Well as I said in my last blog, tour to Kerala was most cherished moments in my life. It helped me to travel alone in future.
I went to Germany when I was working with T-systems India. This was my first trip abroad, rather it was a business trip. Full of excitement and also nervousness. There were two colleagues with me. We decided to cook on our own. So had little extra luggage with us.
We took a flight from Mumbai. Fist experience with airport, first experience of check-in and first experience of seating in the flight. So far so good….was feeling excited. But then it was time for takeoff and all excitement was taken by nervousness and a little stress. My both hands firm on hand rest…..Eyes closed… lots of thoughts in my mind about family, friends …what if and all…I could hear my heartbeats – dhak dhak.. :-).
And after some time it was all normal as flight took off. It was time for breakfast and I had no choice than to eat non veg as I didn’t know before that one needs to tell this in advance about choices of food. So I ate whatever I could. There was a halt in Dubai.
Dubai international airport.!!! First thought came in my mind , Am I dreaming!…. Everywhere it was glitter and lights., Shops of gold ,electronics, foods n all. Wow..Thought came in my mind ..I must visit Dubai later n roam inside it…(Unfortunately I have yet to visit Dubai ). After 4 hrs halt we got a connecting flight to Frankfurt.
Frankfurt airport:- Our manager was there to pick up all of us from airport. Such a lovely person. Felt like we are some important business delegate 🙂 .
We were off to Darmstadt where our office was located and our stay was arranged in a nearby hostel. I guess it was some university hostel. Though small town it was a very lovely place.
There was a Walmart and Pizza hut nearby and we used to go on bicycle. It was fun, riding a bicycle. One day I decided to go for shopping. As my colleagues were busy, I had no choice than to go alone. It was late and I was not very sure I should go alone. But then I decided to hire a bicycle and went alone. Such an amazing experience. I parked my bicycle , locked it properly. I did my shopping and came back. Felt good that I could manage alone. 🙂
On first weekend on Saturday three of us decided to travel Frankfurt. We roamed around city , shopping malls and Rhine river.
Next day was Sunday. And our senior colleague was not in a mood to travel. I was planning to go to Heidelberg. Since Sr. colleague was not coming I asked other colleague if he is interested to come. But this was first trip abroad for him too , he was reluctant to come next day. He said we should not go without other colleague as he had experience of staying abroad. And without him we couldn’t manage. I was also not sure how we are going to manage but I thought I might not get this opportunity again. So I told him firmly that I am going Heidelberg tomorrow even if I have to go alone.
I was ready early morning and was having my breakfast in our hotel. To my surprise the guy who was refusing to come without sr. person also joined me. He told me that it’s not safe for me to travel alone so he will also come with me :-).
We went to Darmstadt railway-station and inquired how long it takes to Heidelberg. It was one day journey and we could easily return same day. So we decided to move on. I took some brochure and traveling guide at railway station. Those are free and very helpful to plan your trip. We were in a train looking for a seat. Suddenly we heard some people singing some Hindi songs. Out of curiosity I went and saw there was a group of Indian people , also going to Heidelberg. My colleague was very happy to get some company finally. 🙂
So finally we reached Heidelberg. We decided to go to a castle first. To go up, there is a funicular railway.
Funicular railway. – A funicular railway is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.- Wikkipedia
The point of attraction in this journey is, two railways cross each other at centre point and it was never missed in history. Amazing view of city from train. Also when two train cross one another is a wonderful experience
The Castle – You can take audio guide tour to explore castle. There is a device like walky-talky using which you can hear history of castle in several languages. There is also a statue to the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Königstuhl-Mountain– It is the top of hill from where you can have a nice view of the downtown. You will have to change trains once to go to the top. Here you can have a look at the 125 year old train engine that just pulled you up.(Made in Germany 🙂 so don’t worry)
Cathedral – Small markets selling souvenirs.
So this was all about Heidleberg trip.
Our stay in Germany was coming to an end, so our boss invited us for lunch at his home located in Mainz city . His wife was a Russian lady. Very cute woman. She prepared vegetarian food for us, Basamati rice and some curry. Our boss took us through Mainz city. There were lot of old and new buildings. It was a nice walk with some nice hot dogs :-).
We left Germany with lots of Memories.
So, overall first abroad trip is always exciting. Enjoyed a lot. Love you Germany. Auf Wiedersehen!!!
TechnoTravey 