Welcome to Switzerland !

We left Dubai airport for a seven hour journey to Switzerland and it goes without saying that I was all excited. For, I had heard of this beautiful country and many who had visited it earlier always said one thing - it is a place to be felt and experienced. While I waited to catch a bird’s eye view of Swiss, a pretty air-hostess of Emirates did a big favour to me. She ensured that my glass was kept brimming with Budweiser beer :).

It was a seven hour journey and all we had was, few magazines and over hundred movies loaded in the small television sets fixed in front of our seats. I and my wife Nidhi flipped through some English and Hindi movies before dozing off. A slight shudder woke me up and strange as it may sound but I could feel the fragrance of maple trees found all over in Switzerland. ‘Finally I have reached the place called ‘heaven on earth,’ I thought and looked down from the window. It was all green down there.

All I could see was few wooden mansions and lot of greenery. It was indeed a treat for my eyes that were fed up of seeing concrete jungle in my so-called green city Vadodara. The flight landed at Zurich airport by afternoon and we were expecting chilly winds. Surprisingly, it was a bit warm – probably around 20 degree Celsius. I got a first look of Swiss and I must say I was stumped. The air had a certain element of freshness – something that I never felt back in India.

Our exit from the airport was as smooth as the landing. We walked out of the lounge and headed towards a small automatic three-bogey train that took us to the conveyor belt. Our luggage was waiting for us. Suddenly a shrill voice came from behind, ‘kya aap meri madad karenge (Will you please help me). I must say that these Hindi words seemed more sweet and courteous in Switzerland than back in India. A frail old Indian lady was seeking for my help to pick up her luggage and put it on a trolley. I obliged and we walked out of the airport.

Captured Switzerland on way in Swiss Rail

Little did I know that a hilarious incident was waiting to happen. Nidhi and I walked up to the main road outside the airport that was abuzz with vehicles. We waited at the roadside on a footpath for a while to let the cars pass by but in few minutes we lost our patience – the 10-hour journey had sucked out all the stamina off us. I held Nidhi’s hand and put my foot forward to try and cross the road. And, suddenly all the cars coming in our direction stopped at a distance. Surprised, I took my foot back and thinking that I did something stupid. I was too nervous to step on the road again and so we both stood there for few seconds. But the cars refused to budge from their positions.

Suddenly my eyes caught some movement in one of the cars. The driver was waving at us and signaling us to cross the road. Gosh! I realized that the cars were waiting for us to cross the road so that they could move on. Unbelievable – I thought, even as images of honking and screaming cars and two-wheelers back inIndia started playing in the front of my eyes. A co-traveler later told us that all the car and two-wheeler commuters in Switzerland show respect for pedestrians by allowing them to cross first. Welcome to Switzerland!

Honeymoon Travels… (The journey begins)

When I saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge during my college days, there was one thing I fell in love with apart from the movie’s songs and Kajol. The scenic landscape of Europe – especially Switzerland. The green country side and beautiful wooden houses always fascinated me. I had dreamt of touring Switzerland ever since. So when my fiancée – now wife J – suggested Switzerland as our honeymoon destination, I was excited. A perfect location for a perfect occasion, I thought.

We applied for tourist visa at the Swiss Embassy and thought our application will sail through. Of course, we did get the visa – but not before facing some nervous moments. The embassy guys wanted our marriage pictures before giving visa and we were supposed to leave just two days after the marriage. Thankfully, we got the visa a day before our flight. And, here I was on Emirates flight that took off from Ahmedabad international airport in the wee hours of June 22, 2011. Me and Nidhi (my wife) were very excited. Instead of opting for a group tour, we had decided to explore Switzerland and Dubai on our own. Once we landed in Dubai, we to travel and survive on our instincts.

It was about 8 in the morning when we landed at Dubai international airport where we had to spend three hours before boarding a connecting flight to Zurich. Must I say that I was dazed with the sheer enormity of the airport that seemed like a centrally air-conditioned mini-city. Hundreds of boarding zones, dozens of diversions and number of checking in counters. One had to keep eye on instruction signboards constantly to stay on right track. Nidhi was very hungry and so the first thing we had to do was change currency notes from dollars to dirham. Thankfully, the airport has plenty of currency exchange counters. A 100 dollar note was converted into dirham and our hungry stomachs took us to a Mc Donald’s restaurant. Nidhi being strictly vegetarian, we started looking for veg options.

There was only one – veg burger L. I shelled out some dirham notes and asked the guy on the counter to count them as I didn’t quite understand the currency. One thing I learned immediately was – never convert foreign currency into Indian rupees or you will die of stress attack. One dirham is equal to 12 Indian rupees. We bought two burgers for 28 dirham that when converted into Indian rupees made Rs 140 for one small burger J.

While munching on the veg cheese burger I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by people from almost every country of the world. Right from Chinese, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis to Europeans, Americans and Africans. I felt like the airport was one big global family. Not even for a moment we felt alienated as people around us were very helpful. Even if they didn’t understand English, they would give us directions in sign language and with a warm smile. The brief stay at the airport was very engaging and thrilling.

We took a round of the airport, did some window shopping and headed to the Emirates flight that was waiting to take us to the heaven on earth – Switzerland.

Honeymoon Travels… (The journey begins)

When I saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge during my college days, there was one thing I fell in love with apart from the movie’s songs and Kajol. The scenic landscape of Europe – especially Switzerland. The green country side and beautiful wooden houses always fascinated me. I had dreamt of touring Switzerland ever since. So when my fiancée – now wife J – suggested Switzerland as our honeymoon destination, I was excited. A perfect location for a perfect occasion, I thought.

We applied for tourist visa at the Swiss Embassy and thought our application will sail through. Of course, we did get the visa – but not before facing some nervous moments. The embassy guys wanted our marriage pictures before giving visa and we were supposed to leave just two days after the marriage. Thankfully, we got the visa a day before our flight. And, here I was on Emirates flight that took off from Ahmedabad international airport in the wee hours of June 22, 2011. Me and Nidhi (my wife) were very excited. Instead of opting for a group tour, we had decided to explore Switzerland and Dubai on our own. Once we landed in Dubai, we to travel and survive on our instincts.

It was about 8 in the morning when we landed at Dubai international airport where we had to spend three hours before boarding a connecting flight to Zurich. Must I say that I was dazed with the sheer enormity of the airport that seemed like a centrally air-conditioned mini-city. Hundreds of boarding zones, dozens of diversions and number of checking in counters. One had to keep eye on instruction signboards constantly to stay on right track. Nidhi was very hungry and so the first thing we had to do was change currency notes from dollars to dirham. Thankfully, the airport has plenty of currency exchange counters. A 100 dollar note was converted into dirham and our hungry stomachs took us to a Mc Donald’s restaurant. Nidhi being strictly vegetarian, we started looking for veg options.

There was only one – veg burger L. I shelled out some dirham notes and asked the guy on the counter to count them as I didn’t quite understand the currency. One thing I learned immediately was – never convert foreign currency into Indian rupees or you will die of stress attack. One dirham is equal to 12 Indian rupees. We bought two burgers for 28 dirham that when converted into Indian rupees made Rs 140 for one small burger J.

While munching on the veg cheese burger I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by people from almost every country of the world. Right from Chinese, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis to Europeans, Americans and Africans. I felt like the airport was one big global family. Not even for a moment we felt alienated as people around us were very helpful. Even if they didn’t understand English, they would give us directions in sign language and with a warm smile. The brief stay at the airport was very engaging and thrilling.

We took a round of the airport, did some window shopping and headed to the Emirates flight that was waiting to take us to the heaven on earth – Switzerland.