This is my first blog in an effort to "see" ways to build better software. You'll hopefully see me write more about how to improve existing applications.
Why does Windows log me in and make me wait before I can open any application? I'd rather see the hourglass spin longer. Its a lot like the waiter bringing food to a hungry table, and asking the customer to wait for 5 minutes before eating.
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Photography Cheat Sheet
After deferring the purchase of more photography equipment that has been in my wish-list for several years now, I finally went ahead and splurged. It was time to really read end-to-end the photography book my wife gifted for our first anniversary.
Here is a summary/cheat sheet:
Shutter Priority
Use this mode when you are capture moving subjects. The shutter speed you set will affect the type of picture you create depending on how fast the elements of the picture are moving. Use automatic mode (such as P), press the shutter relase half way through and get the light meter evaluated shutter speed. Switch to Tv mode and provide a reduced or increased shutter speed. i.e. expose it for a longer or shorter time than shown by the light meter to get the desired effect.
Aperture Priority
Use this mode to control depth-of-field i.e. the range of elements in the picture that are in sharp focus.
Exposure Compensation
Most times, the light meter in your camera does a good job at calculating the exposure needed for the picture. But in some situations it is fooled when dominant colors are present in your frame thus making your picture look too dark or too light. Adjust the compensation by rotating the dial while pressing the AV+/- button
Many times you want exposure metering done against a specific area in your picture as against the camera's way of metering the entire frame. In these sitations, point your lens to the specific subject to be metered and instead of half-clicking the shutter release, press the AE lock (*) button to lock the exposure values. Then recompose the picture to include other elements and shoot.
I am now reading a book on flash photography. Hopefully my next post will be soon, with some summaries on that topic.
Here is a summary/cheat sheet:
Shutter Priority
Use this mode when you are capture moving subjects. The shutter speed you set will affect the type of picture you create depending on how fast the elements of the picture are moving. Use automatic mode (such as P), press the shutter relase half way through and get the light meter evaluated shutter speed. Switch to Tv mode and provide a reduced or increased shutter speed. i.e. expose it for a longer or shorter time than shown by the light meter to get the desired effect.
- It is a waterfall/fountain and you want to get a softer flowing-water effect. Decrease the shutter speed.
- It is evening/night time and you are in a place like an amusement park or the street where there are moving lights. Slow down the shutter speed to half a second or longer to get the blur-effect. You may need to use a good tripod, and may need to use the remote or timed shutter release to avoid shakes.
- You are capturing action and excitement. Like kids playing at the pool, or a whale diving out of the water at SeaWorld, or a boxer punching his opponent. Use a high shutter speed to capture action at the right fraction of a second. Sometimes, using continuous mode to click successive pictures may give you a better chance of one good picture.
- You are capturing quick movement - like a fast train. Or a baseball batsman swinging at incredible speed. Decrease the shutter speed by one
- You can take the picture from a moving object like a vehicle and get the reverse effect of a blurry road. Add still subjects to the same frame (like the vehicle itself) to highlight motion.
- Panning can be used to picture racing cars. It results in a blurry effect on everything else but the car. Pan your camera smoothly along the path of the car such that it appears in the same position on the frame. Shoot with a slower shutter speed. Use continuous frames mode and fire away.
- You want to picture a flying bird which is flying fast across from left to right. To get a sharply focused bird, use a fast shutter speed.
- Use a slower shutter speed if you want to picture rain or sprinkling water.
Aperture Priority
Use this mode to control depth-of-field i.e. the range of elements in the picture that are in sharp focus.
- Use higher f-stops (smaller apertures) like f/16 or f/22 to get deeper depth-of-field, i.e. when you want to capture background as well as foreground elements sharply. Use it in combination with wide angle lenses to get interesting landscape pictures. Come closer to the subject and provide interesting backgrounds (like clouds, mountains and sky) in focus.
- Use lower f-stops (larger apertures) like f/1.8 or f/2.8 to get narrow depth-of-field. You can also move further away from the subject and zoom in to get narrow depth of field. Larger focal length can provide the same effect and can be used to reduce the depth-of-field further.
- Use apertures f/8 or f/11 (midway between apertures for shallow and deep depth-of-field) for pictures where all subjects are at same distance and where depth-of-field is not a concern at all. With f/8 & f/11 pictures turn out to be sharp and with higher contrast levels.
- Use shallow depth of field with the subject against a colorful and contrasting blurred background.
- Use the depth-of-field-preview button on the camera to see the correct preview of subjects in focus.
Exposure Compensation
Most times, the light meter in your camera does a good job at calculating the exposure needed for the picture. But in some situations it is fooled when dominant colors are present in your frame thus making your picture look too dark or too light. Adjust the compensation by rotating the dial while pressing the AV+/- button
- While shooting frames where there is a lot of greenery (combined with white or dark subjects like waterfal or dark sky), the default exposure metering results in the green colors to be overexposed and dark. Hence adjust the exposure by -2 stops.
- While shooting scenes that are mainly white (snowy background, at the sea), increase exposure by one or two stops.
Many times you want exposure metering done against a specific area in your picture as against the camera's way of metering the entire frame. In these sitations, point your lens to the specific subject to be metered and instead of half-clicking the shutter release, press the AE lock (*) button to lock the exposure values. Then recompose the picture to include other elements and shoot.
- An alternative to the overexposed green subject problem is to use AE locking to focus first on the greenery, then lock the exposure values and subsequently recompose the picture.
- Taking exposure metering off the sky sometimes helps in correctly exposing snow filled landscapes and other difficult lighting or low-light situations. Point camera to the sky (blue, dusky, orange) and lock the exposure values before recomposing your photo. In coastal areas, lakes or beaches, metering the reflected sky (water) is also a good idea.
- Silhouettes can be shot by first focusing on the bright background, locking the exposure values and then recomposing the picture.
- As a generic rule when you are posed with difficult lighting conditions, pick the area of the frame which needs to be correctly exposed. Point your camera to that subject exclusively and get the light metering off it.
I am now reading a book on flash photography. Hopefully my next post will be soon, with some summaries on that topic.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Teaching children
I would want to teach my children
- cause and effect more than right and wrong
- that happiness is what ultimately matters in life
- that everyone else's happiness matters as much as ours
- to believe that anything is possible if we put out heart, mind and soul into it
- to fear nothing in life
- and try.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
WeSignup.com
In the last few months, I have been working on a website that helps people organize projects in a simple manner. Here is a use case for this website.
WeSignup designed to:
Sep, 17, 2010 Update: I changed the domain name of the website from www.sygnup.com to www.wesignup,com
Jim registers for the Rock'n Roll Paintathon project this year. The goal is to organize a 10-20 member team to paint the home of a low-income elderly person. Jim plans to ask his friends to join in this worthy effort.
