Summer Course-Through My Eyes!!!

Summer Course in Copenhagen!!!

Let’s start with Valle and her anglo Spanish style, god helped me during her dressing time, but I promised her to learn some Spanish by our next meeting time.

Confusions were always generated for our French friend, but Jonathon I admitted at the end that you are a naturally born Belgian brain

What shall we do with the Czeck traitor Martin?? What shall we do with the czeck traitor Martin?? Throw him into prague early in the morning.

Geo-tourism might have emerged from the centre of Europe, here comes crying Monika but now smiling all the time .

Cheerful smile turned into tears in eyes, hope my friend  Mateusz from Krakow, you had a great summer time.

Let’s make a cirkul of slow bikers, no matter how slow she is, please welcome future tour-de-france winner Rita from Lisbon.

Coming from Belgium, stealing bike from Copenhagen, breaking law all the time but not drinking beer, don’t you think cedric its a very big crime?

Participants night was  a great surprise, but changing gender at a first moment was not so nice. But I did not mind bearing that torture since finally I want to make all of you smile.

Coming form Milan, but showing true respect to Brazil, Everyone respected Isa’s spirit by dancing with her on samba during the international eve.

Always sending post card, wherever he has been, interested in lecture notes I truely respect his feelings since everything is green, but tell me diego, have you ever surf facebook even in your dream??

James bond will fail, FBI will be defeated, Science will run short of answers but efforts to solve the  mystery behind the secret connection of hand and hair of Rafeala will always be endless.

Born guitarist, passionate photographer with a genuine smile most of the time. Ladies and gentleman please put your hands together for talented Konstantious from Greece.

Cutest in all but crying without any reason, sweetest all the time but troubling google search by an indirect religion.  Made delicious pasta, stefania my dear friend how I can forget your Italian nose without any special reason.

Arrived in Copenhagen without a champagne but brought a great sense of humour and lot of French smile. Thanks for your helping hand buddy  and hope to have this strong friendship Clement for entire life time.

Giving kisses in return of Estonian candies is not a crime, but drinking 40% alcohol sometimes is not at all fine, a sincere request cant you accept flying kisses my dear Railli, the Estonian queen ,during most of the time??.

I lost the bottle of ‘Wednesday’ after a long and sweet night, cristina from cluj-napoca was declared someone’s English pronunciation  teacher that night.

Born in the same country, but might not have the same dream. We may speak different language, but my dear friend Venktesh we both came from the same extreme.

Supported all my decisions, obeyed everything as a true student .Let’s have a closer tie Alex which even Mother Teresa had never thought in her dreams.

Through silent but still a patientfull listener, though teacher on her own but passionate to learn every time. Sorry mam for speedy English style, but Cigdem I will never dare to ask  meaning behind your Turkish name in a funny style.

“Are you single, Sara?” will never be the question from me again, keep smiling always but never try to kill me for the same mistake again and again J

My Belgian friend and partner of the pink love night Pieter the great, Thanks for bearing me all the time but there is no more announcement from me at this stage.

OMG!! Will someone stop Tara from listening Salsa & Serbian music?? I admitted it to be bit annoying but sometime it was completely extreme .

Here comes the model guy chosen by every opposite gender of this stream, sorry my Austrian friend Viktor but I am sacred of 80% storh and burning chocolate even in my dreams

Never found in organisers place, as Ali found his good company in some other room. But whenever called for duty, this Turkish guy never left us alone even during the middle of his dream.

Spider concentration camp was worse then nazis, but why Graziana is not sending Italian mafia’s and polluted pizzas even after going away from this street??

Expert in dancing, looks good when she is angry, quite tall in height is Ivnaka our ukranian friend. Peaceful most of the time but killed me when called Russian when a slip of my tounge and gentle smile made mistake of life time.

Afraid from riding during the Tivoli night, Bojan from Serbia gave us a big surprise.Never ended the best spirit, but tell me during the roller coster why you were so shy??

Last but not the least, Thankful to Patrycja for her massages and smile. You made me alive and became saviour of my life, don’t dare to forget me because I am coming to meet you in a month’s time.

Writer: Ankit Khandelwal( Ex-Mo and now your friend)

Acknowledgement: All the participants, co-organisers and other organisers who made these two weeks as one of the most memorable days of my life.

Parody of whenever wherever(Battle between Disease and Doctor)!!

Its  a conversation between “Doctor and Patient” and most of the time doctor challenging diseases ( in a symbolized way) openly in an operation room (I am afraid you have to assume it). There also exist a third person who is telling patient about the importance of Doctor in between, overall its battle for the contorl of human body between disease and a Docotr. I hope you will enjoy it.

