Voting in the Elections 2009

I am a disappointed person since yesterday. I couldn’t cast my vote in the General Elections. I did so want to ...in fact I was desperate, but it seems that my form was rejected and my name NOT included in the electoral rolls.
Some one commented..."even if you do get to vote, you have to vote for a buffoon!!!"
That’s not the point. If the politicians realize that it is going to be the urban educated population that goes out to vote they will rethink...they will know that they are going to be taken to task so they will do something for their constituencies.
Now they know, even if they do nothing for 5 years, just before the elections they can lure the unaware poor & uneducated voters by just distributing booze and one sari. They know that it’s not the aware that decide the winners, but the poor and they know how to get the votes from them.
We should not think that its only a single vote...coz if we all think like that, it would an important part of the vote bank that does not vote.
Every vote counts...and I believe (optimistic that I am) that we can bring about a change and that is why I ran with my friend in the blazing heat from one booth to the other to figure out where she can vote!
As Mahatma Gandhi once said "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history".

Almost Single

Recently I was in Alipurdwar, where my friend and her friend insisted that I should read 'Almost Single'. The author is alumni of my school, so loyalty to a fellow Welhamite demanded I read this book.
I was stuck at Siliguri airport due to bad weather and managed to complete the book in a couple of hours. I won’t say anything about the book. The reason being simple...recently a visitor to my house saw the book lying around and wanted to know what I thought about it. And I couldn’t remember for the life of me what I read in the book...and that is so NOT like me at all. If someone asks me what I think of a book like Kite Runner, I can point out the exact sections which I liked the most, what moved me, what I didn’t like etc.
Someone has rightly said "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."

Manic Screaming

The moment I heard the name of the book –"I heard God Laughing" I knew I had to get a copy...
It’s obvious...with a name like that and the fact that it was not readily available at any of the bookstores!!!

It’s a collection of Hafiz’s renderings and each one is a gem... deeply passionate and always very inspirational.

One of my favorites -

God is trying to sell you something today,
But you don’t want to buy,
That is what your suffering is:
Your fantastic haggling,
Your manic screaming over the price!

Never buy a car you can’t push

Among some other interesting phrases from a recent forward was the following –"Never buy a car you can’t push"
Have been contemplating changing my car...initially I was damn keen to buy a CRV.
Don’t know what was going on in the mind of the person who designed the underground parking in my building...it has sooooo many pillars. That kinda held me back. It’s not only me, but many of my friends also find it difficult to park the car. So much so that one of them told me...you really do need to rethink the CRV!!!
And now after reading this phrase, I am thinking... I definitely can’t push the CRV...but nor can I push a Honda City or Ford Fiesta (my other preferences)!
So does that mean I should but a REVA...or maybe a NANO? Naaaahhh... I’ll just stick to my beautiful Santro...not that I have ever tried pushing the Santro!!!

Getting around in Egypt – Nov 2008

One of the things that is worth mentioning about my recent trip to Egypt was the various kinds of mode of transport / moving vehicles that we got to experience.

Starting with the flight from Delhi to Cairo followed by a mini bus ride to our hotel and then dinner on a floating restaurant on the River Nile.

At the pyramids the next day we enjoyed Camel rides and later in the evening we took a train from Cairo to Aswan.

Next we boarded the ship for the Nile River cruise.

To visit the Philea temple, we used motor boats from Aswan.

Another mini bus ride…but this was different. To visit Abu Simple one has to join a policy convoy at 3:30 AM (!!!!!) and hundreds of buses interspersed with police vehicles move across the dessert.

Tonga Ride at Edfu to visit the Edfu Temple.

Hot Air Balloon ride was next on the cards at Luxor from which we got to see the Valley of the Kings, the two colossus of Memnon, the East Bank etc.

Later in the evening we went for a Felucca ride. Felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used along the Nile. It was a really beautiful evening - the sun was setting and a cool breeze was blowing…

At Hurghada the first day we went for Glass Bottom boat ride in red sea where we managed a few glimpses of the many varieties of rare fish and coral reefs.

So 2 of us decided to go snorkeling the next day so that we could get up close to the rainbow colored fishes and Coral reefs in the Red Sea. The safari boat that took us to the sites was bigger than the glass bottom boat, but smaller than the ship and so qualifies for a separate mention in this write up.

And all this in 9 days!!!!

Calvin and Me!

Hobbes: "Shouldn't we read the instructions?"
Calvin: "Do I look like a sissy?"