Jim's friends are different types of people. Some are passionate about volunteering. Others are driven more because they have fun working along with their friends. Some don't have the time to come but have no issues in offering their ladders, vans and tools for the job. Several more are interested in contributing financially for the effort. Thus, each of his friends have different things to offer. Jim does not know all of them well enough to guess who can offer what.
So he organizes his project as follows:
1. Need 2 people to go to painting orientation (on Aug 16 at 6pm) and lead/monitor the painting job on paint day.
2. One or two to visit home owner 10-15 days before paint day and talk to them about what they are planning for the day.
3. Need four 6 foot ladders
4. One tall 12 foot ladder
5. Need an SUV or van to transport these ladders
6. Need food money for all the volunteers
7. One person to pickup bagels, water and drinks for everyone at 8am.
8. One person to pickup lunch for everyone from Subway at 12 noon.
9. Need 15 painting volunteers
10. 2 volunteers pick up and bring paint supplies from the organizers
11. 1 volunteer to return unused paint supplies back to the organizers
12. 1 volunteer to use the SUV/van, collect all the ladders from owners and bring them to the site. Same person returns the ladder and vehicle to the owners.
He goes to http://www.wesignup.com and creates a new signup sheet by adding the details. He adds as participants all friends who may be interested in helping out.
Sindhu gets an email from Jim about the Paintathon project. Jim has described the project well to convey the value of the entire effort. Sindhu is able to see that it is indeed a large effort and needs a lot of help. She clicks on the email link and finds that she is able to login to Sygnup using her existing Gmail or Yahoo account safely. There was no need to create new accounts and passwords. She signs up for #9 painting volunteer and also the "#3 can-offer-6-foot-ladder" tasks.
Shane is a gregarious extrovert. He has been seeing that all his friends have been chattering about the upcoming painting project. He decides to reopen the email he got from Jim last week to see who are coming. He logs in to Sygnup and finds that Nathan, Praveen, Meena and the whole group have actually signed up. He knows it is going to be fun. He signs up.
Jim has been monitoring the signup sheet for several days now. He thinks the project is good now, and has sufficient people. He sends himself a report of all the participants who have signed up. He gathers all their emails so he can send them an important announcement regarding the project...
WeSignup designed to:
- Give the participants visibility to the entire effort involved in the project so that people know that their contribution is indeed important.
- Orient the organizer to think in terms of how he can break down his project into concrete tasks that individuals can own and drive.
- Create a sense of ownership and responsibility for participants
- Create an easy way so people can sign up for what they like and what they are good at instead of being assigned something that they may not be interested in.
- Recognize that each person is different and brings different things to the table.
- Make good use of group tendencies - "All of my friends are in, let me join too". And the other way too - "Its been so long, and not many have signed up yet. Let me join. Looks like I am really needed here."
Sep, 17, 2010 Update: I changed the domain name of the website from www.sygnup.com to www.wesignup,com
Friday, July 31, 2009
A 2-liner
When you have received something you need without even asking for it, you are loved.
When you give something someone needs without waiting for them to ask, you love.
When you give something someone needs without waiting for them to ask, you love.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Remote Tech Support
Most of us would have faced this. Our not-so-tech-savvy parents living away need to do something complex on their machine - like install a web cam driver, or setup some app - and we want to help them remotely.
I found a reference to an approach on lifehacker using VNC to do just this and got it to work successfully with my folks in India.
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/04/05/free-and-easy-remote-access-with-vnc-reverse-connections/
Forwarding port on my router admin application was also easy, and didn't really require a special tool. Also important is to disable the port forward after the session is over.
Let me know if you guys need any help!
I found a reference to an approach on lifehacker using VNC to do just this and got it to work successfully with my folks in India.
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/04/05/free-and-easy-remote-access-with-vnc-reverse-connections/
Forwarding port on my router admin application was also easy, and didn't really require a special tool. Also important is to disable the port forward after the session is over.
Let me know if you guys need any help!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
What's next on the Web
Since last week or so, I have been trying to find a very very simple but useful app which I would construct to start my experience developing with GWT. I wanted the web app to serve a useful purpose. That was and is my most important goal. I would say that so far, I haven't been very successful. I came up with some ideas, but they wouldn't be anything special and more useful than something that already exists out there.
Here is an opinion, or rather a question.
I think web technology in the last decade or so has crossed an important barrier in its providing us abilities to communicate effectively. The advent of social networks has made people feel more connected than before. IP voice, chats, video conferencing, photo & video sharing on internet have all helped us stay much closer to people & information, more effectively and at lesser costs in recent times. Web 2.0 was the era of improving communication. Perhaps it was the weakest problem that had the most impact on most people's lives. And technologists pounced on it.
Is communication still the most important problem now? Will more solutions for general communication problems still have significant benefit? Or are there other (perhaps weaker) problems whose solutions will have a far greater impact in how we do things?
Just trying to change the way I think...
Here is an opinion, or rather a question.
I think web technology in the last decade or so has crossed an important barrier in its providing us abilities to communicate effectively. The advent of social networks has made people feel more connected than before. IP voice, chats, video conferencing, photo & video sharing on internet have all helped us stay much closer to people & information, more effectively and at lesser costs in recent times. Web 2.0 was the era of improving communication. Perhaps it was the weakest problem that had the most impact on most people's lives. And technologists pounced on it.
Is communication still the most important problem now? Will more solutions for general communication problems still have significant benefit? Or are there other (perhaps weaker) problems whose solutions will have a far greater impact in how we do things?
Just trying to change the way I think...
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Superstitions
Its funny to see how superstitions have slowly gained more importance in my life as I have become older. I can still vividly recall the days being the lone guy who didn't bother to pay my exam fees on a Tuesday (considered a not so good day). My close friends would wait for the auspicious days to do that important action. At that time, I honestly didn't care too much about rank or recognition. I wasn't scared of anything - I felt I had nothing to lose. I believed I was the one who created my destiny. And you know what! I ended up with a university rank!
Comparing those days with now, I seem to have a lot more now that I feel I cannot afford to lose. My achievements, how people perceive me, my wife and family, my relationship with my friends etc. I really seem to need them now! In those days, I would dare to my mother and hand her the salt box without placing it on the table. (Changing salt hand to hand directly is considered a taboo and it is believed that the two people involved will fight if they do.) Now-a-days, I seem to think twice before I try that. I once yelled at my wife when she cut her nails carelessly in the living room. (It is said that if one steps over another's nail, they will fight).
I remember a few years ago I had a prolonged disagreement with a friend, and I remember that I had lent him salt. Perhaps, it was a coincidence, but it has registered in my mind as a probable cause. Such unwelcome incidents just happen and our brain creates connections from past experiences, and it just comes up magically with the reasons!
But the bigger message I want to convey is that it is indeed amazing to know how we gradually hold on to things in our lives! We tighten the grip as time goes on; we don't want to let go of them at all!
I guess I am ok with it. It is just a game I am willing to play!
