September 15 (Thursday)

It was the start of my Contiki European Whirl tour. Day 1: London to Amsterdam. A warm welcome from your Contiki Crew as we head for Dover to cross the Channel to France. We travel through Belgium and into The Netherlands. After dinner a chance to explore this unique city and its amazing nightlife.

Day 1 consisted of a lot and buzzed with activity. I was in four countries today. Our bus left the shores of London to Dover, from where a cross-Channel ferry took us to Calais in France. We were back on the bus and travelled through Belgium to reach The Netherlands. My concerns on how the trip will work out were quickly allayed as I got to know many of the people in the bus within a few hours, through the ice-breaker exercises. There are 7 single males, 38 single females and 3 couples in the tour, most of them being Australian. There are a handful of New Zealanders and South Africans, and one Canadian (Laura) and one Indian (thats I!). I had trouble understanding questions such as Have you travelled heaps? or Dinner was gross, wasnt it?, so its not just the (Australian) accent thats bothering me.

Our tour manager, whose name is Lucky, told us that we were all travellers and not tourists. According to him, a tourist expects things to be of at least the same standard as home and complains and moans when they are not. A traveller appreciates the differences and thinks Its not wrong, its just different.

Talking of differences, Amsterdam is perhaps one of the more different cities you will come across. Amsterdam is famous for a lot of things, and when in Amsterdam I decided to be an Amsterdamian! Amsterdam may be known mostly for its coffee shops (which sell drugs such as marijuana, which is not illegal) and red light district, but there is some culture of a different kind in the city as well. Amsterdam has more than 40 museums and 140 galleries. Hire a bike, catch a tram or just walk around!

Our travellers guide proclaims: Theres an old saying that God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland, which you can almost believe when you realise that nearly half the country has been reclaimed from the sea. Miles upon miles of unbroken flower fields, farmland and villages can all be found in this flat country which has rolling hills and forests in the South along its border with Belgium. Amsterdam, the largest city, has more canals than Venice, containing over 100km of waterways, spanned by 1,000 bridges. The Netherlands is actually lower than sea level.

Lucky gave us interesting bits of information on The Netherlands and it stimulated the desire in me to consult Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, to verify the same. In fact, I suppose a lot of information I note down in the next 15 days may be adapted from various sources, all of which I may not be able to acknowledge individually. Hearing about and seeing so many different places brings a lot of unprocessed information to the fore and infuses the desire to delve deeper into topics of interest through research, which then completes the assimilation process for that place. Reading tourist articles, art histories and travel blogs is so much more fascinating after the trip than before. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated and geographically low-lying countries in the world (its name literally means "Low-lands") and is famous for its windmills, tulips, bicycles and social tolerance. Its liberal policies (towards drugs and prostitution among other things) receive international attention. Amsterdam is the official capital as stated by the constitution, but The Hague (Den Haag) is the administrative capital of The Netherlands (it is the seat of government, the home of the monarch, and the location for most foreign embassies). The English plural form 'The Netherlands' is a remnant from times when the country was not yet independent and united.  

In many countries, The Netherlands is often referred to by the name Holland, and even within The Netherlands itself this name is even occasionally used as an acceptable translation of the country's name. However widespread, this usage is technically incorrect, as "Holland" is actually a region in the central-western part of The Netherlands, divided into two provinces.

Amsterdam has many tram lanes and trams on its roads, which give it a distinctive flavour. Also, there are loads of bicycles all around and cycle lanes are ubiquitous. The Dutch are a nation of cyclists and in Amsterdam 540,000 people have bicycles not surprising when you consider how flat the land is. I saw men in suits cycling their way home!

We took a canal cruise (26), which was more of a socialising exercise. Before the cruise started, as I was standing by myself and taking in the views of Amsterdam, Megane Salmon (Meg) walked up to me and informed me that my shoelaces were untied. She then said to me that they would be glad to have my company. Thus I was introduced into this merry Australian group. The cruise was good fun with everybody drinking and getting into a partying mood. Heineken beer, for which The Netherlands is famous, was gulped in heaps. We then headed for the cultural tour of Amsterdam starting at the Red Light district where we also saw a sex show (26). It was not arousing, but amusing. Some of the more liberal-minded touring members volunteered to appear on stage and participated in some sleazy activities (without stripping down completely, of course). We then went to the Grasshopper Café, where I smoked marijuana (pre-rolled joint). The other ways of taking drugs are through cakes or muffins. If you are eating in a smoking coffee shop (which can be identified from a regular coffee shop by the décor or marijuana leaves or by its name), the cake of the day or cake special is almost always a euphemism for a marijuana-laced cake or muffin. I did not have any euphoric effect, in spite of having more than three puffs. Maybe I was tougher than I thought!

Drugs are legal in The Netherlands (you can go to a café and order a cannabis joint), and apparently there are no signs that this increases the drug use, while crime is lower than in neighbouring France (where the narcotic drugs are illegal). The number of drug-related deaths in the country remains the lowest in Europe. This might be an argument to legalize drugs. The drug policy of The Netherlands, I am informed by Wikipedia, is based on two principles:

1. Drug use is a public health issue, not a criminal matter
2. A distinction between hard drugs and soft drugs exists

It is a pragmatic policy. Most policymakers in The Netherlands believe that if a problem has proved to be unstoppable, it is better to try controlling it instead of continuing to enforce laws that have shown to be unable to stop the problem. Most other countries take the point of view that drugs are bad and must be outlawed, whether that course of action yields any results or not. This has caused friction between The Netherlands and other countries, most notably with France and Germany. A distinction is drawn between hard drugs (which bear "unacceptable" risks; e.g. cocaine, heroin and eccstasy) and soft drugs such as the psychedelic psylocybin mushrooms as well as cannabis products: hashish and marijuana (as defined in the Dutch Opium Act). The distinction is drawn on whether the substance is only psychologically addictive (i.e. producing no worse effect than moderate craving when withdrawn) or also physically addictive (i.e. there is solid proof the drug could cause dangerous withdrawal symptoms and/or lasting physical damage). So-called coffee shops are allowed to sell soft drugs openly, and to keep supplies greater than the amounts allowed by law for personal use, though they are only allowed to sell individual customers the amount allowed for personal use.

Amsterdam prides itself, and rightly so, on its wholly liberal and tolerant attitude, embracing the fact that people may be into prostitution, soft drugs and pornography and this is only human. So instead of criminalizing everything, this very upfront city wears its heart on its sleeve what you see is generally what you get. You might as well enjoy the honesty of it all, as you wont find it anywhere else. From brothels to sex shops to museums, the Red Light District leaves nothing to the imagination. Skimpily clad women of all nationalities parade their wares in red-fringed window parlours (you just check them out and can hire them if you want), and when they find a customer, the curtains are drawn. There are also peep-show joints with private cabins, dark and noisy bars, video libraries, dedicated apparel and appliance stores, book stores filled with the illustrated works of specialists in a wide range of interpersonal relationships, and theatres offering a popular form of performance art! Contrary to popular belief, the Red Light District is actually a very safe area in Amsterdam as clusters of policemen, and private bodyguards employed by the girls themselves are always on duty. While some people get disturbed by the fact that poverty-induced prostitution is a major tourist attraction in Amsterdam, I did not find the place reeking of misery or hardship. My experience of the place was therefore untainted with a feeling of sorriness or pity. Perhaps one of the reasons I felt this way is that I have witnessed abject poverty at its worst, in Mumbai. I will never forget the image of the limbless man outside Sukhsagor classes (which I was attending for CA Foundation) in Ghatkopar West. Just a head and a torso with a little flesh under it he had been placed under the sun and was trying to eat an apple. I did not, unlike many others, drop a coin in the bucket placed near him. The only thing I wanted to happen to him was for him to die, and I prayed for that (I was not an atheist then). The point is that I have seen suffering in the most grotesque and inhuman light, and when I am in contemplation against such a backdrop, seeing any human capable of exercising the prowess of his mind and body makes me feel grateful. If I did believe in a god, and if there was one thing I could ask Him for, it would most likely be health!

