Paris!!!

Our third trip in Europe was to Paris!

We had planned the trip during autumn. This time we ensured that we took my daughter's (Aditi's) stroller along with us (after we learnt a lesson from our Italy trip ;-))

We were super excited about this trip; for many reasons:

• Eiffel tower
• Disney Land
• Louvre museum
• ...and many more

Day 1

Säve (Gothenburg) to Rygge (Norway)

We had our flight tickets booked from Moss Lufthavn in Rygge (Norway). Two families, including ours were traveling. We took the train to Oslo, from Central Stationen in Gothenburg to Oslo Central Station. The airport bus service picked us from Oslo and dropped us at the Moss Lufthavn in Rygge. It was about an hour's journey. The scenic beauty in the interiors of Norway was breath-taking...the greenery around was indeed a pleasant treat for our eyes!

By the time we reached the Rygge airport, it was lunch time. We had carried home made Indian food for lunch which consisted of lemon rice and some yogurt. We had our lunch and waited in the lounge to board our flight to Paris.

Day 1...continued

Rygge - CDG (Paris)

We reached Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and deboarded the plane. We took our baggage and hired a taxi from airport to our hotel (Citéa Philippe Auguste) for 60 euros. Our hotel was a few yards by walk from the Philippe Auguste Metro station. Our room was clean and cozy.

After staying in Sweden, I felt that Paris and Italy were very congested and polluted. The houses were so closely built, yet very peaceful.

We had some snacks and refreshed ourselves and went around the area by walk - just to get familiar with the surroundings.

Day 2

Disney Land

The most interesting and exciting place to visit - for both, kids and adults! Paris certainly has a lot to offer, so I'd never say "don't go".

We woke up by 5.30 AM, prepared some food for our lunch (and packed them in our lunch boxes). We were ready by 7.30 AM and the weather was very pleasant and just perfect for the long outing in Disneyland!

We reached the Philippe Auguste Metro station and tried to get an automatic metro ticket by swiping our card, but in vain. I could manage speaking little bit of French and got some assistance from one lady, but it was of no use; since we did not get our ticket =D

The ticket distributor finally arrived about 8.15 AM, and we finally collected our tickets. We boarded the metro and it was an hour's journey from Philippe Auguste Metro station. I liked the Parisian metros - they are double-decked and the doors shut smoothly, the stations are also well-lit and makes a foreigner comfortable unlike the Italian metros and stations.

Don't be surprised to see people begging on the Parisian metros!!!

We finally reached Disneyland and the stop is called Marne-la-Vallée (Parc Disneyland). The station was so colorful and full of kids; we adults were automatically focused on having fun.

We entered the park which was highly secured with police and security guards all around. We learnt that food was not allowed inside the park, so we decided to have our lunch and then enter the park.

We displayed our entry tickets and went inside - Aditi was super excited and me and my husband also enjoyed every bit of it, especially Aditi's excitement :)

We visited all the places, ensured we did not miss the top attractions - Fantasyland, Discoverland, Frontierland, and Adventureland (Pirates of Caribbean).

We saw the

chuk chuk papa train

and the disney cartoon characters. We, along with Aditi enjoyed the train ride with the songs and dance by all the disney characters. Aditi started to cry when the show ended :(

We enjoyed every minute shopping, bought some gifts in the some of the shops inside the park. It was almost 5.30 PM and we decided to leave the park, since we had to go back to Paris (which was an hour's journey. We took the metro and reached Philippe Auguste Metro station by 7.30 PM. We shopped for a few snacks and yoghurt for the next day's local sightseeing and headed to our hotel.

We slept early and were ready by 8 AM the next day.

Day 3

Arc de Tripmphe (Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile), Jardin du Tuileries (Tulip gardens), Louvre museum (Musée du Louvre), Eiffel tower (Tour Eiffel) and Seine river

It was a very pleasant morning and our itinerary was to start with the Arc de triomphe and end with Eiffel tower.

