Torino, the parts of it that we saw from the bus that was not a train, seemed like an interesting city, but not interesting enough for us to change our travel plans. We took from Torino a train to Milano, and we were lucky to get places together. Trains in Italy are a lot more like trains in India, in terms of the number of people. Soon after we left Torino, there were even people standing.We reached Milan and we were flooded with memories. I've written already about how we went back to the counter for instructions on how to get to the duomo, but I never described the Duomo experience.In 2006, when we visited the Duomo for the second time in our lives, we experienced the sublime. The Duomo lifted my soul and made it soar. I don't know what to say, I've written in my diary, I think part of the charm lies in the fact that even though it is magnificent, it doesn't dwarf you; it … [Read more...]
Chambery to Torino
From Lyon, I went to Chambéry to meet my correspondent from the French exchange programme and her family. It was a lovely stay, though short. My 'Maman' in Chambéry is a boat-driver, and, as I was there in summer, she had long hours of work, so I did not want to impose on them for too long.My sister came to Chambéry to meet me, and we stood in queue to reserve places on a train to Milan. The plan was that we would get to Milan, go from there to Bologna and finally, find our way to Greece. With Eurail passes, we did not need reservations for most trains, but for trains from one country to another, we did. The train to Milan was full, though, so we considered our options, and then booked tickets to Turin instead.With a few hours to spare, we wandered around Chambéry. Nostalgic about the exchange programme, we looked around happily, but made sure we got back to the station well in time … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe
That year, we went from Salzburg to Munich. We spent a few hours at Munich and then went to Berlin. And from Berlin, northward to Amsterdam.Our night in Amsterdam was another night out, but after so many journeys and so many crazy backpacking experiences, we'd figured out a few things. We had Eurail passes that we kept gushing about - we could use them.We spent the night on trains. Took a train to Utrecht, then another to Rotterdam, and then one back to Amsterdam. That's how we spent the night. We didn't see tulips or windmills. We did see Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank's house.But honestly, we were exhausted. For a long time, we just sat by a canal and did nothing. We were depressed because we thought we'd lost some money, and we were filled up with all kinds of thoughts and emotions.Fifteen days of glorious backpacking. After Salzburg, I did not write any more; I was too tired. But … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Goodbye, Italy!
We tried to feel sentimental about leaving Italy, but could not find it in ourselves to do so. Italy was beautiful, but we were going to Austria - the land of Mozart and "The Sound of Music"! (Both came later, though, because we went to Vienna before Salzburg.)With our Eurail passes, we did not need to book trains everywhere we went, but the train-schedule we received with our passes was outdated. Our plans of taking a night-train to Paris from Amsterdam fell through because we discovered there was no night-train from Amsterdam to Paris. Even so, the Eurail pass was a boon. In Europe, with so few people travelling compared to in India, we did not need to reserve on most trains. Our passes served as tickets, so we just had to hop on and find unreserved seats. The unreserved seats, needless to say, are nothing like the horrifying general compartment we see here.We walked all over … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Venice
Venice was the place where we relaxed. When we got there, we were told at the information booth at the station that there was no way we would find cheap accommodation in Venice at the weekend. The best we would get was a place that cost €65 a night for three people. Okay, we said, okay. We'll be back. We went to our old faithful, the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) map and found a phone number. The YH cost €17,50 per head and accommodation was available; so there.The line was unclear, but I heard clearly enough to get excited that we had to take boat number 82. Boat number! We were in Venice, the place with the Rialto and the Merchant!Thanks to the train strike, we had been dropped at Venezia Mestre instead of Venezia Centrale, so we had to take a bus before we could take a boat. Public transport is expensive in Venice, with no day passes or weekend passes. We paid €1,60 … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Still in Florence
We had nowhere except the station to spend the night, so we wanted to get there as late as we possibly could. We had dinner at a fancy Italian place instead of on the street: it took longer. After dinner, we walked slowly towards the bus stop and discovered that the next bus (which was the last bus) to the station was 45 minutes away. After the day's adventures, we were more than a little tired, so we made our way to the river and sat around for half an hour just looking at the city lights.We got back to the bus-stop well in time for our 22:35 bus. Except that it didn't come. We waited till 23:00 before approaching a girl waiting at the stop."Hello, do you speak English?" I asked. "No." "A little?" "No."I had to rethink my plan now."Bus?" I pronounced it the Italian way, and then realised what a stupid question that was because it amounted to Are you waiting for a bus at the … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Florence
We spent just a few hours in Florence, but they were truly splendid.As with every place we visited, it took us about 45 minutes to figure out where to go from the station and how. Finally, we bought tickets to Piazza Pitti, which had the most interesting-looking museums according to our map.The bus-ride gave us our first sight of Florence. It was charming, everything that I wanted it to be. Quaint bridges and picturesque houses ... What more does one need? Unfortunately, a lot more. Enough people find Florence charming for it to be rather expensive too, and we discovered that each museum had a separate entrance fee. After much deliberation, we decided to visit the royal apartments.I could have stayed there for much longer, gazing at the delicate chandeliers and beautiful sculpture. Those spectacular chandeliers (lit, admittedly with electric bulbs) are what I will always … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Pisa
Tempers were frayed on that journey to Pisa. What was the point of going to Pisa at all? Pisa was just a tourist gimmick, like the Brindavan Gardens in Mysore. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was the only thing to see; it could not be worth it. We would spend just a few hours there. I would rather go to Florence.Grumpy moods made us assume that the lady in the train compartment with us was also grumpy, so we avoided talking to her for quite a while. Finally, when it seemed that the bad temper in the air was tangible, we decided to take our minds off things and make conversation.Things looked up from there on. The lady, we discovered, was not grumpy at all; she was just self-conscious about her English. She told us how to get to the leaning tower, where we should get off, what buses she thought would take us there ... It was perfect!We bought 60-minute bus passes and hopped on to a … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Rome
We didn't visit the Colosseum. I get that confession out of the way right in the beginning. We saw the Colosseum from the outside, all lit up and magnificent at night, but we did not go there at all to visit the inside as tourists. And today, when I look back I don't know why.Rome was beautiful despite that. We bought a day pass for the city bus, valid until midnight, and just wandered all over the city seeing what there was to see. We walked everywhere we could, and when we grew tired, just hopped on to a bus and went wherever it took us, sight-seeing all the way. Looking at the buildings, just feasting our eyes on the city around us, filled our hearts and souls.The Sistine Chapel, we were told, was closed on the day we reached, but it would be open the next day. The guard at the gate warned us, "But closes at 3 o'clock and half!" "Three-thirty." "Yes, yes, I don't speak English so … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Rome
People say that Italy is like India, and there are many similarities I see: honking on the road, noise, people talking everywhere ...Rome's metros are full to bursting point. The only difference between Mumbai locals and the Rome metro is that there are doors that slam shut in the latter, so you cannot hang out. But you have to stand on tiptoe if you want to avoid standing on someone else.Our worst encounter in Italy, though, was not the metro. It was not the fact that we got separated by the doors that banged shut, and had to find one another again without the aid of mobile phones that seem like an extension of our bodies today.We got to Rome and looked in our map to figure out where there was a youth hostel. It was early in the morning and cold, but we had IYHF (International Youth Hostel Federation) memberships, and a map with the youth hostels marked. A very bad phone line … [Read more...]