Archive for Austria

The guest who never leaves

August 9, 2011 / admin / One comment

Irrespective of whether you stay in five star hotels or budget hotels or really cheap hotels, a hotel is a hotel. That is what I believed in till recently. Somehow, I’ve never been a fan of hotels. I’ve always tried to stay with families or friends or even people I have met on the internet. No, they are not crazy internet stalkers waiting to kill Indian travelers.

Having spent the last few months in a hotel in Austria, I changed my mind. One can feel very much at home in a hotel and it depends on these few golden rules that I have come up with.

1. Known every nook and corner. If its your home, you would know where the kitchen is or the storage room is. It is no different in a hotel.

2. If you feel that its weird to have your bed made when you come back to the room, tell the housekeeping guys to skip making your bed. They get a day off and you get to feel at home.

3. Offer to walk the dog. If your hotel has a dog (in Austria, most of them do as they are family run hotels and its normal to have a pet), that is the sweet deal.

4. Do 10 minute reception duty every once in a while. Answer the phone and say, Good morning ‘you have reached ….’. It makes you feel like you own the place and that helps.

5. Ask for things which are not available in the menu. If they manage to whip that for you, its an amazing feeling. Don’t try to be a pain about it…. do it with a smile.

6. Fall asleep in common areas, like the terrace or the bar. When any one of the staff wake you up, they stop being strangers.

7. Finally, get to know everyone. Receptionist, Chef, Bartender, Housekeeping. Even the guy who rakes the leaves. Not just their names. Talk to them and genuinely care about them as people. They are people doing their daily jobs. Don’t make it more difficult for them.

Once you do that, you’ll realise you can never be a ‘guest’ in a hotel. You are someone who never leaves. Even if you leave the hotel to go back to your city, you will manage to stay there forever. A guest they will miss. A friend. Sometimes, even family. And that’s what you want to be.

Category: Austria, Europe, Fuschl / Tags: , , , ,

Somewhere hot!

July 31, 2011 / admin / 2 comments

The iPhone App for weather is simply the most depressing thing one can look at.  Stuck in the pee-hole of Austria (constant rain in Fuschl), the chances you will see weather forecast as sunny is rare as spotting a kangaroo in Austria. The words that haunt me are Partly Cloudy, Chances of Rain, Mostly Cloudy, Thundershower and Heavy Rain. What is even more ironic is the visual icons depicting weather for the week.

Saturday – Mostly Cloudy and Chances of Rain

Sunday – Heavy Rain

Monday – Clear

Tuesday – Clear

Wednesday – Sunny

Thursday – Sunny

Friday – Partly Cloudy

It feels like the Weather Gods clearly do not know weekends from weekdays.

So, my resolution for vacation this year is as simple as this – ‘Somewhere hot’. I get a week off in August and I am torn between 3 destinations – Greece, Cyprus and Italy. With the economic crisis in Greece, it may not be a bad option heading there, but would I do justice to a place which has history in every nook and corner if I just bum around in the beach. How I hate the tough decision one has to go through to choose a destination for a holiday. The Santorini images beckon me quite a bit, but I want to enjoy the simple pleasures of sun and sand without the guilt of not visiting the Parthenon. Hmmm…. I guess that’s the good part about Italy being on the list. We already did the tourist trail – Rome, Firenze, Pisa, Venice, Milano et all and I guess I could do with one week of sun, sand and pasta without worrying. Then, will I wonder about the vineyards in Tuscany.

I am such a greedy pig when it comes to holidays and the biggest hurdle has always been ‘me’. I need to learn to be in a place without wanting to see everything around it. With just a week in hand, I need a lazy vacation injection. Or, I need another year off to explore the cultural side of every country over and above the beach shacks.  Anyway, after all the rationalization, I have a very strong feeling that our decision is going to depend eventually on the the cheap flights available. So far, the flights to Paphos are the cheapest of the lot and that puts Cyprus right on track. Well, Paphos is close to the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty.  How is that for history at a beach destination? I can’t wait.

Watch this space for where I head to eventually…

Category: Austria, Cyprus, Europe, Greece, Italy / Tags: , , , ,

Give yourself a break everyday!

July 14, 2011 / admin / 4 comments

I was on the phone with a friend last night. It’s been ages since I have been able to take a few minutes out to have a general conversation, which did not include work or the pain of living between two cities. We just caught up on stuff like how much I miss Kingfisher beer, wearing flip flops and how much she wishes there were better Sushi restaurants in Mumbai. So on and so forth. That’s when I realised that I’ve been holed up in my bloody cabin, forgetting the simple joys of life and that I need to get out more.

