My great European experience began precisely a month and a half back when I took my first international flight from Bangalore to Stuttgart. I must admit, I was rather nervous and anxiety stricken as it is one thing to have travelled far and wide within India and quite another to move to another continent altogether and that too all by yourself. To add to this, we are talking about a continent which is probably as diverse, if not more, as India itself. In my opinion no amount of cultural or language training could have prepared me for the incredibly strange alien’ish’ feeling that I felt in the pit of my stomach for the first couple of weeks.
After a 9 hour flight (with a 4 hour stop over at Paris) I found myself at Stuttgart airport which resembled a small city airport back home. The journey had been quite comfortable albeit slightly boring. The minute I stepped out of the airport I was whisked away by a taxi to the Hotel Mercure which was to be my abode for the next two weeks. Having arrived on a Friday, I had an entire weekend in front of me to do as I pleased. And so, my first Saturday in Germany was booked by some friends for a day trip to Tübingen, which is a charming little university town in the state of Baden Württemberg. It took us a little over two hours to reach by the Regional train. En route, we enjoyed the view of the suburbs and the countryside which as expected were lush green. Much to my delight, it was bright and sunny and hence a typical ‘Happy Day’.
Some of my friends had been living in Germany for a couple of months by now and had got used to the country but I was still green and itching to work my way around. As I learnt, every city/town has a tourist assistance centre which offers a wide range of services to the glassy eyed, camera toting, confused tourists. These services include free maps, information about the places to see, how to get there, entry fee and the travel charges. The people at the counter are usually very friendly and more than willing to help which is a good start for tourists. What better way to start a trip than with a pleasant interaction with the staff at the tourist information centre!!!
Tübingen is a treat for the eyes. It is a picture perfect town with all the classic offerings – a castle, a city centre, Rathaus (town hall), cobbled stone alleys et al. My favourite part of the day was the gondola ride down the Neckar River followed by a wine schorle in a noisy river side café. The bustling alleys of Tübingen reminded me of Pune, a city where I studied and which incidentally is also known as a student city. The city centre is alive on Saturdays as it hosts the weekend bazaar. One can witness small flower shops exhibiting colourful blooms, fruit shops with tempting displays and jewellery kiosks with a myriad of semi precious stones to choose from. At every nook and corner we ran into small outdoor cafes which are a signature of Europe. The general atmosphere was laid back and tranquil and as we walked amidst several old buildings with slanting-roofs, we saw people indulging in pure leisure while sunbathing, reading or simply relaxing. They seemed to be soaking up the sun which is not as frequent a visitor here as back in India.
By noon we were hungry enough to eat a horse and so we decided to stop by at a cozy little Pizzeria which proudly proclaimed (on a flyer outside) that it served 10 inch pizzas for a measly 2.5 Euros. We took the bait hook, line and sinker. As we polished off two 10 inch pizzas between the three of us and the tab was presented to us, we realized that the prices mentioned on the flyer were for take-out pizza only and apparently if you wanted to enjoy the peaceful ambience of the premise, you had to pay considerably extra. The pizzas did not live up to our expectations either as they were very salty, which reinforced our belief – ‘When in Germany do as the Germans and not as the Italians’. Coming from India where going to a restaurant literally means getting served from head to toe, my first experience of a German eatery was strange. I was surprised to know that not even ‘still’ (non-aerated) water was complimentary with the meal. The flip side of our otherwise not so great lunch was that now with our tummies full, we were all gung–ho about visiting the old Schloss Hohentübingen (the castle at Tübingen).
The castle is on a hill and we got a fantastic view of the entire city from up above. It is now part of the University of Tübingen but it continues to maintain its yesteryear charm. If you try hard you can almost hear voices of King Henry the IV and Count Hugo reverberating against the aged walls of the Schloss. To my more seasoned travel companions, the Schloss was not a very big deal as I later realized that Germany is littered with castles of all shapes and sizes and most of them look the same. However, to me, the castle resembled something straight out of a Grimms’ Bothers fairy tale and much to my friends’ dismay I stood mesmerized at the towering entrance for five full minutes. We headed back home at around 6 in the evening. As I closed my eyes and mused over the happenings of the fun packed day which encompassed all the elements of a perfect first weekend in a new country, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
All-in-all it was a great day and now I believe that there’s nothing like a trip to a good old European town to shake away those home sickness blues….
Lots more to talk about, stay tuned….
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