Verbier, Switzerland

Verbier is one of the more famous Ski Resorts in Switzerland. It falls in the Valais region of Switzerland.

Transportation

The train network in Switzerland is quite extensive and it is possible to reach Verbier via Public Transportation. If you try to book tickets at the Swiss railways website for Verbier, it shows many stops, e.g. Verbier TV, Verbier Post Office (Station Poste), etc. This can be a bit confusing - as it was initially for us as well. To clarify, it is possible to complete the final leg of the journey from Le Chable to Verbier via Cable Car or Bus. So Verbier TV is the Cable Car station (ideal if you intend to go for Skiing directly on reaching Verbier, esp. in winter). You can also take a Bus from Le Chable, in which case you arrive at Verbier Post Office - the city centre. In general, Verbier is a very small city so you can technically walk to almost any corner of the city - still may not be the ideal solution with luggage and the slopes everywhere.


Le Chable station - from where you can either take the Cable Car or Bus to Verbier


Verbier TV - Cable Car station


Martigny - one of the intermediate cities on the way

Verbier in Summer

Visiting a ski resort makes obvious sense during winter. However, they are not exactly isolated in summer as well. For one, hotel rates are much cheaper in summer. Second, the slopes look very different in summer - very green - in comparison to the snow capped white ones in winter. In summer, the slopes are still open for hiking, picnics, etc. If you do not have the stamina (like us :P) to hike up, you can always take the Cable Car to one of the Ski stations and then starting climbing down leisurely. We saw many people descending on bikes, skateboards as well - something to keep in mind for the more adventurous ones.

Verbier - hiking trail

There are also many cultural activities that are held in Summer. One such is the Verbier Festival held every year where you get to hear and meet celebrated musicians in a very informal setting. We managed to catch Anoushka Shankar's performance this year and were pleasantly surprised to see the 500 seating venue (Church) fully packed with people (mostly non-Indians).

Winter Skiing

We had a chance to re-visit Verbier during Winter 2014. So enjoy some pictures of the beautiful snow capped Verbier peaks ...

Scandinavia cruise (Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen) - Part II

Part I of the blog appears here: Scandinavia cruise - Part I

Stockholm, Sweden

As the capital of one of the most developed countries in the world, Stockholm gives you the impression of a very well-organized, spacious (not over crowded) city with very good public transportation.



Primary attractions here include the Royal Palace. Like in the UK, people here are also very proud of their royalty. Sweden's princess Victoria had recently been married when we visited Stockholm, so there was probably more than the usual share of royal memorabilia to be seen everywhere but it is quite evident that people here love their royalty.



Coming back to souvenirs, toy ships are probably the most common souvenirs here. Our tour guide told us that almost 1 in 4/5 families in Sweden has a boat, so the fascination with boats is understandable.



Finally some photography tips from Stockholm before heading to the next stop. If you are a photography enthusiast like us, do not miss the Stockholm Globe Arena, aka Ericsson Globe. It is currently the largest hemispherical building in the world. What makes it even more interesting are the Funicular rails on the sides that take you to the top - from where you can get an amazing bird's eye view of Stockholm (below).

Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden. It is located along the Göta river coast. A few pictures from the coastline below:

Oslo, Norway

Of the 3 capitals we visited during this trip, we liked Oslo the most. It was raining that day and the city looked lush green in the rain. There is a lot of greenery everywhere and not so much crowd - which is how cities should be. Oslo (Norway in general) is (in)famous for being one of the costliest places in Europe and that shows in the standard of living here.

The most famous tourist attraction here is clearly the Vigeland Sculpture Park. It has over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland.



We also visited the Holmenkollbakken ski jumping hill in Oslo. When we visited in 2010, the jumping station had been demolished completely and was being rebuilt for the Nordic World Ski Championships 2011. Due to its height, it is also a very good place to get impressive (bird's eye) views of Oslo.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Historically, Denmark was the strongest of the 3 countries ruling over Sweden and Norway for many years. Actually, Norway was the weakest till Oil and Natural gas reserves were discovered in Norway and fortunes reversed. We found Copenhagen to be most industrialized but also most crowded at the same time.



More than scenic beauty, Copenhagen seems to be more famous for its sculptures, museums and palaces. The most famous sculpture is The Little Mermaid which is based on Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale by the same name. Unfortunately, the statue itself was on loan to Shanghai when we visited Copenhagen - so they had set up a live video feed where you could see the statue on display in Shanghai (below).




