In Love with Lauterbrunnen

The high light of my trip to Western Europe – Lauterbrunnen – a little village, emerging out of an impossibly beautiful..no..breathtakingly picturesque..no..simply STUNNING landscape! Probably the most beautiful place all over Switzerland!

Even though we spent just 3 days there, we managed to fit in quite a lot but enjoy some leisure time all the same.

Imagine jumping out of a pane at 11,000 feet! Yup, skydiving, - I flew - with all the equipment and a tandem flight pilot of course!

(Did I mention that we saw Michael Schumacher..yehhhh!!!)

Something I noticed – Switzerland has a place called Grindelwald. It is also the name of one of the characters in J.K Rowling’s last Harry Potter series! He was Dumbledore’s friend in his teen years and a great wizard who later lost a famous duel with him. (Wonder whether she just made it up – coincidence or she actually incorporated the name from this place!)

I must mention the Rosti – a local dish made of potato, fried onions, with loads of veges or meat of your choice – yummm!! Ofcourse our friend Marc the Mac had a mouthwatering time here too(all over Europe actually!)

Also, the train station from Lauterbrunnen is a junction point for the trip to the highest point in Europe – Jungfraujoch. (I finally got the pronunciation right – it’s actually pronounced as Ungfrau!) But since I am not much of a snow person, I decided to go rafting in Switzerland’s glacial waters instead.

So, on the second day, we set off to Interlaken again (centre for skydiving and loads of other adventure sports) for our rafting adventure. After zipping into waterproof gear and being informed (read frightened) by our instructor, we set of on what was definitely the best rafting experience of my life!

Now before I continue to describe further, you must know that Interlaken gets its name because of the two lakes in the heart of the Bernese Oberland – the Thunersee and the Brienzersee. The first leg of the trip was awesome no doubt, what with freezing cold water welcoming us at every rapid and every turn of the raft! As we reached the last leg in the raft, what lay ahead of us was more striking, beautiful, and breathtaking than anything I had ever seen! Straight ahead, the silver glacial stream we were in right now merged into this vast expanse of clear torquish blue! You have to see it to believe it!

As we crossed from the stream into the lake, it magically changed from freezing silver to warm blue!


Talking about water, another nature’s beauty that we visited were the Trummelbach Falls.

The pamphlet read, “10 glacial waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by tunnel-lift and illuminated. The Trummelbach alone drains the mighty glacier defiles of Eiger(3970m), Monk (1099m) and Jungfrau (4158m) and carries 20200 tons of boulder detritus per year. Its drainage area is 24sqkm, half of it is covered by snow and glaciers. Up to 20,000 liters of water per second. The only glacier-waterfalls in Europe inside the mountain and still accessible.” Beautiful!

Its funny you know – at the end of my trip to Europe, on our way to Paris airport, one of my friends Ashutosh said, “Deepti, you need to improvise your vocabulary a little.” When I asked why, he said, “The only thing that comes to your mind when you think of Lauterbrunnen or Europe for that matter is – Beautiful!!”

Sun, Sand & Surf

Just 21km west of the French border, within the Basque country, lies Donostia-San Sebastian, the summer capital of Spain. During the summer months, every day in San Sebastian is a party!

Out of San Sebastian’s three beaches – La Concha, La Zurrlola and Ondarreta, our guide informed us that La Concha was made popular by Queen Isabel and is considered to be one of the most beautiful city beaches in Europe. I completely agree with Her Highness!

The highlight though was the tiny Santa Clara island right in the centre of La Concha Bay. Breathtaking!! A few friends of ours, an Australian couple actually swam across from the bay to the island – clear blue waters, silver sands, not to strenuous either.


When I talk of an aquarium, you might think, “oh, that’s just a kid’s thing, it won’t really be worth seeing.” It was actually quite the contrary! I was surprised by the sheer size of the aquarium, complete with an underwater tunnel called the oceanarium. It is an underwater tunnel where you are completely surrounded by water and feel that you are really submerged in the deep blue sea. It is so cool, it gave me a 360° view of electric rays, Morays, Lion Fish and loads of other marine life including a shark!

We also took a short hike to the top of a hill which had an old castle and a fortress built at the top, along with a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The view of San Sebastian from here is stunning, you can see the entire cost line with amazing surfs coming in!

