La Tour Paris ( Day 2-13th July)

Day 2 in Paris was our last day in Paris, after checking out from the hostel we decided to explore the other part of city we couldn't cover the 1st day. The first place was The Invalides- Napoleon Bonaparte Tomb with its dome covered with gold, the lawns and the garden was maintained well and my fren "A" in her happy jolly mood as usual claimed Napoleon Bonaparte was her ex-lover in past and she remembers the time they both spent together in the huge garden ...yeah that was some story and me being me I made some stinking sarcastic jokes abt the whole thing...on the way we stopped to enjoy some yummy "Paris" pastries (2 euro luxury) and we clicked unlimited pictures(free happiness)...I was taking "A" pics. from my camera and she was taking mine from her camera...it was a competition who can take most in the worst of positions and situations....and I think I won in that...hahaha we had some real cheap thrills in life.... next in our list was Eiffel Tower...we could see Eiffel Tower from The Invalides...for that matter we could see Eiffel Tower from everywhere in Paris. My agenda for the day was to take the Open Tour city bus ride...it was expensive (for me) and "A" refused to take the tour...but I took the tour and it was truly awesome 29 Euro's was a lil too much for me but I was in Paris for the first time and didn't know when I'll be there again...I paid 29 euro's with a heavy heart but it was worth every cent...the bus was full (Thank gawd I was not the only one to pay 29 goddamm euros) and I enjoyed every bit of the tour...I got to see all the places starting from The Invalides, Notre Dame, Opera House, Louvre and all other places in the MUST SEE LIST...by the end of the tour I was a happy girl..."A" was waiting at Eiffel Tower and I told her how much she missed seeing all other monuments...she didn't enjoyed Paris as much as I enjoyed so m sure that didn't bothered her.The best part abt the bus tour was it was worth every cent I spent and the hop on and hop off service that the bus provided, I didn't got down at any of the stops as I had very little time but I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. When the bus reached Louvre I was super excited and took so many pics. going inside Louvre was not in my agenda but just the fact that I was there and visiting the famous Museum made me super happy. Paris had a lot to offer if I had time...two days was just not enough. What would have helped was if we knew someone in Paris who could have told us abt the places to visit and what is near what but chalo it was a great trip for me...we found an explored everything in our own and despite our shoe string budget...we shopped quite alot ...enjoyed the city and enjoyed the food in Paris......I hope I go back again ...very soon and revisit the places I visited very briefly.

La Paris Tour (12th- July Day 1)

When I was planning my Europe trip the city which came up in my mind was "Paris", the worlds fashion capital, the city of Eiffel Tower etc etc. I asked my frens who had been to Paris abt the city and how to travel around, I got a lot of info some useful and most not so useful. I did a lot of Internet search and found some really interesting facts abt Paris, the hostel booking was done through Internet and even the Euroline bus tickets was booked from Internet. Me and my fren "A" were so excited from the moment we reached Paris, and thanks to my fren AD for mailing me the metro connection we reached and found our way till the hostel very easily. The hostel was not as good as the pic. in the Internet but in 25 euro's I didn't expected much either, it was okay and I think that hostel "Aloha" was popular with many backpackers I saw alot of people from all around the world.

Getting around Paris was easy all we did was follow the Eiffel Tower and asked people if we were going the right way, I found most people helpful and on the way to Eiffel Tower we came across this flea market or like a Sunday market sort of place, that was quite cool , I bought myself a bag some souvenir's and we bought french beans...we found veggies were much cheaper in Paris compared to Germany and I must have ate 1 kg of cherries..it was yummm and too good.

I was busy scanning the market to the point that I almost forgot to take pics. (which is very unlike me) we really had a good time at the market. I went to a souvenir shop which belonged to an Indian guy and we bought postcards and a coffee mug, I was quite thrilled and 10 mins of this shop was Eiffel Tower. I can't explain my excitement in words when I reached Eiffel Tower, this is one place I had only seen in TV, pics and magazine's....seeing it in real was quite an amazing and awesome feeling. I went till the 2nd level of Eiffel Tower and mind you I paid 4.50 euro to claim the tower. The view from top was amazingly beautiful and I enjoyed every moment of it, the 1st level of Eiffel Tower has many eating joints, theatre, souvenir shops and much more for all tourists. It was quite an experience for me to go all the way to Eiffel Tower and chill for sometime, I took so many pictures and had the longest sandwich ever (in Paris what I know as sub is sandwich). After came down from Eiffel Tower me and "A" just walked around the city and we took the cruise ride at river Seine, that was 11 euro per person but worth every cent, we enojyed it so much and went crazy taking pictures. The river was clean and unlike rivers and the cruise ride was very relaxing. We ended the day after spending some time back at Eiffel Tower and we walked all the way back to the hostel.