Lucky that you were here not far away from the doctor

So we could create miracle instead of differences

Third person is saying to patient about the importance of doctor

Lucky that doctor doesn’t allow diseases to invade in your terriotory

The lucky fact of doctor’s existence

Oh! Man I can sincerely do the deeds solely

To remove the unconscious , unmeasurable pain of your body

Never ever you will such example fighting god and evil so openly

So many ways to care somebody

Le re lo le lo le

Le ro lo le lo le

Open your eyes and see… I am here to save you

Doctor’s response to disease

Whenever wherever

We are made to fight with each other

I will be here to secure this patient’s future and you will be thrown away from this miniature

And that will be an deal my dear

Your time is over, you are under the toe of my foot

You will never expect this wonder

Mankind always destroy such enemies by shifting gears

You will be thrown out of this miniature

Lucky that my hands not only kill the disease

They spread personal warmth like a good will shower

Lucky that my weapons to cure diseases are so small & efficient

So that you don’t confuse them with nuclear bomb

Lucky that I have strong determination to fight this endless battle

To give aid to people

And these two eyes are for no other

They will see your hasty destination when you will this soul forever

Le re lo le lo le

Le ro lo le lo le

Open your eyes and see… I am here to save you

Whenever wherever

We are made to fight with each other

I will be here to secure this patient’s future and you will be thrown away from this miniature

And that will be an deal my dear

Your time is over, you are under the toe of my foot

You will never expect this wonder

Mankind always destroy such enemies by shifting gears

You will be thrown out of this miniature

Now Doctor to the patient after treatment

Le re lo le lo le

Le ro lo le lo le

We won yet another battle together

Le re lo le lo le lo le

Tell me one more time

That you are feeling conscious and alive

Having pleasant charm in your eyes

Now again doctor to disease

Whenever wherever

We are made to fight with each other

I will be here to secure this patient’s future and you will be thrown away from this miniature

And that will be an deal my dear

Your time is over, you are under the toe of my foot

You will never expect such wonder

You have got mine punishment over and over again

There is nothing left in you to bring fear to mankind

Now you have to go the way I feel

You have got mine punishment over and over again

There is nothing left in you to bring fear to mankind

Now you have to go the way I feel

Written by: Ankit Khandelwal

Acknowledgement: Thanks Arpita Khandelwal for inspiration and many many thanks to Dr. Joby, Dr. Beulah, Dr. Jenny,Dr.Gina, Jason Raymond and all friends from Christian Medical College, Vellore whose names I cant remember now. They all were great source of inspiration too and their company gave lot of unforgetable moments during 4 yeras of my under graduation.

Hone valli Bahu ne liya saas ka interview(हिन्दी में)

Arse se tha jis pal ka intezzar, aaj khatam hua vo milo lamba kaal,
shubh ghadi hain aaj vo aayi, beauty parlour se saj dhaj kar bahu saas se milne khud aayi,

Hua chandan ke tilak se mastkabhishek or kiya aarati se kiya saas ne bahu ka swagat
or thamai 51 rupees ki muh dikhai bahu ke haath per

apna make up bigadne per bahu bahut hi gussai or uchi awaaz main saas per chillai
“wat is this?” Ye kaisa rewaj hain tumhara, mujhe nahi hain yeah sab pyara
or aaj ke jamane main huh 51 rupaye se bhala kiska hota hain gujara.

bahu ke aiise tevar dekhar saas bahut hi sakpakai per himat karke usne apni buddhi ladai
saas ne gardan uthakar bahu se aankh milai or keha,
“ekyan rupaye to kya ghar ka har jewer bhi hain ab tumhara,
jo mera tha aaj se vo bhi hain tumhara.”

Ghar main freeze ko na pakar bahu phir gussai or gusse se bare lal pile chehre kar saas pe jhalai,
kaisa chalta hain bina freeze or washing machine ke gujara tumhara,
ye maang hain meri chahiye mujhe freeze mehnaga wala or washing machine aisi jo ho padosan ke dil ko bhi jalane wala…

Kehte hain rasoi ek naari ke liye swarg hota hain,
isi ki vajah se vah pure ghar main apna danka baja sakti hain.
Saas ne karai bhau ko is swarg ki ser,
itne purani rasoi ko dekh bahu ka para thanka or uchi awaaj main vah boli.
tumhe kya kya banana aata hain??
is ghar main kaun kya kya khatha hain??
or sabse pehle to yeah batao tumhara beta ek baar main kitni roti khata hain??

Saas ne bhagwan ki murti ke saamne haath jode or man hi man budbudai
meri saas ko na maine kabhi kosa, mere pati ko na kabhi maine sataya,
parantu hai devadidev kaise padne di aapne is bahurhupi pret ki mujh per chahya,
sadhbuddhi de tu isko bhagwan nahi to le legi yeah mere pran

jo tum chahogi vahi sab hoga jo tum kahogi vahi sab banega
aa beth tu aaram se kehkar saas ne bichai cahrapi bahu ke saamne

What is this? ghar main kyun nahi hain sofa or abhi is waqt tum mujhe batao
kya kya dogi tum mujhe meri shaddi main tohfa??

