Snow storm!

The White Carpet.

There is quite a snow storm going on in Eindhoven right now. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to walk in its midst for around 45 minutes earlier this evening. It was a pretty exciting experience. I did not really feel cold at all, even though the reported temperature was -2ºC and the wind was pretty swift at 25 KM/h. And I was wearing only my Northface Jacket for protection, no overcoat or anything!

Anyway, it was a lovely walk. The fresh, soft, snow was puffing up at each fall of my foot. I looked back with pleasure to see my deep footprints in the snow. I enjoyed the sight of the virgin snow stretching out in front of me -- it seemed that not another soul had walked my path before me! I watched with pleasure as the snow swirled in the wind ahead of me. It was great to see the sky glowing orange because the snow was reflecting the street light back up into the sky. I really enjoy snowfall, the sharpness of the cold air really wakes you up.

The only unpleasant thing about the walk was the snow hitting my face. The snow was very fine and the wind was quite strong. As a result, after a while it felt like I was being poked in the face by a thousand needles because the snow was hitting quite hard. But I managed to ignore that disagreeable circumstance and overall the walk was very enjoyable. Kudos to a European Winter!

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A Tale of Two Cities

Rotterdam


Rotterdam is the Netherlands second city. It has one of the largest ports in the world and was once a major trading town. The Germans threatened to completely destroy Rotterdam during World War II in order to make the Dutch surrender. The Dutch surrendered, but the Germans razed Rotterdam to the ground anyway. There are very few buildings from the pre-war period.

As a result Rotterdam is quite a unique European city. It boasts of very modern architecture that ranges from being downright ugly to being completely breath taking. Anything seems to go in Rotterdam and the eclectic architectural styles give the city a unique feel. Anywhere you look, you will see some building which is worth looking at for a few moments. That cannot be said for any other city I have ever been in.

I stayed in a youth hostel for one night. I had an interesting encounter there. I was having dinner with a Canadian guy called Bryan who has done quite a bit of travelling in his life. Then some Germans came down and we started talking to them. The Germans were telling us that they had been told by their countrymen not to visit Rotterdam as they might be in danger. It seems that German cars are known to be vandalized and German people are treated with hostility in Rotterdam. I was quite surprised to hear about this -- it seems most unlike the Dutch. Then I just mentioned that it is probably because of what the Germans did during the War. Our German company got very uneasy at the mention of the War. Bryan changed the subject quickly and saved an awkward moment. Later he told me that I should never mention World War II in the presence of Germans. They seem to be instilled with guilt about what happened and get very uneasy when anybody talks about it. I think that this is pretty ludicrous. I wonder how many future generations of Germans will have to live with this un-earned guilt. It is quite sad.

So much for Rotterdam. I did not go out to witness the famed nightlife because on the night I was there everything was closed. It was the second day of their two day Christmas holiday. That was sad. If I had known, I would have re-scheduled my trip to accommodate this information. Here is one more sample of the Rotterdam architecture.


Amsterdam


I find it difficult to describe Amsterdam. It does not have the grand palaces and boulevards of Paris. It does not have the magnificent sky-scrapers of Rotterdam. It does not have the energy and chaos of Mumbai. But its vitality, nonchalance and quaint looks have made me fall in love with it. Just walking around the city for a few hours in the beautiful sunshine got me very excited about life. It was an invigorating experience.

I met some really nice people in the hostel as well. There were two Brazillians in my room, Flavio and Frank. They really had a fun attitude and were always keen on partying Brazillian style. We went to a bar which was playing Spanish music and they really showed me how to dance! The night life in Amsterdam is top-notch, with plenty of options to suite everybodys preference. The next night I met some nice people from Austin, Texas. I think I might join them for the New Years celebration since they have rented an apartment in Amsterdam for that night. That should be fun!

Meeting the many interesting people was one the highlights of my stay in Amsterdam. The other was to see the red-light district. That is really something that must be seen to believed. There was nothing clandestine about it. The girls stand or sit in full length windows and wink and smile as pedestrians go by. It is a large district in the center of the town, so many people just walk through it out of normal course, with their children and all! This openness about what is usually a touchy subject is refreshing. I think the people of India would do well to learn from it. Awkwardness about sexuality can be crippling to the enjoyment of an adolescent life, and people should learn to talk and understand it, because it is perfectly natural and potentially enriching.

I think everybody owes themselves a visit to Amsterdam. It is simply a fantastic city and I will certainly be visiting it more often while I am here. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures.

A few random buildings in Amsterdam.

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Some snapshots from Eindhoven

Here are some snapshots from Eindhoven which attempt to capture things the significant things that have been going on with me in the past couple of weeks.

On the left is the picture of the nameplate outside our office door. It feels nice to see that in print.







A rare beauty! Spotted in Eindhoven just above the space boxes two days ago.













On the left you see a home cooked meal of Pepper steak, potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, and beer.






On the right you see a home-cooked meal of butter chicken. The rotis were not made by me, only heated on a stove and served relatively hard.




On the right you see a great new addition to my space box. These are superb set of speakers which deliver a really mean bass due to that huge, wooden cased subwoofer you see at the bottom. While cooking I crank up the volume and jive away until the meal is done. Cooking can be loads of fun.




A picture of my beloved Mac glowing in the dark.

Snowy Eindhoven -- A view from my window.