Amsterdam has in some ways been Amsterdamage for me because it has displaced the fetters of conventionality in me and set an avant-garde tone for the rest of the tour!

September 16 (Friday)

Day 2: Amsterdam to Rhine Valley. A free morning to enjoy the delights of Amsterdam before travelling on to St Goar to learn the history of German beersteins. From here a scenic drive along the Rhine Valley to our hotel.

An eventful day that started in Amsterdam and ended in St Goar (Germany). We visited the Anne Frank museum (7.5) in the morning. Anne Frank was just one of the many victims of the Jewish persecution during World War II. Her family took up residence in this building on the Prinsengracht on July 6, 1942. Anne Frank kept a diary while she was in hiding. She wrote about everyday life in the annex, the isolation, and the constant fear of being discovered. I have not read Anne Franks diary (except in an English lesson in school which I vaguely remember) and could not appreciate the museum in its proper historical context. I have had very little exposure to Western history and hence some of the historical monuments we visit are bound to evoke a lesser emotional response in me than my Australian and other friends.

After the Anne Frank museum, we headed towards the Heineken experience (10), a museum dedicated to the second most transported liquid across the Atlantic after oil. It was much less informative and value-adding than the Famous Grouse whisky experience in Scotland. But it was fun pretending to be a bottle of beer in a 3-minute simulated show taking us through the process of beer manufacture. We collected Heineken beer glasses as souvenirs and moved on, taking a cab to get to the centre from where our bus would depart.

We did not have too much time in Amsterdam, so there was no way we could check out some other major attractions such as the Rijksmuseum (which houses The Netherlands largest art collection) or the Van Gogh museum (which has the best collection of the Dutch artists work anywhere in the world). It was also not worthwhile buying the Amsterdam Pass for 26 from the tourist information office, which is valid on public transport, gives free entry to many museums (not covering Anne Franks House) and discounts including bike hire.

We then drove to Germany, reaching St Goar in the afternoon. I was hungry and had schnitzel and rice with tomato sauce for lunch. The toilet at the restaurant in Germany was quite amazing the best I have seen in my life. It had automatic flush (sensor) and an automatic seat cleaner once youd finished your job. The seat would start spinning when youre through, then an arm comes from the back and cleans the seat, sanitizes it and dries it. Quite a mesmerising sight! Much better than the toilets in Amsterdam where the water outlet in the commode was very narrow and the matter would not hit the water directly but only upon flushing! The shower in our hotel in Germany was also extraordinary. The water would stop every two minutes and you need to press the button each time to start it. Power shower!

Germany is famous for Rhine wines, Munich Beerhalls, carnivals such as Fasching and Oktoberfest both in Munich and the world-famous ballet in Stuttgart. I found that beer in Germany was cheaper than (bottled) water.

The cars in the autobahns German cars BMW, Porsche, Opel, Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen and others were travelling at super fast speed (130km is a recommended speed limit this speed is not a binding limit, but being involved in an accident at higher speeds can lead to being assigned part of the fault due to increased operating danger), and it was a sight to behold. The German autobahns are famous for being some of the only public roads in the world without blanket speed limits for cars and motorcycles. I learnt that all Western European countries other than Britain drive on the other side of the road, unlike India and Australia which were British colonies. About a quarter of the world (including Japan) drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. Apparently, it was at Napoleons instigation that driving on the right was enforced throughout Europe, and as Napoleons conquests did not include Britain, Britain stayed on the left side of the road, which is right!

At St Goar, I saw the worlds largest free-hanging cuckoo clock. And then, in a 17^th century wine cellar, we tasted different white wines (8) shouting zum wohl! (to your health!) in unison. The other German word for Cheers is, I learnt, Prost. I liked the sweeter wines, though one of them was excessively sweet. The wine tasting is only the calm before the storm. Tomorrow is the beginning of Oktoberfest, and we are driving down to Munich!

September 17 (Saturday)

Day 3: Rhine Valley to Munich. We travel south through Germany to Bavaria and its capital, Munich. Our orientation tour of Munich takes us to Marienplatz with its famous Glockenspiel. Tonight, perhaps the Beerhalls will beckon all you thirsty travellers?

Our tour managers orientation sheet says Munich may be the beer capital of the world but Munich has non-beverage based activities to tempt you as well. But, after a look at the churches, a visit to the markets and some other shopping, you will probably still want to make your way to one of the beer houses Germany is famous for.

It was the start of Oktoberfest and Munich was alive. The Munich Oktoberfest (officially the worlds largest public festival) provides a fortnight of organized boozing and carousing. Thats right, only two weeks youre on your own for the other fifty! I was with Adam, Helen, Samantha, Tim, Ben, Michaela and Megane. They are all Australians, and extremely friendly people as they did their best to make me feel comfortable. Meg is an especially considerate girl, and I plan to convey this to her by the end of the tour. She is 20, very mature for her age, and the most beautiful girl in this tour. A certain divide does, however, exist as I am not used to the Australian-style jokes and slang. We reached Munich in the afternoon, saw the famous Glockenspiel bell chime at 5 pm and set out to the grounds of Oktoberfest. A litre of beer (which cost about 7) and few glasses of schnapps later we were one of the crowd, singing along to the Bavarian oompah bands. We could not enter any of the 14 tents though and had to be contented sitting on the tables outside, as the tents were all packed. Each tent houses about 10,000 people. Munich is a very crowded city and in the time we spent there I could not absorb any distinctive feature of the city. In the night, it was party time (after returning from Oktoberfest around 11 pm) again and we partied till about 1 pm. Very hectic, but refreshingly enjoyable. It was quite strange that Oktoberfest was closed by 11 pm we expected it would last all night!

If you wondered why the Oktoberfest starts in, er, September the Prince (of Bavaria) Ludwigs wedding (which is when it all started, way back in 1810) was in October, but September provides better weather for a festival that now draws six million visitors and sees more than 5.5 million litres of beer disappear inside two weeks. At the festivals heart are its enormous brewery-sponsored beer tents where you sit at long benches, elbow-to-elbow, with a one-litre stein in hand. The serving wenches, dressed in corsets, are an essential ingredient but one quirk you need to know is that you have to be seated to be served beer. With the vast numbers attending, it is therefore technically possible to be in the middle of the worlds best-known beer festival and not get a drink! The huge Oktoberfest grounds also provide carousels, roller coasters and other rides for visitors of all ages.

I learnt from our tour managers orientation sheet that some major tourist attractions in Munich are Marienplatz, the Glockenspiel, St Peters church, Englischer Garten, Deutches Museum and BMW Museum. All of Munich radiates from Marienplatz and everything you need is within strolling distance. The Old and New Town Halls look down on the golden Mariensoul, built to commemorate the city being saved from the plague. St Peters church, just off Marienplatz, is Munichs oldest church, and for fantastic views across the city, you could climb the tower. The Englischer Garten has beer gardens and nude sunbathing. The Deutsches Museum is one of the most famous technology and science museums in the world. And its the biggest there is! Eight floors of displays from boats to telescopes to robots can keep you busy for hours. Located near the Olympic site, the BMW Museum is one only for massive fans of the Bavarian Motor Works vehicles.

