Life is a journey!

Baden Baden

2011-05-11T11:36:00.004+02:00

For centuries, Baden Baden has been acclaimed for its magical waters. Starting from the Romans 2000 years ago, till today, Baden-Baden remains as one of the most beautiful, rich spa town in Germany. This is one place where I make sure, I visit atleast once a year.

Experience:

A trip to Baden-Baden is not complete without a visit to the beautiful Caracalla therme. (http://www.carasana.de/home/en/index.html, Mon-Sun 0800 AM to 10 PM, 14Eur). The bathing complex offers array of water treats with temperatures varying from 18C to 38C. Jacuzzi's, waterfalls, outdoor pools and Sauna, wellness centre are highlights of the spa.

Another highlight in Baden-Baden is the Freidrichbad. (http://www.carasana.de/home/en/roemisch.html, Mon-Sun 0900 AM to 8 PM, 31 Eur). It is next door to the Caracalla therme. Freidrichbad is a nudist bathing area. They have a renowned 18 stage bathing process which would leave the visitors completely relaxed.

See

Apart from the spas there are lots of local attractions that could be explored.
The Kurhaus, (Casino) is very well known. Although I have not been inside, it has a very high reputation and is frequented by the locals and outsiders alike.

Lichtentaler Allee - You cannot miss this beautiful garden which is in the town centre. This alley stretches for 5 Kms with beautiful stream of water at one end. Lots of walking space on both sides of the green patch. This alley is home to huge trees and beautiful grass meadow. Dont miss the beautiful rose garden situation in the park. There are lots of luxurious hotels along this park as well.

Other attractions include a small funicular train system up the small Merkur hill. There are lots of art galleries and up market boutiques for people with genorous hands as well!

Eat:
There are plenty of eating options in Baden-Baden. I even found an indian restaurant in the locality. (I didnt try it though). If you would like to try the authentic german cuisine, then Lowenbrau hotel is the place for you. (http://www.loewenbraeu-baden-baden.de/index.php?page=/webcam.php) . It is a very famous brewery in germany and you could enjoy a fresh brew with good food. Waiting time is pretty high so allow yourself sometime for the food to get served.

There are plenty of cafes near the thermal spa and all over the town centre. Coffee and pastries are just awesome. Just pull a chair in the sun and enjoy a great ice cream and a coffee.

Sleep:

My trips to Baden-Baden are just for one day as i live 200kms away from it. Hotels in the town are upscale. Even a modest 3 star hotel will set you back by 80-100 Eur per night. If you are budget conscious, stay in the surrounding villages like Buehl. These small villages offer a lot of apartments for rent and they are not very far from Baden-Baden.

Going out:

Schwarzwaldhochstrasse: Literally translated, this is the Black forest high road. The B500 road snakes through the north blackforest regions and is a pure driving pleasure. There are lots of highlights on the way like the Mummelsee (glacier lake). This road starts in Baden Baden and ends in Freundenstadt. Be prepared for traffic in the summer as most of the locals head out on these roads for driving.

Strasbourg: Strasbourg( in france) is not very far from Baden Baden. Strasbourg is famous for its catherdral and the venice like canal settings.

Europa Park: Situation in the black forest town of Rust, Europa park is a theme park which offers a lots of rides and entertainment. http://www.europapark.de/lang-en/Vorschaltseite/c1548.html

Various cities like Freiburg, Offenburg, Stuttgart are in the vicinity as well. These cities merit a visit if time is available.

Keukenhof

2009-03-03T12:23:00.010+01:00

Its spring time and the tulips in Keukenhof are set to bloom!

This beautiful garden is a short hop away from Lisse, in Netherlands.
In the garden, you can just relax and admire the wonderful colors of nature.

How to reach:
The park can be reached through the fast trains bound to Amsterdam, or can be reached by flying to Schiphol (AMS). From the airport, Connexxion buses run every 15 minutes to Keukenhof. You can pick up the tickets for both the bus (return too!) and the park entrance. This serves as good option because; you can avoid the long queues in the park.

The park can also be reached from Amsterdam central station and from Leiden central station by bus. Leiden is the nearest station to Keukenhof.

More information at http://www.reiziger.connexxion.nl/web/show/provincie=12?id=80014

Where to stay:
I stayed in the Etap and once in Novotel near the Amsterdam airport. This was convenient for me as I came to visit only the gardens. The accor hotels have bus service from the airport to the hotel and it runs frequently late into the night. Also the bus journey from the airport to Keukenhof is just 20 minutes or so. Travelling from Amsterdam would take time. But if you have Amsterdam in your travel plans, then a stay in Amsterdam would be better. Hotel information can be found at
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml

Information about the garden
Every year, Keukenhof garden opens on a different time frame. They open the gardens based on the arrival of spring. This year the garden is open from 19th of March till 21st of May. The best time to go is sometime in between. If you go too early, then you would see just the bulbs without the flowers, and if you go too late, then all the flowers are already reaped. The garden is open from 08:30 till 19:30.