On going to the Philippe Auguste Metro station, we learnt that there was a temporary maintenance in that route and the commuters had to take a bus for that day. We were guided to the stop and we boarded the bus, everything was new since we had adapted ourselves to the metro routes and were comfortable with it. Fortunately, we were dropped off on the Arc de Triomphe road (rue l'arc de triomphe) and it was easy to locate the place.

A little about the history of Arc de Triomphe - The Arc de Triomphe is one of the famous Parisian monuments. It means Triumphal arch in English. It was built in the honor of those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars. The names of all French victories and generals are inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

We saw the place, took some pictures and had a long nice walk on the Parisian streets, before heading to Jardin du Tuileries. It was about 4.5 kms by walk and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We took a few pictures and had our lunch in the garden. We relaxed for an hour and then went to the Louvre museum.

Louvre, is one of the word famous museums and is located on the right bank of river Seine. This museum is a very huge one, spreading across 660000 sq.ft in area, and consisting of about 38000 objects and 35000 art work. The Louvre was a point of interest in the book The Da Vinci Code and the 2006 film based on the book. The museum earned $2.5 million by allowing filming in its galleries.

The world famous Monalisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci has been displayed in one of the rooms in the museum.

About the painting... Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "...after he had lingered over it for four years, left it unfinished...." Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work".

In 1516 Leonardo was invited by King François I to work at the Clos Lucé near the king's castle in Amboise. It is believed that he took the Mona Lisa with him and continued to work after he moved to France. On his death the painting was inherited, among other works, by his pupil and assistant "Salai". The king bought the painting for 4,000 écus (gold or silver french coins, whichever in use during that period) and kept it at Palace of Fontainebleau, where it remained until given to Louis XIV. Louis XIV moved the painting to the Palace of Versailles. After the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre, but spent a brief period in the bedroom of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) it was moved from the Louvre to the Brest Arsenal. During World War II, the painting was again removed from the Louvre and taken safely, first to Château d'Amboise, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and Château de Chambord, then finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban.

Theft and vandalism

The painting's fame was emphasized when it was stolen on 21 August 1911. The next day, Louis Béroud, a painter, walked into the Louvre and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years. However, where the Mona Lisa should have stood, he found four iron pegs. Béroud contacted the section head of the guards, who thought the painting was being photographed for marketing purposes. A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the section head of the museum, and it was confirmed that the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid in investigation of the theft.

The woman sits markedly upright with her arms folded, which is also a sign of her reserved posture. Only her gaze is fixed on the observer and seems to welcome him to this silent communication.

We visited the other ares of the museum and decided to go to the Eiffel tower, as we already had our tickets booked for 4 PM.

We took a bus from Louvre to Eiffel tower. We walked about a few meters from the stop and could see the Eiffel stand tall from a distance. I was overwhelmed to see one of the seven wonders of the world!!!

We stood in the queue and within a few minutes entered inside the elevator room and were soon atop the Eiffel tower. The view of the Seine river from the top floor was breath-taking!!! Ah! How I wish for another chance to visit Paris!

It was very windy and really very cold, but we did not want to come down from the 3rd floor. The view was ecstatic and peaceful. We then came one-level down to the 2nd, and spent sometime there as well. Soon, it was getting dusky and we did not want to miss the beauty of Seine :), so we sat by the banks of the river. What a beauty she is! The curves of the river really adds to the beauty of Paris!

Some facts about the tower...The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, due to the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building.

The view of Champs-Élyséese from atop the Eiffel is just beautiful! We could not go there since it started to rain :(

Given a chance, I would not mind settling in Paris (I am serious!) for many reasons - beauty, fashion, easy travel to the neighboring EU countries :). And most importantly, my husband, for his own reasons loves to settle down in France!

We saw a man making pancakes near the banks of river Seine; they were not too tasty, but we as usual started craving for Indian food (reminded me of Dosas - Indian pancakes). We had ordered a few of them, with and without cheese and were refilled with some energy to head back to the hotel.