So, I made a promise to promise to myself. It’s not about killing yourself working for months together and then running away to a beach for 3 weeks. It’s about enjoying everything daily. It is so unfortunate I am bang in the middle of every British tourist’s dream destination, a pretty little lake town in ‘Sound of Music’ Austria and I haven’t made the most of it.

So, here are my 7 resolutions for the rest of the time I spend in Austria. These are not earth shattering things. These are simple gift ideas, ones that I would give myself.  It’s all about giving myself a break everyday.

I’ll get myself a good meal everyday and try everything there is to try in Austria – From knoublauch soups to the wiener snitzels to the strudels of the world. More than anything, I’ll get out for lunch and get home in time for dinner and stop eating stupid vending machine stuff.

I will spend time outdoor. Need I say more?

Hell of high water, I’ll find a way to catch the bloody Post Bus and get to the city for Capoeira.Now, these are people I can call my family in Salzburg.

I will go swimming, even if I freeze my butt. If not, I’ll atleast capture the zillion shades of blue and green on my camera.

I will stomp on the grass, even better try to handstands or cartwheels when no one is looking. I don’t think the office allows people to walk on the grass. But, I shall be very non-conformist about this one, if you know what I mean.

I will buy myself a Deindl, this Austrian frock. Even if I look ridiculous, I need to own one. Shopping maybe therapeutic, if its for something as crazy as this.

I will find the time to write a song for Hotel Mohrenwirt, my home in Austria. I will put it to tune and play the Berimbau and sing it for the staff one day.

And, when I am done with this list, I’ll come up with a new list.

Category: Austria, Capoeira, Europe, Fuschl /

The biggest predicament of living outside India

July 13, 2011 / admin / No comments

Flashback – So, I’ve always had these friends from childhood, school, college, work who all disappeared from India one by one. They went to study abroad, work abroad, marry abroad or just live abroad. Friends in New York. Friends in London. Friends in even Azerbaijan. The charm of going abroad was quite a bit, especially for the South Indians. All I remember was farewells as they all left home. I had never even set foot outside India when some of my friends left for good.

Then, I spent all these years envious of those who had the opportunity to live in London or New York. After all, it is so much closer to Europe and South America. I had this vision of them traveling all the time, almost with a backpack surgically attached to their shoulders. I had a vision of them drinking coffee in little backpacker hostels and missing buses and chatting up immigration officials and trying a folk dance or two. It was all my dream. In reality, I don’t know if many of them set foot outside their city.

I struggled saving money to travel to lands far far away. I made elaborate plans to maximise my time away and squeezed in holidays between 2 media plans at work. But, I managed. Somehow, managed to travel and explore the world. I surprised myself with everything I saw. The last 5 years, living in Mumbai and exploring the world every other month was the best part of my life.

Fast forward to now – I moved from India to UK and Austria. And, you would be surprised how much of the world I’ve managed to see living here. Nothing. Nada. I’ve taken flights from London to Salzburg and back and the occasional miserable transit via Frankfurt, with rude immigration officials. This is the perfect living example of taking the place you live for granted. So, that’s reason 1 to be disgusted with myself, almost because I am letting work overtake my life and losing my fervour to explore the world with it. I have only myself to blame for it. I somehow need to get out of this inertia.

The second reason is not me. It’s Indians in general. From the time I have moved here, the only thing I hear from any of my friends around me is ‘when do you plan to go back home?’. Haven’t you already thought about booking your flights to India. Come on, I just got here and you already want me to go back home for a holiday.  My inlaws visited us. My mom is coming over next month. I skype at the drop of a hat. My closest friends from Mumbai have all either visited me or planning to visit me in London. What is the need to go back? I was thinking about Jamaica or Cuba or the Greek Islands.

So, now it has all fallen into place. The biggest predicament of living outside India is the pressure to visit India and give up the world. I shall not succumb. I am glad the realization set in at such an early stage. Thank you friends.

Category: Asia, Austria, England, Europe, India, London / Tags: , ,

Ode to a Bloody Mary

June 29, 2011 / admin / 8 comments

Was in London for just a day Or two, I think….
Time to do my laundry and clean the kitchen sink.
Enough and more reason to write a stupid song,
One Bloody Mary please, nice and strong.

Spending another Sunday morning at Gatwick…
Too much baggage, Airport life ain’t a picnic!
Weekend’s over, that is so wrong,
One Bloody Mary please, nice and strong.

Some capoeira music and la la humming..
Mentally prepare myself for what’s coming.
Security is a drag and takes so long,
One Bloody Mary please, nice and strong.

Board that flight to Mozartland…
With  hills and music and lakes so grand.
Gonna miss that bloke, that bong..
One Bloody Mary please, nice and strong.

Category: Austria, England, Europe, Fuschl, London / Tags: , , ,
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