Dhruva gave us a run through of his trip through pictures yesterday. I tried...and tried to get him to write out his experience, but guess everyone doesn't like writing as much as I do :)
So, for the sake of posterity, I'm giving it a shot from listening to his narrative over the last few days. The trip covered Berlin, Prague, Brussels, Madrid and Paris. For a no itinerary, that was a lot of spontaneous travel..... made possible also because they were staying with friends or even friends of friends in each of those places.
Berlin : At the Berlin Wall “Berlin is deep, it feels different... you can feel the post world war II history"
At Lavanya and Christoff's place...Dhruva really liked how they had plants growing through every room of their house.
This was also dhruva’s first exposure to LP records, and he couldn't believe how good they sounded. Christoff who is big into music has an amazing collection and not just to collect, but also listens to only LP. I was surprised to hear that a lot of people in Germany listen to LPs.
They did the whole of Berlin on cycle. Apparently cycle is the most preferred means of transport there, and you see more cycles than cars on the streets; in fact Lavi and Christoff don't even own a car. And you see cycle stands like this everywhere, where you can rent cycles by the hour too.
The Beer seems ubiquitous..with Lavi, Amit, Christoff, Busty and Marine
Prague: "exquisitely beautiful...it has something of beauty around every corner.”
They did the whole place by walk, hours and hours of walking. Lots of Sculptured Fountains and Gargoyles..... and ended the day with Absenthe, a local liquor which apparently has the highest alcohol content.
Madrid: “I'm definitely living in Madrid atleast two years of my life, at some point.”
“Being in the 'Estadia Santiago Bernabeau' (home stadium of Real Madrid) was a goosebumpy experience..... my piligrimage" he said
They stayed with Ceaser (Thezaar) an artist from Spain who spoke little English, and gave them a feel of total local flavour by taking them around Madrid, again lots and lots of walking......a chocolate bar, which serves only chocolate..... a ‘beer garden’, which serves only beer and no food.....and of course the Mohito.
Brussels: “Though I’m a non believer, the cathedral at Brussels was an overwhelming and intense experience”
They stayed at a village called Lenik with Upi and his Belgian girlfriend (forgot her name). Also had Geuzer, supposedly the best beer in the world, and in this place called ‘Inde Verzevering grote dorst’, which translates as ‘Insurance against the great thirst’.
Also Brussels had a lot of tintin structures and wall art apparently, which I found fascinating as that’s another strong association from my growing up days...way more than dhruva’s for sure.
Yet another big event was attending the Rock Verta, a music festival which had two favourite bands ‘Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ and ‘Tame Impala’ playing, and which was attended in rain and slush by a crowd of over fifty thousand. In fact tickets to this were booked even before flight or visa was done :)
Paris: He said this was out of 'Before Sunset', the long walking, the cafe's, and the boat trip down the Seine viewing the Palais de Versailles, The Notre Dame and such.
A sort of finale was watching the Paris Iceland semi finals at the Eiffel tower, which was apparently spectacularly lit up after the win.
And true to purpose they did watch a lot of the Euro cup from the country that was playing...watch on street screens or local pubs and that was essence of their trip.
Dhruva learnt how to say 'hello' and 'thanks' in all the languages there and told me some...I only remember 'denke' ( thanks in german)
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