Sayantan Mitra

Shutterology

Sayantan Mitra

An amateur photographer, with a serious zeal for travel



Europe August 29th 2009

Well, let me be honest here, frankly speaking : Smoking is the second best thing about Swiss Rail Travel. First comes the Railway itself. Sparkling clean trains, always arriving and departing on time, great railway stations with all facilities (Toilets are pretty expensive though !), very courteous staff, and beautiful ladies as co-passengers ! My tryst with Swiss Railway started the moment I arrived in Basel from Frankfurt. First the confusion : Basel is a very Interesting place. It lies on the "3 Countries Border", which means - Basel is at a point where the borders of France, Switzerland and Germany meet ! In fact, there's a place in Basel called Drielenderecke where you actually get to stand at a point from where you can see France on your left on the left bank of the ... read more

Europe » Germany » Hesse » Frankfurt July 30th 2009

What are you looking for ? Getting a Schengen Visa was as tight as a Muay Thai fight ! Several follow-ups, written explanations, phone calls and documents later, we finally got that shiny sticker pasted on our passports. And, it almost got ripped off !..How ? ...Read on.... The Kolkata airport interiors at night is a dream come true for insomniacs. Dimmed lights (not intentional but due to the dust accumulated), soft and soothing music (again, they might be playing Techno, but then - the dust on the speakers makes it sound like a Yanni masterpiece), very scary policemen with very medieval riffles, and last but not the least, the proud office bearers at the immigration counters - very annoyed with their night shifts, and very annoyed because you're flying at an odd hour ! ... read more

Europe » Germany » Hesse » Frankfurt July 29th 2009

Flying to Frankfurt I've never been to Germany before. Might have flown over the territory on my previous trips to the UK, but never really stepped on German soil. This time, we had to catch a train from Frankfurt on our way to Basel, Switzerland. We flew Air India this time. This was my first tryst with the national carrier. Not that they grossly disappointed, but then I was mentally prepared for some motherly care, knowing that this airline simply refuses to retire its fleet of air-hostesses ! I think their aircrafts are much younger and fitter ! We had to connect via Delhi, and I must say the airline did a fair job in keeping all the passengers in their respective corners at the Delhi Airport. The Flight from Kolkata to Delhi carried some ... read more




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