europe excursions in oh eight

travel breaks down a kind of inner structure we have. stripped of our props, deprived of our masks, we are completely on the surface of ourselves." -camus

greetings to all you beautiful people. sorry for my long absence. where to start? i have returned from my extended traveling holiday and immediately was thrown into the stress of internship’s impending end that surprisingly is lurking right around the corner. its hard to believe that we are actually on the 'final stretch' of our time here, but in reality the weeks and months continue to fall with increasing rapidness from the calendar, pushing us very close to november, and thus the end. so needless to say, the stress mounts and the pressure increases. but alas, i will save that discussion until later, and i will return to the blogging business at hand of attempting to provide a (somewhat brief) update of my past several weeks.

just for the record- travel in my eyes is considered a privilege and not a right. some have the wonderlust bug in their system, some do not- none the best or the worse. i've been blessed to be able to travel enough at this stage of my life that i've realized that this is not a fleeting affair that will be satisfied by a specific rendezvous, but instead, a lifelong relationship that will always exist. again, i digress, all of this to say that my predictable restlessness had set in, and the desire to travel once again reared its tempting head. so therefore, i forewent a decent amount of my hard earned (loan) money, many dependable nights sleep, a consistent reliable schedule and the comforts of home and instead ventured out and boarded first a train for goa and soon following, a plane bound for amsterdam. i loaded up my backpack and equipped myself with travel books, bikinis, sunscreen and sweatshirts and scarves to accommodate both beach and fall weather. most importantly, i was equipped with the greatest traveling partners a girl could hope for. the moral of the story- september not only lived up to its remarkably high expectations, it vastly exceeded them. here's the run down organized into location/countries:

goa: oh goa. so very different than kerala. while clearly still in india, it felt like a world away. where kerala is conservative, goa is liberal. where kerala closes up and goes to bed at a reasonable hour, goa is the indian city that doesn't sleep…ever. where kerala covers up with salwars and churidars, goa supports bikinis and mini skirts. it was different to say the least but we enjoyed the freedom that goa offered and adjusted quickly. we spent our days in goa lounging on the beach, applying sunscreen and flipping to ensure even tans (sunburns for some white ‘chickens’), enjoying simple luxuries and recovering from the trails of rural camp. we spent our nights in goa in quality restaurants, searching for clubs that played hip hop music instead of techno/trance and dancing the nights away accompanied by whatever foreign friends we made that night. we created many stories and experiences that will be protected by the sacred bond of travel secrecy and will not be repeated, especially not via blog. moral of the story, despite initial hesitations, overall goa did not disappoint. the level of sadness i felt upon departing my UMB crew was surprising, it was the first time in 4 months that i was not constantly by their side. my mind played tricks on me at first and during my flight to amsterdam, i could have sworn that i was hearing jessica speaking behind me, and the girl up ahead looked remarkably like ingrid. apparently we’ve all become a little codependence…and a little crazy. can’t think of a better group to be both with.

amsterdam: welcome to europe. to be honest, i can sum up my time in amsterdam with two simple words that pack a powerful punch: culture shock. intense culture shock. i don't think i realized it at the time, but looking back i realize that i spent my brief time there in a haze of amazement and general confusion. i think this is proven in the simple fact that i have no pictures from my time in amsterdam, all of my energy was spent trying to readjust and adapt as quickly as possible. in the course of one day i went from a developing country that has become my home over 4 months, to sitting in an apartment, taking warm showers, eating peanut butter directly from the jar and watching CNN. none of which exist in india. in addition i was riding a bike (or feebly clinging onto the back of heathers bike for dear life) swerving through holland traffic, all the while thinking about how attempting the same thing on an indian road would equal immediate death. …to be fair, riding a bike in amsterdam did result in one minor accident, but it was a slight collision, not near fatal. i also got to experience good italian food, wine (WINE!), and coffee shops. all accompanied with picturesque streets, canals, and perfect fall weather. we visited the van gough museum, which was really fantastic, even without starry night. while perfectly content to remain in amsterdam until oktoberfest, we decided last minute (literally, an hour before the train left) to pack another bag and head for france. not a bad decision, but thus ending the amsterdam chapter of the trip. i can see why visiting amsterdam was a lifelong goal of my love rachel.

paris: scott has a theory that every girl looooooves paris. and i must admit i cannot dispel this belief. we spent the 3 hour train journey in giddy expectation of all thing paris and brushed up on our expert french language skills. we had a slight damper on our excitement upon arriving and being unable to find a single hostel with an available room, although heather was impressive with her persistent phone calls and french skills. we finally abandoned the traditional method of booking and took to the streets, figuring worst case scenario we would sleep in the train station. we roamed the paris streets, enjoying the sights and stopping only to study a map or to buy exceptional baguettes. luck or karma was on our side and we managed to secure a tiny little hostel for the night for a reasonable 50 euroes (good in france, horrible in india). and for the record, i do mean tiny. i will never forget the night of my ‘shook sandwich’ experience. anyway, we threw our bags on the barely double bed and bolted for the door. of course, our first destination was the eiffel tower. it was a long but enjoyable walk and well worth the delighted carrie bradshaw squeal i let out at the first sight of the tower. we hung around till after midnight watching various french couples and enjoying all of the different light shows the tower had to offer us. the next day was a day of perfect paris bliss, hitting all the major sightseeing stops- including finding the decapitated head of st. dennis on norte dame, having the worlds greatest picnic (this is a fact, i did the research myself) complete with cheese, chocolates, wine, fruit and espresso, and enjoying a perfect french day. a better day is difficult to imagine and a large part of me was sad to board an overnight train to munich and leave the city of love. but alas, oktoberfest beckoned and we had no choice but to respond to the call. so bonjour to pari, onward and upwards.