As I read this Calvin snippet I couldn't help but smiling as I remembered some recent incidents.

Very sweetly I had asked a friend to help me set up my cuckoo clock...even as he read the instructions I had already ripped open the box and was several steps ahead of him.

As he said...now do this...I was like...ohhhhh already done that, what next? But before he could finish reading the next step, I had already experimented and completed some other steps...not necessarily all executed in the correct order.

A few days later we were setting up the Wii. Remembering the look I got when the cuckoo clock hadn't worked I decided to sit patiently and wait for his instructions...

Honestly I tried, but several steps later I realized...there I was on my own trip, not waiting for his instructions but optimistically just trying to plug all the wires and accessories and hoping it'll work!

My Power Packed Fun Filled Sabbatical

Last year I decided to take a sabbatical from work for 4 months...there was some apprehension...I had been working since 1997 and I often wondered...would I get bored, feel unsettled and thrown off balance since the discipline in my life would be gone...

But it was one helluva busy time for me...now I wonder how I managed to pack so much in such little time...

I landed in Delhi from London on 2nd Oct...
For 4th Oct and 9th Oct I had scheduled two of my MBA semester 3 exams...
In between I was running around trying to organize a trip to China and the visa.
10th Oct – 19th Oct I was off to China- Shanghai, Beijing, Xian and Guilin.
27th Oct was Diwali, which is generally a busy time in Delhi. More so last year my sister had just opened a boutique in Delhi and she was loaded with orders as everyone buys new clothes during Diwali. So there I was running around with her, trying to get dupattas dyed, buying buttons, laces, kinaries etc...
28th Oct I went to Chennai for my annual medical check up...there I decided to see the dentist too, who advised me to get 2 of my wisdom teeth extracted for which I had to stay put in Chennai till 6th Nov. Returned to Delhi on 6th evening and 8th early moning I was off to Egypt. When I returned from Egypt on 17th I was like –"I am in a state of constant Jetlag"
18th Nov my sister had planned for us to go to Amritsar – to visit the Golden Temple and do some sourcing for her boutique. As if that was not enough we decided to stop off at Jullandher to meet my cousin. I hadn’t seen her kids for ages and thought I should make use of this time to catch up.
Returned to Delhi in the wee hours of 21st. Then I got barely 10 days in Delhi before we (sister and I) were off to Chandigarh and Patiala for some more shopping for her boutique. In between all that shopping I decided to meet up with a school friend after 19 years!!!! I just wanted to do soooo many things.
Returned from Chandigarh on 4th Dec and 9th I left for Gandhidham to be with my parents. I guess this was the most relaxing period of my holiday, though here too I found enough to do. I managed to catch 2 days of the 'Rann Utsav' – a desert festival with lots of cultural programs and folk dances.
Then we visited Lakhpat which is small town with a historical Gurudwara – Guru Nanak visited this site on his way to Mecca. The relics are kept here and the room where he stayed is a Gujarat heritage protected site so no changes are allowed to be made to it. It was sooooo beautiful.
And finally I decided to get my parents 2 storey house painted!!!
To Delhi on 28th Dec just in time for New Year and my 4th semester exams on 3rd and 9th Jan.
14th Jan I was off to Alipurdwar to meet Namrita - In between learning to cook, visiting the forest reserves and guest houses and a desperate hunt to see a Wild Rhino, I also managed to order some furniture for my house from Siliguri.
Returned on 24th and 30th I finally came back to my own nest in Bangalore!
As I look back I think – Whew...that was some power packed holiday and am I glad to be back to my routine life!

The Balance of Nature

I always feel that we humans take everything for granted, believe that we are so damn superior, and don’t respect the environment and nature...
Many a times I have wondered what must the wild animals think of us? Are they wild or are we wild???
I just love this one!

Shanghai, China - Oct 2008

On an impulse I sent a message to Sumitra on 28th Sept...what if I want to go with you on the China trip leaving Delhi on 10th Oct? I didn’t think she could pull it off considering I was returning to India only on 2nd Oct. She had only 7 days and moreover it was the Chinese National Week and the embassy was shut till 7th, but she was quite hopeful. So fingers crossed, I sat and waited for the visa.
Well I guess crossing one’s fingers works...coz there I was at the airport for the flight to Shanghai where I met some 20 other women all dressed in shades of pinks (as with all WOW trips).

