Category Archives: Travel

Of Berlin and Berliners

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“Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner). These words were spoken by JFK during his visit to Berlin in 1963. He proclaimed that every free person is a Berliner. Little did he know the nuances of the German language nor was he aware that ‘Berliner‘ is a popular jam filled bun popular amongst the masses, his words really meant he was a jam filled bun. The right phrase should have been, “Ich bin Berliner”. But setting aside the linguistic nuances, the spirit of Berliners was celebrated on that day.

Last weekend, we paid a trip to the city of Berlin. It turned out to be a pretty good experience for a history buff like me, to a massive city, the biggest in Germany.

The first impressions of Berlin came up the moment we got out of the train, Berlin HauptBahnof is a huge railway station opened in 2006 with five different levels serving various local trains like S Bahn and International/National routes. It is modern architectural marvel for its large expanse and design.

Our hotel was near Alexanderplatz, on a cold and wet winter morning, we were standing at the exit of the Alexanderplatz station staring at the  Fernsehturm , at 368 meters it is the tallest building in Germany. It was a TV tower constructed by GDR, as the place was a part of East Berlin. They wanted it to be the sign of the city, and it truly is. One could go up the tower and enjoy dinner at its restaurant.

After a while we attempted to venture out in the cold weather, the first stop was Fernsehturm, we wanted to go up but it had a long waiting period, so we decided otherwise. We then took a train to Hackesher markt and wanted towards the Museum Island (Museum Sinsel). Buildings of Altes Museum, Pergamom Museum and Berliner Dom populate the place. Large hallways outside the National Gallery still bear marks of damage from the WWII.

We spent a few hours at the Berliner Dom, which overlooks the Lustgarten (no, don’t giggle!) park. It is indeed difficult to imagine that Lustgarten was one of the places where Nazis would hold mass rallies and during the WWII it was destroyed by bombs. The Berliner Dom is indeed worth a visit, a very different cathedral when compared to churches elsewhere in Europe, it celebrates Reformation and is worthy of spending time.

Next stop for us was Brandenburg Gate, it is the iconic monument of Berlin. In fact it is also stamped on Euro coins, this monument is probably the heart of any visit to the city. This is where the wall stood, right in front of the gate, a division of the people, this is where Ronald Reagen once spoke, ‘Mr Gorbachev, Tear down this wall‘. Till date three US Presidents have spoken at the gate talking about freedom and peace.

Near to the gate is the Reichstag, we really wanted to visit the place inside, but we did not know that free bookings have to be made in advance. I would have loved to visit the Reichstag dome, hopefully I’d go back again someday. With this we returned to Alexanderplatz and visited the TV tower at night, the view of the city and its light was enchanting.

Next morning, the first place to visit was Checkpoint Charlie. A very touristy spot, it was one of the gates where diplomats from US sector would enter/exit the Soviet sector. That single board of Checkpoint Charlie attracts many visitors, an open exhibition of the Berlin wall and markers on the road illustrating where the wall once stood make it an incredible experience.

On the same street as the checkpoint, one could also visit the Mauer Museum (Wall Museum). It is a private museum dedicated to the wall, to peace and the struggle of German people during the days of the Cold War. Anecdotes, actual escape vehicles/contraptions and pictures of people who escaped through the wall make the place a living memorial of the days which went by. Some of the stories are trying heart wrenching, a couple of pictures shook me up…

The last place to visit on the day was Charlottenberg palace, unfortunately by the time we reached there it was already closing time. With this we returned to the HB and waited for our train.

Tips

Local Travel: Buying a day pass at 5.5 EUR (or if in a group upto 5 people at 15 EUR) will allow you to travel by metro, trams and buses. It is worthwhile to also check out the Bus #100 route, it moves around all major spots of interest (except Checkpoint Charlie) and this single bus could be one of the best ways to move around the city.

Stay: We stayed at Etap hotel near Alexanderplatz, the price for two people was 53 EUR. Rooms are clean and simple, perfect for budget travelers.