Din bita aa chuki hain chav, le liya remote haath hain ab bitegi mastani shaam
Kunki aa gaya hain kalyug main naya avatar,
har ghar main kar reha hain yeah naye naye vastro, aabshuno ka prachar evem prasar,
per dono ki kushi main padne laga tha bhang
kyunki jab ek ki pasand ho bhajan or dusari ko ho saas bahu ke pechide prasang,
to kaise reh paye honge dono sang sang, kalpana na kar paya us pal ki main itna.

ant karta hoon in panktiyon se apni rachna,
saas bahu ke bhich ka rishta hain saagar se bhi gehra, na khanpaye aap or hum sir isme apna,
Kynuki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi or bahu bhi kabhi saas banegi.

Writer: Ankit Khandelwal

In Hindi alphabets(हिन्दी अक्षर में)

Arse से था जिस पल का intezzar, आज khatam हुआ वो मिलो लांबा काल,
शुभ घड़ी हैं आज वो aayi, ब्यूटी पार्लर से saj dhaj कर बहू सास से milne khud aayi,

Hua चंदन के तिलक से mastkabhishek या kiya aarati se kiya सास ने बहू का swagat
या thamai 51 रुपये की muh dikhai बहू के हाथ प्रति

बहू को अपना बनाने के प्रति bigadne gussai हाय या UCHI आवाज़ मुख्य सास chillai प्रति बहुत
“वाट है?” ये कैसा तुम्हारा करने rewaj हैं, मुझे नही हैं, हाँ सब प्यारा
या आज के मुख्य jamane हुह 51 rupaye से भला होता हैं kiska गुजरात.

बहू के aiise tevar dekhar सास sakpakai प्रति himat karke usne apni buddhi ladai हाय बहुत
सास gardan uthakar से आँख milai या keha बहू पूर्वोत्तर,
“Ekyan rupaye क्या करने के लिए घर का हर jewer भी अब तुम्हारा करने हैं,
जो मेरा था वो भी आज से तुम्हारा करने हैं. “

मुख्य घर को न pakar बहू या फिर gussai gusse से नंगे लाल chehre ढेर कर सास पे jhalai फ्रीज,
कैसा चलता हैं बीना फ्रीज या धुलाई के गुजरात तुम्हारा करने की मशीन,
ये हैं मेरी माँग chahiye मुझे फ्रीज mehnaga वाला या वॉशिंग मशीन तो ऐसी हो जो के दिल को भी jalane वाला पड़ोसन …

Kehte हैं rasoi ‘एक नारी के लिये स्वर्ग होता हैं,
आईएसआई की vajah se Vah शुद्ध घर मुख्य अपना डंका बाजा Sakti हैं.
सास ने karai bhau की सेवाओं को स्वर्ग है,
itne पुरानी rasoi को देख बहू का पैरा thanka या UCHI awaaj मुख्य Vah बोली.
tumhe क्या क्या केले aata हैं?
घर मुख्य kaun है क्या क्या khatha हैं?
sabse pehle या batao तुम्हारा करने के लिए बीटा Ek हाँ kitni रोटी khata मुख्य Baar हैं?

सास ने भगवान की मूर्ति के हाथ saamne jode या आदमी ही आदमी budbudai
मेरी सास को न मैने कभी kosa, पति को न कभी मैने sataya मात्र,
parantu हाई devadidev kaise padne di chahya प्रति bahurhupi प्रेत की mujh है aapne,
sadhbuddhi डे तू इसको भगवान नही ले legi को मात्र प्राण हाँ

जो tum chahogi vahi सब hoga जो tum kahogi vahi सब बनेगा
आ Beth तू aaram से kehkar सास ने बहू के bichai cahrapi saamne

यह क्या है? घर मुख्य क्यूं नही हैं सोफा या अभी वक्त की तुम मुझे batao है
क्या क्या dogi की तुम मुझे मेरी shaddi मुख्य तोहफा?

दीन bita आ chuki chav हैं, ले लिया दूरस्थ हाथ हैं अब bitegi शाम मस्तानी
Kunki आ गया हैं कलयुग मुख्य नया अवतार,
हर घर कर मुख्य हैं reha हाँ naye naye vastro, aabshuno का प्रचार प्रसार evem,
प्रति dono की kushi मुख्य padne लगा था भांग
सीरियल क्योंकि जब Ek की हो या भजन dusari को हो सास बहू के pechide prasang पसंद,
करने के लिए reh paye होंगे dono kaise गाया गाया, कल्पना न कर हमें दोस्त paya की मुख्य itna.

चींटी panktiyon se apni रचना में karta हूँ,
सास बहू के bhich का रिश्ता हैं सागर से भी गहरा न, आप तो या हम अपना सर isme khanpaye,
Kynuki सास भी कभी बहू थी या बहू सास भी कभी banegi.

लेखक: अंकित खंडेलवाल

I am a girl!!!