Gefion Fountain, Copenhagen

Scandinavia cruise (Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen) - Part I

We took the Royal Caribbean 3-nights Scandinavian cruise in Fall 2010.

Our cruise ship (Vision of the Seas)

The cruise started from Stockholm, Sweden and terminated in Copenhagen, Denmark docking at Gothenburg, Sweden and Oslo, Norway in between. The cruise is ideal to get a feel of Scandinavia though definitely not comprehensive as a day in each of the cities in the itinerary is clearly not sufficient to explore the cities fully - Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen are touristic hot-spots in their own right.

A 3-nights cruise is also a good way to "try out" cruising at a reasonable price (if this your first time), and in the worst case you won't be trapped for long if you get bored. This was actually our first cruise, and we had a lot of apprehensions before boarding

• if we would get sea-sick - we did take sea-sickness medicines with us. 
• if we would be able to eat the food served on board (as Indians, we have a lot of restrictions with respect to the type of food we can each). And, on board a ship, its not like you can wander outside and choose from the wide variety of restaurants available. So we actually took some puffed rice with us just in case - yes, we were that afraid and that prepared :)
• if the rooms will have their own washrooms,
• if we will get bored spending the whole day "locked up" in a ship and so on.

Fortunately, all our fears above turned out to be baseless and we really had a gala time on board - which led us to take our 2nd much longer cruise within a year - Adriatic Sea cruise. To briefly answer the above issues:

• Modern cruise ships are really stable and the chances of you getting sea-sick are very very less.
• Cruise ships, at least Royal Caribbean ones, have a wide variety of cuisines available for each meal including Indian. There are also 24hr cafes where you can get sandwiches, cakes, pizzas whenever you feel like. And, the good thing is that "all food" is included in your cruise price - so yes, eat as much as you like. And, you would not be the only one if you gained a few pounds on the cruise.
• All rooms are fully furnished with their own washrooms. 
• There is no way you will get bored. Each day (well, almost every day)  the ships docks at a new place with new things to explore. Even on those days where you sail the whole day, there are various entertainment options on board including shopping malls (with great deals!), cafes, casinos, you name it. There are also day-care options for children so parents can relax a bit.
• And, before you ask it, YES Internet is available but it is very costly. So think of it in a positive sense that it actually gives you an option to disconnect from the "connected" word - which is highly recommend while on a cruise with family.

Our Cruise bedroom

Ship interior

Theater inside the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Details of the stopovers in this itinerary - Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo and Copenhagen in Part II of this blog. Coming soon!

St. John's, NL, Canada - the most easterly point in North America

St. John's is a small scenic Canadian city on the Atlantic coast. It has the distinction of being the most eastern point in North America (see the sign below). That makes it the closest to Europe - London is only 5hrs by flight from here.

Signal Hill

Because of this strategic geographical vantage, St. John's is also where Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless transmission in Morse code. The place is referred to as Signal Hill.

Atlantic coast

St. John's allows you to be very close to nature. You can basically walk around the Atlantic coast for hours. There are many hiking trails and national parks nearby. Of course, proximity to nature has its disadvantages as well, esp. in terms of weather conditions. Winters here can be really chilly with minimum temperatures dropping to -15-20 for most of the winter months.

City, University & culture

St. John's is the capital of Newfoundland & Labrador (NL). NL was one of the last provinces to be integrated into Canada. Because of their mixed heritage, people here have a strong (Newfoundland) accent which is different from the general Canadian accent. However, that does not stop people here from being very friendly and welcoming towards foreigners.

St. John's can in many ways can be termed as a "student" city with around 20, 000 students (out of St. John's 100, 000 population) enrolled at the local university here - Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN).

There are around 250 Indian families here. They also have their own temple which is quite an achievement for such a small community. Do visit it if you get time! Get in touch with the Indian association@St. John's for further information: Friends of India  

Iceland - glaciers galore (Part II)

Part I of this blog appears here: Part I

Collection of pics on Flickr: Pics

To continue on the 'Places to See in Iceland' from Part I of the blog.

Þingvellir National Park

The last but not least marvel in the Golden Circle tour is the Þingvellir National Park where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates plates meet. So you can technically cross continents and come back the same day - which seems truly remarkable if you think about it!

Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon

Floating icebergs are a sight to behold. There are many small and big glacial lagoons in Iceland. Jökulsárlón is probably one of the largest and easily accessible close to Reykjavik (1.5 hours drive).
It is interesting to note that even at such places, the temperature is not freezing at all - definitely cold but very tolerable.
To give further proof of its 'awesomeness', major Hollywood action movies including A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Tomb Raider and Batman Begins have been shot here.

Blue lagoon

Blue lagoon is geo-thermal spa close to Reykjavik (~45km). The idea is to spend a relaxing time swimming in the crystal clear mineral rich hot springs of the region. There is a small indoor cafe and you can rent bathrobes, towels, slippers on reaching there. It is ideal for a half day morning tour.

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

We reserved the nest for the last. Aurora Borealis feels like a truly amazing spectacle when you see it for the first time. It appears as if someone has basically painted the sky 'green' for you.
 Unfortunately, as with all good things in life, you need some luck and endure some hardships to experience this phenomenon. First, the night sky needs to be absolutely clear (no clouds). Second, you need to be in a place which is (almost) completely dark (no streetlights even).

From personal experience, our 'Northern Lights' tour was canceled the first day as the sky was cloudy. The second day, the tour happened but we only managed to catch a glimpse of it - that too after waiting for more than an hour in the freezing cold.  Note that it can get really chilly in the night, so be prepared! Of all the weird things, it was actually our feet which seemed to have completely frozen while waiting. So warm clothes are not sufficient, get 'warm' shoes also. Finally, it was on the 3rd day, where we had a private tour guide who drove us around quite a bit before we were able to enjoy it in its full glory.

Even then, we did not manage to take a picture of it :( So coming back to the tip of bringing along a good camera with you, be sure to get a 'good' camera with a tripod.

Till then, here are some (external) pics of Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) for motivation: Aurora Borealis Pictures

Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption

Volcanic eruptions are another natural phenomenon you can try to experience in Iceland. Of course, it is really difficult to plan for them as they do not occur frequently and at regular intervals for our convenience. And, they can also be really dangerous.  

However, if and when they occur, the local tour companies do seem to promote "Volcanic tourism" with daily trips by helicopter or special jeeps that can take you really close to the eruptions. We were actually in Iceland between the Mar 27 and Apr 14, 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull. The Apr 14 eruption was the one that led to large-scale disruption of flights over European airspace, and we were quite lucky to have avoided it. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit the eruptions up-close and below is a pic of the eruption from far below.

There is also another glacial volcano 'Katla' in the neighborhood which is considered more active than Eyjafjallajökull, with its chances of erupting in the near future quite high. So it might be worthwhile to keep an eye on its activities if you want to be at the right place at the right time.

Iceland - glaciers galore (Part I)

If you are only interested in the pictures (which is quite natural):
Flickr link

Iceland is a nature lover's paradise. Iceland is like reaching the end of the world, literally! If you are looking for a place far far away from the hustle bustle of daily life, and also away from the hordes of tourists  flocking the usual touristic hot-spots in summer, Iceland is the place to be in. Of course, this also means that Iceland is NOT the place to be in for tourists who enjoy crowds and look forward to the place's nightlife.

Tips:
- Don't forget to bring a good camera with you or you will regret it later (and don't tell us that we did not warn you!).
- Can get really cold during night even in Apr, so be prepared.
- All advertised tours do not operate throughout the year.  Tourism in Iceland is still developing which also implies that there are often too few tourists for the group tours. So please confirm beforehand with the travel agency who can then also arrange private tours for you (for an additional fee) if required.
- One of the primary attractions of Iceland is the 'Northern Lights' (aka Aurora Borealis) and it is mostly seen in winter. So this might also influence your travel dates.

Travel

Travel to Iceland is expensive. There are no direct flights from major European cities (Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich) to Reykjavik (the capital of Iceland). You will have to change in either Helsinki or Stockholm. Iceland is in Schengen, so while your Schengen VISA will be sufficient to visit Iceland - the trip would be very expensive esp. because of the lack of direct flights.

However if you are already resident in Europe or US and wish to take a transatlantic flight, then it might be worthwhile to lookout for discounted deals to visit Iceland. Because Iceland is almost midway for most transatlantic flights, they usually offer package deals which include spending a few days in Iceland in between.

Places to see

Iceland is a place of natural wonders. Simply driving along the country side is a visual delight (see the pics below).