Bello Milano

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I have been traveling quite a bit, this started in the last few months…Vienna, Amsterdam (not exactly!),  Milan, Konstanz and of course places within der Schweiz. I have already completed that wish to visit 5 countries by the time I am 30, in fact, i have already exceeded it by one.

Do I regret traveling? No, I love it.

So it was a fine sunny day in September, not like the suddenly gloomy, dull days of the fall, devoid of any Sun. Early around 8.30 we left from Zurich HB towards Milano Centrale. Yes, Yes I know I should have taken an earlier train, but a weekend is all about lazy beginnings right?

Anyways, it was already around noon when we landed up in Milano Centrale. The first taste of Italian hospitality came in when the Tourist counter lady at the station acted super rude and just gave me a tourist map to the city, she did not respond to my query about this thing called Milan Card (a coupon which gives you free local travel and discounts in shops). It took us another 10 minutes to find our way out of the station, deciphering the map…The station itself is huge, with connections to the Milan Underground system. The station was opening in 1931 and was, at one time, an attempt to showcase the impact of the power of Mussolini’s regime.

Next step was to look into the map and select the places we’d visit, afterall we had to return the same day. We were hungry, and ended up at the McDonalds across. First tragedy stuck, the lady at the counter said yes to vegatarian burger, and what i ended up with was a salad burger without any patty. It was yuck! Anyways, we marked around 10 places on the map, and figured out the  Azienda Trasporti Milanesi route.

Next halt was the massive Piazza del Duomo, a huge expanse of a square with buildings all around it. I have never been to a place like that, a huge square with hundreds of people. It was indeed a crowded place, a novelty in Europe I suppose? The square is faced by the famous Milan Cathedral on one side, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and a series of other important buildings and shopping arcades.

The square had like a zillion pigeons with sellers trying to lure outsiders like me to feed corn to them at a price or get a picture taken at a price. Sounds familiar? Yes, this reminded me of India. The impression of Italy was reinforced in the rest of the day.

The Duomo di Milano (cathedral) is a huge building which started off back in 1386, finally ordered for completion by Napolean. In fact Napolean was crowned as the King of Italy at the Duomo. The church with its extensive glass paintings, sculptures, halls and the treasury is THE place to visit in Milan. I have been to a lot of churches here, but nothing compares to Duomo.

We later headed to the Art museum (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana) nearby, it started as the personal collection of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo it has expanded to over 12k paintings and a huge collection of artifacts and manuscripts. The notable elements of the place Raphael’s School of Athens sketch, designed for the fresco in the Vatican’s Stanza della Segnatura, and manuscripts by Leonardo da Vinci, including the Codex Atlanticus.

From here on, we returned back to the square and searched for a small chapel nearby, we could have almost missed the place as the opening was hidden. After this, we took a walk around the Piazza and visited the  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, this huge building houses the most premium shopping brands with plenty of food joints. It opens on one end towards the town hall facing the Opera house.

It was around this time when we wishes to return, but the return journey was not as fun as i had thought. For the day we traveled to Milan, it was the same as the F1 GP in Milan. We managed to get reserved tickets to Zurich (only 1st class was available). Only to realize on boarding the train that the ticket agent gave us tickets of the next day! We went back to argue, the man just denied it. It annoyed us because he had himself proposed us to buy 1st class as reservation was available! Sadly it was the last direct train to Zurich, we then took another ticket to reach a place called Arth goldau, hoping to catch the last connection for the night to Zurich.

But the train was delayed, it was indeed similar to India again! Our worry was that our connection was in Switzerland, thus there was no way we could now catch it. Everyone was quite uncomfortable, afterall most were visiting from der Schweiz, trains getting late is not a common thing.

As the train entered the Swisss territory, a terrible thunderstorm started off…well i had no hopes left, i thought I’d reach home the next day. But, soon a train announcement was made, the train would now be going to Zurich and Basel. Any passengers who were going to Luzern (as in the original route) should get off on the next stop and they would have a bus waiting to drop them off. You can only expect the Swiss to do this!!!

We did not have a ticket to Zurich, and we explained it to the ticket checker, he said, ‘No problem we are delayed and its on us’.