We then walked in front the Champs-Élysées and found out the route to the closest metro station. We walked another good 3-4 kms. Fortunately, we had Aditi's pram :). We took the metro and got down at Philippe Auguste Metro station and went to our hotel.

Day 4 - Back to Gothenburg

We packed our baggage's, checked-out of the hotel and took a metro to the place where we had to board our airport bus. We waited for almost an hour for our bus and bid adieu to Paris!!! We reached Gothenburg by evening and had a good dinner and a peaceful sleep.

Trip to Oslo and Frederikshavn

It was a beautiful morning (about 2 A.M) - April 9, 2009, with the tender warm rays of the sun when we left home to board the bus from the Nils Ericsson Terminalen (Nils Ericsson Terminal) in Gothenburg, Sweden. We were very excited, since this was our first trip in the EU region.

Three families (including ours) started from Gothenburg to Oslo by Swebus. The journey was about 3 hours - was about 8 AM by the time we had reached Oslo. It took a while for us to venture out as we were all tired and badly wanted a cuppa coffee/tea. We wandered around the bus station for a while for the information center to open. As soon as it was opened, we gathered necessary information for the Oslo city sight seeing.

On the way to all the places, we enjoyed the tall buildings (Oslo being the capital city of Norway, had so many tall buildings - which is not so likely in all the European cities).

A little about Oslo - Lovely ‘fjords’ and kilometres of woodland, Norway’s capital is an easy-going city with architectural mix of old and the new which anybody would fall in love with! The perfect size for exploring on foot, the city boasts world-class museums, a lively nightlife and plenty of outdoor activities for the energetic.

First, we took tram # 2 and went to the Vigeland park which is a sculpture park built by Gustav Vigeland. This park has about 180 sculptures of entwined lovers, tranquil elderly persons and some beggars. It also has a beautiful sculpture which is certainly a center of attraction - about 100 wriggling human sculptures. Apparently, this also happens to be the highest point and a sculpture carved on one single stone.

The weather was very foggy and cold when we entered the park. As the day went by, it was slightly sunny and we already felt the warmth of the rays. We spent about 3 hours in the park and then headed to the harbour - to take a fjord for sight-seeing.

Then we took long walks in front of the Nobel peace center, we weren't allowed to enter it though! We then headed to the city center where we were to board our over-night cruise to Frederikshavn (Denmark. Since we had a couple of hours in hand, we went to the Royal Palace, which was very beautiful. The view from the palace was beautiful too - overseeing the cty roads and the traffic.

We then decided to move towards the harbour as we had to embark our cruise. We were very excited as it was a new experience for us on a cruise! We lost our way en route the harbour, but finally managed with the help of the bus drivers and other pedestrians - who were all very helpful and most importantly understood and spoke good english. We finally boarded our cruise after long wait in the queues. But, it was such an amazing experience. We enjoyed thoroughly - and were very tired by the night.

We settled inside our rooms inside the cruise and very soon the cruise began to sail! Aditi enjoyed the most - she was 3 years old and was super exited about ships and the beautiful waters!!! We shopped, ate and went around the cruise. We slept by 12 in the midnight and woke up by 4 AM the next morning to see the sunrise. It was bone piercing cold and fog at that hour - but we still managed to smile and take a few clicks :-) Me and my husband went in turns to see the sunrise as Aditi was still sleeping. It was a beautiful, cold, foggy morning! We posed like Jack and Rose from the famous titanic movie and took a few pictures too :-)

In the next few minutes, there was an announcement that we'd reached Frederikshavn. The crew was waiting for us to disembark the cruise - we were too many people and took more time in getting ready...

We realized that the weather was still very windy and chill when we came out of the cruise. We walked in the shopping street for a couple of hours and shopped for a few things. Everything is so dearer in the Nordic countries, or rather in the European countries!

