Not just another travel blog post.. A tale of three cities and three girls

It's been nearly 3.5 years in Zurich. I made many friends but never a Euro trip with them. It all started when the sweetest person in Zurich, Urvi invited me for a trip. I had been promising myself a trip on my own in the Summers and I couldn't have found a better opportunity.

From a long list of places we zeroed down on Andalucia area in Spain(znmd vibes yet?) Next was dates and how things could never be planned if left on future we decided to go during the coming weekend. We had a perfect 10 days to plan. The planning went pretty smoothly with Urvi and Maddy, a super chilled out person and a celebrity :P.

Places visited

We spent 4 days in Seville and Malaga. Seville has a very beautiful and rich architecture and culture which is an amalgamation of Roman, Moors and Christian styles. We started the trip with a mandatory walking tour to learn about the city's history and culture.The Sevilla Cathedral for instance was built in the 15th century on the site of an ancient mosque. The mosque’s minaret, La Giralda, was kept and converted into a Christian bell-tower.

In Seville we also visited a couple of GOT shooting sites. Dragon pit or Amphiteathre de Italica showed up in multiple episodes. You would remember it from the last episode where Bran, the Broken was declared the ruler of 6 kingdoms etc.The "Kingdom of Dorne" or the famous Alcazar palace is a whole new world within Seville. The huge Arabic influence can be clearly seen in the tiles, ceiling and columns. The palace gardens are a nice place to spend an afternoon away from the heat.

The Flamenco, a traditional form of music and dance which originated from the outcasts group of the Gypsies (flamencos) has a tragic and painful expression. This is nothing like the Senorita song from the ZNMD but actually a very gripping tale of the hardships faced by the Gypsy, Jewish and muslim communities in the era of Spanish Inquisition.

We decided to keep it relaxing in Malaga and spent time at La Malagueta and Misericordia beaches. The famous La Malagueta landmark is a famous photo point. Mid July was a good time for the beach and both the weather and water temperatures were ideal in Malaga where we got a glimpse of the chilled out Spanish folks. We stayed in the Huelin which was a quiet and quant with traditional Spanish cafeterias.

Bell tower in Seville, with 3 different styles

At Alcazar palace/ Dorne

La Malagueta 

La Misericordia Beach

Ok, I think it's a bit getting boring now. Subjective answers were never my thing as I learnt a long time ago from my English score in boards. So I will do what I can do best, to-the-point writing.

To the many first things

• To the fun girls trip. Girls rock yo. (This isn't a first but a universal truth, gals n guys would both agree).

So for the first things:

• To me leaving my phone in a cab for the first time. Urvi called the driver, Maddy ran and got it from the cabby.

• First flamenco show.

• First worst Sangria aka sugar and real orange fruit juice. And what Maddy didn't have "on the beach".

• The Sevilla restaurant which we rejected and found ourselves going back to as only they had vegetarian tapa(s). The restaurant owner laughed at our face when we returned and when we reordered the "chole-palak" tapas he prepared. One laugh explained many unspoken thoughts.

• Getting the front seat in the bus and singing along the bollywood songs making the co-passengers endure and enjoy.

• When Urvi couldn't help but curse the cab driver, as explaining direction when they don't speak English is a no-go.

• Maddy's inflatable sofa chair on the beach. Us making Urvi take a few steps into the water.

• The best of all, the fun dancing on the beach. We had Maddy's child JBL to rescue. The Spanish family as audience. The beach rower as cheerleader. The moon and stars that grew brighter by the minute, as our constant support. The many crazy zumba-cum-yoga-sessions-on-bollywood-songs-on- the-beach(Ok I think I should patent that one)

• To sharing so many things with and without words. The high spirited DJ Maddy. The insanely caring Urvi.

Few tips and tricks

• Shop in Malaga. It's so much fun when things are so affordable, the most affordable in all the cities I've traveled to.

• Stay and shop away from the city center for better rates(guaranteed).

• Do not order food from on the shore restaurants, they are very expensive and low in quality.

• Very few people speak English in Malaga. You can have the most fun or frustration using sign languages in stores, or telling all possible landmarks and still failing to explain your whereabouts to the cab drivers.

Well good times... And to Malaga(Andalucia) if I had more than one hearts to give, you'd have one.
That's my bit dear reader, thanks for bearing with me.
( About the author: Manu is a not-so-avid writer, she writes at most once a year, when she is on a plane and isn't sleepy or surfing on the sea...of internet)

Swiss path hike

The hiking plan for this weekend was different from others. It was being planned for 3-4 weeks. Me I am more of jump right into the train and then plan person, but when there are more than one people involved things may turn out in such a way. 