I am a girl… just got out my teens..
Who never thought.. how life been.
I want to love.. being with my friends
Enjoying great laughter.. and talking non sense.

I want to fly… just like kites in the sky
Daring to touch the blue skies… ignoring without wings how can I fly
I want to climb those high mountains…without knowing the heights
Dreaming to dive deep into the ocean… keeping all the fear aside

I like to dance in the rain… without caring about cough and cold.
Want to see rainbow…. and experience difference in the colors
I want to go outside… exploring this beautiful earth and meeting charming people
Saying good bye to boundaries… and keeping worries inside

I want to behave like a kid…. Without knowing how much old I am
Sleeping even after the sunrise… keeping alarm on and awaking all the people at the same time
I want to sit on papa’s lap… and remember my childhood days
Finding tears in my eyes… whenever I see any kid gonna cry

I see myself in the mirror…and think like a beauty queen
Want to look like a princess… and dressed like cindrella
I want to be become like Barbie doll… dressing as a princess and searching for the prince
Dreaming about someone day and night… not knowing when he will come and take me out

I want to meet santa clause…without knowing in which birth he will come and meet me so close
Enjoying always… and brining smile on others face.
I want to be like fairy tales… and use their magical powers
Help in nourishing others dream…. And bringing prosperity in everyone’s dream

Written by: Ankit Khandelwal

Special thanks to Arpita Khandelwal for providing idea and first 3 lines  and Sara Diaz for motivating me for bringing it in limelight.

Finding Cathedral De Norte Dome in Paris

Day 6(24.12.2009) Paris:

Time: Early Morning Hours

It is always good to be lost at some places while finding your native desination place. IT was quite similar when I seprated with my other mates on a way to Cathedral De Notre Dome. Well,it may sounds like a religious place. But this place has lot to offer. This was my second day in Paris and today I was roaming without travelling in a metro( You can guess I was walking on my two feet).

I passed few places on my way to cathedarl de notre dome, WUUU Look at the place just after coming out of nearest Metro Station.

Discovering Paris was a fun with adventure since  all the visiting, attractive place lies very near to each other in a close proximity of circle.

Police Station

It is very easy to lost in new cities, places but in Paris I was enjoying getting lost at somewhere, since it leads to the discovery of inner buties of Paris which cant be explained by guide books, internet articles and travel magazines. Well, Well let’s come back to reality.

So it was me  totally lost in the city of Paris while going towards Cathedral de notre dome sometime near about noon. Wind was flowing with very high velocity creating a cold sensation as always, but I was on my way to discover cathedral de notre dome.  It was a  walk besides  the river when I spotted a big hoarding mounted on a under contructed gigantic (May be huge) buidling. The hoarding has a poster or lot of policemen with something written on french. Guess, What was my first thought ??

I will count till 5…1,2,3,4,5.. Time up, an instant thought was ‘ Hmm.. seems like a movie theatre with action movie is showcased more often, may be even now’.  This building was 10 story high with  length  as long as an football field. Dont you wanna know the correct answer?? My imagination did not reveal the correct one, may be you can guess something close to accurate.

Well, I discovered later that it was building of Paris City Police Headquaters :D:D and poster was showcasing different operational unit and their capabilities of fighting with crime while taking utmost care of people in Paris.

Just after crossing this building, I saw a huge, gignatic but marvellous piece of beautifual Architechtural just in front of me. Yes, It was Cathedral de notre dome , one of the most attaractive destination for tourist visiting Paris. Why dont you spend some time and take a closer look on this beautifully carved masterpiece of french architechtural style.

Cathedral de notre dome(View from the front)

Time to Eat

We ( our gang splitted into two parts and we scheduled to meet t 14.00 inside cathedral). And I reached their quite early(around 12.30), it was time to eat something for lunch. Finding a cheap eating place around such a big monuments is a bizzre stuff, but I found a subway just on the opposite side or river. For those who are puzzled by subway, jus to remind subway is a food chain which sells sandwiches ( As far as I rememebr about them). I went there, ate a sandwich ( which was not so spicy) and then returned back to  my original location.

So, it was our second day in Paris and we decided to meet exactly at 14.00 somewhere  in-side cathedral(which was very big:D). We were slighlty smart while planning our trip and information gathered indicated a free english guide service around 14.00 each wednesday.  I was there much before 14.00, and trung and other mates joined the company around 13.30. There was a slight confusion while finding the guide, but with the help of receptionsit it became possible without much hurdles.  When I saw the guide, I could not believe my eyes , I saw something unobvious. Our guide was a female,  in her sixties, a history professor having a vast knowledege and experience of French History, Art and Culture. She asked where I am from, I said India. She smiled and told there is an Indian touch too to this cathedral which we will discover during our trip inside later.

Everyone was carefully listening to her during the start of her talk but slowly slowly people strated moving away from the group and till the end (After one hour), there were around 5 people left (off course including me). She explained almost everything about Cathedral and off course about the Indian Touch. I will talk about all these in next post and hope to be regular from now onwards.

Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre

No, No, No Dont make a mistake to think that I started learning French(Althogh I am kind of language phreak :p). It is a name of closest metro station in Paris reguired to visit famous Louvre Museum(I visited to see Monalisa but later admired all the beautiful works displayed over ther).

So it was our first day in Paris and our group was splitted into two by now.( A long story, may be I need another post in future to explain it). I was staying in ‘Peace and Leave Hostel somewhere in east-north Paris’ and other mates are staying near to La Defense(In Western Part of Paris).

DAY 5(23.12.2009) PARIS Day 1

It was 18.30 and it was already dark in Paris(Since it was winter time). I was in hostel and jut spotted an Indian Shop outside.But wait, I was getting list for Louvre Museum ( located some 20 km from my hostel) and required to change 3 trains continunouslyto reach on time when my other friends would have reached or about to reach Museum.

So I started my journey again(Its third time in first day in Paris that I was using Paris Metro). Paris transportation system(especially metro) looked very strange to me( When I tried to enter first time inside station,train etc) as compared to one in Copenhagen. But it was cheaper( I will explain you reason behind it later) , effective and very fast way of reaching places. All that you need a map and some knowledge in understanding it and rest everything will be fine.

So after changing three METRO Trains, I reached Museum. Well,its first impression to me was like a royal place( which came out to be true at later stage,read wikipedia). Entrance  to it shaped like a pyramid which is made of glass and to buy visiting ticket, it is regquired to go in basement. It was quite dark outside and Iwas tired but excited to see Few World Famous Paintings( To visit Louvre Completely even weeks are not sufficients, since it is so big to be discovered within few hours of time).

Louvre Museum(Some General Facts):

• One of the world’s largest, most visited museum and a historic monument.
• Near 35,000 objects from prehistory to 19th century were exhibited over there.
• As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian antiquities,Near Eastern aniquities,greek,etruscan and Roman antiquities, Islamic art, Sculpture,decorative arts,paintings ,drawings.

For more details you can look on: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en ( Official website of Museum)

So, Here I was standing right in front of Louvre Museum Entrance( Called as Pyramid). Grab a quick look on it from the following pictures:

Free Entrance to Louvre Museum:

Well, I was quite surprise to see ticket price( Not much in Euro but too high on converting it into DKK). It was 19.30(7.30) and I was quite sure not able to see anything even if I buy ticket and start visiting gallaries. I asked to one of the reception desk about getting tickets, she asked soemthing about age proof and if I am a student(I guess, I still look a bachelor student ). I said yes I am a student and running under 24. . I told her that louvre will close at 21.30 today(generally it closes at 17.30 except wednesday) so anyway “I will come some another day to visit, So how much will be the price of a ticket?” She said, “If I am studying European Union and Below 26 then its free of cost to visit louvre museum, no matter you visit today or tomorrow”. My other friends had to pay money  becasue of their upper age .  I was happy after saving 9 europs.

So I got freedom to roam in louvre . But My first priority  to visit World Famous Painting Monalisa( I guess it will be priority of even you ).I was eagerly waiting to see this famous painting and took shortest route (using guided map) to reach the place, where it was located.

I rushed to place and wow!! I saw Monalisa but wait a Minute……..>>>

Why is it looking so small? Why it is  behind glass?? Why there is fencing all round it?  You will get same questions when you look on the following pictures.

Later, I asked one of the security Guard for reason behind such sepcial arrangement only for MONALISA(Luckily he did not misunderstand me), he gave following reasons from the safety point of view:

• Bullet Proof Glass prevents it from( Do I need to tell from whom?)
• Glass also protect by minimizing incident light on painting.
• Generally People are not allowed to use flash inside Louvre Museum so as to protect paintings, same applies here but not all the people follow guidelines of museum, so authorities restricted entry point to 10 m( Or may be more, it was just my guess) for general people.

Even after such obstacles, this rare piece of art looks extremely beautiful . But I was questioned by Phuong about Leonardo da Vinci and his few famous works. My good friend Trung already told Phoung about my deep knowledge and interestes in Vinci’s works:). I had no idea how much knowledge did I transfer to her, but still gave her some answers.

It was 8.45 pm(20.45 hrs) and this great museum was going to be closed soon for that day. So we took some walk in the neighbouring corridors to visit some other world famous artist paintings( I dont remember their names now , may be on Museum Website it will be mentioned in more detail).

You need much more time to visit whole Louvre in Detail. To do so,you must be either an art student or must be passionate enough to understand those rare pieces of Art. Not everyone can understand what exactly is the meanings behind such Paintings( Since it is just an imagination artist reflecting through colors or beautifully carved stones). That is the reason why no one was able to judge the reason ‘MONALISA’s SMILE’  perfectly so far, even after trying from so many decades.

