This is Earth. You know that, right?

It's bad enough if you tell me that you know of nothing else to see in Paris except the Eiffel.

Then you go on to insult years of education you received at the hands of, hopefully, competent teachers by claiming to have never heard of the French revolution, or Marie Antoinette.

You haven't heard of the Louvre. The lesser said of Orsay or Georges Pompidou or Orangerie, the better.

And need I even mention the Renaissance to you, if you have the gall to ask 'Florence means what?' in that ridiculous accent?

You, who have dared enter this charming town without having let the hallowed name of Galileo enter your sphere of existence.

May I ask you just one thing?

What well were you hiding in, for however long you claim to have existed?

When you find yourself...

... dreaming of people you last saw a decade ago.
... forgetting the name of the Bandra pizza place you used to order from everyday.
... looking at buildings in Valletta and being reminded of Baroda.

Its time to go home.

Malta

I loved the island.

Despite the fact that my wallet got lost/stolen there.

It is 19 miles by 6, has shops with boards that belong to another century perhaps (oh the joy of seeing haberdashers, ironmongers and greengrocers, in this age of Carrefour and Walmart). Plenty of sunshine (In november, mind you), lovely sea, and very friendly people.

It even has temples that look like Stonehenge, but are older.

Basically, imagine England with perpetual sunshine, siestas, and a lower cost of living, and you have Malta. I was half expecting the famous five to walk out of a tea room or a confectioner's or something (Yes, they have confectioners. And tea rooms.) after having bought food for their next picnic.

What's not to like about such a place?

:)

Frankfurt...

... was awesome.

My legs hurt, with all the walking. And my hands hurt because of all the books I've been lugging around.

But it was worth it.

As a reader, this is one side of books you never see. And it is a complex, many-sided business with a million things happening every moment, all thanks to the Net.

A much-needed eye-opener.

Not to mention, much needed books :). and pre-release ones at that.

So you're reading "Girl with dragon tattoo"? I'm reading the sequel that releases in 2009! :)

Khuda Jaane...

... ke yeh locations kahaan hain!

Saw a Hindi film, Bachna Ae Haseeno.

Film borders on the bearable. But mainly because of the excellent locations. All I wanted to know at the end was the list of locations. Especially ones within Italy, and therefore a 4-8 hour train ride from me :), where the songs were shot.

Switzerland's GoldenPass Panoramic train, I've been on. Rome (the entire Pantheon, Piazza Navona bit) of course. Venice (Piazza San Marco and the canals) , really obvious too. What about all the rest?

This film makes me realise I haven't seen so much in this country yet!

Chamonix, and the UTMB

Just got back from Chamonix last evening.

On a single trip lasting 4 days, I:

1. Volunteered at Europe's toughest marathon -- 2300 people running a 166 kms, with over 9000 mtrs of elevation changes ! The line between dedication and madness is certainly thin :)
2. Saw this unique corner of the world where people of three nationalities (Italian, French, Swiss) share the same mountains. -- A 'Frenchman' from Chamonix is likely to feel closer to an 'Italian' from Courmayeur (25 kms away), than to a Parisian, for instance. Truly awesome experience.*
3. Ate tons of awesome food -- the croissants at the Patisserie Richard are to die for, and the less one drools over all the cheeses the better.
4. Trekked to a glacier -- the Mer de Glace. Other nimbler, alpine-shoe-equipped people took an hour and a half; I took 2 hrs 45 mins with my Bubblegummers!
5. Took a cable car to a point 3864 metres above sea level -- and experienced snowfall for the first time. Some demented souls took off from that point with their skis and alpine equipment. I wisely took the cable car back down!
6. Had long chats with Kevin, a British writer, who once interviewed Lord Mountbatten.
7. Walked through a pitch dark forest -- and ended up befriending Pete, a sailor from England who'd spent the previous 12 days trekking all the way from Zermatt in Switzerland to Chamonix.
8. Met more British people than I've ever met before - and was told on atleast three occasions, by various surprised Englishmen, that " You speak English so well!". I'm still wondering why it surprises them that the natives now speak the Queen's English better than they do :)

All in all, to say that it was a wonderful experience would be the height of understatement. The pictures, both from the UTMB, and my own wanderings, are up here.

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* For instance, as soon as you enter the northernmost region (state) of Italy, called Valle d' Aosta, all road signs are in both French and Italian. Roads are called Via- Rue XYZ. Towns have names like Pont St. Martin.

Europe on a shoestring? Try dental floss!

Last week, as I was packing bags for Chamonix, my classmates decided to head to Switzerland on an impulse (my wicked influence at work???). Which is all very good, except that Switzerland is expensive to begin with, and last minute bookings = no savings.

A ticket for a 3 hour train journey from Milan to Geneva (19 EUR each way if you book a couple of weeks in advance) costs 45 EUR if you book a day before leaving. And, not being price-watching Sindhis, my friends went ahead and booked too!

Add to this a Swiss Pass (EUR 141 for 4 days unlimited travel by train, boat, and bus), and food and stay, and these guys were all set for atleast a 300 Euro phatka.

Enter yours truly.

I love picking up anything in print, and end up saving it like a pack-rat, so I had a zillion SBB brochures from the May trip.

Hidden deep in a corner of a map was a funny bit of info. SBB has two panoramic trains (covered in the Swiss Pass) that don't quite end in Switzerland. The Glacier Express that ends in Chamonix Mont Blanc (France), and the William Tell Express that ends in Chiasso, Italy.

As it happens, Chiasso is an hour (and a mere 4.2 Euros) away by regional train from Milan. So, if you're buying a Swiss Pass anyway, it technically kicks in from Chiasso.

It sounds too good to be true, but my friends tried it (and saved 90% on tickets!).

Now I'm thinking... I saved 240 ( 3 * 2 * 40) Euros by reading a brochure... I would do well in the travel business, what say?

Off to Chamonix!

The Internet is a wonderful place.

Just this morning, random surfing led one to read about the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc (or UTMB) -- supposedly Europe's toughest marathon, with people running over a 120+ kms of trails circling the Mont Blanc* Massif. Its 2008 edition is happening in a few weeks.

"It'd be interesting to see", one thought. A bit more surfing, and one was deep within their site, reading a page where they were looking for volunteers.

On an impulse, one signed up, and was accepted into their tech team. Ergo, one is getting an insiders view at a sporting evant, and as a nice little bonus, an all-expenses-paid trip to one of the world's poshest ski resorts, Chamonix (in France), from where the UTMB sets off on the 28th.

Can't wait !

* Mont Blanc, or Monte Bianco in Italian, is Europe's highest peak and is 'shared' by the French, the Swiss, and the Italians.

Hyderahhhhh!bad

The weekend saw me doing one of those weekend trips that life has lately seen very few of.

The agenda: ACE2006 at the ISB.

One more city, right? Not.

Hyderabad 'Dakhkhan' as my grandparents would have called it, is cool. The cantonments remind me of the more innocent Bangalore of just four years ago, the roads are blissfully flat, and 'Gachi Bowely' is all wide open spaces and breezy campuses (Tangent: Is the plural of campus campii?).

To add to which, how can you go wrong with a city where you can get into a rick, and ask to be taken to Paradise?