The weekend was close when we realized it will be raining, so we could no longer go to the planned hike. I always wanted to do the "Swiss path" hike at Rutli and weather wasn't that bad between 11-17 and so I proposed we go there instead. A bunch of whatsapp messages and 2 drop outs later me and Bhav decided to pursue the plan. 

Bhav preferred to drive. I looked up distance from the meeting point to Ruti and it seemed fine. and I was onboard. 

We met and straight away started to go into important discussion of Life, Earth and Universe, while I started navigating to Ruti. After 20 min of driving and when Google suggested we were 10 min away I realized and said that I didn't even get to play my awesome playlist. 

Bhav was surprised we arrived this fast. Me used to travelling by trains and being completely ignorant to directions could not have figured this out. After all hikes start from every nook and corner in Switzerland and every road with yellow signs looks like wanderweg(a hiking trail). So we parked close by and found that we were navigating to Ruti not Rutli! Well what are the odds that Ruti was close to our meeting point and not just a random place in Antartica. So we performed an edit on the navigation and one hour later we were back where we started. 

We arrived Rutli. The first part of hiking was nice and easy, mostly downhill with a lot of stairs due to which knees were thrilled. However it gave us a chance to speak as we walked.

We compared hiking to life. The turns, twists, ups and downs and how things don't always go as planned and still work out for good. Important discovery made, hike ~= life, lets keep moving.

We arrived Bauen just in time to catch the "boat". It was spectacular, the boat. The views and the lake were very serene and calming. I don't recall me worrying about anything in life for those few minutes. These moments make everything worthwhile.

It was time for lunch, we sat at the place where the Oath of Switzerland was taken. Bhav offered me Sandwich, which I think helped me survive the later part of the hike. 

We were back at Rutli, but at the bottom of the hill. We decided to stop by the Rutlihaus restaurant for some tea. I realized I hadn't climbed a mountain in Switzerland, looking at the beautiful structure in front. 

After the quick break we started towards the parking which was 1h 40min away. We took one of the paths from the left of the restaurant. Bhav said the GMaps pointed in the other way. This time I didn't want to trust the maps and my experience in Swiss trails declared the paths will meet. 

We walked for a bit, but the paths didn't meet until the end of the hike. Instead of the relaxed  path passing through farm, cows and huts, we had undertaken a journey which was nothing but zig zag paths and somewhat steep. We discussed about how there was time until sunset and we had food and water supplies just in case. There was anticipation until we reached halfway and were confident we will see the human civilization soon enough.

It turned out I didn't need to wait longer to climb a hill after all. 

The day ended with us driving back having taken some "desktop wallpaper" pictures and  listening to my awesome playlist. Bhav dropped me right in front of the platform and asked me to jump out of the car right away as the train arrived just as we did. I made a run for it and with some help from a kind lady, HODOR at the platform I caught the train just in time :)

 

x

A hike to remember and what I learnt about SRK

"Its a weekend and I am in die Schweiz, so lets do something outdoorsy!". This brought me to joining a group of hikers for a trek to Appenzell Alpine trail. I read green hills, 2 hrs 6 km and I thought should be a cake walk, with some nice pictures!


We reached the hiking point to find out the weather had taken a different turn.. it would rain for the next few hours and so we started with majority votes for going forward, since 2 hrs its all going to take.
Maneuvering our way between the clouds (the train already brought us at 1350 mt altitude) so we found our way, it became clearer and the breathtaking views started showing up.
The "Kashmir" was just a 2 hr easy train ride from the place, I have begun to call home.

Soon it became clearer, but started drizzling and then raining.. we were lucky to find some comfort in the shade of huts, showing up out of no where, wondering if someone actually lived there.

...and the rain went on for another hour and we did hut-hopping stopping at places to save ourselves from the rains accompanied by winds. One hour gone and we had just covered a km.

We went ahead looking for the yellow signs and ran into another such hut, fortunately also a restaurant, just when we needed food the most. It was cold, and the energy drinks (;)) some people had (not me for sure! :P) was losing its effect.  Hot chocolate, bread and soup would totally cut it (when chaats are no more on the cards :P)

Things got clearer post that and we headed for some more pics and a hopefully quicker end, after being just 1.5 km ahead after 3 hrs.

