Luckynumber13_Chai

Very similar to Germany, but more of a young population. The native language is german and that is what is widely spoken in shops, public transport and the streets. Very pretty and well maintained architecture and buildings, following the Gothic style. 1. Wien is the traditional name for Vienna. Wein is wine in german. 2. We went to an interesting beer place called Mel's craft beer, that had 400 kinds of beer. The place was super busy in the night and it was very difficult to get hold of the waitresses. 3. You can drink tap water in Vienna. Well, in the whole of Austria for that matter. 4. All shops remain closed on Sundays, as it is considered a family day. Everyone gets their shopping done on Saturdays or weekdays. 5. Well planned city with great connectivity. You will find trams running even in small streets. Other modes of transport include Metro, Bus, Autobahn and Ubahn. 6. You can get a glimpse of the Danube river, which is the longest river in Europe and flows thro...

  G . E . R . M . A . N . Y Expect to hear people communicating in German ONLY, adults and children alike. In public transport, the announcements are in german. The boards and hoardings are in german. German is everywhere. Why else would you call the country Germany, you may wonder. Well connected transport network with a variety of options like Metro, ubahn, sbahn, bus, etc Very organized cities. Separate tracks for bicycles, vehicles and walking . Disciplined and independent people. Beautiful countrysides. We were lucky to have lived in a few of them. Beer and local breweries. You can indulge in a life of beer-drinking everyday. Breakfast is normally bread, bread and a lot of bread.  Another common item is weisswurst (sausage). They make interesting currywurst. And oh boy, if you are a pork lover, then you have landed in the right country! Gluhwein (or Mulled wine as they call it in the UK) was a blessing for t...

Fly smart. Save more. It is a Friday and surprisingly not too crowded in the flight. Most of the so-called premium seats with extra leg room (for which they charge 100dhs extra) were unoccupied. So here was my chance to go and take a nap, whenever I wanted, during the 6 hour flight. I just had to be alert and not go into deep sleep, as these seats were close to the emergency exit door.  Few of the surprises were: Free food was served in this low-cost flight. You could watch movies for 35dhs. You could watch TV shows, listen to audio and also play games for 15dhs. You could easily spend an hour or two reading about the various destinations that Flydubai flies to and get an idea of what to do and see there. You would not expect well dressed and pleasing crew members, with such a cost-saving experience. And that's precisely what you get too. The temperature inside got too warm for comfort at times. That’s when we noticed that we were overdressed with thick woolen ...

There she was. A little over 90 cms and big adorable eyes. Talking in a cute UK accent "Mama, can we eat ice cream today?". Who wouldn't melt and run to get a bowl of ice cream for her. But her Mama did not budge. She took her aside and hushed something in her ear. She nodded and went back to playing with her friend and toys. It is close to dinner time. The cute little voice asks for something again a while later. "Mama, can I have a banana?". You would think her mother would go grab a banana to give her, but she still does not budge and says NO. The first thought that goes into my mind is"How cruel can parents get?!". I would be thrilled if my daughter asked me for food, whenever she was hungry, instead of me running behind her to feed her and waste 15 hrs from my 24 hour schedule. Since we were holidaying, we were always on the move and I did not get a chance to maintain the usual routine of food and feeding for my little one. Either we had to ...

You think you are brand specific? Think again! We were in the York designer outlet and window shopping, when we observed a long queue at one store. In my country, you would think they were giving out free food & beverages, when you see a queue that long. The store was Ralph Lauren, one of the most popular clothes brand in the UK. There was a guy (like a bouncer), controlling 2 long queues, on either side of the shop. I used to think that bouncers only work in pubs/discs and was amazed to find one here. His primary role was to allow only a certain number of people into the shop, so that it doesn't get crowded and the customers can peacefully shop, while the rest of them in the queue patiently wait for their turn to get inside. When a good number of people leave the store after shopping, he opens the chain and lets in another set of people. I truly admired the patience of those staying in the queue for a long time, just to get into their favorite brand shop.  In India, wo...