Also, the garden hosts a number of indoor flower shows. The flowers on display vary from daffodils, orchids to roses. The schedule varies and if you are interested in one particular type, then it’s a good idea to check and go.

There are ample restaurants inside the garden, where you can have your lunch. Don’t miss the windmill inside the park and the view of the tulip fields from the top of the windmill.
Note, Keukenhof is a walking park. So riding bicycles is not permitted inside the park. However you can rent the bicycles outside and go on tour along the nearby fields.

Barcelona

2009-02-26T12:36:00.045+01:00

One word to describe Barcelona - awesome.
Beautiful sun, inspiring architecture and fabulous beaches. If you like any of these then BCN is a must go place.

How to reach:
Barcelona's main airport is called El-praat. The airport is well connected to the city. There is a railway station and also a bus terminus. Using any of them you can reach the centre of the city.
BCNs main railway station is called Sants. There are 2 main stations actually. But Sants is the closest to the city centre. From here, you get a lot of buses and metros to any corner of the city.
Alternatively you can choose to go by taxi to the main city. Generally taxis cost around 20-25 Euros. Rememebr there is a surcharge of 3.3 Euros on your bill if you take a taxi. None of the websites mentioned it! ( or did i miss it?!) .
Metro lines and buses at
http://www.tmb.net/en_US/home.jsp

Where i stayed:
I stayed in a hotel called Rafael diagonal. its close to the beach. The hotel was great. Very clean and the hotel staff helped us to get a hang of the area around. It just across the beach and my room had a excellent view of the sea.
http://www.diagonalport.com/

Sightseeing:
The easiest option for sight seeing is to take the bus turistic . This is a hopin - hop-off bus service that runs in 3 different lines. You can take the bus and get off at any point . Cost is a pricy 27 euros for 2 days. A note of caution, Bus turistic tends to be very crowded. Especially on sundays, there are just too many tourists who take this bus. be prepared for long queues and waste of time !! :(

This is ideal for people who are new travellers and dont want to pore over the metro maps. Also, they give you lots of coupons with discounts on various museum visits. Its not great, but if u see quite a few you can save some money there.

In general all the metros are good and buses comfortable. Taxis are not very expensive . So incase you are stuck, its better to take a taxi. Link to bus turisitc can be found in TMB website itself. You can buy your tickets online or just pick it up in the bus.

What to see:
There was so much to see in BCN that 3 days were not enough for me. You can just sit for 3 days in the beaches and come back without complaining.
But, one reason to visit Barcelona ueber alles is Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi has built some incredible buildings in Barcelona. By the time you have finished those visits, you come out wondering, what a visonary he had been.

My top picks of Gaudi's work.

1. Sagrada familia - The most famous and most spectacular of Gaudi's works. Its still unfinished. The towers have summer and winter fruits sculpted in them. The facade is very ornate and extremely intricate. Definetly worth the visit. (Dont forget to get the audio guide, its extra 4 Euros but worth it).

2. La Pedrera - Gaudi's extremely beautiful building for trader. The building is full of curves and beautiful arches throught the building. The star attraction is the roof architecture.

3.Casa Batllo - A delightful building to see. Gaudi renovated this building and made sure that there are absolutely no straight lines in the building. The building is rich in mosaic and has a great colour.

4. Park Guell - Originally designed as a summer residence , park guell is now a municipality park . The park is very elegant. The highlight is the mosaics used in the park. The multi coloured dragon is a must see .

The only other main site that i missed during the trip was Palau Guell, ( Palace Guell).

Other attractions that i managed to see are:

1. Santa Maria del Mar: An extremely beautiful gothic church. The church is very artistically designed. Its imposing from the exterior. There is so much space once you enter the church. The glass stain paintings on the windows are a delight to watch.

2. Port Vell: The port of barcelona. This place is very crowded and very touristic. You can see the statue of columbus pointing to the sea. The place also has the aquarium and a new IMAX theatre. I went to the aquarium. its a nice place to visit, but not a must see. (unles u are a fish buff). The ticket is pricey at 17 euros. Dont buy the guide that they sell! Its for 3 euros and definetly not worth it. No useful information other than the aquarium layout. If you are going with your kid, then this is a must go. I saw so many kids who absolutely enjoyed watching the fishes.

3. La Ramblas: The famous walking district . This is a very beautiful walking street. It connects Placa Catulnya ( city centre) to Port vell. Beware of pick pockets though!

What to eat:
Ok, here comes the tough part. If you are a non-vegatarian and if you love eating fishes, then you will absolutely enjoy there. But if you are a vegetarian, then you will have a hard time. thanks to pizza hut and good salads we managed to survive barcelona. Pastries are good. Food is not very expensive too.

First blog

2009-02-26T12:01:00.003+01:00

Wow, my first blog.

I have been thinking of starting it for quite a while. But never got the motivation to do. So, what can people expect from my blog? As an Indian living in Europe i would ramble about the Indian perspective of being in Europe. I have travelled quite well here. So my travel updates and experiences would be put here. Apart from that anything that catches my fancy!

As usual, any comments are welcome!