Tour Amsterdam-10th July 09

Amsterdam was the 2nd destination in my “Tour Europe” plan. My fren “A” visited Amsterdam sometime back but the train got delayed and she spent exactly 20 mins in Amsterdam .This time we had the whole day with us. It was raining when we reached Amsterdam but than thankfully rest of the day it didn’t rained, as usual I was super excited…visiting a new place that too a city like Amsterdam, I was there to explore the city and enjoy every moment. We started with visiting the various souvenir shops and buying postcards, wooden tulip, fridge magnets and few other interesting(here interesting also means affordable) things. I was so busy clicking pics. that "A" commented "I know why you wanted me to some with you" I asked WHY? her reply " To be your official photographer" hahaha thats "A" and her style. I called everyone from Amsterdam mom, "D", sis & boss, the phone was of course expensive 1 euro for abt 40 secs but then I found 3 euro in a coin operated phone booth....I got so excited that I used up all the money...I was trying to call "D" and the line the engaged so I hanged up and put my fingers inside to take my coin back...and then bingo....not just the coin I had put but I found 3 more euro's....hahaha that was the beginning of my lottery which I realized much later....

We walked and just walking down the central Amsterdam area and visited the most interesting place " The Red Light District", the most popular item on sale was the male sexual organ made in many forms, coffee mugs, coffee mug handle, sale and pepper dispenser, fridge magnets..you name it they have made it. It was lil too much for me, never in my life I have seen such display of male sexual organ so openly...I took pictures and loads of it...at Amsterdam the coffee bars were marijuana joints where people can smoke marijuana openly...since I was told earlier abt all these I was not shocked. After staying in Germany "A" felt Amsterdam is not as "CLEAN" as Germany, which I also think is true but then every place has its own charm and I liked Amsterdam. The french fries or Frites as they call it was yumm...and I loved the croissants.

Amsterdam was affordable, I bought loads of wooden tulips, fridge magnet, postcards and yeah even a T-shirt.... sadly I couldn't take the canal ride and open bus tour but then I am looking fwd to visiting the city again next year. The 2nd destination in my "Tour Europe" trip was awesome.

Amsterdam in Pics.

Random shot of Amsterdam

Waterworld-Nemo

Madame Tussaud's Museum-Amsterdam

The Boats at Amsterdam's Famous Canals

Germany

I was super excited this morning when the flight was touching down for Frankfurt, the immigration process took exactly 5 mins, unlike aapna India where it took more than 30 mins y'day for some weird reason....the funniest part was this guy asked me WHY ARE YOU GOING TO GERMANY WASTING SO MUCH MONEY?? I mean hallooooo dude its my money and whether I spend it on travel or on charity whats goes of your father....lol...since my fren "A" is here it was very convenient for me in terms of travel tickets and basic info.I reached Bielefeld dot on time and m super impressed with the Bahn ICE trains,its super fast and very, very punctual unlike trains in India. I am exploring the neighbourhood and I must admit m super impressed . Bahut saare aur photo upload karti rahungi and more post will follow after this post.

The 2nd Udaipur

We all know abt the Udaipur in Rajasthan but I am sure very few know abt the other Udaipur, the district Head qtr of South Tripura District. I go to Udaipur very often mainly because of the famous Kali temple "Matabari" or "Tripureshwari Mandir", I am not a very religious person but I often pray to Matabari. The most wonderful thing abt this temple are the peda prasad, its an ancient temple and people from all communities pray, making it even more divine. The temple is also a picnic spot and even the Govt. here has created infrastructure for people to enjoy the area. Infront of the temple is a small lake or a big pukur, the pukue is full of HUGE fish which we can see everywhere and I was always told that their are many tortoise but never really got a chance to see anyone of the many tortoise but this time since I had all the time I saw the tortoise. It was very cute, people were feeding biscuits to the tortoise, which I do not approve of but then kya kar sakte hai. My sis. even touched the tortoise,something we had never done before. I had a good time out y'day...visiting the mandir and watching those tortoise....