Comparing those days with now, I seem to have a lot more now that I feel I cannot afford to lose. My achievements, how people perceive me, my wife and family, my relationship with my friends etc. I really seem to need them now! In those days, I would dare to my mother and hand her the salt box without placing it on the table. (Changing salt hand to hand directly is considered a taboo and it is believed that the two people involved will fight if they do.) Now-a-days, I seem to think twice before I try that. I once yelled at my wife when she cut her nails carelessly in the living room. (It is said that if one steps over another's nail, they will fight).
I remember a few years ago I had a prolonged disagreement with a friend, and I remember that I had lent him salt. Perhaps, it was a coincidence, but it has registered in my mind as a probable cause. Such unwelcome incidents just happen and our brain creates connections from past experiences, and it just comes up magically with the reasons!
But the bigger message I want to convey is that it is indeed amazing to know how we gradually hold on to things in our lives! We tighten the grip as time goes on; we don't want to let go of them at all!
I guess I am ok with it. It is just a game I am willing to play!
Friday, June 05, 2009
Stories from our Europe Visit
This post describes the prominent experiences from our Europe Trip. It is going to be a rather long post on demand from our friends and relatives!
Paragliding at Interlaken: The highlight of the entire trip without any doubt was the 15 to 20 minutes we spent Paragliding in the air at Interlaken. One of the best experiences - especially with two lakes below, bright green forest covered mountains around, and snow capped Alps in the horizon! Paragliding is supposed to be a very safe sport when done properly - much safer than hand gliding or sky diving. We were told that it was becoming more and more popular lately among the adventurers. It is not as much an adrenaline pumping sport really. The calm peace in the air was breathtaking. We did it in tandem with our pilots (they call themselves a pilot even though they are not maneuvering a plane). The group was driven up the hill at Beatenberg in a van up to the launching point which is kind of a 45 degree meadow slope. 800m below was Interlaken and the two lakes. The pilot helped us with the gear, and then opened up the parachutes which surprisingly fit in an extra-large sized backpack. We wait in line seeing others run just about 5 to 10 steps gently down the hill before their chute opens up, and off they glide, smoothly into the air. It did not appear difficult or risky watching them do it. My wife was a little nervous that morning, but was comfortable with all that went on. She took off with her pilot ahead of me, and about three or four take offs after that was my turn. It was as simple as I saw others doing it. Before even I could think of being scared, we were in the air, and I was sitting comfortably in my seat with the glorious view around me. I had requested for a longer flight time, but the thermal conditions were not feasible that day. To glide upwards, rising hot air is essential, and the weather was not warm enough to prevent the descent. We landed after about 15 minutes on an open field right next to where we started. The landing was very simple, much like a 3 foot jump and a couple of steps along with the momentum. It was beautiful to watch the parachutes deflate and hit the ground as others in the group took turns to land. The ecstasy after that experience would be long remembered.
Black Forest: I had been all excited about this hike from months before the trip. My brother who was here before had many good things to say about the Black Forest, and all the information I got from my research concurred. But here was our problem. That morning when we planned to hike, we found that rain and thunderstorms were expected the whole day. Feldberg, where we wanted to hike was about 90 minutes away from Freiburg which was our base. Logistics and weather predictions at Heidelberg (planned for the next day) prevented us from swapping the trips. It was not raining yet at Freiburg, so we just decided to take the train/bus to Feldberg and defer the decision to hike when we were there.
As we rode in the train within the Black Forest towards Feldberg, we could see why it was fantastic to hike out here. Apparently, hiking was "invented" here! We reached our destination (Feldbergerhof) with lots of hopes. But to our ill luck, we found the starting point for the hike situated up the hill completely covered with fog. It was disappointing to hear further from the folks out there that rain was imminent. The scenery around us was nevertheless beautiful. The wetness enhanced the bright green color and everything was clean and pristine. It was nature at its best! But, all the more reason for us to be disappointed! :-(
Having come all the way, we decided we were not going to leave empty handed. We bought the tickets and took the cable car up the hill anyway. We would further defer the decision to hike once we got up there. It was not raining yet, so we would have three options - hike back down the same hill quickly, do the long 4 hour hike, or the short 2 hour hike. If the weather didn't improve, we could take the cable car back down. We passed in the cable car through the dense fog up to the top of the hill. Miraculously, the fog cleared almost as soon as we hit the top. The view from the top into the horizon was superb, but it was still overcast and cloudy. Decision time again. That was when we made the call of the trip!
We decided on the shorter version of the Feldberg hike for two hours. I had the map which Black Forest Tourism folks had sent to us as part of the brochures. Looking at the hiking path map may help understand our story. From the Bismarkdenkmal at the end of the cable car ride, we would take the shorter route down via the Emil-Thoma Weg, the steep descent down to Raimartihof hut, walk around Feldsee lake and climb up back towards Feldbergerhof, close to the cable car base where we started. The hike was beautiful. We saw grass covered meadows, little streams gushing underneath remnants of winter ice, dense forest, small wooden bridges across cascades, sound of all kinds of birds chirping in happiness (I am sure!), freshly sprouting greenery all around like we've never seen before, sliced tree trunks cut into chips and placed neatly on the wet portions of the path, beds of little yellow springtime flowers! To hike under the sun in the Black Forest would certainly be an experience, but to hike under the clouds was I think was even better. It was a treat. We clicked photographs away to glory. Now and then we said hi to other hikers young and old who were enjoying the same moments. We checked and ensured with them that we were indeed heading in the right direction. After all, we were not the only ones who decided to hike the Black Forest that cloudy day.
We ate the Subway Sandwich we brought as we walked and used the time the Rain Gods gave us efficiently. Soon enough, we came to a unmarked fork. Should we choose left or right ? The left path was wider, but the right one seemed to go in the direction to Feldsee. The right one was also descending, which was expected because the lake was down below. So we chose to go right. The descent was gradual as it had been so far. However, the path seemed to be unused and deserted as we walked further, and it soon was a growing concern. I decided that we would go further down a bit and then decide. Fortunately we hit what appeared to be a dust road. A sign indicated the direction to Feldsee. Ah ha, we were not lost after all! Further down, we saw a path sign directing to Raimartihof hut, which was further reassurance. However, the satisfaction was almost immediately stunted when we saw the "Path Closed" sign a few yards ahead. A slipping stick figure indicated why. It was written in English too, which meant that it was indeed important and to be heeded (most signs out there were only in German). According to my map, the distance to Feldsee was not too much from where I thought we were, and the slipping sign made sense because we wouldn't have descended much enough from where we last saw the lake, and it would have to be a very steep descent. No taking risks in other directions now because (a) we didn't have enough time - we had to take the last train out early evening. (b) it was cloudy and rain was imminent (c) my wife has not hiked down steep terrains before.