I was walking with Uma at the Shanghai airport. As everyone made their way to collect their baggage, she was like I don’t have any baggage...only this backup that I am carrying. I was like...wow this woman travels light! I wish I had a snap of hers as we were checking in at Beijing on our way back home. She shopped and shopped and bought gifts for everyone including her building chowkidar I think!
As I looked around I saw Vidya with a trolley bag and I thought ...looks like they all travel light...when suddenly I see her pulling a biiggg suitcase from the conveyor belt :-)
Little did I realize at that point how valuable that suitcase was...with its MTR’s and snacks...without which us vegetarians (vegiterraneans as per Chi / vegetables as per Mary) would have probably starved.

The Shanghai airport was quite impressive. In fact the infrastructural facilities across China were excellent…and made me thank my stars that they have a problem with the English language. Otherwise all the BPO and IT work would move there.

Shanghai is also called the Paris of the Orient for it is supposed to be very fashionable. One day around and I would call it the Land of Duplicates. You can get a duplicate of everything here, including the Guide – as Chi herself pointed out as she was not a native of Shanghai really but from some province in Western China!

After check in, Sumitra wanted to go pick up some local wine for our WOW evening later. That was when we got our first shot of the LANGUAGE PROBLEM. We tried everything to explain Rum, Gin, Vodka, and Rice Wine to them. This included enacting drinking and giving a tulli look. But it didn’t really help. Finally she picked up some local drink.
And this was in Shanghai, which is supposed to be quite cosmo!!!

Our first meal in China was a dinner at Shanglin Teppanyaki. Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle (teppan) to cook food, frequently with the teppan located in the center of the diners' table. I guess I was too excited with the whole concept and clicking snaps that I paid less attention to the food. Someone even commented the vegetarians are too busy clicking snaps while the non-vegs are too busy eating the food! There was some complaining but I enjoyed this meal. It took about 3 days for the food to get on my nerves!

After dinner Chi took us to this place where she said you get the GOOD DUPLICATES of all brands...she was sooooo convincing and so even though we were tired we agreed...guess she wanted us to loosen our pockets there before we saw that the stuff is being sold by even street vendors at every corner in China. Whoever shopped here later realized that it was expensive and we still didn’t know that in China one has to bargain like crazy and drop the prices by 90%!!!

Next day began with a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple followed by the Shanghai Bund. The bund means the Shanghai skyline. Chi was so proud of it and many people liked it. But I thought – this could be anywhere in the world. In fact that is what I felt about Shanghai as a whole. While most people preferred Shanghai, I personally liked Beijing more. People felt that Beijing was soooo dead, Shanghai was alive. I agree but that is the case world over. The financial capitals be it Mumbai, New York, London will always be bustling cities. But it will be the smaller towns (not that Beijing was small) which will have a character of their own.
Post Chinese lunch – food still good (read tolerable!), we went to Yu Garden. At the entrance we saw 2 imposing lions very similar to the ones outside our hotel. Infact later we realised that statues of lions are seen at the gates of all the imperial palaces, official residences, temples, tombs. This represents a male lion on the left with the right paw on a ball - the symbol of unity of the Chinese empire and a female lion on the right with a cub under the left paw - a symbol of offspring. The garden itself was a very quiet and elegant place with old trees, beautiful flowers, ornamental ponds and flower walls. There was a very interesting stone carving of a dragon that sat on a wall.

Next was a visit to a tea shop for a tea ceremony – basically they make you taste different kinds of tea. The dried flowers teas are quite nice - it was quite amazing to see the chrysanthemum flower open slowly as it was infused with the hot water.

After shopping and testing our bargaining skills in the bazaar that has developed around the garden, we went for some more sightseeing which included a visit to a silk factory.

Post dinner (Imp note: food still good!), we went around Shanghai to see it by night as Shanghai is said to come alive at night. The highlight was the view of Shanghai from the Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel on the 88th floor of the Jin Mao. There is a very interesting building right next to it - the Shanghai World Financial Center building which looks like a beer bottle opener! It was made like that with an aperture at the top to reduce the stress of the winds.
Here I managed to win over a Japanese fan – he seemed to be impressed with my photography skills as I experimented with clicking Parul’s snap with a top-down view of the atrium. We both were literally leaning over the window and believe u me the results were quite good :-). He even wanted a snap with Parul and me!!!
That day Chi was wearing a really short dress...and as she modeled and walked in her stylish way towards the entrance, one man literally followed her making a movie with his handy cam. She just turned, smiled and said to him "you have to pay me for that!"
I guess Chi thought we still hadn’t had enough of Shanghai so she took us to a posh part of Shanghai, the French settlement area called Shin Ten Tee for coffee. And it was like we were actually in Paris or somewhere with the outdoor cafes and stylish boutiques.
All this was not really a part of the itinerary but Chi just wanted to show off Shangahi.