The Glockenspiel is perhaps Europes most over-rated attraction, but one that you should see just so you can say you have. It goes off at 11 am, noon and 5 pm, and the clocks little characters do a sort of skit, coming out and moving around. It is set in the tower of the New Rathaus (New Town Hall) and, when it chimes, the square fills with people looking upwards. It was definitely amusing to see hordes of people, with cameras and all, staring at the harmless clock. The towns best known and most-visited tourist trap. It wont cost you anything more than your time! During the Glockenspiel (show), the bells are accompanied by mechanical marionettes that perform scenes from Munichs history. 18 figures dance around Wilhelm and his bride, including two jousting knights. The knights pass each other by at first, but watch closely the second time they come around. The Wittelsbacher (Bavarian), with the white and blue colors on his horse, wins against the Habsburger (Austrian, with red and white), knocking him backward, every single day, three times a day. The whole chime/performance lasts for less than 15 minutes.

Before reaching Munich, we had a set of introductions in the bus. One of the things that each person had to say was Words of Wisdom. I came up with Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everybody can see it but only you can feel its warmth! It was so much liked by all that they have decided to have it written on the Contiki souvenir shirts. The other question that we had to answer during the introductions was Are you a folder or a scruncher? which perhaps referred to how organised you were. I responded I have to be honest here, I have no clue what it means and everyone burst out laughing.

September 18 (Sunday)

Day 4: Munich to Vienna. Its aufwiedersehen to Germany and Servus to Austria as we travel east to the sparkling capital of Austria, Vienna.

Vienna, home of Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven and the Hapsburgs. The centre of Vienna is contained within the Burg Ring and everything is within walking distance. It is a city dripping in culture and a fantastic respect for music, theatre, art as well as coffee and cake. The average Viennese worker spends more than an hour in a coffee shop.

Before reaching Vienna, we checked out the Mauthausen concentration camp (2). In what can be described as a striking irony, hideous pages of history within the site were set against the backdrop of some glorious scenic beauty. Mauthausen and other concentration camps performed major functions for the Nazi regime: combating political, racial or ideological enemies, who could be imprisoned, tormented, tortured or killed at will, while at the same time exploiting their labour to the full. Most of the inmates were compelled to perform extreme hard labour in the quarry, which often led to their physical breakdown. The omnipresence of death whether by gas, hanging, bullet, or other physical or psychological abuse (such as the experiments on humans by SS doctors) characterised everyday life in the camp. Once again, while the quiet time spent at this site was emotionally overwhelming for some of the Australians, it did not carry the same significance for me as I have received little formal education on the World Wars (so Ive not grown up studying about those horrors).

In the evening, we went to the Mozart and Strauss Concert (26). Our Contiki brochure says: Your chance to experience a true Viennese concert! The Vienna Residence Orchestra lives up to everyones expectations both acoustically and visually. Viennese classical works, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss, are performed in authentic costumes by a classical ensemble of musicians, singers, and dancers in a beautiful Viennese Palace. An evening to remember! I have to say that I did not this concert acoustically as poignant as the Bamberg orchestra in Edinburgh. Theres only so much an untrained ear can absorb, and it is hard to be critical of something you dont understand. I was disappointed with the fact that there was no symphony in this orchestra. I was surprised to find that they had inserted elements of humour into the orchestra with some performers trying to be funny at times (e.g. by shrieking). I also learnt that Mozart composed the music of the famous nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Vienna is a two-faced city, with an eclectic mix of old and new. Old churches, palaces and mansions happily coexist with new apartment and office buildings. I read in an internet article: When the casual visitor thinks of Vienna, Baroque buildings typically come to mind. Indeed, some of its most famous edifices--the Belvedere Palace, Church of St. Charles (Karlskirche), Schönbrunn Palace, and many others were erected during the Baroque period, usually defined as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This architectural style conveys a classic, stately, and imperial feeling befitting the radiant capital of a vast empire. During the Baroque era, Vienna assumed an imperial splendour. Austria's empire was so large, it was said, that the sun never set over it. But Vienna benefits most from its architectural mix, from the juxtaposition of this imperial style with those of the preceding and subsequent eras. The city's story, as told through its buildings, is fascinating. Each era comments on the previous one, influencing the next; all are products of the sweep of history.

September 19 (Monday)

Day 5: Vienna Sightseeing. A whole day to take it all in, from the fabulous Palace of the Hapsburgs, the State Opera House to fashionable Kärntnerstraße. Make sure you try authentic apple strudel and Viennese coffee.

It was Day 2 in Vienna and there was a lot to see. We went to the city centre in the morning and walked through Kärntnerstraße, the main pedestrian street, which has a fantastic array of specialty stores. We checked out the epicentre of Vienna, the gothic St Stephens cathedral, and headed underground into the catacombs. This is where you will find the internal organs of those Hapsburgs whose hearts are in the palace. Nice! Then we climbed the 343 circular steps of the south tower and, from the dizzying height, got a good view of the city (not that there was much to see, though). We had chicken schnitzel for lunch, Vienna of course being famous for schnitzels.

The toilets in Vienna are like Amsterdam, not to my liking. A far cry from the pristine toilet with bidet at Delmon hotel in Bahrain. I have not encountered any squat toilet (or Indian-style toilet) or hole-in-the-floor-with-painted-footprints so far, so thats good. The flushing question do I pull, push, kick the button, handle, cord has not been too difficult to negotiate either. For those who want to take this to a whole new level, I learnt that there is a toilet museum in Gmunden in Austria!

In the afternoon, we went to the Old Vienna Schnapps museum (5). Founded in 1875 by the Fischer family, this distillery still uses traditional methods when producing schnapps, brandies and liquors. We were shown how the schnapps were prepared and then it was down to the connoisseurs (us!) to sample the wonderfully coloured and tasty creations. We also had the opportunity to taste and buy absinthe which was the hallucinogenic responsible for Van Gogh cutting off his ear. With an alcohol content around 60% (and as it is not taken with any mixer), it made our throats burn.

We then went to Schönbrunn Palace. This Hapsburg palace was built with the intention of rivalling Versailles in France. Though not quite as big, it is magnificent from outside (We could not get inside as it was already closed). The palace was used as the summer residence of the Hapsburgs from the 18^th century onwards. Set amongst superb gardens, this vast, grandiose, symmetrical structure is everything you would imagine an imperial palace to be. It contains nearly 1,500 rooms and in its day would have housed more than a 1,000 servants.

Vienna by night is glorious. It is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have seen, and you have to walk its streets to get the feel. I walked along the Ring, covering Opera House, Parliament Building, Burg Theatre, Rathaus etc. and then within the Ring, covering Kärntnerstraße etc. The bicycles and trams on the streets gave it a similar look to Amsterdam, but I thought Vienna was more pleasant and fresh. I also think it compares favourably with Edinburgh, which is not a very big city at its heart. Vienna and London are not comparable according to me, as they are two very different cities and London is humongous. London is diverse, exuberant and really a hotchpotch of so many things (from arts to history to architecture to technology) that it cant be easily typified into one category. With Vienna, there is a unified feel to the city and you can more easily sum up your experience by just saying Vienna is exotic.

Some other tourist attractions in Vienna are the Hofburg Palace (the centrepiece of Vienna and of the Hapsburg Empire), the Giant Wheel (one of Viennas most recognisable attractions, the Giant Wheel is located in a large wooded park and playground known as the Prater and is Europes oldest ferris wheel offering panoramic views of the city) and the Goulash Museum. Austria is famous for its schnitzel and goulash and you can check out 100 varieties of the soup at the Goulash Museum on Schülerstraße which leads off Stephansplatz. Something different! The city remains infused with the grand imperial spirit in the form of magnificent palaces and grand mansions peppering the Innerestadt. The citys cultural heritage is mainly musical, the great classical composers like Strauss, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn and Mozart all having lived and performed here.

I also saw two special types of beggars in Kärntnerstraße one type of beggars who just stand still for long times on a small stool (for instance, one person was posing as the Statue of Liberty, holding a flame in his raised hand). Another was with a laptop, playing some music. The most advanced beggars I have seen.