I decided that we would climb back up the way we came. I remembered that we saw a marked intersection much before we met the unmarked fork. That intersection had a shorter 1.5 km marked path towards Feldbergerhof, which would safely take us back to where we started. We made climbed up, and slowy but steadily met our "fork of adventure" and then hiked up again to meet our "intersection of safety." The path towards Feldbergerhof was almost flat and very pleasant. It was still not raining, but the clouds were getting thick and dark. It didn't take us too long before the cable car base station came in sight to our relief. Rain was the perfect end to our hike - and it had to be. they were patient for so long! The last 300 meters or so, we walked together towards shelter under one umbrella with the rain and wind blowing against us.
Schilthorn: The Schilthorn day was more a well planned and deterministic experience than what the Black Forest would later be in our trip. We had two excursion options in the Alps. The first one was by train to Jungfraujoch (pronounced YOONG-frau-YOKE), the highest train station in Europe on Mount Jungfrau which is the tallest peak in the Alps. Or we could go to Schilthorn which is a vantage point with great view of the snow-capped Alps including Jungfrau. Both of us agreed on the latter because we were told that we would enjoy it better if we had already played with snow (plenty at Jungfraujoch) and that it was a better value for the money.
We started from Interlaken in a train to Lauterbrunnen, a little town in the valley between two huge mountain ranges. This map may help visualize. A cable car took us upwards on the south side cliffs to Grutschalp. The ride in the cable car was a little crowded but had exhilarating views of the valley down below covered with green meadows, pine trees and little cabins. We then hiked for about 2 hours to Murren along the ridge towards the snow capped mountains in view ahead of us. Jungfrau was one of them. From Murren, we took another cable car to Birg and then up to Schilthorn. There was a 360 degree view of the majestic mountains out on the top. It was a good time for lunch at the revolving restaurant. Dhal Makhni in the menu was no surprise by then because we had been seeing Indians all around us. Switzerland appears to be a favorite destination for our folks. Apparently Bollywood films shoot very often here with the mountains as the backdrop.
The descent was via Birg, to Murren, to Gimmelwald, then to Stechelberg, all by cable cars. We chose to hike the segment from to Murren to Gimmelwald. A bus then took us from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen and we took trains towards Grindelwald from there. The night was to be spent at Grindelwald.
The lowlight of the day was the tired return trip back to Lauterbrunnen as soon as something hit our minds at Grindelwald. We had locked our bags in the locker at Lauterbrunnen station in the morning and forgot to pick it up on our way back. :-(
Neuschwanstein Castle Tour: This was another high during our trip. We went along with Mikes's Bike Tours who did a very good job of planning out the day. If anyone is visiting Munich, these guys are much recommended. We left early to Fussen by train, two hours from Munich. A bus took us to the base of the mountain where the castle stands. The castle looked beautiful from below, nestled amidst the dense green trees. After a quick tomato-cheese sandwich lunch along with a history lesson from our guide, we took a quick glance of Hoenschwangau castle (where King Ludwig II who built the castle grew) and started a very steep 30 minute hike upwards. The guide seemed ruthless as he continued without stopping regularly, but it was for a reason. The castle interior tour ticket had a designated start time and there was nothing you could do if you missed your time slot. The tour was worth it. You could see why they called him "Mad King Ludwig" after seeing how extravagantly he spent on the castle. He apparently died mysteriously before he could complete the castle, and our guide was with the opinion that he was murdered to stop the crazy spending.
Our group then hiked down the mountain along a waterfall gorge, and walked towards Tegelberg a beautiful mountain in that area. We rode on the Alpine Slide, a 5 minute thrill-slide down from the top of a hill upon a bobsled on wheels. Then the 1 hour bike tour around the area - which was fantastic. I had not touched a bike since going to school at ASU, and my wife hadn't since her high school days! The scenery around was fantastic and that that was the best part of biking out there. A bus brought the exhausted group back to Fussen station in the evening. The day long busy but fascinating tour ended with some magic by our guide before we boarded the train at Fussen. He was apparently a student at a German school of magic. The two hour train ride via Buchloe brought us back to Munich and we deservedly hit the bed almost immediately.
Boring Rhine: It was with a lot of expectation that we planned for the Rhine Cruise. The Rick Steve and several other tour books marked it a "must-see" and the best thing to do in Germany. But we personally thought that it was not worth all the hype. It was beautiful no doubt, but it was not something that couldn't have been skipped. We did the 50km stretch from Koblenz to Bingen called the "Romantic Rhine" and recommended by many. The six hours on the ship we must say was rather boring and probably too long. The brief views of the castles every 30 minutes or so gathered some interest in the beginning, but at the end we didn't even bother looking out. There was nothing much to do on the ship other than have lunch and dessert, both of which we did. Perhaps the boredom was also because we already had a blitz view of those castles when we went the other direction by train the previous evening. And perhaps, our previous cruise on Lake Luzern and paddle-boat ride on Thunersee brought us to our saturation levels on boats.
Other moments in our trip worth mentioning
I was personally annoyed by the fact that many restaurants in Europe denied to serve us free drinking water. It was ridiculous. What was even more stupid was they did not allow outside water. Most stations and public places did not have a water fountain. The only decent way to get a drink was to buy the 3.40 Swiss Franc small water bottle. In our first thirsty experience, we bought one of those bottles to find that it was actually the carbonated bitter water which we could not even sip. Too bad you can't read German! But then, that purchase didn't go for a total toss. We saved the bottle and from then on, used it to fill tap water from our hotel rooms and carried along with us.
It was evident from our excellent trip that Germany has risen up from their racist history of the Nazi era, but I could still feel hostility at times. Once was on our last day in Germany at Munich station. It was a four hour expected wait for us before we could board our train to Zurich. Since we had Eurail 1st class tickets, I inquired at the counter if we could use the DB Lounge (a waiting area designated for 1st class passengers). The man in the counter trying hard to make himself sound polite responded tersely by saying that DB 1st class customers paid 2000 Euros every year and I was not to use the DB Lounge under any circumstance. Yes - he used the precise words "under any circumstance". I could not stop taking offense to that statement. But I left it at that because he was the only English speaking person there, and I had to get as much information from him about our upcoming journey.
Switzerland on the other hand was excellent. A very hospitable country indeed. Very accommodating in terms of language as well. Most signs and announcements were in English too, and people were more friendly. I have stayed in many hotels before, but I must vouch for the fact that the most hospitable hoteliers I have been with was Usula and Chris at Hotel Rugenpark, Interlaken where we stayed for 3 nights. They were FANTASTIC and took wonderful care of us. Anyone going there is assured of excellent service and personal care. They helped us with everything - planning what to see and do, booking tickets, filling us in with restaurant ideas and were more than willing to answer all my questions very patiently. Reminded me of how we are supposed to be treating others.