LOUVRE GALLERY

A space constraints in this blog is forcing me to just upload carefully chosen selected photos. I will upload them letter on my flickr account ( You need to wait till that time)

Exit From Louvre

So we finally came out of this beautiful Museum, but I felt more excited after looking Pyramid(Entrance) and view of buildings lighten up  ( It was night .

So, now it was time for us to split up again to go back  our resting places after taking dinner.  I had to go to my ‘Love and Peace Hostel’ while my other friends had to go their place. Since there was only one map with us that too I was holding, we were forced to use Mobile Phone light to find out way for others to return back their places

Later, Few Strange things happend in my return journey, but I will reveal them in my next post.

Enjoy reading and keep writing  your comments and suggestions.

Next Time: Cathedral de notre dome,Paris

Future( After This Travel Series): ‘Caves-The Definitive Look at the History of Our Planet’

Bonjour(Hello) Paris!!!

23.12.2009(TRIP DAY: 5)

Finally, after spening and enjoying 2 days in Praha, the emotional moment(:P ) came when we were in position  to say good bye to this beautiful,Romantic(As described by many people) and cool ( Very cool at least in winter) city PRAHA(Written as Prague also).

Next on our radar was Paris(So called City of love especially made for Couples, but I was going alone )

Marathon Run to Catch The Flight AT PRAHA

We all guys were so lazy to woke up very early, so there was danger to miss flight when we started from Chilli Hostel. We reached somehow the  nearest station to catch bus to Airport but last bus has just passed away once we reached there.

We had no other choice except waiting for next bus( 30 minutes more), it was 8.05 and flight has got schedule departure on 9.45. As a general rule, check in counter will close around 9.00 A.M.(approximately 40 minutes before schedule departure) and we had no clue how much time, this upcoming bus will take to reach AIRPORT.

We took our breakfast while waiting for bus and threw remaining  unused stuff in dustbin to get rid of unncessary luggage. Finally the bus arrived at 8.30 AM. It reached near to Airport around 8.50 Am( but we havent reached terminal).

Phuong was slightly stressed with idea of missing flight and it was clearly visible on her face( I dont have snaps to prove this), showing her watch she whispered ” 2 minutes and check in counter will be closed”. I said no probes ( What else I supposed to reply??)

Now, there was another confusion before getting down from the bus. There were 2 terminals, of which one is for flight operating outside European Union and second one is for flight operating within Eueopean Union. We had to got down at later one. There was a tape playing at each halt in the way but we were not able to here it properly before the arrival of first terminal.Somehow after 5 minutes conversation with driver, he played tape again( which was in english and helped us to decide our designated terminal).

RUN RUN RUN>>>>>>FLIGHT CAN BE MISSED

‘Unbelivable’ was the comment at check in desk whichwas closed by the time we reach there ( after running approximately 500 m non stop with our luggage:). We had to request them to and luckily we were not alone in it  ( around 5 more people stand behind us making it a big que). After getting our boarding passess, we ran to reach GATE.

But wait a minute, we had to undergo through Security Checks (Most time consuming process in many cases). I enjoyed walking with my heavy shoes in snow but, I was told to remove them and put under x ray scanner belt. Finally, it was done and we made our last run to reach GATE just to discover.

‘FLIGHT TO PARIS(BEUVAIS) IS DEALYED BY 30 MINUTES’. hfffffffffffffffffff( We all took a deep breath reading after this). It was 9.25 am( I guess).

We took some rest and then boarded this 30 minute delayed flight once again operated by WIZZ AIR( Already I wrote a lot about it).

ARRIVAL AT PARIS

For readers information, there are three airports in Paris located very far from each other( May be from CITY Also). One in north( as per the Paris Transportation System Map), one in south and third one is located extreme north around 80 Km from City Centre. The one in north is called Charls de guille , one in southern part known as Orly and located Far is Beauvais( Attractive Destination to Low Cost Airline), Can you now make an intelligent guess now to decide our landing airport??

It was very cloudy with snow everywhere when our plane landed around 13.30 hrs.  After coming out of plane, I realized why it was preffred destination by low cost airlines, may be due to:

• No special arrangement like buses or elevator to reach directly to terminal. You need to walk with your luggage till outside like a train station.
• Very small airport with not so many facilities( No sign board, you can get lost easily while coming out).

Anyway, this Airpot is located quite far from city and during our research we did not find any convenient and suitable transportation to reach city. There is an airport bus which takes you to city centre at very nominal ( In fact very expensive) price of 14 euros with journy time takes around 90 minutes. We had no choice except taking this Airport Bus.

So, we took this bus and started  Jounrey towards our next Destination PORTE MAILLOT( Supposed to be Centre of City).

Lot of things happened later on that day, which you will see in my upcoming posts.

Keep reading and providing your valuble suggestions!!

Next Time: Palasis Royal Musse De Louvre

CLOCK TOWER-PRAHA

PRAHA VISIT DAY 2(22.12.2009)

Time: 13.00 hrs.

