Europe trip: Part 2

Our coach proceeded to take us through the farmlands of Holland to Germany and the famed Rhine Valley. Rhine Valley, for the uninitiated is in a very pretty setting with a river meandering through a valley and castles on mountains on both sides of the river. The owner of the hotel we stayed in was a woman in a her mid 40s and was as freaky as they get. Dont get me wrong, she didnt do anything, and in fact was extremely kind, it was just how she looked! The dinner was tasty (cant remember what it was:)) and we had a bunch of hats that we donned for a fun filled couple of hours where we played games and sang songs. That was also the night it snowed for the first time in the tour. The snow would follow us for a few more days. More on that later. It was also the only time we stayed in a room that was made of all wood right out of one of the horror movies. Very spooky!

The following day we headed to Munich, the capital of the Bavaria in Germany. On our way we stopped in a place which is famous for its Cuckoo clocks with a very strange woman as the host who explained us the history of the clocks and how they worked, etc.

The townhall in Munich was a grand building and is a must see (didnt get a good photo though). Germany is also famous for its beer and there was also an optional tour of one of the breweries where a lot of people got drunk. After roaming around, we found two options to dine out. One was a place called Taj Mahal which, predictably, served Indian. The other was a Pizza Hut. Its funny how comforting familiarity can be. We ended up eating at Pizza Hut:)

The day after we left for Salzburg, Austria. Its famous for Mozart, its amazing hill top castle and the shooting locale for 'Sound of Music'. To get to the castle we took one of the pulley coaches and the sights of a snow covered Salzburg from the top was truly enchanting. On our way back, we ran into a chap with an Indian looking face. He turned out to be a Pakistani, based out of Kuwait and was visiting Munich for a trade fair. On our way to the base of the hill he got a call from him mom to check if he was covered in enough layers of clothes. All moms- Indian or Pakistani- are alike, we joked!