In the land of history, art, beauty, love and much more..

We left Liechtenstein to reach Seefeld in Tirol district of Austria. It is at an altitude of 1200 m above sea level, i.e. somewhere in between Coorg and Mahabaleswar in terms of altitude, but much colder. The temperature was low at around 10-12 °C. We reached the hotel and had dinner in its restaurant. The hotel had a very ancient antique feel to it. It was made of panelled wood giving it an eerie look as well (I remember thinking it can be a good location for movies like “I know what you did last summer”). After dinner, a large part of our night was filled with clicking photographs in and around the hotel. The hotel had a merry-go-round and a toy train at its entrance. Never having let go of the child in me, I jumped at the idea of getting on the merry-go-round. It was so much fun. We posed with numerous stills, shivering in the cold, on the cold night, and yet, our enthusiasm not dropping with the dropping temperatures.

Early next morning, after our breakfast, we begin our journey to Wattens to the world-famous Swarovski Crystal World. So much of greenery on the way, my eyes were trying to absorb in as much of it as possible (You know how rare a sight it is in our urban cities). The sight of so many colourful precious stones, sparkling in all shapes and forms was a treat to the eyes. So many designs of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and what not (Almost, every stereotyped girl’s dream, I guess, just kidding). The sparkling stones, diamonds, crystals were found in all shapes and sizes enticing us, egging us to buy. After the weight of our pockets decreased a little (and considerably for some), we went ahead to the last country in our Europe trip, Italy.

We spent the night in a place called Padua. Padua is one of the oldest districts of Italy. A small city in Italy, tucked away in one corner of Italy, just a few kilometres away from Venice, our destination for the next day. We have dinner at an Indian restaurant there. We sleep as soon our heads touch the pillow, tired as we were from all the travelling in the coach.

We reach Venice the next day by boat. While we were on the boat, we learn of its history, how it ruled independently for a few hundred years before it became a part of the modern world Italy. The guide told us that unlike the rest of the world, the population in Venice is decreasing day by day. Venice is connected by a Grand Canal. I had always wanted to visit Venice, for the feel of travelling by boat to get somewhere. Imagine streets are of water, and you can’t walk most of the times. You must take a boat or get on a bridge to go somewhere. It was another experience altogether. For realising this experience, we took a Gondola ride, the original boat that was used for travel before the invention of motorboats. It was a beautiful ride, and a little scary too. I was nervous because he had to manoeuvre the gondola and keep it afloat by managing our weight, keeping the weight on all sides equal. We even had a traffic jam. Believe me, traffic jams on land are better, at least you could just get down and walk somewhere. On a boat, you can only wait. But it was super fun and super cool. After the first check on what-to-do in Venice, we went to the next. We had Pizza!! Pizza is known to come from the land of Italy. Pizza, though Italian, has taken the world by storm. Everybody loves a good pizza. We went to the restaurant suggested by the guide. Though, being vegetarian we had only two options. I ordered the one type of pizza I don’t order here, the simple plain cheese margarita. But it was tasty and we were full by the end of it.

As soon we stepped on land, I breathe a sigh of relief. Though voyaging on water was fun, I prefer land any day. (I should start learn swimming and I’ll, soon). The next stop after Venice was Pisa. But before that we have dinner at Bologna and spend the night at Florence, Italy. Sadly, we didn’t have a chance to explore the city.

The next morning was our last morning in Europe in this trip. Most of us were so in love with Europe that we wanted to stay longer. But we decided to enjoy the last day in Pisa and go back with a bucket full of memories. We arrive in Pisa and go visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is included in one of the ancient wonders of the world. As the tower was being built, they realised that the tower was being constructed at an angle. Though corrected partly, an angle of approximately 4 degrees remains to date and the wonder is that it hasn’t fallen yet. Made entirely of Marble, it stood, though slant, rather proudly. It was beautiful. Both Italian marble and leather are very famous, so along with an obvious Tower souvenir, we also bought some souvenirs from Pisa. I had samosa in Pisa. I must say, it tasted better than in many places in India.

We commence our journey then to the Airport in Milan. We pass through Verona on the way, the place known for the fictional yet very eternal love of Romeo- Juliet. Milan is another historical town in Italy, most famous for housing the ‘Last Supper’ of Da Vinci. On the way, we played all kinds of games in the bus to pass time in the long journey ahead of us. We made jokes, laughed, sang, talked, shouted, had lots of fun. As we got down the airport, we took our luggage into the check-in counter to start our final journey together as a group in Europe. We missed out on exploring Florence, Milan, Verona, the Vatican City and Rome in Italy. Next time, hopefully.

As the flight takes off from the tarmac, I look at the places around me, think of all the places I visited in a span of 8 days and vow to come back to Europe for unfinished business (I mean, touring, of course). I am very grateful to my parents for making this trip happen.

But the trip wasn’t over yet. I was just travelling from one world wonder to another, but in India.

(This time I ask you, should I continue?) – my Taj adventures?