I Love Vienna

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I have never been to Paris, so I don’t know if Paris would score above Vienna.
Last week, I was out to visit Netherlands and Austria(locally written as Österreich) . While the trip to Netherlands was quite busy in work, where I could not visit any place of interest (and neither was I in Amsterdam), but the second trip to Vienna(also locally written as Wein) allowed me to spend a Saturday.

I had never expected to fall in love with Vienna, the rich town where you could hear music anywhere you’d go. The soul of the town touched me, right from Stephensdom to the Danube, Vienna had so much to offer, and I had so little time accept it all.

Streets filled with musicians, dancers, random performers, quartets there was always something which demanded my attention. The architecture of the town from the Opera House to the Parliament left me spell bound, and to top it all was Sacher Torte. The dessert, which is an institution in itself, a trip to Vienna is not complete if you have not tried this delicacy.

What I did do was not take any guided tours except a small Ring tram across the town for a quick overview, and then a walk from the Opera House towards the Parliament, covering each building like the Imperial Palace, Art Musuem, Museum of Natural History and the People’s Park. A useful tip was to buy the Vienna card for 18 Euros and using it for all local travel and a few discounts at various places, the underground system in Vienna is fairly straightforward and would take no effort in figuring out.


I know there is more, for the country which gave birth to Mozart and Beethoven, for the people who love spending time in kaffeehaus, life is filled with music and art. I bumped into folks dressed up as Mozart selling tickets to Mozart concerts, mime artists whisling Mozart tunes and chocolates in the name of Mozart. It was indeed a surprise to know that Mozart was from Salzberg.

I also chanced to visit the Prater and the Madame Tussauds wax museum, the first wax musuem that I’d have visited. It was indeed an impressive affair with Arnold Swachzennger (an Austrian by birth) welcoming you in!

Yes, the time was limited, and there was so much to see, but I know that this is cannot my last trip there, Vienna shall call me again, until then just follow the music…

Zurich Notes – Pursuing Indian Food

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Its been 26 days since I arrived here, the biggest city of Switzerland. As I am supposed to be here for a while, the need to find Indian food ingredients and Indian food places was critical! Here’s a primer of my search for Indian cuisine, and stores till now….hopefully someday this post will help tourists and residents find options for desi-food in Zurich.

Indian Stores

For some strange reason, I notice a lot lesser Indian stores here than I did in Geneva, maybe its just because I have not explored properly yet..

I rely on two places currently for my Masala, pickle, ready to eat food needs from the subcontient:

  • Barkat Cash and Carry : It has two stores in Zurich, the one I visit is on Badenerstrasse 530 8048 Zürich. The way to approach the place is by taking Tram 2 and getting down at Freehofstrasse, the store is next to a Singpore cuisine restaurant. You can get Indian/Asian veggies, masalas, rotis/paranthas, meat and odds and ends there. I feel that price wise Barkat is better than other places.
  • Agarwal Indian Food: Writing this because everyone else recommends it, I have never seen the store open (maybe I was late). Quality of food products is recommended by various people I know. The store is on Langstrasse 62, 8004 Zurich
  • Sher e Punjab: Now this is more of a section to a small eating joint, where one can purchase indian products. Limited things are available but basic spices, atta, maggi noodles, pulses etc… are available. Pricewise its not the best place to be. One nifty addition is the movie section where you can rent Indian films from them. Visit http://punjab.ch/
  • Coop/Migros: One thing to notice, common spices can be found in Coop and Migros, all one should know is the german/french name of the spices.

Indian Food

Being a bachelor who is staying alone, cooking is not the most desirable task for me. Some days I tend to eat out, but then eating out in an Indian restaurant is much more expensive than one thinks. In the last 26 days, I have sampled out 5 different Indian eating joints, and can give a review on those. One disclaimer is that I am a vegetarian, so cannot comment on the food for the non-vegetarian junta.