One final thing I must mention even though this post is going really long is about the trains in Europe. They were excellent and very reliable! I think we boarded more than about 40 trains, boats and buses in our trip (we were surprised too when we counted) and almost all of them departed and arrived on the scheduled minute or so. During our journey between Luzern and Interlaken, a coach's electric line burst and became disabled at a station on the way. The coach was promptly removed from the train in just about 10 minutes, and we still made it to Interlaken on time. The kind conductor confirmed the details of our next connection and even offered to phone the other train to hold on for us in case there was a delay.
Paragliding at Interlaken: The highlight of the entire trip without any doubt was the 15 to 20 minutes we spent Paragliding in the air at Interlaken. One of the best experiences - especially with two lakes below, bright green forest covered mountains around, and snow capped Alps in the horizon! Paragliding is supposed to be a very safe sport when done properly - much safer than hand gliding or sky diving. We were told that it was becoming more and more popular lately among the adventurers. It is not as much an adrenaline pumping sport really. The calm peace in the air was breathtaking. We did it in tandem with our pilots (they call themselves a pilot even though they are not maneuvering a plane). The group was driven up the hill at Beatenberg in a van up to the launching point which is kind of a 45 degree meadow slope. 800m below was Interlaken and the two lakes. The pilot helped us with the gear, and then opened up the parachutes which surprisingly fit in an extra-large sized backpack. We wait in line seeing others run just about 5 to 10 steps gently down the hill before their chute opens up, and off they glide, smoothly into the air. It did not appear difficult or risky watching them do it. My wife was a little nervous that morning, but was comfortable with all that went on. She took off with her pilot ahead of me, and about three or four take offs after that was my turn. It was as simple as I saw others doing it. Before even I could think of being scared, we were in the air, and I was sitting comfortably in my seat with the glorious view around me. I had requested for a longer flight time, but the thermal conditions were not feasible that day. To glide upwards, rising hot air is essential, and the weather was not warm enough to prevent the descent. We landed after about 15 minutes on an open field right next to where we started. The landing was very simple, much like a 3 foot jump and a couple of steps along with the momentum. It was beautiful to watch the parachutes deflate and hit the ground as others in the group took turns to land. The ecstasy after that experience would be long remembered.
Black Forest: I had been all excited about this hike from months before the trip. My brother who was here before had many good things to say about the Black Forest, and all the information I got from my research concurred. But here was our problem. That morning when we planned to hike, we found that rain and thunderstorms were expected the whole day. Feldberg, where we wanted to hike was about 90 minutes away from Freiburg which was our base. Logistics and weather predictions at Heidelberg (planned for the next day) prevented us from swapping the trips. It was not raining yet at Freiburg, so we just decided to take the train/bus to Feldberg and defer the decision to hike when we were there.
As we rode in the train within the Black Forest towards Feldberg, we could see why it was fantastic to hike out here. Apparently, hiking was "invented" here! We reached our destination (Feldbergerhof) with lots of hopes. But to our ill luck, we found the starting point for the hike situated up the hill completely covered with fog. It was disappointing to hear further from the folks out there that rain was imminent. The scenery around us was nevertheless beautiful. The wetness enhanced the bright green color and everything was clean and pristine. It was nature at its best! But, all the more reason for us to be disappointed! :-(
Having come all the way, we decided we were not going to leave empty handed. We bought the tickets and took the cable car up the hill anyway. We would further defer the decision to hike once we got up there. It was not raining yet, so we would have three options - hike back down the same hill quickly, do the long 4 hour hike, or the short 2 hour hike. If the weather didn't improve, we could take the cable car back down. We passed in the cable car through the dense fog up to the top of the hill. Miraculously, the fog cleared almost as soon as we hit the top. The view from the top into the horizon was superb, but it was still overcast and cloudy. Decision time again. That was when we made the call of the trip!
We decided on the shorter version of the Feldberg hike for two hours. I had the map which Black Forest Tourism folks had sent to us as part of the brochures. Looking at the hiking path map may help understand our story. From the Bismarkdenkmal at the end of the cable car ride, we would take the shorter route down via the Emil-Thoma Weg, the steep descent down to Raimartihof hut, walk around Feldsee lake and climb up back towards Feldbergerhof, close to the cable car base where we started. The hike was beautiful. We saw grass covered meadows, little streams gushing underneath remnants of winter ice, dense forest, small wooden bridges across cascades, sound of all kinds of birds chirping in happiness (I am sure!), freshly sprouting greenery all around like we've never seen before, sliced tree trunks cut into chips and placed neatly on the wet portions of the path, beds of little yellow springtime flowers! To hike under the sun in the Black Forest would certainly be an experience, but to hike under the clouds was I think was even better. It was a treat. We clicked photographs away to glory. Now and then we said hi to other hikers young and old who were enjoying the same moments. We checked and ensured with them that we were indeed heading in the right direction. After all, we were not the only ones who decided to hike the Black Forest that cloudy day.
We ate the Subway Sandwich we brought as we walked and used the time the Rain Gods gave us efficiently. Soon enough, we came to a unmarked fork. Should we choose left or right ? The left path was wider, but the right one seemed to go in the direction to Feldsee. The right one was also descending, which was expected because the lake was down below. So we chose to go right. The descent was gradual as it had been so far. However, the path seemed to be unused and deserted as we walked further, and it soon was a growing concern. I decided that we would go further down a bit and then decide. Fortunately we hit what appeared to be a dust road. A sign indicated the direction to Feldsee. Ah ha, we were not lost after all! Further down, we saw a path sign directing to Raimartihof hut, which was further reassurance. However, the satisfaction was almost immediately stunted when we saw the "Path Closed" sign a few yards ahead. A slipping stick figure indicated why. It was written in English too, which meant that it was indeed important and to be heeded (most signs out there were only in German). According to my map, the distance to Feldsee was not too much from where I thought we were, and the slipping sign made sense because we wouldn't have descended much enough from where we last saw the lake, and it would have to be a very steep descent. No taking risks in other directions now because (a) we didn't have enough time - we had to take the last train out early evening. (b) it was cloudy and rain was imminent (c) my wife has not hiked down steep terrains before.
I decided that we would climb back up the way we came. I remembered that we saw a marked intersection much before we met the unmarked fork. That intersection had a shorter 1.5 km marked path towards Feldbergerhof, which would safely take us back to where we started. We made climbed up, and slowy but steadily met our "fork of adventure" and then hiked up again to meet our "intersection of safety." The path towards Feldbergerhof was almost flat and very pleasant. It was still not raining, but the clouds were getting thick and dark. It didn't take us too long before the cable car base station came in sight to our relief. Rain was the perfect end to our hike - and it had to be. they were patient for so long! The last 300 meters or so, we walked together towards shelter under one umbrella with the rain and wind blowing against us.
