boarding to begin. Boarding is normally done in the following order, so you need to wait for your turn to come:
a. First class and Business class passengers
b. Passengers with infants
c. Economy class passengers called row-wise

Once inside the aircraft, find your seat, dump your hand luggage into the overhead cabin and start counting the time before the plane takes off! And yes - send as many messages you like till the time they finally ask you to switch off the mobiles :-)

Footprints on the sands of time...

One of my favourite poems, and one of the very few I had learnt by heart with very little effort.. What better way to start off my blog than with this poem!

A PSALM OF LIFE

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.