Apart from the usual stuff next day like the Shanghai museum and Nanjing Road, what the vegetarians loved was the Indian Lunch (yippee) and what bought smiles to everyone’s face was the ride to the airport on the sleek and fast Maglev train - it rocketed to 300 kph in two minutes flat and as the LED continuously blinked and informed us of the speed…we reached the max speed to 430 kph. It was an amazing experience as even at that speed, the train was sooooo smooth.

With this we bid adieu to Shanghai and Chi who in her typical dramatic style said…Chi not cry and you not cry!

Our guides in China - Oct 2008

4 cities, 4 different guides...all deserve a small write up before I actually write anything else on my trip to China.
At the Shanghai airport we were greeted by our very, very cute and stylish guide, Chi. Someone liked her dress, someone her hairstyle and someone else her bag...she personified the saying that Shanghai is the Paris of the Orient.
In the Chinese language it seems that for every alphabet there are 4 or 5 tones. And when she spoke she emphasized on the different tones with fulltoosh facial expressions and hand gestures… sometimes it seemed we were attending some theatre!
She taught us the Chinese numbers using the hand .And the way she taught us, I don’t think I will ever forget. I wish I had recorded it… her hands gestures were soooo illustrative. E.g. 6 is the thumb and index finger pointing like a gun. So Chi says – "six...like a gangster shoot" and her index finger goes to her forehead and she tilts her head as if she is dead...toooo cute.
She spoke non stop giving us an insight into many aspects of Shanghai, whether it was the property prices or generally what the building was or notes on the famous Shanghai husbands. That she loved Shanghai was evident in the way she spoke of the city.
She really wanted us to love the city too and so was willing to take us around late into the night...whether it was to Shin Ten Tee (don’t know if that’s the correct spelling, but that’s the pronunciation as taught by Chi and her hand gestures indicating which word is in high tone and which in neutral tone etc) or a walk along the Bund or the duplicates market.
Often she would discuss her personal life. Guess that came from the loneliness of no siblings as a result of the one child policy in China, and the fact that she lost her mother when she was very young. As she said, ‘I have no one to share my happiness or sorrows with’ one really felt sad.
One of the other things that I liked about her was the fact that unlike the rest of the guides, who used their American names, she had given up her American name and asked us to use her Chinese name, which she simplified for us - Proud to be Chinese.

From Shanghai we went to Guilin. Kathy was the stark opposite of Chi - short with what as kids we called a boy cut, in jeans and keds, she looked like a little boy- absolutely devoid of style. But what she lacked in style she more than made up for in her excellent skills as a guide. Her time management skills were awesome.
In the morning on our way to the cruise, at one place the road had suddenly been made one way by the traffic police. She tried to get the traffic guy to let us through but he wouldn’t agree. Then she’s asking the driver to speed up as we may get late and when he wouldn’t listen to her, you should have seen her. She started stamping her feet and like the Maglev train she took off in high speed Chinese scolding him...toooooo cute. She was really hassled for the next 15 minutes as she was worried that we may miss the cruise, which I would interpret as sincerity towards her job. It wasn’t her fault if we missed the cruise and these things happen on holidays, but only after she was sure that all was OK did she turn to us and start telling us more about Guilin.
In Guilin apart from the Li river cruise, there were 3 other activities that we could do after the cruise from 3 PM onwards – visit to the Pearl Factory, Chinese Foot Massage and a show in the evening. There were various combinations with Uma taking the cake as she wanted to do all three. And Kathy actually managed to organize that. She left one group someplace, and then took the next group someplace else and then returned to the 1st...Absolutely Amazing.

I guess all good things must come to an end... the next guide in Xian, Mary was one helluva a jerk and weirdo. She was supposed to be an MA in English but her pronunciation was tooooooooooooooooooo funny. The way she put the emphasis and stress on words was sure to give everyone a headache especially the way she said Tang and Dynasty.
She came across as one of those extra chaloo ones...whereas Chi and Kathy were flexible and were open to show/do things outside the itinerary, when we asked this one anything she would feign ignorance or pretend that she couldn’t understand the language.
Her communication regarding our onward journey and luggage arrangements were not correct which irritated many of us, so we decided that we wouldn’t tip her. But imagine her guts...she asked Sumitra for the tip!!!

