ilchicag

Can you believe it? I'm finally in India! It took so long to get here, and yet, now that I'm here I feel like I've been here forever. My sister and I landed in Delhi at 5 AM and immediately were confronted with everything India is known for: noise, people, smells, smog and sheer intensity. And it was only 5 AM! It was a whirlwind - we land, we get into our first mode of transport and are whisked off into the crazy dream that is the Delhi roadways. Despite traveling for virtually 24 hours, being nearly 12 time zones from home... it was hard to sleep the first few nights in Delhi. For one, we were completely out of whack. Our bodies were utterly confused where we were, what time of day it was, and ... read more

For our last day in Germany, Keith and I decided to head down to Füssen, where the beloved King Ludwig II (Mad King Ludwig) built his fairy tale castle, Schloß Neuschwanstein. Ludwig may or may not have been the nutcase everyone made him out to be, but he definitely had a vision when he started out to build Neuschwanstein. It was a pretty fancy place. I can't imagine being the kind of person that has the power, and audacity, to build such a huge castle... right next to the nice castle he grew up in. One castle on the same block wasn't enough??! We didn't make it into the actual castle to take a look inside. We're on our way to Rome via night train tonight so we have to be back in Munich in time ... read more

Happy New Year to All ! We've been having a great time in Germany so far. Since we got into Munich, we've been busy walking the town, seeing the sights, and (more importantly) sampling the local brew. Needless to say, Munich rocks. Aside from the cold, and the persistent grey skies, I can really see why Munich is often placed atop the list of places to live in Germany. It's clean, it's efficient, it's historic and accessible. And while the conversion of prices after the exchange rate isn't the best, I found it actually fairly reasonably priced, even in the most touristy of places: the Hofbräuhaus. The world-famous Hofbräuhaus was the place that we met up with Rob and Rachael after a bit of planning mishap. I hate not having a cell phone in Europe. It ... read more

In our quest to visit both well-known cities and small towns of Austria, we decided to stay the night in Rattenberg... Austria's smallest town. At first, I thought Rattenberg would be off the beaten track. And, to stay there the night probably was. However, Rattenberg's holding its own... mostly thanks to its glass production. The whole region of Tirol is known for its salt and glass. In Rattenberg, salt takes a back seat to glass. Rattenberg on a map looks like a joint between Kramsach and Radfeld, more like a neighborhood than a town in its own right. And while neither Kramsach nor Radfeld are particularly well-known either, it takes longer than five minutes to walk from one end of the town to the other. Rattenberg is truly tiny. When we got off the S-Bahn, we ... read more

I'd like to say that we arrived in Innsbruck sans problem. Instead, we arrived sans luggage. At least I did. And yet, I couldn't be more excited: Keith and I are back in Europe! This is our first time in Austria. Having decided to spend New Years in Munich, we picked Innsbruck based off the fact that it was actually cheaper to get from Frankfurt to Munich via Innsbruck than to go directly. It just so happens that the scenery was worth the trip alone! I had no idea how beautiful Innsbruck would be. I knew it was in the Alps, I knew it hosted the winter Olympics, and I had a vague notion that Tirol was quaint and picturesque. Still, I was very surprised with Innsbruck. From the moment we landed in the airfield (which ... read more