Schilthorn: The Schilthorn day was more a well planned and deterministic experience than what the Black Forest would later be in our trip. We had two excursion options in the Alps. The first one was by train to Jungfraujoch (pronounced YOONG-frau-YOKE), the highest train station in Europe on Mount Jungfrau which is the tallest peak in the Alps. Or we could go to Schilthorn which is a vantage point with great view of the snow-capped Alps including Jungfrau. Both of us agreed on the latter because we were told that we would enjoy it better if we had already played with snow (plenty at Jungfraujoch) and that it was a better value for the money.
We started from Interlaken in a train to Lauterbrunnen, a little town in the valley between two huge mountain ranges. This map may help visualize. A cable car took us upwards on the south side cliffs to Grutschalp. The ride in the cable car was a little crowded but had exhilarating views of the valley down below covered with green meadows, pine trees and little cabins. We then hiked for about 2 hours to Murren along the ridge towards the snow capped mountains in view ahead of us. Jungfrau was one of them. From Murren, we took another cable car to Birg and then up to Schilthorn. There was a 360 degree view of the majestic mountains out on the top. It was a good time for lunch at the revolving restaurant. Dhal Makhni in the menu was no surprise by then because we had been seeing Indians all around us. Switzerland appears to be a favorite destination for our folks. Apparently Bollywood films shoot very often here with the mountains as the backdrop.
The descent was via Birg, to Murren, to Gimmelwald, then to Stechelberg, all by cable cars. We chose to hike the segment from to Murren to Gimmelwald. A bus then took us from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen and we took trains towards Grindelwald from there. The night was to be spent at Grindelwald.
The lowlight of the day was the tired return trip back to Lauterbrunnen as soon as something hit our minds at Grindelwald. We had locked our bags in the locker at Lauterbrunnen station in the morning and forgot to pick it up on our way back. :-(
Neuschwanstein Castle Tour: This was another high during our trip. We went along with Mikes's Bike Tours who did a very good job of planning out the day. If anyone is visiting Munich, these guys are much recommended. We left early to Fussen by train, two hours from Munich. A bus took us to the base of the mountain where the castle stands. The castle looked beautiful from below, nestled amidst the dense green trees. After a quick tomato-cheese sandwich lunch along with a history lesson from our guide, we took a quick glance of Hoenschwangau castle (where King Ludwig II who built the castle grew) and started a very steep 30 minute hike upwards. The guide seemed ruthless as he continued without stopping regularly, but it was for a reason. The castle interior tour ticket had a designated start time and there was nothing you could do if you missed your time slot. The tour was worth it. You could see why they called him "Mad King Ludwig" after seeing how extravagantly he spent on the castle. He apparently died mysteriously before he could complete the castle, and our guide was with the opinion that he was murdered to stop the crazy spending.
Our group then hiked down the mountain along a waterfall gorge, and walked towards Tegelberg a beautiful mountain in that area. We rode on the Alpine Slide, a 5 minute thrill-slide down from the top of a hill upon a bobsled on wheels. Then the 1 hour bike tour around the area - which was fantastic. I had not touched a bike since going to school at ASU, and my wife hadn't since her high school days! The scenery around was fantastic and that that was the best part of biking out there. A bus brought the exhausted group back to Fussen station in the evening. The day long busy but fascinating tour ended with some magic by our guide before we boarded the train at Fussen. He was apparently a student at a German school of magic. The two hour train ride via Buchloe brought us back to Munich and we deservedly hit the bed almost immediately.
Boring Rhine: It was with a lot of expectation that we planned for the Rhine Cruise. The Rick Steve and several other tour books marked it a "must-see" and the best thing to do in Germany. But we personally thought that it was not worth all the hype. It was beautiful no doubt, but it was not something that couldn't have been skipped. We did the 50km stretch from Koblenz to Bingen called the "Romantic Rhine" and recommended by many. The six hours on the ship we must say was rather boring and probably too long. The brief views of the castles every 30 minutes or so gathered some interest in the beginning, but at the end we didn't even bother looking out. There was nothing much to do on the ship other than have lunch and dessert, both of which we did. Perhaps the boredom was also because we already had a blitz view of those castles when we went the other direction by train the previous evening. And perhaps, our previous cruise on Lake Luzern and paddle-boat ride on Thunersee brought us to our saturation levels on boats.
Other moments in our trip worth mentioning
I was personally annoyed by the fact that many restaurants in Europe denied to serve us free drinking water. It was ridiculous. What was even more stupid was they did not allow outside water. Most stations and public places did not have a water fountain. The only decent way to get a drink was to buy the 3.40 Swiss Franc small water bottle. In our first thirsty experience, we bought one of those bottles to find that it was actually the carbonated bitter water which we could not even sip. Too bad you can't read German! But then, that purchase didn't go for a total toss. We saved the bottle and from then on, used it to fill tap water from our hotel rooms and carried along with us.
It was evident from our excellent trip that Germany has risen up from their racist history of the Nazi era, but I could still feel hostility at times. Once was on our last day in Germany at Munich station. It was a four hour expected wait for us before we could board our train to Zurich. Since we had Eurail 1st class tickets, I inquired at the counter if we could use the DB Lounge (a waiting area designated for 1st class passengers). The man in the counter trying hard to make himself sound polite responded tersely by saying that DB 1st class customers paid 2000 Euros every year and I was not to use the DB Lounge under any circumstance. Yes - he used the precise words "under any circumstance". I could not stop taking offense to that statement. But I left it at that because he was the only English speaking person there, and I had to get as much information from him about our upcoming journey.
Switzerland on the other hand was excellent. A very hospitable country indeed. Very accommodating in terms of language as well. Most signs and announcements were in English too, and people were more friendly. I have stayed in many hotels before, but I must vouch for the fact that the most hospitable hoteliers I have been with was Usula and Chris at Hotel Rugenpark, Interlaken where we stayed for 3 nights. They were FANTASTIC and took wonderful care of us. Anyone going there is assured of excellent service and personal care. They helped us with everything - planning what to see and do, booking tickets, filling us in with restaurant ideas and were more than willing to answer all my questions very patiently. Reminded me of how we are supposed to be treating others.
One final thing I must mention even though this post is going really long is about the trains in Europe. They were excellent and very reliable! I think we boarded more than about 40 trains, boats and buses in our trip (we were surprised too when we counted) and almost all of them departed and arrived on the scheduled minute or so. During our journey between Luzern and Interlaken, a coach's electric line burst and became disabled at a station on the way. The coach was promptly removed from the train in just about 10 minutes, and we still made it to Interlaken on time. The kind conductor confirmed the details of our next connection and even offered to phone the other train to hold on for us in case there was a delay.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Schweiz & Deutschland
My wife and I just came back from a 10 day trip to Switzerland and Germany. Very beautiful countries - well worth the money and time for the visit. If any of you are planning to go there, do let me know and I can make some good recommendations.
Let me start with why we chose these two countries.
These were our best sources of information.
