Prague….. A Stunning City – Day 1

Ever since we had decided that we wanted to visit Europe – we were clear that we had to visit Prague. For some reason this city held some sort of fascination for us as we had heard that it’s a beautiful city from practically everyone who had been there and it had always been a place  extremely recommended on every website for a visit. It was also a place that a lot of Indians normally don’t visit, hence we decided to start our trip from here.

However, despite our excitement, our trip did not start on that good a note. We reached Prague quite tired after an over-night flight, only to first read at the airport that the temperature here is 12 degrees (and we had come expecting summers). So we froze outside the airport waiting for the shuttle. Next when we got off the shuttle to look for our hostel, as our luck would have it, it started raining. We somehow managed to reach our hostel (which was near the old town square) quite tired, wet and hungry only to be told that the check-in was another 2 hours away. Well that quite tested our patience levels and then we the two grumpy people just dumped our luggage there,  collected the city maps and decided to head out to eat something.

Tags: Astronomical Clock, Budget Holiday, Czech Republic, New Town Square, Old Town Square, Photography, Prague, Travel, vacation, vltava river

How we planned our Europe Trip

Planning a Europe trip can be quite an overwhelming exercise for anyone who first looks at the map of the continent and thinks – “hmmm now from where should I start”. Even the lonely planet for this continent is super confusing with various editions like continental europe, central europe, western europe, eastern europe, Scandinavia etc etc. Phew…

This is clearly because there are about 50 countries to choose from and just too many things to see and explore – so much so that you are clearly spoilt for choices. And mind you everything is beautiful and worth an experience / visit. Here each country has its own history, culture, architecture and in most cases even within each country there are numerous regions and small things to experience.

Tags: Austria, Belgium, Budget Holiday, Czech Republic, Europe, Germany, Netherlands, Travel, Travel Planning, vacation

On Choosing a Travel Season (Low vis-a-vis High)

Choosing the travel season i.e. Low vis-a-vis High or Tourist vis-a-vis Off is very important when you are finalising on a place to visit. Since my travel philosophy is to travel budget I love travelling in the off-season. However I  then have to research a lot and customise my holiday, stay and activities accordingly. Also, I think travelling during off season gives you chance to interact a lot with the locals, see another aspect of that city and get an actual feel of the place.

Below are a few of my reasons on the pros and cons of each -

Tags: Budget Holiday, Off season, Tourist Season, Travel, vacation

Excuse for a holiday… I have my laptop and will always be connected…..

Whenever I want a holiday which my boss is not approving for reasons  such as “there is too much work at present or there are so many deliverables, how can you go?” etc etc - I have a superb ready-made excuse. Its “Boss, I am going to take my laptop with me and will always be connected. Rest assured that I shall respond to all my emails and work on all the deliverables”.

Tags: Fun, Holidays, Travel, vacation

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

I have been to Hong Kong quite a few times on official work but never on a dedicated holiday. Hence I have never had a chance to completely explore this city but still managed to see small parts in my spare time like the Causeway Bay, the Peak, Kowloon, the Night Markets, LKF, the longest elevator, a few Malls etc. Over all these visits I have come to really like this city because in a number of ways it reminds me of Mumbai – with its crowds, choas, traffic, smells etc. But that’s a topic for another day and another post as today is for the Chinese New Year.

I had once visited Hong Kong just before the Chinese New Year when the city was beautifully decorated all over for this festival. Everything was decorated with props, beautiful lighting, paper cuts and flowers.

Tags: arts, Chinese New Year, Culture, Festival, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Photography, Photos, Travel, vacation

Goa in the monsoons

We had once visited Goa in July, which is the peak monsoon season in the western parts of India. While this is not a touristy season, i feel Goa has another side to offer to everyone during the monsoons, which is as much fun.

During this season all major beach activity is shut as it’s not safe to enter the waters, the shacks are pretty much closed and the party places are empty. But during this season you can actually see the wild side of nature in Goa – with strong winds, mad waves and beautiful greenery all around.

Tags: Beaches, Budget Holiday, Goa, India, Photography, relaxation, Travel, vacation

Amsterdam – The City of 3Cs

During our Europe visit, we had done a day trip to Amsterdam. Though many may argue that this is a very short time for such a big city, but this kind of worked for us.

We had visited this city at quite the end of our trip and hence noticed the stark differences here vis-a-vis the various other cities that we had seen. While every other city that we visited was beautiful, clean and presented its best foot forward to show off in front of us; Amsterdam had no pretensions and showed us exactly what it is. It’s very inviting with its beautiful canals, some amazing museums, and architecture but at the same time it’s also very disturbing with the attitude of people around, the run down look of some city centric areas and the in your face red light areas and the sex toy shops.

Hence I feel that this is a city of extremes either you really like it or you just don’t.

Tags: Amsterdam, Anne Frank Huis, Budget Holiday, Canals, Netherlands, Travel, vacation