I have been using the pronoun we on a number of occasions. The connotation actually keeps changing all the time, because various members of the Contiki group opt for different excursions, and while many of us are together lots of time, it is not always the case.

September 20 (Tuesday)

Day 6: Vienna to Venice. A leisurely drive through Austria and into Italy. The spectacular Dolomite Mountain Range marks the gateway to Italy and the road to Venice.

The drive to Venice from Vienna was the most picturesque drive I have ever had green hills partially covered by fog and clouds settling in into the valleys, followed by shining silver-coloured mountains in the distance absolutely gorgeous. Our travellers guide rightly says: Austria offers more variety than almost any other country in Europe moody plains with rocky outcroppings are crowned by castles and dense green forests reminding one of medieval legends and fairy tales. The beautiful Danube flows for miles through the country, acres of vineyards cover the land and of course there are the Alps some of the most breathtaking and dramatic peaks in the world. Danube (pronounced as danyoob) is Europes second longest river flowing into the Black Sea.

It was a relatively quiet day as we simply settled into our camps in the evening. The night, however, was not so quiet. Before a glass of vodka with orange, I with my Aussie friends had the dangerous Attitude Adjuster for which Camping Fusina in Venice is famous. It is a strong alcoholic drink consisting of 1 shot vodka plus 1 shot Gin plus 1 shot martini plus 1 shot tequila plus 1 bottle orange Bacardi Breezer, all mixed together with crushed ice. So four different spirits plus a Bacardi breezer in a pint-sized glass was, as you would expect, very powerful and I was tipsy for the rest of the night. But it was great fun.

September 21 (Wednesday)

Day 7: Venice Sightseeing. Our complimentary motorboat trip takes you to see St Marks Square, the Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs. See glass and lace-making demonstrations, wander the fascinating canal side streets, and why not treat yourself to a gondola ride?

We took a boat ride this morning over to the floating city of Venice. First we saw a glass blowing demonstration (it was interesting to observe the ease and fluency with which the carvings were made) and then a lace making demonstration. It was one of the last lace-making factories preserved by the government to preserve the heritage. They hand-make everything and it can take up to 8 months to finish a table cloth that has 7 women working on it. It was interesting but I did not buy anything from that shop, partly because it was expensive and partly because laces dont fascinate me.

The Italian style of life screams everywhere, from the names of streets to the food and attire. Calle is the street you normally walk along. Campo is the name for the squares, which once were made of earth and covered with grass (Campo means field). All the squares in Venice are called Campi except the most important of all, Piazza San Marco. This Square was the centre of political life and all the buildings that surround it were connected to the government of Serenissima. Canal is a large and important waterway and Rio is a small canal. So Venice is full of names such as Campo San Rocco or Calle Della Madonnetta or Calle Del Megio or Campo Di San Silvestro or Rio Terra etc.

Venice is totally different from any other European city I have seen. It is a city built on water with no traffic except the human variety. It has 117 islands, 400 bridges, 150 canals and endless twisted, narrow streets. The city is famous for its pigeons, gondolas, glass, lace and Carnevale, a month long celebration in February of masked balls and street parties. The best thing to do in Venice is to get lost and youll be amazed what you might find. There are two main signs in Venice Piazza San Marco and Accademia. Sometimes they actually point in the right direction!

The Carnevale di Venezia is all about putting on a mask, dressing in finery and a cloak, and dancing with a complete stranger. Dating back to 1094, but revived in its present form in 1979, Venices annual carnival (from carnevale, the Latin for farewell to meat) marks the start of the traditional Lenten fast. Many other cities in Europe hold such events but, while not the orgy of bacchanalia it might once have been, the one in Venice is perhaps the most renowned. Theres the romantic setting, for a start, not to mention the locals love of an outrageous costume. There is usually a theme to the carnival, expanded upon in the various processions and ceremonies, together with concerts and events featuring theatre groups, acrobats, musicians and artists from all over the world.

In New York, every tourist has to visit Times Square. In London, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus vie for the visitor's attention. In Paris, the vacationer is expected to give at least a passing glance to the Place de la Concorde. The equivalent tourist magnet in Venice is the Piazza San Marco, better known to Anglophones as St. Mark's Square. It has been the scene of some of the most important religious and political activities of the Serenissima as well as the centre of Venetian social life for almost a millennium. Napoleon called the Piazza San Marco "the finest drawing room in Europe." That description may have been a little off-base there's no ceiling, and where's the sofa? but the fact remains that St. Mark's is a far nicer place for sitting and schmoozing than the average living room or hotel lobby. In The Companion Guide to Venice, Hugh Honour describes the Piazza San Marco as "beautiful at all times of day or night and all seasons of the year. It is one of the few delicate works of architecture that can absorb a bustling vulgar crowd without loss of dignity; a great city square which retains a feeling of animation when there are few people in it."

Some major attractions in Venice are St Marks Basilica, the Campanile, Doges Palace, Bridge of Sighs and Rialto Bridge. Basilica di San Marco (St Marks Basilica) is the centrepiece of Piazza San Marco. It has stood for almost 1,000 years. Inside are magnificent mosaics, a treasury full of, well, treasure and the gold and jewel encrusted altar of St Mark. The Campanile or Bell Tower is part of the Basilica di San Marco, but stands apart, tall and proud in the Piazza it offers panoramic views of the city from its top. The original stood for 400 years until it collapsed in 1902. It was rebuilt according to Italian tradition, exactly as it was. Venice is home to numerous bell towers, most of which have a slight lean as they begin to sink. Doges Palace once home to the powerful rulers of Venice, a visit to the palace gives you a glimpse of the lavish lifestyle led by the Doges at the height of Venices power. The Bridge of Sighs joins the palace to the prison next door and you can cross it and see the view the condemned prisoners would have had in the their last hours. Some attribute the name to Casanova, who, following his arrest in 1755 (he was accused of being a Freemason and spreading antireligious propaganda), crossed this very bridge. He was one of the rare few to escape 15 months after his imprisonment, alive, returning to Venice 20 years later. Some of the stone cells still have the original graffiti of past prisoners, many of them locked up interminably for petty crimes. Spanning the narrowest point of the Grand Canal, the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto bridge) is renowned as an architectural and engineering achievement of the Renaissance. Rialto, derived from Rivo Alto (high riverbank), is the name of the town situated here long ago. It has always been the commercial centre of Venice and is now famous for its markets.

Venice is the hometown of Casanova, the Italian adventurer who wrote vivid accounts of his sexual encounters. He remains a controversial figure and there is not much in Venice commemorating his presence. I learnt that a few metres from St. Samuel's is the only plaque to mention his name, an inconspicuous tablet at the narrow entrance to Calle Malipiero. It records simply that Casanova was born in an unknown house of this alley on April 2, 1725. Exactly 257 years later I was born!

 I was with Laura, the Canadian girl, and we decided that the best thing to do in Venice is to get lost. The map and even road signs were quite unhelpful in navigating our way through the narrow, crowded and jumbled alleys. The place was packed with people and there were no motor vehicles. We checked out the markets (the Rialto bridge has always been the commercial centre of Venice and is now famous for its markets) which sell many things from fruits and vegetables to carnival masks, bags and slightly bad taste ties (with a sleazy picture of a nude woman at the back of the tie). Venice is apparently one of the best places to buy a carnival mask, which come in a wealth of materials, from paper to leather, with prices that range from modest to stratospheric.

Piazza San Marco was full of pigeons, which I thoroughly detested. The pigeon food for sale in Piazza San Marco is laced with contraceptives to keep the population down. Yet the pigeon population is humongous. So is the tourist population apparently there are about 70,000 people living in Venice and over 14 million visitors each year!