Venue: Shopping Street, Just opposite to National Museam Praha

After visiting National Museum and spending some leisure time at Mcdonald( for lunch), we started walking towards the famous CLOCK TOWER of Praha. Before you read about our invasion to this great historic monument, let’s just brush up some facts about it(Everything is availble in Wikipedia too with more detailed description).

• Officially it is called Prague Astronomical Clock or Prague Orloj, one of the major tourist attraction in Praha
• It is mounted on the southern wall of OLD Town City Hall in the OLD Town Square .
• Astronomical Clock contains three sections namely  astronomical dial,’The walk of Apostels’ and a calendar dial respresnting various things.

You can find its first look below captured from our lenses .   Today we came with an agenda to reach the top of tower before it gets too dark making visibility practically zero.  We bought tickets and again again advantage of being an student( I guess they want to promote students to visit this place, but none of us students of some astronomy department). But i was happy to get ticket in half of the price(50 CZK) as compared to National Museum. Ha and Phuong( Two girls in our gang) were not comfortable with the idea of using to climb this 10 story building . However, they were told at ticket counter about an elevator used to take tourist to top floor. Should i need to describe how happy both of them must be feeling at that moment??

ASTRONOMICAL DIAL OF CLOCK TOWER

Buzz of Something Going to Happen

We came out of reception to take another route to climb. The whole street outside was crowded with everyone  looking towards sky ( We used to look towards sky to spot flying planes or helicoptors during childhood days, but I guess none of those people were child :. We also stood with them( became child ) and then I relised its going to be 4 o clock. As I mentioned earlier, after completion of each hour a ceremoney happened to make it memorable.

It will be better click the following link( Video Courtery: Phuong) to get more realistic feeling of this.

After such royal welcome, I am sure each one of us will want to go inside and look what is going on? So, we entered without wasting time into main area. Entry to clock tower was throgh an adjacent building. We reached the top of this adjacent building and then there were 2 options, option A was to use stairs and option B ( used by tired,exhausted girls of my group) to use elevator.

Me and trung preferred to use stairs, though these are eleveated ramps used generally in hospitals( I dont rememebr any other place of use) completely different from typical stairs.

VIEW FROM STAIRS

ATTRACTIONS AT THE TOP

So now we have reached the top of clock tower. It was cold, windy and too much crowded. I remember concept of population density and somehow made this place as one of the most populated place of the world. There is nothing much to observe except looking around, however for readers I can briefly summarized main attractions of this tower.

1. Traditionl Czeck Royal Family Costume was available on rent( I guess for 5 minutes , just a sufficient time to take few snaps:)). But it looks very beautiful.

2. People working as a guard were wearing traditional uniform and we convinced one of them to take a snap with us.

3. Prague Castle, Churuch ,street and outside everything around us was so gorgeious ( Dont have words to describe).

After spending plenty of time, we decided to come down( I still used stairs whereas trung joined the club of tired people and used elevator this time

But this was not the end of our Praha Trip, We still had famous Church Left to visit before leaving for Paris. So next time I will introduce you to this Church( Whose Name I dont remember exactly).

Next time:

- Christmas in Praha

- Bonjour Paris!!(Hello Paris!)

Keep reading and providing your valuable suggestions.

Dancing Museum-Praha

PRAHA DAY 2(22.12.2009)

Actually I forgot to mention about Chilli Hostel,Praha in previous post. It was quite nice( and very cheap),free internet and free red wine ( I tried few times, i think this one was non alcoholic) available round the clock.Bed in our room  was quite comfortable and room heating was an effective one( even better than my room in Denmark I should say). I had nice sleep after so spending cold days in Sweden.

So, we started Day 2( I was quite fresh after and it is clearly visible from this snap: ):). After Having Some light breakfast, we decided to invade National Museum first.

Dancing Museum

But even before that, We decided to have a look on Dancing Museum(Very Close to our hostel). Our bad luck, on this particular day it was close till 16.00 hrs ,so as usual we just took few snaps( As we did on the first day in Praha) and moved to National Museum. Wait, One question keep eating my thoughts ( may be yours also:P). Why on the earth this building is called dancing museum??

Reason(I got it from someone): Look at the picture carefully, structure on your left hand side looks similar to woman and structure of your right( with some hair on top) looks similar to a man. So it is like a man and woman standing next to each other( I should say, very close to each other ). Since this is dancing museum, they must be standing in some kind of dancing position but which one  ?? salsa?tango? balle??

Anyway I stopped this internal juggling of thougths later ( May be you can apply some more logic if you have enough free time:P ) .

NATIONAL MUSEUM PRAHA

While going from Hostel to National Museum, I realised it’s nearly impossible to drive bi-cycle in Praha( At least in OLD TOWN). Reasons are:

- It is upside,downside at most of the place irreularly  compare to flat countries like Denmark.