  • Sher e Punjab: This small eatery is located at Sihlfeldstrasse 45, its a small place, you may even miss it out as there is a tiny board out there. To get there take Tram 2 or 3 and get down at Lochergut. The eatery is run by a sikh gentleman and it also has a store section (mentioned above), the food has a variety of punjabi dishes for both vegetarians and non vegetarians. Average dinner for a single person could cost around 20 CHF (or more), but the flavor and quantity  provided makes up for the price, food is homely and prompt. I would like to return to the place as I like the food and can get home-style phulkas (roti) there. There is little to speak in terms of ambiance, but then its a no nonsense eatery. The link is mentioned above. Note: Its closed on Sundays
  • King’s Kurry Little India: This is a restaurant on the left side of the Bahnhof Weidikon, you can also take Tram 14 to get there. The restaurant has an outside eating area as well in the garden. Unfortunately on the day I went, it was raining, so we had to be seated inside. The ambiance is good, and the place is usually crowded with plenty of locals eating here. Prices are a bit high, the service is prompt, but a dinner for two will cost upwards of 75 CHF. Taste of food is good, however the quantity is not as good as Sher e Punjab, but just adequate. It would be a good idea to make prior bookings before visiting. Visit: http://www.kingskurry.ch/e/india/index.htm
  • King’s Kurry Thali: This is a Thali style eatery just off the Schaffhauserplatz tram stop (next to the Credit Suisse office), it is a recently opened restaurant. Each day there is a different Thali offering, and the same is served to you. One can choose between a vegetarian thali, chicken or lamb. A Thali is provided with two curries, raita, dal and rice (you can order naan/rotis too). Vegetarian thali is for 19 CHF, Chicken thali for 21 CHF and Lamb for 23 CHF. Food was above average, the key advantage is that one cannot find a thali at this price easily in Zurich, the restaurant folks are helpful but new to business. There is a rebate on takeaway and a student lunch box for 10 CHF. Good place to visit specially for lunches.
  • Restaurant Kerala: Restaurant Kerala is not only a south Indian restaurant, it offers Punjabi cuisine as well. In terms of ambience this rates the highest amongst all the places I have visited, just off the Radiostudio tram stop (Tram 11), the restaurant offers a variety of food from appams to chicken tikka. Service is cordial but a bit slow, a dinner for two will cost upwards of 75 CHF, the good part is that the servings are tasty and sufficient. Make a booking before visiting as the place gets crowded in the evenings. Visit: http://www.keralarestaurant.ch/pages/eng/index_e.htm
  • Karachi and Bombay Take away: I just visited the place 2 days ago, its a small takeaway but has some sitting area too. Patrons can select from a combination of three curries and take a thali with rice or roti(phulka). Vegetarian meal was 13 CHF and Non-veg starts from 17 CHF. Flavorwise the food was really impressive, I relished the homely feel of the food, to top it one can take any amount of raita, chutney, pickle and candies with the food. The place plays Bollywood/Pakistani music videos and is a nice change from the regular sophisticated restaurants. Limited ambiance but good food at a very good price make this place a favorite. You can visit the place by getting down at Stampfenbachplatz tram stop (Tram 14) and walk to Stampfenbachstrasse 32, 8006 Zürich.

Hope this mini food guide helps a lot of people in figuring out the places in Zurich

Au Revoir

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Yes, Yes I know that change is the only constant, and one must embrace change with aplomb. But after an year of arguing for loose change with rude autowallahs of Kolkata, I know better. Anything with the word ‘change’ in it, is not an easy activity.

Another big change awaits in a week, when I bid adieu to Calcutta for another country. With this change multiple areas of stress have also propped up like moving the house, losing on the deposit, sending all the stuff home, shopping for the visit, not meeting loved ones and so on….

With this change also comes an uncertainity of a new job assignment with limited earlier experience, the anxiety and pressure to perform in a new environment.

Hope this change is good in the long run, but the run up to change is not…

I bid my goodbyes to this city and this house….wondering if the city would ever miss me. Wondering if the next occupant of this house would ever know about me, would he/she ever wonder who was the last person here and sense my essence of having lived here for around 13 months.

I know these are all philosophical questions, but well, thats what I ponder about too!

Here’s to a new  journey of a few thousand of miles and a new destination….cheers!