You must walk everywhere in Venice (Venezia, in Italian) and where you cannot walk, you go by water. Occasionally, from fall to spring, you have to walk in water, when extraordinarily high tides known as acqua alta invade the lower parts of the city, flooding Piazza San Marco for a few hours. There was a flood today, as peak tides flowed over the citys sidewalks, and so people were using the elevated wooden walkways, or passarelle, to move about another unique sight to behold. Apparently, this happens about 70 to 90 times a year.

Venice is Europes largest car-free area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21^st century entirely without motorcars or trucks. The classical Venetian boat is the gondola, although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies, due to its cost. Most Venetians now travel by motorised waterbuses ("vaporetti") which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city's islands. The city also has many private boats. The only unmotorized gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges.

No trip to Venice would be complete without a graceful and romantic glide down the Grand Canal in an authentic Venetian gondola. Float beneath bridges, beside cafes, under balconies and through the vibrant Venetian streetscape as your gondolier sweeps you down the Grand Canal for a ride like no other. A relaxing and romantic gondola ride reveals all the charm, excitement and passion that is Venice. We did take the customary Gondola ride (21), and though relaxing, it was a slow and uneventful ride. I would have preferred if the boatman had been offering some commentary.

We visited an Abstract Art gallery near the palace. Though Venice has many historic churches, we were not interested in seeing them. Laura briefly explained to me the development of Abstract Art in the last 70 years. Around 1900 it was thought that photography would "replace" painting because paintings were no longer regarded as portraying reality most accurately. Regardless of how one chooses to define accuracy, the advent of abstract art made people look at paintings in a new way. Abstract Art is a break from the idea that paintings should depict reality. It could evoke an emotional response in the beholder just through the use of colours and strokes. Though it is not easy to appreciate, it probably drives home the point that things which we do not understand can be fascinating as well. I have to say that my untrained eye could not appreciate the intricacies of the Abstract Art paintings that were on display.

Almost everybody in our Contiki group felt that Venice was the best city of the tour so far. Though I found Venice to be an unforgettable city, I did not quite as much fall in love with it to call it the best city. This was perhaps because I did not find the crowded streets, narrow alleys etc. unfamiliar as Mumbai has lots of them. The parallels between Mumbai and Venice could be drawn more easily than Mumbai and any other Western European city. But there is no denying that Venice is very special and a unique city.

An internet article I came across provides a munificent overview of Venice: It's easy to forgive Venice for its eternal preoccupation with its own beauty. All the picture books in the world won't prepare you for the city's exotic landmarks, among them the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, rising like mirages from the lagoon. With sumptuous palaces and romantic waterways, Venice is straight out of an 18th-century Canaletto masterpiece. Venice is called La Serenissima (the "most serene" one), a reference to the monstrous power, majesty, and wisdom of this city that was for centuries the unrivalled mistress of trade between Europe and the Orient and the bulwark of Christendom against the tides of Turkish expansion. The most serene also refers to the way in which those visiting have looked upon Venice, a miraculous city imperturbably floating on its calm, blue lagoon.

Entirely built on water by men who dared defy the sea, Venice is unlike any other town. No matter how many times you have seen it in movies or TV commercials, the real thing is more surreal and dreamlike than you ever imagined. Its landmarks, the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, seem hardly Italian: delightfully idiosyncratic, they are exotic mélanges of Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance styles. Sunlight shimmers and silvery mist softens every perspective here, a city renowned in the Renaissance for its artists' rendering of colour. It is full of secrets, ineffably romantic, and at times given over entirely to pleasure.

I just had a glass of beer in the night, because I wanted to be well-set for Rome over the next two days. Rome the eternal city!

September 22 (Thursday)

Day 8: Venice to Rome: Southwards we climb through the Appennine Mountains travelling past medieval hillside villages, to Rome, the Eternal City. Tonight, a walking tour of this city will include the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

All roads led to Rome. Our walking tour of Rome was informative and gave us a general feel for the worlds most historic city. We also checked out the Spanish Steps one of the most hyped up tourist attractions, according to me. The Spanish Embassy was by this site in the 17^th century, hence its name. The area is now a popular meeting place. Near the Trevi Fountain, there was an ice-cream shop which, according to our tour manager, sells the best ice-cream in the world. I tried vanilla flavour and it was delicious. But I still thought the ice-cream I had had at a stall outside Edinburgh Castle was better!

There was an imminent sense of antiquity as we marvelled at the best preserved ancient building in Rome, with its 43.3m (142 ft) open-topped dome and took in the peaceful atmosphere of this final resting place of the kings of modern Italy and the painter Raphael the Pantheon. The Pantheon was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the Roman state religion, but which has been a Christian church since the 7^th century AD. It is the best-preserved of all Roman buildings and the oldest important building in the world with its original roof intact. It has been in continuous use throughout its history. Since the Renaissance, the Pantheon has been used as a tomb. The most amazing characteristic of the building is the exceptional covering dome. It is the largest dome (cupola) ever created out of concrete: it measures 43.3m in diameter and is greater than that of the dome of St. Peter's! The entire building is conceived as a perfect geometric figure: a sphere inserted in a cylinder. The diameter of the sphere coincides with height of the cylinder. The dome, created with different materials, increasingly lighter as they go upwards, ends with a large open "eye"', of a diameter of 9 metres. Through this opening enters the rain, which is conveyed into the drains visible on the pavement.

Lined with Baroque palaces, the vast and beautiful Piazza Navona (Navona Square) was laid out on the ruins of a stadium built by Domitian in 86 AD, ruin of which can still be seen at the north end of the piazza. The stadium had seating for around 30,000 spectators.

Piazza Venezia is a road junction with a centuries-old history. The most ancient building is the Palace of Venice (XV century), which is seat of the embassy of the Venetian Republic.

The Trevi Fountain or Fontana di Trevi is the most famous and beautiful fountain in Rome. The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche, is Neptune, god of the sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other one restive. They symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. Everyone knows that, if they want to return to Rome, they have to throw a coin into the basin, but be careful: for the dream to come true, you have to toss it over your shoulder with your back to the fountain!

After the walking tour, we returned to our campsite by train. Besides being highly unsafe (as there are pickpockets everywhere), another feature of the trains was the graffiti all over. Even trains in Mumbai dont have as much graffiti, especially at the outside.

Rome may be the delight of architects, archaeologists and historians but it clearly does not rank in the same league as London and Paris. It is not a towering city anymore, and has a population of only about 2.8m which is just about a quarter of London or Paris. It does not have the variety, exuberance, and multiculturalism of these cities.

Italy is a country with a lot of peculiarities. In Italy you are not allowed to enter a church unless your upper arms and legs (for both men and women) are covered. This means that shorts, mini-skirts and sleeveless tops are not allowed. Foreign guides are not allowed to speak or even point toilets to tourists (because the foreign tour operators do not pay any tax in Italy, and the government wants to further the earnings of locals). The hygiene levels in Italy are much lower compared to, say, Germany. Toilets in some places in Italy do not have any toilet paper, soap or paper towels. Security is low and pickpockets abound. Unlike UK, where vehicles invariably halt if there is a pedestrian about to cross on a zebra crossing, in Italy it is each to his own! Vehicles do not halt for pedestrians about to cross and they barely pause for pedestrians already on the road, crossing! Being a little further south, the climate in Italy is much warmer and can often get uncomfortably hot. Italian men are very well-dressed and spic and span. Our tour manager claims that condoms in Italy are 1.5cm longer than the average size anywhere else in the world (thus proving the sexual prowess of Italian men)! The names of roads frequently end in a vowel e.g. Santa Maria, Castello, Nazionale, Lepanto etc. Venice, Rome and Florence in Italian are called Venezia, Roma and Firenze. Afternoons are siesta time in Italy. Italian stores do not stay open throughout the day, but take a break or "siesta" after lunch, resuming business in the late afternoon and staying open until 8 p.m. These times may vary with the season, the merchant, and the type of business. Its origin was apparently long before air-conditioning was existent, when afternoons would be unbearably hot making it difficult to concentrate. The concept of siesta time exists in the Middle East too, where afternoons are extremely hot during summer.