We then had to advance our trip and return to Gothenburg due to the bad weather. Overall, it was a fun-filled trip and we 3 had a nice time :)

Italia!!!

Day 1

Milan

It was a beautiful afternoon during the colorful autumn (September-November)when we boarded our flight to Milan (Milano) from Save airport in Gothenburg. We passed the Ryan airlines security and were waiting to board the flight. We were all very excited and so was our little one :-). We soon settled down in our seats and when the flight took off, I was the ground view was spectacular with still lakes and flowing rivers of Gothenburg. After a while we flew over the freezing Alps via Switzerland. The view was breath-taking! For a moment, we wanted to change our trip and go to Swiss!!! But, it was too late...

Soon we reached Milan (at 8.30PM) - the fashion city; congested yet beautiful! I was constantly reminded to beware of the robbery and attacks! Phew...we traveled for more than an hour in the aeroporto bus. We got down at the bus stop which was about a kilometer from our hotel. We found out the route to our hotel and reached there within 25 minutes, by walk. The hotel was a good one, but very congested in space. We were received by the receptionist, who did not understand a single word in English. But, we managed somehow with our dictionary words and actions =D

Here's a view from the hotel window...

We stayed at the hotel for that night and checked-out the next morning. We remembered the route to the bus stop and railway station, and walked upto the railway station. We then decided, our next destination; which was Venice. We had booked a hotel (only a congested room with complementary breakfast) in Venezia for just a day which costed us 100 euros. We checked out the train timings at TrenItalia for Venice and purchased the tickets. We got tickets for euro star, which is the fastest train and apparently the most expensive one too! The euro rails are simply amazing, comfortable and clean!!! The distance from Milan to Venice is ~280 kms and takes about 3 hours.

The scenic beauty when the train almost approaches Venice is mind-blowing, as there is water all around and it feels as though the train is moving in the waters. Soon, we reached Venice - the sinking city!!! Someone had once said

"see Venice and die",

which is so true!

Day 2 & 3 - Venice & Rome

I was overwhelmed the moment I landed in Venice. The weather was just perfect, and we headed to our hotel, (which was about 200 meters) to check-in. We couldn't wait to refresh ourselves and go out for sight-seeing. We were hurrying as if we were going to catch a train... :-)

We found out from our co-passenger in the train and the hotel receptionist, the places to see and started heading towards the ferry stop (which was right opposite the railway station). We purchased tickets and got into a ferry - oh my!, the people or the language was our problem! We found one of them to be very rude!!! We went to the St.mark's square Piazza San Marco, which is a huge square surrounded by the bell-tower and the St.Mark's basilica.

We enjoyed the ferry ride, spent good time on the Rialto bridge (Ponto de Rialto) and the Venezian streets. We bargained so much with the gondoliers,but the prices were so high, (they were quoting about 100 euros for 5 minutes, which I did not want to pay!!!)that we decided to stroll in those beautiful streets! We went shopping (mostly window), but did purchase some Venetian masks and other gifts. It was already, almost time for the shops to close; so we headed to a decent restaurant to have our dinner - which was aubergine pizzas!!!I was initially excited to taste an Italian pizza (which is suppose to be famous for its taste). But, after I tasted it; I started craving for Indian food - and remember it was just a day we were away from Gothenburg :-)We then returned to our room and were looking forward to the next morning! We spend a few hours window shopping in the streets adjacent to our hotel. We took a train to Rome (Roma) by 11.30 AM. It was quite a journey (~ 5 hours) and so we had opted for the euro star, which is the fastest and the most expensive. We finally boarded the train and reached Rome on Saturday evening around 4.30 PM.