And finally in Beijing we were to get a male guide Mark. But all our hopes of a good looking hunk were dashed.
Soon we were calling him – ‘on your MARK, get set go’, because he would get off the bus and not even wait for all the tour members to get off and start charging...don’t know what hurry he was in. Since he was at the receiving end of all our irritation because of the luggage confusion caused by Mary, I guess he just wanted the trip to end and pack us off. In fact he left us at the airport 4 hrs in advance. Crazy fellow and as Vidya aptly put it – ‘If I see him again, I’ll smack him’

Calvin Time Again!

I'm off on a loooooooong holiday to India...heading home for a simpler life...
Hope I dont meet a Hobbes on the way to dampen my spirits

Jungfrau and Interlaken, Switzerland – Aug 2008

The next day of our trip started with a visit to the spectacular Mt. Jungfrau (at 3,454m above sea level) or should I say a visit to heaven…

We drove till the town of Lauterbrunnen from where we were to take the cogwheel train to the peak.
Jungfrau was once very difficult to access, but now the Jungfraubahn cog railway runs inside the mountain, up to the Jungfraujoch railway station – this is the highest altitude railway station in Europe.
The train journey from Lauterbrunnen to Jungfrau was just toooooo beautiful. It has some of the most awesome views of snow-covered mountains that you can imagine. Every glimpse of the mountain range had us gasping…and clicking away with our cameras…only about a 100 snaps from yours truly!!!
The train runs close behind the Eiger's north face. The train stops twice on the way for 5 mins to allow the people to go out and enjoy the view from the viewpoints. The first stop was at Eigerwand at 9400 ft. The windows here are halfway up the face of Eiger and have been placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction. This window was used for one of the scenes of the Clint Eastwood movie - The Eiger Sanction.
At the second stop there is a window looking out on the Eismeer…described as the Sea of Ice…and it is like that…
Once at the top, we made our way to the Sphinx. Why it is called that…I don’t know coz it doesn’t look like a sphinx from any angle…but it does have some of the most spectacular views of the Aletsch Glacier. There is a vantage point and that’s where we spent a lot of time just soaking in the beauty of the place – chaste, pure and untouched.
I just felt this need to get one shot from each angle…no matter how many snaps I clicked…it just didn’t seem enough.

As we looked down, we saw these people walking across…its called ice/glacier walking. For one minute I too wanted to be there, but we weren’t equipped with the right shoes etc…and damn the TV. I’m no TV freak but invariably when I do watch TV once in several months I end up watching some adventure/accident on some mountains and I still remember the dialogue from one such episode…"Hell is not hot, it’s cold". And all I could think was what if one of them falls into one of the crevices!!!
Having said that, I still think I want to revisit Jungfrau and try some ice walking!!!
From there we went to visit the Ice Palace…this is 30m under the surface of the glacier and is totally ice and has marvelous life-size ice sculptures. The walk down the tunnel was super slippery and we had to struggle to be on our feet. The sculptures were of course were brilliant – igloos, seals, eagles, kissing seals, bears and what not. There was one, which was a gloved hand that was nicely lighted with blue light…it just stood out.
The Ice Gateway links the Ice Palace with the glacier plateau. It was eternal…like walking in heaven. There was this lady who had got her poodle with her to the plateau and he looked so cute…

After spending some time there we started on our way back…to earth and Interlaken to be precise. Interlaken is in the heart of the Swiss alps, situated between the Lakes of Thun and Brienz and at the foot the famous trio of peaks, the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. Its just one of those scenic towns that one can walk around for hours in…just enjoying the scenery…

Titlis Glacier Park Snaps

I was tooooo busy on the rides to click any snaps...just received these from someone...had to post them!

Mt Titlis and Luzern - Switzerland – Aug 2008

As we reached our hotel in Engelberg, Switzerland we were told…in a very posh tone…it’s a Swiss chalet! It was a very cute place, the rooms had balconies with a wonderful view of the Alps - pic on right is the view from my balcony... but nothing out of the ordinary or exclusive. I was wondering if I was missing something so looked up the definition - A wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions…Am I still missing something here? Isn't that what all houses in snow covered mountains are like?
Anyways, it was a very nice, cosy and comfortable hotel with beautiful views...