Food was a very important concern keeping in mind our vegetarian diet. An option was to pack, but it was out of the question considering the time and effort for cooking during the trip, and the luggage restriction we placed for ourselves. Here is what we did. We carried with us a box of cereal bars each. We decided to buy fruits along our way regularly. I found several places to eat from vegetarian restaurant sites like www.happycow.net. I even found that the Subway Sandwich chain is widespread in Germany. Searching for Indian restaurants in Google maps also worked well. The maps and notes about the restaurants I prepared and took with us was well worth it. But I must say however that by the time we came back home, we were really longing for some home cooked food. We were tired of the bread-butter-jam, sweet cereals and sandwich routine. What we wanted was some traditional home-cooked Vettha Kozhambu, Rasam Saadam, Applam, Beans curry and most importantly, Thair Saadam. And if possible, all this on a vaazhai elai! Thoughts of these delicacies were pervading our minds during the last few days of our trip!
For cash, we carried with us travelers checks for safety, but we mostly relied on our ATM cards. Before leaving, I notified our banks and credit card companies about our travel plans so they would not block our withdrawals for suspicious activity. I found out that the best card in our pocket with the least fees was the Bank Of America debit card. It had the least exchange fee of 1%. We didn't expect the $5 ATM fee charged each time by BOA while we drew cash in Switzerland. [I was told in TripAdvisor that ATMs in Europe never charged ATM fee]. However, withdrawals from Deutsche Bank in Germany (partner of BOA) was excellent - no exchange fee, no ATM fee. The exchange rates offered were excellent and on par with the then rates.
Here was our actual itinerary very briefly. I would say we stuck to about 80% of what we planned initially. We changed dynamically depending on the weather and interest in variety.
Day 0: Fly out of EWR to ZRH in the evening hours.
Day 1: Landed in ZRH in the morning hours - Cleaned up quickly - to-go breakfast from airport fast food - Train to Luzern - Luggage in station locker - Self-guided walking tour of old town - Lowendenkmal monument - Lunch at Kanchi Indian Restuarant - 2 hour cruise on Lake Luzern - Golden Pass Route (scenic train) to Interlaken West - check-in to Rugenpark B&B - Dinner at Little India - town walk - crash for the day
Day 2: Breakfast at hotel - Paragliding in Beatenberg (highlight of the trip) - Interlaken scenic river walk - Lunch at Welcome India - Bus to Neuhaus - Unsuccessful attempt to boat in Lake Thunersee (no rentals available) - back to Interlaken by bus - some shopping - dinner at Tamil Take Out Shop (bad one) - crash for the day at Rugenpark B&B.
Day 3: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Lauterbrunnen - Luggage in lockers - Cable up to Grutschalp - Hike to Murren - Cable to Birg - Cable up to Schilthorn - Lunch at Revolving Restaurant - Cable down to Murren - Hike down to Gimmelwald - Cable down to Stechelberg - Bus to Lauterbrunnen - Luggage from locker - Train to Grindelwald via Zweilütschinen - Pick up pizza dinner - checkin to Mountain Hostel - eat and crash for the day
Day 4: Breakfast at hostel - Relax - Walk around Grindelwald - Train back to Interlaken West - bus to Neuhaus - Pedal boat rental on Lake Thunersee - Ate packed lunch in middle of the lake - back to Interlaken by bus - Swiss Army knife shopping - Checkin back again into Rugenpark B&B - Dinner at Little India - crash for the day.
Day 5: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Brig via Speiz - Glacier Express (scenic train) to Chur - packed lunch in the train - To Freiburg (Germany) via Basel - dinner at Subway - Checkin to Intercity Hotel - crash for the day.
Day 6: Breakfast at hotel - Train/bus to Feldberg - Decision to hike despite rain prediction (the best decision in the trip) - Ate packed Subway sandwich in the Black Forest - lost for a while in woods - traced our way back into safe path - cherish successful hike - bus/train back to Freiburg - relax - walk in old town and Cathedral - dinner at Jaipur - crash for the day.
Day 7: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Heidelberg via Mannheim - Local bus to castle base - up the hill by funicular - guided tour in castle - down by funicular - walk into old town - lunch at Subway - Walk across the riven on the Old Bridge, climb up to the Philosopherweg for excellent city/castle view. Bus back to station - Train to Koblenz via Mannheim - Check in to Hotel National - walk into Old Town - Dinner at Taj Mahal - crash for the day
Day 8: Breakfast at hotel - Bus to Koblenz KD dock - Rhine River Cruise from Koblenz to Bingen - lunch in the ship - Walk from Bingen KD to Hbf - Train to Munich via Mainz/Frankfurt - dinner at Subway - check in to Four Points Hotel - crash for the day.
Day 9: Self-made Bread/jelly/ketchup breakfast - The day for Mikes Bike Tour to Neuschwanstein Castle - Walk to Train station - Train to Fussen - Bus to Castle base - Steep hike up to castle - view from Mary's Bridge - Castle Tour - Hike down via the waterfall gorge - Hike to Tegelberg - Alpine Slide - Bike Ride in the hills and around the lake - Bus back to Fussen - Train back to Munich via Buchloe - Pizza Dinner at station - bus to hotel - crash for day.
Day 10: Self-made Bread/jelly/ketchup breakfast - Got Munich Public Transport day tickets - U-Bahn to Station - Luggage in Locker - S Bahn to MarienPlatz - Find that the bike tour planned is canceled that day - self tour to Viktualienmarkt - U-Bahn/bus to English Garden - packed Subway sandwich lunch - bus back to station - Train to Zurich - dinner in train's restaurant - shuttle to Moevenpick Hotel Aiport - check in - crash for the day.
Day 11: Shuttle to airport - check in luggage - breakfast at airport - fly out of ZRH - arrive at EWR in the afternoon.
OK... that's good enough for this long post. When I find some time, I will describe the highlights of our experiences at the best places in the next posts.
Update: Here is the blog post with details of our experiences
Let me start with why we chose these two countries.
- Since the visit was planned for 10 days, variety in experience was most important so we would not get bored doing and seeing the same things.
- Although both of us appreciated art to a good extent, we were not ready to invest our time and money entirely on museums and monuments which pervade several European countries. Europe has a rich history and I should commend them for having preserved it in its greatest form, but unless you are a historian or deeply into art forms, you would not appreciate it to the level deserved. Both of us admire nature to a far greater level than museums. Switzerland has the Alps which I have always pictured in my mind for a long time. Germany has the greenery and castles and rivers. It brings in the right blend of nature and history, so we would also experience its historical significance too.
- Quality was important than quantity, so we kept to just two countries instead of scrambling far across cities in the continent. There was enough variety for 10 days in Switzerland and Germany. Moreover, adding more countries in the Eurail pass costs much more than additional days in the same country.
These were our best sources of information.
- Rick Steve's Germany & Rick Steve's Switzerland - I got these books from the local public library and carried them with me during the trip. Wonderful books with a lot of good information. Very comprehensive, and eliminated the need for a guide in several places. His short suggestions on logistics for some places are excellent, but many times very brief - not fully understandable by a person new to the place. You will need to follow up and get more detail from other sources, perhaps from people at the point of interest itself.