In the night, I drowned myself in a couple of vodkas with orange and went to sleep. Vodka with orange has indeed become the symbolic tipple for our group. I have never had so many alcoholic drinks before and never partied and revelled in this manner but thats okay because pretty much everything on this tour is a first time for me! And I have never had such a good time for such a continuous length before. An experience of a lifetime!

September 23 (Friday)

Day 9: Rome sightseeing. Today why not discover the ancient ruins of Rome with a local guide and in your free time leisurely discover the secrets of the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel.

In the morning, we took the Metro to Colosseo, from where our guided Imperial Tour (10) began A walk through the very core of Roman antiquity, through what was once the capital of the Western world, the Roman Forum, is an impressive introduction to the glories of the ancient city. Although the millennia have reduced this grand complex to fields of picturesque ruins, it is nonetheless awe-inspiring to consider that this square was the birthplace of Western civilization. Roman law and powerful armies were created here, banishing the barbarian world for a millennium. The Metro was packed to the hilt and though the crowds are nothing compared to local trains in Mumbai, it was not very comfortable either. London and Paris too have similarly packed trains during peak hours. The Imperial Tour was an educative insight to Imperial Rome to history over 2,000 years back. We walked from the Colosseo (amphitheatre) right up to Piazza Venezia, covering various ancient monuments including the Roman forum (the central area around which ancient Rome developed, in which commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place). Here all Rome shouted as one, "Caesar has been murdered," and crowded to hear Mark Antony's eulogy for the fallen leader. Throughout the tour, there were numerous references to the great leader, Julius Caesar. Caesar was murdered by a group of Senators outside Pompey's Theater on March 15, 44 B.C. (Ides of March). They justified the assassination by saying they were saving the republic from a tyrant and would-be king. On that day a great comet was seen over the skies of Rome. For the first time in Roman history, a living man was deified; in the process, the man himself was lost to history.

As I walked downwards to the ancient city, I witnessed how Rome has over the centuries been built one layer over another. The Romans recycled prime property  by filling the old rubble with dirt or building right on top of older buildings hence the oddly suspended columns in space, the doors that open into space hundreds of feet above ground that has since been excavated, removed by archaeologists. Excavations are still in progress as archaeologists try to dig further down to discover even older history, without damaging the monuments already discovered. It was absolutely fascinating. Rome is constantly changing, as new excavations unearth yet more ancient treasures. I also learnt that in the year 27 BC Augustus became Romes first emperor and in his memoirs he wrote: "I found a city of stone and bricks; now I leave it to you of marble." I was not previously that Augustus was Romes first emperor, and not his grand-uncle, Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar was a military and political leader who was instrumental in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Sightseeing in Rome is exhilarating and exhausting. That it wasn't built in a day is quickly evident when you start exploring the temples, residences, basilicas, churches, palazzi, piazzi, parks, museums and fountains. All this and the Vatican too!

Today's Rome reflects the stratification of the epochs of its long history, but it also is a huge contemporary metropolis. Its vast historical centre contains many areas from Ancient Rome, areas from medieval times, many palaces and artistic treasures from the Renaissance era, many fountains, churches and palaces from baroque times, as well as many examples of the Art Nouveau, Neoclassic, Modernism, Rationalism and any other artistic styles of the XIX and XX centuries (the city is in fact considered a living encyclopedia and museum of the last 3,000 years of western art). The historical centre is identified as within the limits of the ancient imperial walls.

As a point of trivia, I also learnt that SPQR, which are the most famous Latin initials, denote Senate and people of Rome in Latin. It was emblazoned on the standards of the Roman legions and was the official name of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It also appears in the coat of arms of the present-day city of Rome, and appears on most civic buildings as well as many manhole covers in the city. These manhole covers were placed in Rome on order of Mussolini, who apart from this use, started using SPQR on many other occasions as a way to make propaganda for his regime. A more humorous meaning of the initialism is the Italian phrase Sono pazzi questi Romani, which translates into These Romans are crazy. It is often used by the Italian translations of the comic book character Obelix. Another humorous, yet puerile, meaning is Small Profits, Quick Returns.

After the guided Imperial Tour, we (Laura, Sally and I) took the bus no.492 from Piazza Venezia to Vatican City. Technically a separate city state sitting in the middle of Rome, the Vatican is most notable for St Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museums. The Museums (12) contain Michelangelos Sistine Chapel, painted over four years, as well as amazing collections of Egyptian artefacts, tapestries, sculpture and paintings. It was more than a 20-minute walk inside the Museums, but we got there and could gape at the Sistine Chapel. You can check out more of Michelangelos work in the dome of St Peters Basilica, the most amazing church in all of Europe. Just inside the entrance is the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed, the Pieta. We did not get a chance to check this out.

We returned from Vatican in the afternoon and headed off to the magnificent Colosseum, this time entering it (10). The Colosseum is the big gun of Roman ruins. We let our imagination fill in the holes in the walls and floor to take ourselves back to a time when this stadium was the centre of sport and entertainment in Rome with gladiatorial battles, fights between men and animals and mock naval battles staged within its walls. The Colosseum has been stripped of its original marble veneer and other decorative elements as well as such practicalities as the floor that covered the central arena. Yet the fact that it has in many ways withstood the test of time, after hundreds of years of wars, plundering and recycling of material, is amazing. Our tour guide at the Colosseum (3.5 per person) was the worst tour guide I have ever encountered he was lost in his own world and could not infuse from his talk the excitement that such a historical setting should provide.

From the Colosseum, we walked to the Trevi Fountain. I threw in a coin into the water (like everybody else) with my back to the Fountain which, as legend has it, should guarantee my return to Rome. I shall look forward to it.

There were a few let downs as well in Rome. We did not find the Italians to be very helpful at all often they could be curt and rude. The weather was very hot during the day. The Italian pizzas and spaghetti (pasta) were not the tastiest we have ever eaten. Italy is an unsafe place with lots of unusually talented gypsies moving about. A couple of people on our tour (Tiaan and Sandy) had their wallets stolen in spite of being extremely careful. I was lucky to come out unscathed, but surely must have been closely watched by the gypsies. We had all been asked by our tour manager to keep our wallets in our front pockets and, while travelling in the Metro, to have our backpacks placed on our front.

I have to say that of all the places I have been in, Rome is the one of which I have been able to absorb the least. Though I have visited some major attractions in Rome, the feeling of completeness at having covered the city is not there, and I dont think I have acquired as much understanding of the city as I would have liked. I have not been able to adequately immerse myself into the richness that is Rome. I would need to spend more time in Rome to grasp the story of the city and appreciate its full potency. I think Rome is not a city where you can just quickly see an attraction and move over to the next. To find your bearings, you need to spend some quality time at each place.

Rome is definitely an impression-creating city, and this paragraph sums it up nicely: Rome today is one of the most important tourist destinations of the world, due to the incalculable immensity of its archaeological and artistic treasures, as well as for the charm of its unique traditions, the beauty of its panoramic views, and the majesty of its magnificent villas (parks). This one does it even better: A lot is expected of Rome, seat of an empire, mother of civilisation, and one of the worlds most beautiful cities. It is the city of the Caesars, of romance, the city of La Dolce Vita and long sunny days, the city of endless art, of churches and museums, of fountain-shaped piazzas and majestic monuments to its golden age of empire.

September 27 (Tuesday)

Day 13: Lauterbrunnen to Paris. Through the French countryside to the romance of Paris.

After a long bus ride, we reached Paris early evening. When we arrived at the campsite we were given snails (still in their shells you had to get them out) to eat, and I was not going to have any of it.