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A Walk in Paris -- Part 1

Versailles

I spent a day at the Parisian suburb of Versaille. It was quite a cold day and it was the first time I witnessed snowfall! It was really cool to see my black coat becoming fully white. I really did not feel cold as I was well protected with that coat, a muffler, a hat and gloves. All black and grey, looking chic ;-).

Versailles is home to one of France's grandest chateaus. It was home to the Kings of France from King Louis the XIV. I took a guided tour and learnt quite a bit of French history in the process. I learnt about how the Kings used to use the palace and also about their idiosyncracies. I saw some amazingly decorated rooms and also places where some history was made. For example, I saw the desk from where Louis the XVI signed the treaty which authorized French support for the American independence struggle against the British. I saw a room where Mozart once played. I saw many wonderful pieces of machinery and furniture. For example :

The clock on the left was built in the 17th century. What makes it so stunning is that it can count the time, un-aided, until 31 December 9999. It keeps track of leap years, dates, lunar cycles and all! A truly marvellous piece of technology for its time. I stood there looking at it for quite a while. Classical clock-making is a trade that has declined with the advent of electronics. That is quite sad, because we no longer are likely to see masterpieces such as this.

The chest of drawers on the right is supposed to be one of a kind. The decorations are done purely with butterfly wings and something equally delicate (I can't believe I have forgot that detail!). This chest of drawers belonged to the daughter of the King Louis the XV and was placed in her room. She loved music and as a result the King had Mozart play in this very room for her. Such is the life of royalty!

I ended the day with the walk in the gardens of the Chateau. These are huge expanses of land which the Kings used for hunting. Here are some pictures of the gardens taken from inside the chateau. It was a beautiful snowy expanse!


After walking around in the chateau for a while, I decided to explore the gardens. They were really beautiful to walk in. And my feet made a nice crunching sound on the snow. And as you might be able to make out from the photographs, the gardens are huge, so I had lot of latitude for exploration. As it happens, it was around 1645 and in the winter, the sun sets at around 1700. I started walking, thinking I would walk for only a little while because it was cold and I didn't want to get lost in the dark. But it was such a peaceful walk, and with the snow ahead of me and the trees around me, I just got more and more absorbed in all sorts of pleasant thoughts. Somwhere along my wanderings I spied a pathway to a nice nook in the woods with its own fountain. I went up to it and looked around. I then saw another path which looked very pretty in the dusk, so in my self-absorbed state I started down this new path of pleasure. After a series of similar unfortunate decisions I suddenly realized that I could not see anymore as it was completely dark! And I was surrounded by tall trees so all I could see was the sky. In particular, there was no chance of catching a glimpse of the chateau. Add to my plight, there was not a soul around -- the gardens close at 1700 in winter just to protect agaist people getting lost in them. I had no idea of where I was and no idea of where to go. I had walked up and down a number of indistinct paths, all of which were covered with snow and lined with trees.

But I was not completely out of luck. I could just about a sight a faint glow in the sky at a distance. I reasoned that either it was the chateau which is lit up in the dark, or it is a road of some sort. So after winding through a long series of paths in the general direction of the glow it was with great delight that, after making a turn through the trees, I saw the chateau gleaming in the dark in front of me. It never looked so beautiful. By then it was around 1900 and I was quite cold. I managed one last picture of the chateau in the dark. Enjoy it :

The Lourve


One of the major attractions of Paris is the Lourve museum which houses what is possibly the most famous painting of all time : the Mona Lisa. I must say that I am not a fan of paintings in general. They never move me like music sometimes does. I have never understood what was so great about the Mona Lisa. I thought that if I see the real thing, it might make more of an impact. However, the Mona Lisa was just about as disappointing in real life as it has been when I have seen prints of it. What is so remarkable about it that makes it so remarkably popular is beyond me. Perhaps I am just too coarse-grained in my appreciation of fine art, but I just don't see. I even walked around it from side to side at the prescribed distance of 6 metres and that re-affirmed my opinions on the matter.

I did see some other nice paintings though. Opposite the Mona Lisa is a gigantic painting which depicts a Roman feast. I was more impressed by its grandeur and size than anything else. I did notice something strange about the paintings of the Renaissance Italian artists. Particularly in their depiction of battles. These fine men seemed to identify fierce battles with passionate sexual orgies. I mean in all the paintings which depicted battles there were naked men with armaments, and naked women in all sorts of poses and naked children crying on the floor. I just didn't get it, but they were fine spectacles in themselves. All in all, the paintings at the Lourve did not strike much of a chord in me.

One thing I have learnt from the Lourve, however, is that I love sculptures. I went to the Richeleau wing which houses several busts and sculptures of the French and Italian emperors of the years gone by. They were truly impressive. In particular there was the sculpture of an Emperor Constante tucked away in a corner of some room. I was drawn to it the moment I entered the room. It was an imposing sculpture in marble. Looking at it, you would think the marble was alive and the emperor could unsheath his sword and chop off your head at any time. It was truly a powerful image and if it was meant to inspire fear into the Emperor's subjects then I would imagine that it did an excellent job.

Many of the sculptures I saw were of the same quality. Almost lifelike in their stillness. Gentle on the surface but hinting at some sort of turbulence underneath. I spent hours examining the sculptures and in the future I will not pass up an opportunity to see more of them.

So much for my time at the Lourve.

Still more to come

Over the next few days I will write some more about what I have seen in Paris. Particularly about the Champs de Elysee, the Arc De Triomphe, and the Notredamme. After that I will write about the interesting nights I spent in the youth hostel in the montmarte district of Paris.

Enjoy!

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