Day 3 & 4 - Rome (Roman Forum and Colosseum)

We arrived at Roma Terminiand spent the first 2 hours searching for our aparthotel apartment. We soon realized that we had to travel by metro to travel between the city and the apartment. When we first boarded the metro, we so missed our cute and friendly Gothenburg trams!!!We found them to be so rude, and the people were just not friendly. We finally somehow found the place and by the time we checked-in it was almost night, and I was again warning myself not to step out after dusk! This aparthotel apart was a duplex one and was quite spacious. Me and my husband loved the place and my daughter was excited too, as she had stairs to go up and down :-)

I'd prepared some Upmaand we all ate and slept early that night, as we had decided to go early and come back by 6 PM. We woke up the next morning and got ready as per our schedule and left the aparthotel by 7.30 AM. We took the metro and got down at Colloseum Coloseo,but, we had decided to visit the Roman Forum Roma Forum first. We were the only Indians amongst a group of Britishers. We were not so keen in seeing the Roman Forum, so we decided to finish it quickly. The overview of the Roman Forum took more than half-a-day! Then, we walked upto the Colosseum, which was about 200 meters. The weather was warm and perfect for a long walk. We bought the entry tickets to the Colosseum and got inside it.

The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city and the largest ever built in the Roman empire. It is considered to be one of the greatest works of the Roman architectures and engineering. The Colosseum in this century, stays partially ruined because of the damanges caused by a major devastating earthquake and stone-robbers. The Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of imperial Rome.

We reached our aparthotel by 5.30 PM and we were excited to see an Indian girl, who was also residing in the same building. She was on a business trip and we met every morning and night and were thankful to have met someone from our own country. She was a frequent visitor to Rome and thus we got some good information and guidance from her for local sight-seeing.

Day 5 - Pisa

Yes, PISA! One of the seven wonders of the world!!!

My excitement and joy knew no bounds when my husband told me we would be going to see the leaning tower of Pisa the next day! We had our train tickets booked and we went to the Termini the next morning and boarded the train to Pisa. There was a very helpful lady whom we had met there; she left her handicapped mother in the post office and told her something in Italian. Later, we came to know that she would be coming along with us to show us the route to the bus stop. It was about half-a-kilometer and I was surprised to see an Italian going out of her way to help an Indian! Whatever, but we were grateful to her...

When we traveled through the city of Pisa, we had a feeling of traveling through a village since the roads, and the by-lanes were very narrow. Within no time we were dropped a few yards from the Pisa tower. We saw people walking in groups and we realized that we should follow them to see the tower.

As soon as we entered the huge gate, we saw the freestanding, leaning tower of PISA! Delicate and demure...stands the elegant leaning tower of Pisa! I was for some reason, in a totally different world. Yes, it certainly was different from Rome and Venice. It was cleaner and greener! The tower and the cathedral in white, which makes it very pleasant view!

Day 6 - Vatican city, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi and Piazza della Republica

The Vatical City's territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. We had walked all the way from the metro station to the entrance of the Vatican city museum. The territory includes, gardens from the Renaissance and Baroque era and the most famous St. Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican museums are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.

The spiral stairs inside the Vatican museums are world famous too...

Fontana di Trevi or the Trevi fountain is in the Trevi district of Rome. It is one of the world famous fountains which has a significance to the coin throwing. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.

Day 7 - Back to Gothenburg

We packed all our things and were all set to fly back to Gothenburg! By now, we were already home-sick and wanted to reach Gotheburg (which we felt was our home town). We reached home in Gothenburg by 11 PM and still felt safe :-)

Overall, it was a wonderful trip; we three enjoyed a lot! ...and Oh yes! we did pick up few Italian words - Prostema Fermata (which we heard on the metro and it means 'next station/stop'), Ciao (pronounced as chao) - means bye, quanto? - which means how much?.

We were so surprised to see there was not a single kid around, in the places we had been to. This came as a surprise on the 2nd day, but this made us more cautious about our little one - we never let her and our passport/cash bags go for even a fraction of a second. It is most important to be vigilant since the people there are not very helpful.

Rome is a city highly recommended for people who have a liking for history and culture! Venice and Pisa are for chillaxing and shopping!!!