Europe... Here we come!!! - Part 1

This was the trip that marked last year.  Yes, we took this trip last year, and that too at the peak of winter. Where we crazy??? Yes, we were!!!  I cherish this holiday sooo much that I wanted to relive every moment and document it here.  I wanted to hold on to every memory, and didn’t want any of that to slip into spaces of my mind, from where it cannot be retrieved. Now that kind of detailing requires a whole lot of time, energy.. and well.. patience to go with it. So I waited for the ‘right time’. But even after five months, the right time never came.  Gee! So here Iam, penning down the most exciting parts of my holiday, taking you all through it and reliving it!!

For me, any event or holiday is divided into three exciting parts – 1. Planning for it. 2. Actually experiencing it. 3. Sharing it with people.  Planning for an upcoming event that I look forward to gives me an amazing high, sometimes higher than the high the actual event gives!!!  I remember the time when my sister got married. I drove my then  to-be bro-in-law (now bro-in-law) up the wall with my endless questions, nagging and attention to detail. He still teases me about it, and I precisely remember what he said about my need to discuss about what I want to discuss with someone. Lol! And when my parents and sis toured Europe, I was the one who was most excited about it. I spend hours and days researching about it, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I wanted them to have a great time and also, I was very scared that they would get lost! But when me and V toured Europe, it was a completely different scenario.  V is in the Airline industry and  not surprisingly, he has lot of contacts with the travel industry. So he sorted everything out, sadly with very little input from my end. This dampened my spirits a little. Add to it the fact that, I was down with a vicious attack of gut-wrenching cough.  I had a course of antibiotics, and several other medicines, but with little result.  And V also fell prey to the same kind of cough and was on antibiotics too.  Nobody in their right mind would travel to a cold destination during winter when plagued by bad health. But we did. The travel tickets were booked, hotels were confirmed, leave was sanctioned, and we had dreamt both separately (before we met each other) and together (after we met each other) about this holiday for a long long time. We wanted to explore Europe, experience snow in all its glory and enjoy a white Christmas. So this was the right time. So we packed our backs, said our prayers, resumed our antibiotics and  set off to Europe!!!

                                                   

                                                               (the view from the flight)

                                                     (clicked inside the flight)    



                                            

                                                                    (view just before landing)

Our first destination was  Switzerland. After 7.5  hours of flying,  we landed at the Zurich Airport.  We had booked our hotel at Lucerne, and so had to take a train from Zurich to Lucerne. So without wasting much time, we hurried out of the Zurich Airport. We were  not in winter clothes, so we quickly put on our jackets and gloves.  But as soon as we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted by bone-numbing chillness. As we walked pushing our luggage trolleys, little circles of smoke escaped from our mouths and noses. We looked at each other with wonder and amusement, and giggled like school kids. We walked to the Zurich metro station at the other end, just in time to miss the train to Lucerne. “ If only he hadn’t waited to click that pic at the airport”, I thought to myself. “If only she had walked a bit faster”, I am sure he would have thought to himself.  Anyways, we both were too tired, too sleepy, too excited, too hungry to voice our opinions. So we checked at  the enquiry and realised that we had to wait for half an hour to catch the next train to Lucerne. But the next train from Zurich was in 5 mins, and we could get off on the way (forgot the name of the place) , and catch a train from there to Lucerne. So we did the math and climbed on the next train. Actually, we didn’t do the math.  I thought I did, and he agreed without offering much resistance. And our choice of the train did precious little in time-saving. It didn't help that we both are alien to the art of travelling light. The airlines allowed 30kgs of baggage per passenger, and that is precisely how much we both carried. Switching trains meant that we had to carry that much weight in and out of the train one extra time. That is no piece of cake, I tell you.  But we were bewitched by the scenary that greeted us on our way to Lucerne. That lifted our spirits considerably.
                                                   

 So we reached Lucerne, and walked to our hotel pulling our trolley bags.  Our hotel was too close to hail a cab, and too far to go by foot. But we didn’t want to spend money on the cab. That was an unsaid rule between us. So walked we did.

                                             (yes, we clicked pix while hunting for the hotel)

 

                       
       
                                                    (  All lit up - after all, it was christmas time!!!)

 We climbed a looong flight of stairs carrying our luggage (actually, he carrying)only to realise that we didn’t really have to climb that stairs.  We couldn’t locate the hotel, so I waited at a side-pavement with the luggage offering me company, while he hunted for our hotel. I waited for quite some time, but V didn’t  return. It was getting dark, and there weren’t many people around. The ones around looked a bit..shady. Maybe I imagined that. I began to grow restless. I didn’t have an international number to call him. What if someone had mugged him? I dismissed that thought. But what if someone mugs me? I felt stranded in a foreign land. We had to catch an early morning flight from Dubai. And we spent the whole of previous night packing and repacking, and managed to catch just a couple of hours of sleep. I managed to watch two movies during the flight. Anyways, the cabin crew won't let you sleep, so I thought I might as well watch movies. Eight hours flight, plus two hours of the train ride, and the walk made my legs numb. Oh damn!! I was sleepy, hungry, tired, and did I say I was HUNGRY?  My legs were aching and I sat on the stairs. My ass froze, and I got up with a start. I realized I was nor properly dressed for the winter. I just wanted to cry. There I was .. in a foreign land… alone..  feeling stranded… scared…  tired and hungry… feeling cold.. I just wanted to go home…..

..To be continued...