September Woke Me...

One more Uber drive from Airport to home through magical Delhi roads at night (which are differently magical in day time too) but this was not just one of those one day official trip starting at dawn and ending in dark on same roads, but a long journey from BERLIN TO BIRSA MUNDA Airport, in the last week of September.

And voila Green Day humming on Radio “WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS” and I felt like sharing my travel tale, and what can be better than a blog that is heart felt.

So here this is my first in line. It will be about the moment and thoughts which we just miss within blink of an eye so I am trying to pause and live them a bit longer.

Let me first break the curiosity or confusion (depending on state of mind). Birsa Munda Airport is in RANCHI the state capital of Jharkhand state, famed for tribal heritage but for business folks majorly on way to either TATA STEEL or XLRI the famed business school.

With all prepped up on “how to behave when in Germany” and partial orientation of German lingo on DuoLingo app, September started with an official trip to Berlin in midst of a hectic schedule back home.  But when it comes to travel and that too EUROPE, boy I am always in for it ! always beautiful and as I call it feels like you have reached in a HD view.

Its never a easy if you need to reach Delhi Airport around 9:30 PM when international traffic picks up like crazy, but you get more fun if it starts pouring cats and dogs. Carrying my favourite  airport looks, got ready as a real Delhiite who enjoys rain (do you have an option). Thanks to Google Maps, programmed to find the quickest route and in the sweetest voice too. clear way but watch out sometime she got other plans too when in India.

A quick tip to all travellers using Delhi International Airport (T3), guys make a point to reach early and enjoy hospitality of Lounge And when travelling with your gang,  make sure to share you live location to keep the herd together, which is likely to stray away and get too busy at shiny retail outlets. As for me I squeeze enough time to down a few drinks.

[So check with your credit card issuer and make sure you don't miss the lounge, after all these are the little mercies of life which living worthwhile]

Since I was travelling red eye (2:45 AM to be precise), so decided to sleep right away to get up early and not miss beauty of shining skyline in early morning with Sun inching up the horizon, right across the window. Yeah you need to plan your seat too depending upon direction you are flying (if child in you craves for the best view from the aircraft window).

We boarded, and scene two! Got up at sunrise flying into Europe and excited to watch landing at one of the most talked about airport, FrankFurt, which is busiest one in Germany while 4th busiest in Europe. I woke up for the first time in September the moment got out of plane and started walking through airport. Also, woke up to the fact that India doesn’t need to look west for all things nice, since we at Delhi have one of the finest and glam Airports. When comparing with what I saw 9 hours earlier to what I see now, Delhi Airport is undoubtedly heads and shoulders above in experience, comfort and functionality.

Immigration is smooth across Europe and same was case at Frankfurt, and then we took our connecting flight to Berlin after a quick coffee, and like anywhere else, hustle bustle of international airport gave way to a quieter feel of the domestic airport at Berlin, even the short haul flight was on a smallish jet.

After 13 hours of travel, finally we we are in the capital of historically rich– GERMANY. And trust me, Respect for this country increased as we got out of plane, and straightway found ourselves at the baggage claim belt. Cabs were lined right behind glass window on my right and aircraft bay was on my left, and within an hour, we were out with our luggage.

Realisation will hit you that cursing your own country will come down if you travel more and face the reality yourself. I agree India is RAW but no one can take away credit of being developed from us

Its Sunday in Berlin and we have the entire evening of fun waiting for us. So its time to sink into the cab and reach the hotel. Experience guides me to always trust UBER straightaway (thanks to its friendly interface) and yes “keep Google Translator handy” to strike broken conversation with cab driver and get a little bit of local wisdowm. Cab driver at airport are usually enthusiastic about guiding you to places of interest, depending upon your interest off course :) and to our horror SUNDAY is a TRUE holiday in berlin,  meaning that even clubs are closed! Germans stays indoor on Sundays, and prepare themselves for the work-week beginning following Monday. Yeah I read they are serious people, but never knew this much. So make sure you exclude Sunday from your travel list, if you are thinking Germany.

Quora is quite amazing in this auto manipulated world of social media, as second thing came true as soon as we reached and started talking with Hotel Front Desk Manager. Yeah they are pretty straight upper lipped folks, so do not expect too much smile and that’s their normal.

We ended up crashing in our hotel rooms with two brilliant realization, One- Starting early cannot guarantee your fun and Two – Sunday is actually a total Wash Out in Germany.

Funny thing is, How we end up only picking up points where we want to feel happy and winner.

Since its last day of September so let me take a pause and come back with Part 2 of travelogue and share amazing things about Germany and VIENNA.

Keep watching this space, come back again 5 days.