The morning plans were a visit to the picture perfect glacier – Mt Titlis. At 10,000 feet, it offers a snow and ice experience on the one of the highest viewpoints in Switzerland.
We decide to walk from the hotel to the Titlis Rotair Station. We had an option to take the coach, but Switzerland is a walker’s paradise…and a photographer’s dream…
My friends always cribbed that I do not take enough snaps on my holidays…but this time even I just freaked out…click, click and click… 500+ snaps for the entire trip (Heidelberg, Switzerland and Paris)

The journey from Engelberg to Mt Titlis is broken into 3 parts…
The first bit Engelberg to Trübsee is a 20 minutes cable car ride in Gondolas for 6 people each. There is just one word for the view – breathtaking. The famous cowbells ringing in the pastures below accompanied all this.
The next bit is a 5 mins zip up from Trübsee to the Stand from where you get on the final lag…the famous and first revolving cable car of the world– Rotair. A unique experience that should not be missed …the majestic panorama of Mt. Titlis region as you stand in the cable car, the floor of which rotates once around its own axis.
As I reached the summit, I thought do such places really exist? It was AWESOME.

We then took the Ice Flyer - labelled as a Thriller experience. It was one of those open chair lifts and the view of the glacier crevasses is spectacular.. This chair took us to the Titlis Glacier Park… fun-packed rides on balancers, scooters and sledges on the snow runs are amazing. Luckily the ascent was easy and effortless with the Magic Carpet moving walkways, so we could try several of the rides. I first tried the individual scooter and a balancer… just zipped down the slope, with specks of the snow flying onto my face, I just wanted the moment to last forever…We then joined 4 of the sledges and zipped down…ohhh it was fun. I think that I enjoyed the rides the most and this was my favourite part of the holiday.
From there we went to do a touristy thing….getting dressed in traditional Swiss attire for a photo shoot…the dresses, hats, accessories really were excellent…

From there we went to Luzerne …more of a shopping trip… but there was a bit of sightseeing too.
First to the Lion Monument - The Swiss have a long tradition of supplying mercenaries to foreign governments since they have always been politically neutral.
The Swiss Guards' honor was put to the test in 1792, when--after trying to escape the French Revolution--King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and their children were hauled back to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. A mob of working-class Parisians stormed the palace in search of aristocratic blood. More than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died while defending the palace, without knowing that their royal employers--like Elvis--had left the building.
So the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen was hired to sculpt a monument to the fallen Swiss Guards. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center. It was beautiful…the pain on the lion’s face has been sculpted so well.
Next attraction – the famous 14th century wooden Chapel Bridge over the Reuss River. Whether it was the flowers on the side or the paintings on the inside of the bridge, it was beautiful…

A tiring, but wonderful day …I thought as we headed towards our CHALET!

Black Forest, Drubba Cuckoo Clocks and Rhine Falls, Germany - August 2008

A Picnic Lunch in the Black Forest... so called because the pines and firs are so dense that at any time the ground looks black. In winters there is heavy snowfall and the tree tops are white capped. That is where the Black forest pastery/cake gets it’s name from too!!!
Because winters are very harsh, woodcarving developed as an alternative profession for the farmers when they were locked up inside their houses.
Post Lunch we went to the Drubba Cuckoo Clock Factory. The shop itself is in the form of a cuckoo clock and at every hour the window at the top opens and a cuckoo bird comes out and cuckoos. This is followed by music and the figures just below the window dancing…very, very cute.

We had a demo at the factory and as the person described some of the clocks we just couldn’t help smiling at the ingenuity of some of the designs.

This one above has the most intricate woodcarving and among the most expensive ones.

In this one the concept is a man at work and his wife standing behind him with a rolling pin to make sure he is working. When the clock strikes an hour, she hits him with the rolling pin :-)
There was a selection of Romantic Cuckoo Clocks. In one at the hour, the man and woman sitting on the bench come closer and kiss…

In another one there is a ladder and the man climbs up the ladder and kisses his ladylove who is standing at the window!!
And so many more…can’t describe them all here…but each was better than the other and it was do difficult to decide which one was THE best.

After some impulsive shopping, we went to the Rhine Falls. These are actually on the border with Switzerland. The first view as we descended the steps was awesome. There was also a boat that took you to this rock in the middle of the falls. Climbing up was easy, but once at the top if you look down it is SCARY!!! Very steep and I was so scared while coming down!


And the best was this bit…vada pavs, idlis here too!!!