- We were in OLD Town and roads were very narrow giving not much space for a cyclist to drive safely.

- Praha has got very good tram system but it is slighlty against bi-cycler drivers, since it runs parallely/crossesd along the roads.

Meanwhile we reached to National Museum by following our good friend Trung’s mobile phone GPRS system. (Later I realised we did not need it most of the time, since PRAHA was quite small and CITY MAP provided to us was more than sufficient).

So, Let’s have some look on NATIONAL MUSEUM,PRAHA

The Whole Street( One of the Shopping Street) looks like this from National Museum.

For some people Museum is like some old monuments full of boring stuff with nothing special to deliver, I thought it will be the same.

But soon I realised i was wrong,First of all this is not free to visit ( And no one visits boring museums). Being a student we got discount of 50 CZK(Czeck Zewish Kwarter) and bought tickets for around 100 CZK. But again, camera was not allowed inside so I cant provide you glimpses of beautiful collection inside museum which I witnessed through my eyes.

In brief, this museum contain following:

-Ground floor was full of History of Caves, Science behind their generation and modern day exploration ( More will come up in future as one of my post in this blog)

- First Floor was totally scientifc ( Mostly for Children) about understanding of earthquake, tsunamil,solar system etc. It also contains residue,skelton of few leaving known species.

- Second and Third Floor were mostly related to zoological,anthropology and some sort of Palaeontological research( I did not understand a single thing because all description were in czeck language). This place is heaven for biologist, doctors or may be some skelton related professional but not for engineers like me slightly boring. However few things grasp my attention.

• WINTON TRAIN: Probably you need to google this or wait for my seperate post regarding this in future. In short it is the story of some 10,000 children saved by cruel Nazi Governement( During World War 2) and sent in a train to safer places in England. An area in museum displays paintings made by those children in memory of their parents( With notes written in their own hand writings).
• History through Art: This area displays early life of earth (a reprassial of small foot prints of life discovered around the globle through art).
• Skelton Structures: I was able to measure size of an whale after watching her skelton structure in this museum.

We finished our visit by lunch Time and then moved to Our Next Desination CLOCK TOWER,OLD TOWN.

Keep reading and providing your valuable suggestions for further improvement.

Discovering Praha-Part 1

PRAHA

One of the oldest cities of Europe,Praha( In English Prague) was founded around 1100 years ago. Was the centre of business, cultural exchange for many  years. Also affected by the two World Wars. Featured in many world famous movies like XXX, Mission Impossible etc. Old town is situated on the river Vltava in Czeck State. It is the capital and largest city of Czeck Republic.

( All the above information is available in Wikipedia too )

Destination Chilli Hostel

This is me with other mates waiting for the bus just after coming outside the Praha Airport. We did not face much difficulty  while reaching  to our hostel thanks to the rapid & well connected networks of bus,trains and trams.

We took one bus and three trains to reach our hostel,  named as CHILLI HOSTEL. The girl at the recption politely said us to wait for the check in at 13.00 hrs ( She said, that the ongoing cleaning process will take mroe time than required).

Anyway it was 11.00 hrs of the morning in Praha and everyone was feeling very hungry. We decided to go out in search of some czeck cuisine to feed our stomach. This area seems to be very close to OLD TOWN , making everything really very-very expensive. Finally we found a Chinese Restaurant and got something to eat.

Other trip mates (Ha, Phuong and Trung) by now knew something about my association with theatre,drama and acting(Though I am not some kind of good actor . They requested me to show something, I made some crazy and stupid faces( You can see them below),Dont ask for the description please

Enough of me, we returned back to CHILLI HOSTEL, checked in and finally I saw our room( It was a big hall with 14 double decker bed). This double decker bed reminds me my graduation days ( In VIT). After handling the luggage, everyone was ready to go out to see something about Prague.

GOING OUT IN PRAHA

As I mentioned already, we are staying very close to Old Town, we preferred walking to reach till CLOCK TOWER( More Description with Video in next Post). We saw River, Prague Castle and crossed so many bridges in between( Not to reach other side but just to take few photos :)).

A tram running across the street of Praha.

Valtva River from bridge

I dont rememebr exactly what this building was(Museum may be

Trip Mates

Praha Castle

So it was just going out,take few pictures without knowing anything of the places we are visiting. Finally we reached close to CLOCK TOWER and passed by market. Each one of us were feeling very cold at that moment( It was around 17.00 hrs), to make ourself slightly heated we entered into a GLASS Shop( Later I got to know the fact that Prague is famous for stuffs made of glass).

ART GLASS SHOP

So finally we reached the CLOCK TOWER , but it was very dark by now leaving us nothing just to postphoning plans of reaching top for next day

It is sufficient for this Part. Remaining Story Later.

Next Part Will Contain:

- Visit to National Museum

- Clock Tower in the Day Time

- Christmas in Praha

Enjoy Reading and let me know about your comments and Suggestions( If any )