A very popular tour here (which almost every 'average' tourist takes) is the 'Golden Circle' tour. The tour is not very costly (~70Euros per person) and it allows you to cover a lot of wonders in only half a day - so it is efficient both from time and cost perspectives. Highlights of the tour include:

Strokkur geysir (hot springs)

Hot springs are an interesting natural phenomenon and seem quite remarkable when you see them for the first time. You will basically see columns of water shooting high up in the air from time to time. There are actually quite many in Iceland (you can even see them close to the road while driving - the pic below) and we were told that there is some serious effort ongoing in Iceland to harvest this energy.  

One of the stops in the Golden Circle tour is the Strokkur geysir where you can see hot springs shooting water up to 30 meters in the air.

Gullfoss (Golden Falls) waterfalls

Another marvel in the Golden Circle tour is the Gullfoss waterfalls. We have been to Niagara Falls, however that in no way affected the impressiveness of Gullfoss for us. In a way, Gullfoss can be considered as the "wilder" cousin of Niagara. Surrounded by civilization and easily accessible, Niagara doesn't give you that "wild & dangerous" feeling. However, you very easily get that feeling here when the river Hvítá falls straight into a rocky crevice some 30 meters deep.

Kerið volcanic crater lake

The geology behind the formation of this volcanic crater lake eludes us now, but the crater is still quite deep and impressive. More scientific details here: Wikipedia.We understand that one of the specialties of this place is that the volcanic rocks are 'Red' here in comparison to the usual 'Black'.




To be continued ...

Corsica - the land of white cliffs

We visited Corsica in Aug 2009. Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea between France and Italy.

Napoleon was from Corsica and politically Corsica is  part of France now. So a Schengen Visa is sufficient to visit it. The best way to reach Corsica is via Marseilles, France. There are regular flights from Marseilles to Ajaccio (the capital city of Corsica). There are also ferries from Nice, France and Sardinia, Italy to some of the cities in Corsica. So if you are in Nice for the Cannes Film Festival, Corsica would be a very nice stopover before heading back.



Corsica was one of those very rare places we have visited till now where we did not find an Indian tourist.  This is probably because there is no McDonald's here as well (the refuge of the average Indian tourist). The touristic crowd is predominantly French and Italian. Thus if you are manage to reach this far, you will be in all likelihood be one of the very few Indian pioneers to have wandered here. Of course, that also gives you better bragging rights when you return home as compared to visiting the tried and tested places like Paris or Rome. We can assure you that Corsica is indeed a hidden gem and you will have no problems in findings things to reminiscence about on returning home.

On a more serious note, English is not so prevalent here  and you will only find French/Italian restaurants here (with even the menus in French/Italian). So do not forget to take a English-to-French dictionary with you.

Bonifacio

While Ajaccio is the capital, Bonifacio can be considered as the main touristic city. There is practically no public transportation here so either you drive or take a taxi. The city itself is quite small, so walking is definitely a viable alternative though the cliffs may dampen your spirits. Of course, the cliffs also allow you to capture amazing views of the coast from above (below).





The hotels here are on the expensive side as they cater only to tourists. There are no business travelers here as Corsica is a "conserved" state with virtually no industries. Most of the people working here are also seasonal who only live here during the peak (summer) touristic season.

Corsica played an important role in the French-British wars and hence the fortress walls surrounding the city (below).




In the evening, Bonifacio transforms itself into a chic maritime city with many cafes, restaurants, shops along the coast. There are usually local musicians playing in the streets transforming the whole evening atmosphere into a very relaxing/soothing place where you will easily forget all your worries. So get your best summer dresses out and just chill!

Lavezzi Islands

From Bonifacio,  there are numerous ferries that take you to one of the many small islands nearby. One such option is the Lavezzi Islands. Corsica can get pretty hot in summer and the island provides tranquil conditions to spend most of the day under water, sleeping on your sail boat (the perfect summer pass time) or enjoying a picnic on the beaches.

The ferry trip also allows you to enjoy some more spectacular sand cliffs on the way.

Sardinia, Italy

Of course, if you have a little more time in hand, or would simply like to continue your trip to Italy - you can take a ferry and cross over to Sardinia, Italy. The journey time is around one hour and there are daily excursions from Bonifacio that make it possible to go and come back the same day. The ferries (operated by Moby Lines) are actually quite big (pic below) and also allow you to take your cars with you.