Europe-Trip-2018 on Sauvik Biswas

Day 15: Final day at Hergé Museum

Sat, 15 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I saved the best for the last.

I had to vacate the hostel room by 10 AM. I freshened up, took a bath, repacked by big rucksack for one last time and headed off to the reception. The free luggage storage facility was super handy. My bus was at 10:20 PM and I had the entire afternoon and evening to spend.

A visit to the Hergé Museum #

I had already planned my afternoon. I bought a return ticket for Louvain-la-Neuve to visit the Hergé museum. As a Tintinologist, it would have been great shame if I wasn’t able to go there. I was greeted by Tintin multiple times at Brussels-Midi station.

Day 14: Landing in Brussels, the city of Bande Descinée

Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

My bus landed in Brussels at 9 AM. I consider myself fortunate that I am not troubled when it comes to sleeping in any mode of transport. Although I must admit that I often develop a stiff neck from sleeping in awkward postures. The prices for hostels in Brussels was quite high. I booked one that had a free luggage facility for only a single night. This was important. The bus dropped me at Brussels-Nord. A short tram ride later, I was near Brussels-Midi—the location of my hostel.

Day 13: Jewish Holocaust Memorial and leaving Berlin

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Me and Partho had already reserved our respective departures from Berlin late tonight. Our booking at the hostel was supposed to expire at 10 in the morning. So we packed up, deposited our big rucksacks in the luggage room (2 Euro for a medium locker and 5 for a large one), and made our way to Alexanderplatz.

I wanted to get on the TV tower but a dense fog had instructed the view of the tower. Had I climbed that, I wouldn’t have seen anything.

Day 12: Humboldt, East Side Wall and Berlin ghetto

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The cost of the night at our hostel (A&O) had skyrocketed to more than the double of nominal price. I wasn’t sure if we should stay there. I was able to get better prices on places in prime locations. Our current hostel had luggage facilities. We packed our bags, checked-out, left our big rucksacks in the luggage room and went for a trip around the city. We would later return at night to shift to a different hostel in Alexanderplatz.

Day 11: Indian food and Checkpoint Charlie

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Partho was supposed to meet me in Berlin the day before yesterday. He wasn’t able to finish his work the day before and was stuck at Frankfurt because of some strike. He reached Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 9:30 AM and waited for me. We had some hot chocolate and cookies for breakfast following which, he checked-in.

An Indian lunch #

Partho wanted to have an Indian buffet for lunch. About two weeks ago while I was in Hamburg for work, a colleague of mine took me to an Indian restaurant. I absolutely hated the food and swore not to go near any Indian restaurant. I was a bit skeptical but I went along just to honour Partho’s wishes.

Day 10: Berlin Wall and the Underground

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Berlin Wall #

Berlin Wall is no more. There are a few fragments of the wall remaining at the memorial site that spans a few blocks of Bernauer Straße. There is also a reconstruction of how the restricted zone was during the last days of the wall. The elements of this zone was never constant. SED always evolved the design to counter all the updated schemes of people trying to escape to West Berlin. The information centre and the exhibition was closed as it was a Monday. (I wasn’t aware of that.) However, there were a lot of information pillars that had images, texts, labels, videos and audios that gave me a good understanding of how things were post WWII until the demolition of the wall.

Day 9: From Prague to Berlin

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

On days that involve travel, there isn’t much to be done. There isn’t much to write either.

I had some Czech Korunas that would be of no use once I was back in Germany. I wasn’t worried much about the exchange rates as the amount was not much. My bus arrived at 10:40 AM and I still had quite some time to spare so that I could change my Korunas to Euros.

Day 8: Prague Castle and National Museum

Sat, 08 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Lennon Wall #

Lennon wall is a free-to-graffiti wall situated on the other side of the river, near the entrance of Petřín hill. I was nearby the day before yesterday but it was too dark by the time I was done with Petřín hill. I went there before moving towards the Museum.

Everyone wants to take a photograph in front of the wall.

Day 7: Skulls and a Cathedral at Kutná Hora

Fri, 07 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Kutná Hora is a small town situated about 60 kilometres from Prague. PID or Prague Integrated transport places it in zone 7 (the 11th zone from the centre). I had to get an 11 zone, 5 hour ticket that cost me 84 CZK. PID has an app that functions like an information and ticketing interface—just like HVV of Hamburg or MVV of Munich. In fact, getting tickets online is slightly cheaper and more universal. The only thing I must mention is that one must check the zones on their website and make sure to activate the ticket before travelling.

Day 6: Town Hall and the Petřín Hill

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Old Town Hall #

As soon as I got out of my hostel, my phone network went off. Only my GPS worked and I was able to locate and orient myself in the already-downloaded map while I made my way to the Old Town Hall.

Christmas markets were all around and local people as well as tourists flooded these markets. Even the old Havel’s market had decorated itself in festive colours.

Day 5: Travelling to Prague

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Rupanjan had been a great host to Partho and me in the last four days. He not only gave us company but also saved us quite a bit of money. I got to know from him that Munich is very expensive. One can get a good idea of the standard of living from the cost of availing public transport. Even though his education was free, he had to shell out quite a bit for his accommodation. He also mentioned that it was very difficult to get accommodation in student quarters. One must wait for an year of more before a quarter is allotted to them.

Day 4: A day at Salzburg

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Partho had proposed two options—either we go to Zugspitze or Salzburg. The weather at Zugspitze was sub-zero, which, in a way, made Salzburg a default choice.

One of the cheapest ways to visit Salzburg is to go in a group of two to five people. The railway station comes under the “Bayarn Ticket” zone even though Salzburg is technically in Austria. This was a 24 hour pass for traveling all around Bayern region including the “Munich inner ring”. A single ticket is 26 Euros but each additional person is charged 5 Euros (upto a total of 5).

Day 3: Toy Museum, St. Peter's Church and KZ-Dachau Memorial

Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Spielzeugmuseum (toy museum) #

Most of the interesting places to visit in Munich are in and around Marienplatz. The toy museum is located right beside the Rathaus of Munich. It’s a five-storey tower whose four floors are filled with various old toys and some replicas.

The museum had a lot of stuffed bears that chronicled the history of the development of what we know as teddy bear today. There were quite a few exhibits about Margarete Steiff’s work that led to the development of a version known as Steiff bears.

Day 2: A museum, a walk and some cooking

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Museum Fünf Kontinente (The Museum of Five Continents) #

The weather gods were not with us. It had been raining since early morning. By the time we were ready, it was almost 11:30 AM. We ventured out in the drizzle. Rupanjan, our host, had left to attend a group project discussion followed by a choir performance at an orphanage. His schedule, as a student living and studying in a foreign country, was very packed.

Day 1: An evening in Munich

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

From Hamburg to Munich #

On 30th November, I was done with my work. I had one last meal with my colleagues, packed my bags went straight to the Central Bus Terminus (ZOB) to catch my bus to Munich at 10:00 PM.

A view of German highways. I have no clue where it is. This view is from my bus seat.