Europe Experiences ...
Finally got some time to post some stuff related to my Europe travel.
Germany
- I am standing at a busy railway intersection about 50 miles from Frankfurt. There are freight trains whizzing past this intersection every 10 minutes carrying all sorts of industrial merchandize. It's rather hard to cross this intersection quickly due to the frequency of the trains. For a moment you really feel like being in midst of the 3rd largest economy in the world. Germany is booming ,contrary to what is being reported in the press.
- I am chatting with the client sales manager (who is German) before the start of the day's discussions. Tells me his wife loves Bollywood movies and likes Shah Rukh Khan in particular. Pretty amusing I must say. Can you picture a German Sales Manager and his wife eating that hard German bread along with a glass of beer/wine and watching a Shah Rukh flick ? Perhaps this is what makes life interesting I guess.
Belgium
- Standing outside my Hotel @ 7 AM for my cab and see a whole bunch of 14-15 year old school kids. Surprised to find that almost everyone had a cigarette lit up. Hard to believe that in-spite of everything that's been done to spread awareness about the dangers of smoking, so many of these young kids are addicted to it. (Almost 80% of the school kids I saw smoked & this is across genders.)
- Belgium is a small country. Probably 1/4th the size of Karnataka as a whole. However I believe American investment in Belgium is greater than the American Investment in India as a whole. Pretty interesting statistic I think.
Italy
- Never seen a bunch of people who take fashion and trendiness so seriously. Even your average street side restaurant looks ornate. All the men look like models who could walk the ramp with ease.
- Crime is a big problem in Rome. All the attractions in Rome have police presence due to tourists and visitors being routinely mugged.
- Rome has an awesome Metro like most European cities. You can go to most places in the city including the Vatican once you've figured out the different Metro lines.
France
- Paris easily has to be most Romantic city I have ever seen. It truelly has an international feel to it unlike Rome. Couldn't see much of Paris due to just a day's stay there. Easily requires 3-4 days to explore the whole city I guess.
Overall I just felt Europe has so much more elegance and class as compared to the US. There's just so much natural beauty here that you probably require a lifetime to explore the continent. Even the work culture doesn't seem to be as aggressive as the US. (Mind you...they still get a lot of work done.) Add the romanticism of exploring Europe by rail to all this and you have a killer combination. Overall a very positive trip and I can't wait to get back there and explore the places I missed out. So Helsinki, Vienna, Prague, Oslo , we shall catch up shortly.
Germany
- I am standing at a busy railway intersection about 50 miles from Frankfurt. There are freight trains whizzing past this intersection every 10 minutes carrying all sorts of industrial merchandize. It's rather hard to cross this intersection quickly due to the frequency of the trains. For a moment you really feel like being in midst of the 3rd largest economy in the world. Germany is booming ,contrary to what is being reported in the press.
- I am chatting with the client sales manager (who is German) before the start of the day's discussions. Tells me his wife loves Bollywood movies and likes Shah Rukh Khan in particular. Pretty amusing I must say. Can you picture a German Sales Manager and his wife eating that hard German bread along with a glass of beer/wine and watching a Shah Rukh flick ? Perhaps this is what makes life interesting I guess.
Belgium
- Standing outside my Hotel @ 7 AM for my cab and see a whole bunch of 14-15 year old school kids. Surprised to find that almost everyone had a cigarette lit up. Hard to believe that in-spite of everything that's been done to spread awareness about the dangers of smoking, so many of these young kids are addicted to it. (Almost 80% of the school kids I saw smoked & this is across genders.)
- Belgium is a small country. Probably 1/4th the size of Karnataka as a whole. However I believe American investment in Belgium is greater than the American Investment in India as a whole. Pretty interesting statistic I think.
Italy
- Never seen a bunch of people who take fashion and trendiness so seriously. Even your average street side restaurant looks ornate. All the men look like models who could walk the ramp with ease.
- Crime is a big problem in Rome. All the attractions in Rome have police presence due to tourists and visitors being routinely mugged.
- Rome has an awesome Metro like most European cities. You can go to most places in the city including the Vatican once you've figured out the different Metro lines.
France
- Paris easily has to be most Romantic city I have ever seen. It truelly has an international feel to it unlike Rome. Couldn't see much of Paris due to just a day's stay there. Easily requires 3-4 days to explore the whole city I guess.
Overall I just felt Europe has so much more elegance and class as compared to the US. There's just so much natural beauty here that you probably require a lifetime to explore the continent. Even the work culture doesn't seem to be as aggressive as the US. (Mind you...they still get a lot of work done.) Add the romanticism of exploring Europe by rail to all this and you have a killer combination. Overall a very positive trip and I can't wait to get back there and explore the places I missed out. So Helsinki, Vienna, Prague, Oslo , we shall catch up shortly.
posted by pentium77 at 2:34 PM
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