Just so we are clear, this is not one of those "pitchers" you order at restaurants. This is a drink for one person!!
Made by king Ludwig II. This was his 3rd and final castle but he never finished it and died mysteriously.
This is supposedly the MOST visited castle in the world with over 1.5million tourists every year.
Walt disney modelled disneyland on this castle which made it immensely famous.
The castle is fine really. Although the rooms do feel a bit cramped (as palaces go)
The view from the top though is breathtaking. Especially if you (like me) manage to get here in the winters in the snow.
You must eat here but eat less on the main course because the speciality is the bavarian cream and you must try that as the dessert.
Its heavy but the 1+ mile climb to the castle will burn them off. If u STILL have some left then the steps in the castle will burn those off.
Ofcourse then there is also the business of climbing those steps down and walking down back to the car park.
Notice how the flower pots don't have plants but trees!
Nice clear sunny day today. Hopefully won't freeze to death. Outside temperature an hour ago was zero!
Apparently even the snow fall in germany is efficient.
All around the road but not on it. Life goes on.
He tells me its been snowing here. Snowing!
Cursing mumbai some more.
You cannot BUY serious warm clothing there!
I looked for 2 days!
See you on the other side. Hopefully.
Its been a while since I've done some serious fiddling with my laptop(s) so atleast a new OS install was due.Santana row seems to be a real nice place!
Called lorie's diner near union square. Don't miss the bike on the ceiling!!
People want to get a great computing experience wherever they are because they r using them in more and more locations for more and more things.
This is possibly the biggest reason of iPhone's success, great internet on the go capability. Ofcourse, this experienced over wifi coupled with 3G in their next version could hammer the nail in tablet and UMPC's coffins
Except that these probably cost an arm, a leg and your two kidneys all at once :)
Damn the weather. Its rainy all day today but thankfully sunny for the rest of the day!
Maybe the golden gates bridge won't be all cloudy although I do hear it looks rather dramatic that way - with the bridge disappearing into the clouds and stuff.
Just outside my hotel and damn! Its raining for the first time!!
Hopefully sfo will be better!!
Fortunately, travelling Jet so the experience is really good :) no one does hospitality like Indians, whether it is hotels, airlines whatever.
Strangely enough, a Jet brochure said brussels was rated as the best airport in 2006.
So far, I can see stained seats and dirty carpet making it look more like bhopal than brussels.
I guess no one bullshits like Indians too! :)
Gotta get ready and go to Gitex!
About the only 2 things I hadn't seen in Paris were the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried and Notredame.
Now I just haven't seen the cemetery.
Notredame is famous for its artistuc stained glass which has survived despite the attack on the cathedral which almost demolished the building!
Better photos when I reach my next destination - dubai!
Dinner was at Royce, a terrific restaurant right off Champs de elysse.
Must go back when I'm not numb and tired!
Apparently this was built by launching a design competition at some French president's whim.
A danish guy won it and so now u know why it looks more like a hollowed pastry than a "monument'
It isn't even that tall! Ust a 110 metres. Propogandists say it looks like a 4 dimensional hypercube projected in a 3dimensional world.
That's absurdity of cosmic proportions!
To its credit though, despite being almost 20 yrs old, it doesn't look its age. At all!
The two vertical sides have offices and the rooftop has an exhibition centre.
Looks right at home in La defense and u could argue its the modern version of arch de triomphe but then, la defense is so out of synch with rest of paris that this along with the whole region is a monstrosity.
10 on 10 for urban planning but minus several million for architectural beauty.
No parisian architecture, just the regular high-rises with lots of glass so if you were to suddenly wake up here, you won't be able to tell whether this is Paris, New York or even London for that matter.
Even worse, this is the only place I have seen in Paris where the sky is grey and not the usual lovely blue.
I want to be out of here!
Lately though (past 2 trips) I've seen them being bitten by the "airport modernisation" bug. Perhaps we are exporting more than just silk and spices
On my way to the hotel to crash into bed. Have to go check out the la defense arch at night!
Oh and I'm famished.
While I don't actual figured CDG definitely seems bigger in size but most of that area is quite wasted and not really for use by passengers.