Walking ahead finding the wanderweg signs we see snow on the tracks. My running shoes would absorb colder waters now, in this unforeseen rainy climb. The friendly guides, helped stepping on them first and creating the way.

Fast forward comes the fall. Melting waters had formed a small creek flowing from beneath the hollow ice. The experts went ahead and crossed it, and I was left thinking about how to cross it.
I chose the faster route and thought of sprinting through it, I reached the opposite end but my shoes didn't, and then the fall.. well the wrists saved me, but I got two gravel pebbles stuck into them and followed some pain, head rush and blood. I sat down for a sip of water, while we all contemplated, what we could have done to not let that happen.

Going back would not be fun, so we went ahead. More snow, and this time being more conscious. I was also handed over a branch stick, coz "an additional leg is always helpful :) ".

I learned that if you put your heal first in the ice, there is a higher chance that you will fall backwards while toe first will make you tend to trip forward. Deciding on what to do might include various factors so **conditions apply, before you make a mental note ;)


The final leg of the hike was steeper. Well this was the only time it qualified as a real hike, since we were only walking leisurely so far.
The hills ahead were green as I had initially expected, which my running shoes could pull off. We saw the yellow sign again on the hill top, and we climbed to the destination where we would get the cable car to go back, to only find it was not this hill, but the next one.

Funny things about the hills and obstacles in life, when faced by one, we don't see anything beyond it. There may be a brighter side when we have climbed it... which wasn't there in this case :D. It was the next hill.. so begins the descent and ascent. I asked one of my friends, if the next one is it for sure, to which he said hope is going to take us forward :P.  Seeing no sign of human life on the other side I wasn't hopeful. The next hill finally showed signs of a crew who were descending from the peak of Kronberg and so there, we could finally see the destination.

It was time for a break! After the bad weather and bruises and snow-hiking, I finally had earned it, and that is when I understood something what I didn't my entire life...

THE SRK POSE. WHY HE DOES THAT?

Well here is the thing, he has shot for so many movies at such places, he must have hiked to those...  and after going through all this trouble, what do you get ?

Its the nature, that rewards you with the most amazing breathtaking views, and at this moment, you aren't sure about getting back down... so you want to embrace the vastness of the Earth, take it all in, with hands spread.. and this explains it :D

Some more pics, a groupie, a cable car and some train rides and I am back home with a bruised hand. It is all mundane, but I have now done one of the Switzerland's top 12 summer hikes! :)

The S-word, thrill or trauma ?

Some don't care too much about it, it's something that will happen when time is right; for others, it's a thought they can't help take off their minds, voluntarily or otherwise. But that's not what I want to talk about... I am talking about all the jazz before the climax. I am talking about one of the most happening topics of every discussion, once you graduate from the studying phase...Shaadi!

Starting with distant uncles and aunts, who until you have reached your 20s, have taken absolutely no interest in your well being, become the whistle-blowers for the planning of the big day. This is followed by grandparents telling you that it's their death wish! A random neighbor, a friend at lunch. The worst is when you have the same discussion at your work, where you are asked if you would finish a long-term project plan or rather get married and discontinue in between. I am just too overwhelmed with the amount of S-talk all around. Makes me ask two questions.

What happened to the 15 years of slogging and studying and making your parents proud. What happened to the confusions regarding taking a course in Cloud Computing vs Middleware and which counted more in the professional world? Why do those discussions subside once you get a job? Why do we keep aside all that, and manage to bring this topic at center stage in all the discussions?

Secondly, even if we agree that shaadi is a big deal at this age, why all the sudden attention from all the relatives? Why do they not think before storming into your personal territory of peace? Why this urge to be a match maker? I have started to feel an obligation to think about what they could do of their future, apart from matchmaking ;) (Their indisputable right. Apparently.)

The worst part is, even after the shaadi, from what some of my married friends say, the 'death' wishes take a new turn. Mentioning that will be a total give away :). All this btw, is true to both types of people - those who are and aren't ready to get married. I agree with elders when they say that there is a right time for everything, but many a times, it distracts people from going after their other important goals, the real purpose of their life.

After all, no one deserves to be made to sit and watch a 3 hour movie when it could all be summed up smoothly in an hour and half!

A New Girl In The City

It's been long since I wrote and you know, like all famous writers (:-P) I've been getting requests to write. Well well, the wait ends here as I write the last post of the year.