A city tour in the night was enough to convince most of us that we were in one of the most splendid cities of the world. We went to the top of Eiffel Tower (using the lift), one of the worlds most recognisable monuments, and had a fantastic view of the city and a zillion photographs. When our bus was passing towards the Tower, our tour manager got us engrossed in a random story and asked us to keep watching in the left for something amazing. All heads in the bus were turned to the left and then when he suddenly asked us to look to the right, the magnificent Eiffel Tower stared in front of us and left us gaping. It was a sight to behold. We drove along River Seine and from the busy atmosphere of the Champs Élysées to the quietness of the Louvre. It was the most enchanting way to discover the City of Light. All the attractions and monuments were lambent and the ambience was wonderful. The delight of watching the glowing city in all its vibrancy can only be compared to a jewellery-lover viewing a casket encrusted with gold, diamonds and gems of the purest variety. Undefiled sensual pleasure.

It is often the case that there is a small taint in the purest of things. So was it in my case, as I accidentally dropped my precious camcorder from its bag at the Eiffel Tower. Though there wasnt much external damage, it refused to read any disc and so my video recording for the Europe trip is practically over.

September 28 (Wednesday)

Day 14: Paris sightseeing. I set out early in the morning to explore Paris. I decided not to follow the crowd and preferred being alone in the interest of time. I did not want any compromises with Paris. My decision proved wise as it emerged later on that I managed to check out the maximum number of attractions in the city in one day.

I had bought the Carte Musee card (for 18) which gives you free entry into as many museums and galleries as you can fit into a day. Plus it lets you skip the queues! My first attraction of the day was the world-famous Louvre museum, the worlds second biggest museum and gallery and home to Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. I chose an abbreviated experience which has been referred to in Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code as the Louvre Lite a full sprint through the museum to see the three most famous objects: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. Although we were not permitted to take pictures of the Mona Lisa, I, like many others, sneaked through my camera for a picture.

After the Louvre, I headed towards the Musee dOrsay. It is an art gallery which features some of the worlds most well known impressionist artworks from Monet, Manet and Renoir. It was not exactly my cup of tea, so I quickly walked further towards La  Conciergerie. Built during the first quarter of the 14^th century, its history as a place of imprisonment, torture and death is significant. I spent about half an hour at La Conciergerie and then walked to the Notre Dame cathedral. Known for its Hunchback and a Disney movie, Notre Dame is one of Paris most famous buildings, but to me, unimbued with a sense of its history, it seemed like just another building. I did not choose to climb to the top of one of the towers, simply because I had already had a high-level view of the city from the top of Eiffel Tower and would have more views from Montparnasse and the Sacre-Coeur Church. Having now completed the Big Three top of the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa and Notre Dame cathedral, I walked towards the Pantheon (at Rue Soufflot) with a map in my hand and spring in my stride. The names of streets in Paris often begin with Place or Rue or Boulevard. Place (pronounced as plass) means square, Rue means road or street and boulevard (pronounced as bool-var) means a wide and usually tree-lined road.

After spending some quiet time at the Pantheon, I went to St Sulpice Church, made famous by Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code. I had the book open in front of me as I moved across the church. I was able to follow the book and trace the famous Rose Line embedded in the grey granite floor a thin, polished strip of brass glistening in the stone, a golden line slanting across the churchs floor. I also saw the colossal Egyptian obelisk, where the glistening Rose Line took a ninety-degree vertical turn and continued directly up the face of the obelisk itself, ascending thirty-three feet to the very tip of the pyramidical apex, where it finally ceased. The book goes on to say that tourists, scientists, historians and pagans from around the world came to Saint-Sulpice to gaze upon this famous line.

Long before the establishment of Greenwich as the prime meridian, the zero longitude of the entire world had passed directly through Paris, and through the Church of Saint-Sulpice. The brass marker in Saint-Sulpice was a memorial to the worlds first prime meridian, and although Greenwich had stripped Paris of the honour in 1888, the original Rose Line was still visible today says The Da Vinci Code.

From the St Sulpice Church, I walked to the Montparnasse tower, Europes tallest building at 58 floors, constructed in 1972. I also got a chance to be in the fastest elevator in the world, covering 56 floors in just 38 seconds. The top of the building (terrace on the 59^th floor) offered more panoramic views of the city. Interestingly, the booklet I purchased at the tower makes this (Ayn) Randian style comment: The construction of this building, the highest in Europe, aroused much controversy. Anything that is new disturbs people, and no other structure in Paris caused more uproar than the Eiffel Tower, now the most beloved and famous landmark in the city. Towers have always been criticized and decried. However, one of mans fondest dreams, ever since the Tower of Babel, has been to reach the sky and dominate the Earth.

Triomphing along the Champs Élysées (pronounced as shonz ayleezay). Having walked briskly using my map through all these attractions, which were no more than 10 minutes apart from each other, I chose to brave the Metro from Montparnasse to the Charles de Gaulle Étoille station coming out of which you see the Arc de Triomphe staring in front of you. The Arc was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to celebrate his victories and commemorate the French empire in Europe, but he was ousted (and dead) before it was completed. The insides of the legs are carved with the names of his victories. Underneath the Arc lies the tomb of the unknown soldier, where a flame is lit. I stood there for a few minutes and had some photographs taken. I decided not to get to the top as I had had quite a few views of Paris from great heights already. The traffic at the Arc de Triomphe is crazy. The great arch is situated in a colossal cobbled traffic island - the E'Toile - and surrounded by five lanes of manically driven traffic with each driver intent on mowing down pedestrians. The safest way to reach it is via the underpasses, the main and best one is from the Champs Élysées. Whatever you do try not to cross the traffic - they will kill you if they get the chance, and not stop to wipe you off the windscreen. The French follow the rule on this island that traffic on the island must give way to traffic wanting to come on to the island and there are 12 roads radiating from the Arc de Triomphe and therefore 12 entrances on to the island. It is sometimes said that in Paris a good driver gets only scratches, not dents. And an anecdote goes that when there is an accident at the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, each driver is considered equally at fault. This is the only place in Paris where the accidents are not judged. No matter what the circumstances, insurance companies split the costs 50-50! To the east of the arch is the Champs Élysées rolling down to the Place du Concorde, the Tuileries and the Louvre. I strolled down the famous Champs Élysées, a tree-lined thoroughfare of Paris leading from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. The Avenue des Champs Élysées is the most prestigious and most famous street in Paris and perhaps in the world. It is a major avenue for shops and cafes and is lined with cinemas, car showrooms, department stores, nightclubs, restaurants and thronged with people.

I then took the Metro to Anvers station, outside which is the Sacre-Coeur church. The Church of the Sacred Heart sits high above the red light district of Paris in the artists area of Montematre and offers fantastic views of the city.

The night was rounded off with a group dinner at Auberge de la Bonne Franquette restaurant, located by the basilica of Sacre Coeur church, and a visit to a Parisian Cabaret (like the Moulin Rouge) called La Nouvelle Eve in Paris red-light district. We had to sit at tables and drink champagne as the performers danced and sang at stage. There were a few topless dances interspersed with varied costumes, jugglers, acrobats and other entertainers. There wasnt a boring moment in the show, as most of the performers were highly skilful. Members from audience were invited to the stage for some shows. I was pinpointed during the jugglers show and was seated on the centre of the stage with a hat, sunglasses and cigarette on me as the trained twosome passed the Indian clubs (bottle-shaped wooden clubs) to each other dangerously close to my face. There were right on their mark as their accurate passes dislodged my cap, my cigarette and my sunglasses to the uproar of the crowd. There was a dance contest on stage, where members from the audience were invited. Lucky, our tour manager, won the competition hands down, and as his prize he was sent backstage with a topless dancer. The next minute he came out carrying a baby!

In Paris red-light district, there was this air blower a raised platform with air blowing forcefully from underneath. An interesting conception, it would cause flutter and excitement when girls in skirts dared to stand upon it. And many did, if only for the souvenir photograph!