The place we stayed was located in the heart of Parte Vieja (the Old Quarter). The entire area was dotted with San Sebastián's famous tapas (the only place in Spain were tapas are called pintxos, yum!!). The cobbled streets lined with Cathedrals, beautiful buildings and street musicians – gives you a lazy, cozy feel about the whole place!

The French Riveria

Nice is a place for beach bums and starcrazy folks. Its sun drenched coast, art museums, local markets or chic shops and amazing scenery will make you want more.


It is the perfect base from were you can take an hour long train ride to get to Tinsel town in Cannes and Monacco. Apparently, if you are not a French citizen and want to buy property in Monacco, you have to give the French government 1million dollars after which they will decided whether or not to give you the property. Here’s the catch, if they decide against giving it to you, you lose the entire 1 million amount!

Madonna and Michel Jackson tried! They can afford to lose a million!


After this, we basically spent our time walking on the wide promenade des Anglias fronts the bay. Split by islands of palms and flowers, it stretches from about 6.5km. All along the beachfront, there are rows of grand cafes, the Musee Massena, villas, hotels and chic boutiques.

If you are a beach bum, check out the free sections of public beach alternate with 15 private beaches, for which you have to pay. There are outdoor showers on every beach, and indoor showers and toilets opposite 50 promenade des Anglais. But be prepared for the infamous pebbles on the beach. We bought some straw mats (for 4.50 euros) which proved really helpful at the beach.

Shopping in Nice runs the gamut from chic designer boutiques to bustling flea and flower markets. You can also expect great bargains in January and June. I bought a cute pair of tie up shoes for just 10 euro (that’s just Rs.540! Would not get a pair for that much even on Linking Road!!)

An Evening in Paris

‘Paris is the Paris of Parisians’ Thats how Lonely Planet describes Paris and I think that’s the best introduction anyone can give while describing Paris. They are not only proud of their language, culture, architecture but also celebrate their creative spirit in everything they do.

Though I must admit that I was a little put off by the attitude of the people. But what I mistook as attitude was just a sense of pride they have even in the smallest of things. For instance, while I was sending a postcard home at The Louvre, the ink from my gel pen refused to dry on the post card, so I asked the man at the counter for his. He was almost dismayed and said, every Frenchman carries his pen, you must carry a pen with you where ever you go! I tried explaining that I had one, but to no avail! It felt crazy at first but then I understood the passion behind the thought..

So that was that.

Yes, I definitely did all the touristy things, up the Eiffel Tower, The beautiful Sacre Coeur Church, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre Dame Cathedral. All beautiful, awe inspiring masterpieces.

The cruise down the river Sane was soooo romantic, ohh!! (the only thing that probably brought me back to reality was when I heard a big clan of gujjus pass by!)

Last but never the least, how I could go to Paris and not go for the Moulin Rouge! A little scandalising ofcourse, but if you look beyond the exposure, the elaborate costumes, song and dance shows as well as the juggling fillers were beautiful! charmed!

All in all, I guess what I liked doing best in Paris, literally is what the Parisians do – sit by a street side café, nursing my Rosette wine and simply watch the beautiful day go by...

Gaudi’s Barcelona

Barcelona is one party town where you can spend the night in Las Rambla. Chill on the beach in the morning and then go check out the unusual Gaudi architecture rest of the day!!


Even if you don’t have time to visit a single museum or monument, be sure to visit La Ramblas. Buzzing at all hours, it is the most vibrant and colourful street you will ever come across. It is packed with vibrant street artists, news kiosks and vendors selling everything from live chickens to blue roses, live statues, and the most important of all, a massive fruit and vegetable market.

If museums are your thing, keep in mind admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. Antoni Gaudi’s work in Barcelona is for me the most fascinating of all.
Gaudí was a Catholic and a passionate architect. His masterpiece, La Sagrada Família is Barcelona’s most famous building and when I visited it, I was completely spell bound. He has taken inspiration from simple things in nature like a honey comb, sand dunes, etc and incorporated their design in his architecture. Its beautiful!
Apparently the construction of La Sagrada Familia began in 1882 though it’s only half-built, and its supposed to be complete by 2082. Let’s wait and watch!