So coming back to the title, why this? Filmi huh ? Well this sunday I was watching the movie... if u are a fan u mite have guessed by now! What No ? Oh wake up dude! ... still no answer 

Arrey Wake up Sid :) having just said it I can almost hear Konkana saying this in her sweet voice. 

This movie made me mull over my own life.

No I am not jobless like Sid but yes I am a new girl in the city like Aisha. In this city where the population and traffic seems to multiply each year. In the city which perhaps would have the largest population of nerds in the country. In the city where there are a thousand streets like other cities but surprisingly all of them have some name. Aisha had no job. She left her home and came 1000 miles away from her home to achieve her dream. Wondering how she could set herself free from the shackles of home, and travel to an entirely new city fearlessly, like a free bird.

Sid in the movie unlike her has no dream, no job, no fear. 'He still is a kid' as alleged by the actress in the entire movie :P

When I put myself in their shoes, I feel I have some part of both of them, I do have a job but I don't have a dream. I am away from my home in a new city, but I am not entirely free... in my actions and thoughts. A common characteristic in both the characters was that they both were fearless. Fearless about what will happen next or what happens if they fail? It shows that once the goal is set, once the dream is clear all small and petty things don't really come in your way. They all become immaterial. But all this happens if there is a dream, a goal.

When I look back, in my life so far my dreams have varied with respect to the people I come across. When in primary school I wanted to be a teacher. Then with the entry of Mr Science in my life, I wanted to be a doctor. It gave me a lot of pleasure in giving first aid to my brother who would come back with a bruised knee. Then Boom! and the mathematician in me took over the doctor and I started studying engineering. In college I got a chance to give all my talents a chance. From Art and crafts to playing all sort of sports. Dance, music, poetry everything. Things like these make life seem fulfilled. So much so that while in college I never felt that there was something I am not giving enough attention to.

Now I am a graduate and working. But is it my dream? It was never a part of my plan since childhood, but here is where I ended up. Slowly and gradually they say one gets adapted to a life. Like plants like animals we all ultimately adapt to certain conditions. But is this it?  Get adapted and keep yourself going. There may be things we are good in, better than many others. Still there are so many of us running a race which may not even be ours to run in. Some choices may be full of risks but those paths could even lead to an adventurous journey. 

All I understand, is there exist successful people who have failed to achieve their dreams, and some failures who still end up in a winning situation having done what they really want.

But there is a third category of people who end up in a win-win situation, definitely make history. May be not with a nobel prize or world records, but by setting an example for others close to them and more importantly for themselves. A continuous passion for achieving something keeps one motivated, it may not be something hi-profile. It could be something as simple as being fit, or being cheerful. 

I think I have some people with the win-win situation in my circle and hope one day I be a part of it too.  

This being the first and last post of the year i wish you all succeed in discovering your dreams too, while I am looking out for mine. 

May we all Wake up! to a Merry Christmas and a happy new year ! :-)

The mighty words

You say some, some you don't.

Once said,

you cherish some, some you won't.

Sometimes,

you speak only when your mind says they're right

other times,

you just speak unconsciously or despite.

Powerful they are, when spoken at the right place and time

but those unspoken dont help.... even if you lose your mind.

Not everyone has always been a master of these

But they say, don't they ?

-- "Even when unspoken, feelings still do release!"

And there are instances 

when they just dont make the right match

when they don't come, even if your throat you scratch

They do bring in a lot of insight, and sometimes even despise

But if they can erode an entire future in a single blow...

Will their absence take away all the past fun, frolic  and go ??

दुनिया खिसके घड़ी घड़ी

मन में चल रही है एक बात,
मैं समझ ना पाई और हो गयी रात |

आँखों से नींद गायब हुई जब,
करवट ही बदलती रही मैं तब |

फिर उठ बैठी और खोली खिड़की,
देखा जल रही थीं लाईट्स सड़क की |

दिख रहे थे राहगीर कहीं,
तो कहीं थे रेत के टीले,
जो छोड़ गए थे कुछ मज़दूर
और
रौशनी भरी इमारतों में ढोल बज रहा था कुछ दूर |

फिर और झाँका तो दिखी कुछ कारें,
उन्हें ताक रही थी मैं और चुप दीवारें |

ऊपर से चल रहा था तेज़ हवा का पंखा,
नीचे देखा तो था चींटियों का डंका |

यह सब देख के मेरा मन चकराया,

आज इस रात ने भी क्या है दिन पाया |

कि मैं तो रह गयी यहाँ खड़ी,
और रात में भी दुनिया खिसके घड़ी घड़ी |