There was an interesting event at dinner. Helen, an Aussie, had been observing me procure some tasty vegetarian dishes at some of the places on this tour. So she decided to be adventurous and told the waiter that she was vegetarian. There was no vegetarian dish for the main course, so she had to content herself with a starter for the main course. She braved it on and ordered a Vegetable Terrine. I had ordered the same dish, as there was no other vegetarian alternative available and I was not keen to eat meaty stuff like ducks leg or snail. The dish came and looked rather awkward it was soft and had three colours. It was absolutely tasteless, and Helen did not have any of it. A rotten vegetarian experience for her! Surely she needs some food for thought, when it comes to being adventurous!

Switzerland is beautiful but Paris is splendid. I have not seen enough of Paris to draw comparisons with London, but it appears to me that Paris is better packaged though London may have more substance. According to me, in the Indian batting line-up in cricket, if Rahul Dravid, the reliable and technically sound batsman, is London, then Sachin Tendulkar, the more exciting player with a lot of flair, would be Paris. Rome clearly does not have the flair of Paris or London, and is a few steps behind these giant cities.

It was our last night as a group, so we all chose to get drunk in time-honoured fashion. It was the wee hours of the morning when I went to bed drunk, exhausted and satiated. I did not choose to do anything untoward, so that my trip may remain memorable for the right reasons. Tomorrow is going to be a day of parting, as I bid goodbye to my newly-acquired Australian friends, whom I might never meet again.

September 29 (Thursday)

Day 15: Paris to London. Heading north we passed the World War I Battlefields of the Somme. From here we reached Calais and on to our cross-Channel ferry to Dover. We arrived in London early evening, and I took the bus to Bristol.

Back to Bristol. Homecoming has always meant Mumbai to me, but today I really felt pleased to return to Bristol. My 15-day European tour has been a tremendous experience, and paradoxical though it may be, I could not wait to get back home. I think it is one of those things that are easy to understand but hard to explain. The analogies I could think of are more success bringing in more humility in some people, or excessive joy bringing in tears to the eyes.

In terms of itinerary, I think this tour has been just about perfect. With all the binge drinking and late night-early morning routines, 15 days have got most of us exhausted and many of us sick. But we could all hold on till the last and have unrestrained fun. Again, the sequence of visiting each place has been excellent too. The tour started with a bang in Amsterdam, the speed did not slow down after that as there was Oktoberfest and Rome to look forward to. But the best was to be savoured till the end, as Switzerland and Paris were our final destinations. Hence, the sense of anticipation never weaned right up to the last day. Lastly, September was perhaps the best time to travel, from the weather point-of-view. The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France were not too cold (it gets colder from October), and Italy was not too hot (it is very hot in August). It possibly couldnt have been better than this.

My traits as a tourist are more in line with that of an explorer than a shopper or trencherman. So I have been happy to spend time exploring various cities instead of on shopping or having sumptuous or traditional meals.

Rather ironically, I have been totally cut off from the rest of the world, while taking a tour of so many countries of the world. I have not read a single newspaper in the last fortnight, or watched any news channel or thought of any work-related matters or any other cares. A time warp wrapped around me where nothing else mattered. Over the last fortnight, my head has been continuously immersed into the water of tourist attractions in these European countries, and it is only today that I have come out of this water and into the more mundane shores of life.

The Contiki tour has been extremely well-organised and intricately planned. That has helped save a lot of time which I would have wasted if I were on my own. My knowledge about European places has increased tremendously, thanks to this tour. I have been able to make informed decisions on the places I want to visit in each city, and then get right there without any delays. The optional excursions organised by Contiki have also been well worth the money. So it is kudos to the Contiki Crew. I gave the driver and the tour manager a rating of 1-Excellent in the feedback form, as I am sure most of the others did. Though the recommended tip was 30 for the driver, Chris, and 30 for the tour manager, Lucky (at a rate of 2 per day), I enclosed 20 tip for each of them. There have been a lot of Contiki moments to savour during the trip. Lucky, our Asian-origin Australian-nationality tour manager, would state with exaggerated emphasis Take a photo, mullets when there was a photo opportunity or Joyeesus as an exclamation of surprise many of us got hooked on to those words (Mullet is a fish, but it is also used as slang in Australia as an endearing term for fool). He would refer to monuments with pointed spires (e.g. gothic cathedrals or Eiffel Tower) as that sticky-pointy-uppy thing out there We have had a theme song (Mr Brightside the Killers) that would be played first thing every morning in the bus. We have had a wake-up song (Take me Away Lash) to wake the sleeping persons before a service stop or a stop at the campsite. We had hotel stays for a few nights in the beginning and then the campsites. The staff at the campsites were very friendly and we had a comfortable time at every campsite. The breakfast has invariably been Continental breakfast, but I have had no complaints since I am a big fan of cereals and orange juice anyway. Lunch has been different at different places, but I have mostly had salads or sandwiches or pizzas, normally nothing too extravagant. I have purchased quite a few souvenirs, a keychain with a group photo at Oktoberfest in Munich, a Pantheon showpiece at Rome, Eiffel Tower at Paris, Cowbell and Swiss Army knife in Switzerland, shirts in London, Amsterdam, Rome, and Switzerland and postcards at all cities except Amsterdam (because I leaped at the idea of buying postcards only when I was in Munich). So it has been a complete experience in many ways.

This tour has given me lots of fond memories to carry. It has been a long sweet sip of Western Europe aesthetically rewarding, culturally enlightening and factually engrossing. I have been intrigued and astonished at some times, and fascinated at others.

While there are going to many small things about this tour that I shall not remember for long, there are also those unnoteworthy things that just stick in a corner of your memory, almost without your consent. For instance, I recalled without any cause or instigation, that in Venice there were these street clowns displaying their extravagant clothing (typically worn during the carnival) in the middle of a street. If you tried to photograph them without dropping a coin into their bucket, they would simply turn their backs to you and a photograph of their bums may not exactly be a million-pound photo!

I am not a particularly great believer in photographs, because while they might grasp the beauty of a scene, they can rarely grasp its essence. A photograph may capture a moment, but it wont interpret it. A thousand photographs will not tell you the story in the same spirit as it is stored in the recesses of your mind and heart. Some places have a charm that defies technology. So while I do shoot pictures for the record, it is the form of mental picture-taking that I like to focus closely upon. And as their physical expression I believe that words, when appropriately used, can convey the meaning in ways that photographs cannot a photograph does not have the stamp its owner as much as a paragraph has of its author. A photo is merely an image, but words can sketch impressions and ideas.

I have had an absolutely wicked time! I have spent heaps of money on everything there was to do and experienced the flavour of different cultures from the Bavarian beer halls to Viennese schnitzel to Venetian Gondola ride to Parisian cabaret. I have never drunk so much and never done so much before. Joyeesus!

My Europe trip has in total (including all incidental expenditures) cost me a little over £1,500 and it has been well worth the expense. I spent money on attractions, on drinks, and on souvenirs. I did just about everything there was to do and have no regrets. It was a relatively quiet day today, as we signed autographs for each other and bid farewell. I wrote for Meg: You have the rare and wonderful ability to make people feel good about themselves. Keep it up. And I want to see you in Bombay. One of my last moments in the tour was a photograph at the Royal National Hotel in London (Russell Square) with my eight Aussie friends with whom I had spent a lot of time during the tour Meg, Michaela, Lauren, Adam, Helen, Samantha, Tim and Ben, after which I hugged each one of them. I told Meg that she was definitely the best person I had met on the tour, and I was glad to know her.

It has been more than 2 weeks, 7 countries, 50 buoyant people whom I may never see again and unbridled revelry definitely the time of my life. Someone has rightly said: To dream is to travel; to travel is to fulfil your dreams!