Food, food and some more!!
The local dish is called paella, which is made of rice and a tomato base with loads of fish, meat or vegetables. Yumm!!
My all time favourite all over Spain were the tapas bars. Our bus guide gave us an insider tip to finding a great tapas bar. She said that we must look out for the ones that have tissues strewn all around and don’t look like they have the cleanest tables as the waiters are so busy serving the many patrons that there’s no time to clean up!!

The nightlife here is quite cool, safe and most of all crazy! We went to Margarita Blue, one of the well known pubs there and had the specialty – Blue Margarita!
Oh, I must add - you will not miss India here at all! Why? Here this:
One of my group mates needed a shave, so we headed to the nearest salon. We find one enter, and what do we see? A huge poster of Aishwarya Rai in her Devdas outfit, a pleasant looking Asian man smiling at us and when he speaks (Pakistani Punjabi accent) to us, it is clear he is from apna India. It felt weird sitting in a Pakistani-Indian hair cutting salon in Barcelona listening to classic hindi movie songs and watching foreigners walking past tattoo and contour shops opposite the road!

After this, we met quite a few Pakistanis, Bangladeshi and Indian’s setteled there running Indian restaurants. Cool!

Madrid Mania

The city of siesta, bull fighting and the graceful flamenco! ‘Serious’ is not a word that exists in people’s vocabularies here (not because they don’t speak English!) But because they are so laid back through out the day! Crowded streets at 5a.m and people partying like crazy, just celebrating life – yup, that’s Madrid for you!

The Spanish way of life is truly very different from the rest of Europe or for that matter the world! Why, you ask?
Ok, a typical day in an average Spaniard’s life – wake up at 10 in the morning, go for work, come back by 2.30 for a good siesta (sleep) or time out with family or friends. Back to work from 5pm till about 7.30 and the rest of the day is reserved for a drink of Sangria (a cocktail of chilled red wine and apple juice, with ice cubes and freshly cut fruits) and loads of Ollays! And Whopas! Dancing or watching others dance the flaminco!

Wow, what a life!!
You thought it was all about partying? Think again! Before I got my dose of Sangria and pubs, I religiously visited Madrid’s ‘Big Three’ – the outstanding Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums – I have to say that they should be the first things on your to-do list.
Madrid’s 18th-century architecture is a lesson in what can happen if you give your interior decorators a free hand. Madrid’s main palace has some of the most elaborately decorated walls and ceilings imaginable, including the sublime Throne Room. This over-the-top palace hasn’t been used as a royal residence for some time and today is used only for official receptions.
About the food, meat eaters will have a blast but there wasn’t much of a variety for me, vegetarian you see But I was lucky to find some good tapas bars that served vegetarian tapas. Tapas are like starters with a bread base and any meat, fish or vegetable toping all held together with a tooth pick. Our bus guide told us something really funny though, apparently the dirtier the tapas bar, more tissue papers lying around the floor, the tastier the place!
We later found out that she was actually right!
The part about bull fighting, the process in which they kill the bull was just too brutal for me to go check it out for my self. And when I researched a little to find out the reason for such brutality, here’s what I came across:

“Bullfighting is a ritual. It is a ceremony that is carried out in carefully prearranged steps, the lead roles of which are played by the bull and the matador in the arena. It is a ritual that requires a sacrifice, a sacrifice to the death.

Man, in his complex relationship with the fear of death but also his willingness to risk it, seeks to vanquish death. He does that by physically overcoming death; and doing so in the arena, he seeks immortality. The bull, therefore, is death personified.

‘Man's melodrama is forgotten for an instant. The matador, representing mankind and dressed for his date with death in the fantastical if impractical traje de luz, suit of lights, goads, mocks and sentences the bull to death with the estocada, the death blow, from his sword. The most spectacular estocada is the estocada recibido ('received', when the matador stands his ground and lets the enraged bull charge him) but it isn't seen that often. The ritual has been carried out, the bull is dead and the matador is triumphant. Man has defeated death - today he is immortal.”

"Spain is different!” Spaniards use to say. They don't specify compared to what: to the rest of Europe, to the rest of the world, or even to itself?

Well, what can I say – Ollay!!