DIA on the other hand makes super use of the space available splitting the sitting and eating areas and the shops.
I wish they had somewhere to sit on the ground floor. I could sit and lust at the cars in peace without making my leg muscles give all hope of rest and aching beyond what I thought was muscularly possible..
Ok boarding time!
On Emirates this time and MAN do they know which planes to buy. The economy seat had so much leg space that the person sitting next to me could get up and move about without actually having to wake me up. This was really good for him because this flight being a 4am flight meant I was at my sleepy and cranky best and the last thing I wanted was for someone to ask me to get up cuz he can't hold it on a 2hr flight!!
Dubai airport, much like the city never ceases to amaze me. Built out of land reclaimed from the dessert, this place is living example of man's technical genius and a sensible government's will to make things better for its citizens and visitors.
Quick trivia - 40% of world's cranes are in Dubai!
1 hour stopover till my connecting flight to Paris.
I'm going shopping!! Would be crazy not to! :)
An absolute must experience to sit and have coffee here at 6AM.
No crowd, no traffic. THIS justifies the outrageous property rates this location commands
Usually, I like to, as they say, close the loop. If I start something, you can bet I am going to finish it. And if it is you who started it, .. well that's another story. However, there are some things that I did start or wanted to start but never finished and this book is top of the list (the others being learning to play the guitar and taking classes for French)
Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance: There has never been a book that I started reading and left unfinished. Never. Heck, I even went through an entire Nancy Drew! But ZATAMM is the exception that proves the rule.
Believe me, I started this book 3-4 years ago and I still haven't finished it. It's just too boring, I cannot figure out what the author is trying to say! I kid you not, everytime I try to read it, 5 pages is the maximum before I am hit by sleep like a steam roller.
Cleaning the shelves today, I found this book again. It is sitting in front of me, taunting me, daring me to read it and I can't. It's too boring.
Oh wait.. It's 2 in the night, I should be asleep but I'm not. Heck of an excuse to read it! As for the guitar classes, they will have to wait but I will hopefully start french lessons this Saturday. Look out for future posts in French!
Bonnuit mes amis!
The recent Al Qaeda threats to Indian brought back a thought that I had long forgotten. Why is the world looking for Osama Bin Laden?
Well, the world isn't actually. It's mostly America and the ease with which he and his "colleagues" are shooting videos, they aren't doing a terribly good job of looking either. Unless, we talk about looking the other way!
Digging up some information on the web, it seems that the US isn't looking for Bin Laden in connection with 9/11 at all! Surprising, you would say?
Here is the REAL reason why they are looking for him:
"Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people."
So they want him for attacks which killed 200 people but not the one which killed just under 3,000 people? Baffling.
Here's the thing, in nearly 6 years since 9/11 we have not had one shred of evidence which linked Bin Laden or Al Qaeda to the attacks. Al Qaeda hasn't owned up to the attacks. It is simply been the US government that has been claiming Bin Laden's involvement, without proof.
I am not saying Bin Laden is a saint but this certainly is food for thought.
The recent Indo-US nuclear deal has not gone down with our friendly neighborhood Al Qaeda and has resulted in them threatening us with "attacks" I don't know who the Chief of Propaganda at Al Qaeda is but he/she(?) clearly has misunderstood how things work in India so let me spell it out for him/her.
We don't care for your threats. Frankly, we don't even pay attention to it. Why? Because we have been battling terrorists and people have been dying because of that for far too long for us to be too worried about you. You are just another name on the long list we have.
When you say this attack will be bigger than 9/11, we are less than impressed. In terms of casualties 9/11 wasn't that big really. Total number of casualties including pilots and plane passengers was under 3,000.
In the past 10 years, in J&K alone, 40,000 people have lost their lives. That's an average of 4,000 per year in one state alone.
Then there is Punjab, the North east, the south and ofcourse, the preferred destinations - Mumbai and Delhi.
A very rough guesstimate would put official annual terror related fatalities at around 7,000-10,000.
So please don't go around telling us how you will kill thousands of people and expect us to shiver. We know what that tragedy is like. We have been fighting it for over a decade already.
And here's the funny bit. Al Qaeda's tape threatening India made less news (in India) than another recent tape threatening the US.
Bring it on.