- My brother and sister in law who have visited and lived in Germany for a while.
- Tourism websites for the specific cities we chose to visit.
- TripAdvisor.com for hotel reviews, reviews on attractions and things to do, posting questions whose answers I could not find elsewhere on the internet. Great site! Very helpful community. Every passionate traveler should become a member, contribute and share.
- Kayak.com for hotels and flight tickets.
- Phone. This was the BEST source of reliable information for me! Reading from books and Internet is one thing, but speaking on the phone directly with the people you will be dealing with there is the best thing you can do from home. I used prepaid computer-to-phone service using Yahoo Voice. Germany calls were around 1 cent a minute and Switzerland calls were around 2 cents a minute. I just prepaid the minimum $10 which was more than sufficient for me.
Food was a very important concern keeping in mind our vegetarian diet. An option was to pack, but it was out of the question considering the time and effort for cooking during the trip, and the luggage restriction we placed for ourselves. Here is what we did. We carried with us a box of cereal bars each. We decided to buy fruits along our way regularly. I found several places to eat from vegetarian restaurant sites like www.happycow.net. I even found that the Subway Sandwich chain is widespread in Germany. Searching for Indian restaurants in Google maps also worked well. The maps and notes about the restaurants I prepared and took with us was well worth it. But I must say however that by the time we came back home, we were really longing for some home cooked food. We were tired of the bread-butter-jam, sweet cereals and sandwich routine. What we wanted was some traditional home-cooked Vettha Kozhambu, Rasam Saadam, Applam, Beans curry and most importantly, Thair Saadam. And if possible, all this on a vaazhai elai! Thoughts of these delicacies were pervading our minds during the last few days of our trip!
For cash, we carried with us travelers checks for safety, but we mostly relied on our ATM cards. Before leaving, I notified our banks and credit card companies about our travel plans so they would not block our withdrawals for suspicious activity. I found out that the best card in our pocket with the least fees was the Bank Of America debit card. It had the least exchange fee of 1%. We didn't expect the $5 ATM fee charged each time by BOA while we drew cash in Switzerland. [I was told in TripAdvisor that ATMs in Europe never charged ATM fee]. However, withdrawals from Deutsche Bank in Germany (partner of BOA) was excellent - no exchange fee, no ATM fee. The exchange rates offered were excellent and on par with the then rates.
Here was our actual itinerary very briefly. I would say we stuck to about 80% of what we planned initially. We changed dynamically depending on the weather and interest in variety.
Day 0: Fly out of EWR to ZRH in the evening hours.
Day 1: Landed in ZRH in the morning hours - Cleaned up quickly - to-go breakfast from airport fast food - Train to Luzern - Luggage in station locker - Self-guided walking tour of old town - Lowendenkmal monument - Lunch at Kanchi Indian Restuarant - 2 hour cruise on Lake Luzern - Golden Pass Route (scenic train) to Interlaken West - check-in to Rugenpark B&B - Dinner at Little India - town walk - crash for the day
Day 2: Breakfast at hotel - Paragliding in Beatenberg (highlight of the trip) - Interlaken scenic river walk - Lunch at Welcome India - Bus to Neuhaus - Unsuccessful attempt to boat in Lake Thunersee (no rentals available) - back to Interlaken by bus - some shopping - dinner at Tamil Take Out Shop (bad one) - crash for the day at Rugenpark B&B.
Day 3: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Lauterbrunnen - Luggage in lockers - Cable up to Grutschalp - Hike to Murren - Cable to Birg - Cable up to Schilthorn - Lunch at Revolving Restaurant - Cable down to Murren - Hike down to Gimmelwald - Cable down to Stechelberg - Bus to Lauterbrunnen - Luggage from locker - Train to Grindelwald via Zweilütschinen - Pick up pizza dinner - checkin to Mountain Hostel - eat and crash for the day
Day 4: Breakfast at hostel - Relax - Walk around Grindelwald - Train back to Interlaken West - bus to Neuhaus - Pedal boat rental on Lake Thunersee - Ate packed lunch in middle of the lake - back to Interlaken by bus - Swiss Army knife shopping - Checkin back again into Rugenpark B&B - Dinner at Little India - crash for the day.
Day 5: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Brig via Speiz - Glacier Express (scenic train) to Chur - packed lunch in the train - To Freiburg (Germany) via Basel - dinner at Subway - Checkin to Intercity Hotel - crash for the day.
Day 6: Breakfast at hotel - Train/bus to Feldberg - Decision to hike despite rain prediction (the best decision in the trip) - Ate packed Subway sandwich in the Black Forest - lost for a while in woods - traced our way back into safe path - cherish successful hike - bus/train back to Freiburg - relax - walk in old town and Cathedral - dinner at Jaipur - crash for the day.
Day 7: Breakfast at hotel - Train to Heidelberg via Mannheim - Local bus to castle base - up the hill by funicular - guided tour in castle - down by funicular - walk into old town - lunch at Subway - Walk across the riven on the Old Bridge, climb up to the Philosopherweg for excellent city/castle view. Bus back to station - Train to Koblenz via Mannheim - Check in to Hotel National - walk into Old Town - Dinner at Taj Mahal - crash for the day
Day 8: Breakfast at hotel - Bus to Koblenz KD dock - Rhine River Cruise from Koblenz to Bingen - lunch in the ship - Walk from Bingen KD to Hbf - Train to Munich via Mainz/Frankfurt - dinner at Subway - check in to Four Points Hotel - crash for the day.
Day 9: Self-made Bread/jelly/ketchup breakfast - The day for Mikes Bike Tour to Neuschwanstein Castle - Walk to Train station - Train to Fussen - Bus to Castle base - Steep hike up to castle - view from Mary's Bridge - Castle Tour - Hike down via the waterfall gorge - Hike to Tegelberg - Alpine Slide - Bike Ride in the hills and around the lake - Bus back to Fussen - Train back to Munich via Buchloe - Pizza Dinner at station - bus to hotel - crash for day.
Day 10: Self-made Bread/jelly/ketchup breakfast - Got Munich Public Transport day tickets - U-Bahn to Station - Luggage in Locker - S Bahn to MarienPlatz - Find that the bike tour planned is canceled that day - self tour to Viktualienmarkt - U-Bahn/bus to English Garden - packed Subway sandwich lunch - bus back to station - Train to Zurich - dinner in train's restaurant - shuttle to Moevenpick Hotel Aiport - check in - crash for the day.
Day 11: Shuttle to airport - check in luggage - breakfast at airport - fly out of ZRH - arrive at EWR in the afternoon.
OK... that's good enough for this long post. When I find some time, I will describe the highlights of our experiences at the best places in the next posts.
Update: Here is the blog post with details of our experiences
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