munich: following a sound sleep on the train from paris, we arrived in munich delirious and feeling the effects of the previous day’s wine. then we saw salvation in caffeinated form. green and white glory. my first starbucks in over 4 months. my day was already set, couldn’t get any better. the delightful hazelnut latte helped to warm me from the inside out to fend off the frigid germany weather. four months in indian heat sweating constantly had definitely thinned my blood. we weren’t sure of the location of the fairgrounds, but figured that following the countless lederhosen was a good place to start. the crowds lead us to our destination, oktoberfest. the size of this festival was truly incredible, apparently 6 million of fellow beer enthusiasts had accompanied us to our destination. we wondered around for a bit, overwhelmed by the vastness of it all and not sure of which tent to honor with our presence. we ended up on the augestiener tent which was hailed as a “local favorite.” we figured the locals couldn’t be wrong, so we headed in. such a good decision. the tents officially opened at 10am and we were there for that occurrence. they rang the bell and the first round of steins went out. we managed to find a table that was not reserved and set up camp- a camp that would not be moved until the tent closed. from that point on, the day was a blur of pretzels, chicken, sausage, prosts (cheers), country roads, lederhosen, cleavage and more steins. a highlight was three people that requested to sit with us that turned out to be from baltimore! heather’s friends from law school also showed up and quickly our table formed fast oktoberfest friendships, exchanging emails and promising videos and pictures…and baltimore and san fransciso outings. we quickly learned the standard german prost song and sang and cheers’ed ourselves into the night. a surprising realization was the germans looooove the song country roads (and sweet home alabama to a slightly less extent). seriously. the entire tent was standing on tables (totally standard) swaying and singing along at the top of their lungs. great fun. upon the closing of the tents, we ventured out into the slightly rainy cold weather and explored the vast carnival oktoberfest had to offer. heather decided that we needed to ride the extra tall swings in this less than ideal weather. the verdict is still out if this was a good decision or not, but either way, the pictures from it are priceless. we crashed with desa, heather’s friend for the night and after a very expensive, yet satisfying breakfast the following morning, we decided to return to the scene of the crime the following morning before our train left. we enjoyed a warmer day and managed to squeeze in another round and another pretzel while walking around the fairgrounds before departing. all in all, 6 million people can’t be wrong, and oktoberfest was as good its reputation boasts.

prague: yet another train journey, this time not as enjoyable as the previous sans the food and drink car and minus comfortable bunks for sleeping. however we braved the 8 hour journey and arrived near starvation in the former soviet…and found it to be very soviet. we deciphered the money exchange and metro system and suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a very alive town despite it being around midnight. we feasted on some amazing falafel, checked into our hostel, and managed a quick jaunt around town and a quick round in before calling it a night. everything looked new and fresh after a full nights sleep and i was not prepared for the greatness of prague as a whole, much less than the perfect day this city had in store for us. we had no agenda, no rush, and perfect weather. we wondered the streets and stumbled upon ancient churches (built waaay before 1994), castles, bridges, rivers and even statues of peeing men. desa and her book served as our tour guide, providing us story times along the way and we stopped anytime we desired, regardless of if it was for gelato, to gaze over the entire city, to take an action shot, or for wine and cheese at a stunning little cliffside restaurant. we eventually found ourselves at a waterside restaurant which provided us with nutrients, live music, and my personal favorite beer of the entire trip. we watched a beautiful sunset, enjoyed more beers, watched a brief fireworks show and even requested the musician to play ‘country roads’ for nostalgia’s sake. it was a good decision, and once again, all of the germans in prague joined us in standing on tables and signing along. from there the ‘night was yet a pup’ and with a rendition of ‘knocking on heaven’s door’ we released our dancing selves into the streets for more shenanigans and tomfoolery and general chaos and mayhem (no, not the name of my future pugs). sadly my flight was early the next morning, but the prague nightlight was all it was cracked up to be and i spent my final night in pure bliss and denial of my upcoming departure. unfortunately my denial did not prevent the alarm from going off at 4:30am and scott and i managed to find our way to the airport despite our bleary eyes and sleep deprivation. the goodbyes came and before i knew it, i was back on the plane, headed back towards india.

i arrived monday morning and experienced the challenge of returning to a developing country after taking a trip of a lifetime through europe. not the easiest thing to do, but i have adjusted once again to this country and am loving being back, especially surrounded again by my UMB favs. so that’s the long and short of my europe travels, hope you all enjoyed. and of course, like always, the pictures are on flickr so you can lurk and look and put names and face and places together. all in all, it quite possibly may have been the greatest trip ever. ever. ever.