Europe Trip - A Travelogue - Part II

Dear Friends,

Thanks for your kind comments and feedback. Here I come once again to share the second part of my travelogue.

Day 3 – Paris – Disneyland

The much awaited day for kids arrived – yes, we were going to Disneyland. Err, did I say kids? Adults were equally excited to visit the Disneyland. Disneyland was such a huge complex accommodating Disney Studios and Disney Park. We obtained tickets for Disney Park which had various rides – adventurous, fantasy, thriller, discovery and what not. There is this beautiful castle which is also the logo of Disney Pictures, in the centre. We went around Main Street USA, the Castle, Centre plaza, and then into Adventure Land. 

Main Street USA and the castle can be seen in a distance

Several caves which were low lit, a few tree houses, hanging bridge, a treasure cave (oh, why do I remember the ‘Nilavarai’ in Ponniyin Selvan when I saw the skeleton among treasures there!!! PS paithiyam eppovo muthi pochu, athaan 😉) and such small fun areas for the scared ones like me (!!).

Treasure cave

However, gathered some guts to go on ‘Indiana Jones’ ride. Little did I realise that it was a roller coaster ride and it has an upside down turn too. We had been served packed lunch by the tour manager and we promptly had it on time. Now with this ride, my first thought was to have postponed my lunch. What would happen if I threw up during the ride?!! Ayyo paavam, mathavanga!!! Thankfully nothing awkward happened during the ride; probably my co-riders had good luck!

Indiana Jones Ride

There were several Disney characters posing for pictures with kids and adults as well, signing autographs and waving hands. We went around a few kids’ rides to keep my little one engaged and happy, like Hatter’s Magical Tea cups, the Maze, Snow white in the dark forest etc. The day was almost exhausted and so were we. We energized ourselves with some ice cream and finally arrived near the castle to watch the grand parade of Disney characters that happens daily. The parade was absolutely brilliant. Each one of us became a small kid while we watched our favourite characters walk across us dancing and singing and entertaining us. The beautiful chariots, ships, coaches were a delight to watch.

Captain Hook posing for pictures

After the excitement of parade was over, we had our own adventure searching for all our kids who were very busy trying out every other ride available. As we moved out of Disneyland our hearts were filled with joy as we had re-lived our childhood for a while. Having our dinner at an Indian restaurant we took good rest at the hotel, as we had a hectic day ahead.

Rapunzel (Tangled)

Turtle Crush (Finding Nemo)

Day 4 – Zurich – Travel

The fourth day started off busy with packing and checking out after the breakfast, as we had a long travel ahead. Yes, we were travelling to Zurich from Paris in the bus which was going to eat up the whole day. Little did we know that travel from Paris to Zurich could be equally exciting! There were two reasons. One of them was the beautiful sceneries enroute – mountains, lakes, farms, villages, and tunnels – absolute scenic beauty. The second reason was we had wonderful fun games throughout the travel. Our young lady Ms. Shobinya had meticulously planned various games engaging men, women and kids equally. The to-be tiresome travel turned out to be so much of fun.

At Zurich City

We stopped in between for short breaks and for having our packed lunch. We reached Zurich at around 7 pm and headed for dinner at ‘Restaurant Indian Palace’. After dinner we checked in to Hotel Ibis Styles Messe Airport. Quite small rooms as compared to Holiday Inn and no Air conditioners were there. Ok ok, I know what you are about to say. You might ask why someone would be in need of AC when in Switzerland. But hey, no, it was quite warm there in Switzerland. We had to keep the windows open to get some fresh air flowing in.

Inside the tram

We were enthused at the sight of tram at Zurich and hence a few of us strolled around in the night, took a tram to Zurich Central and had a small tour of the place. We watched the huge railway station at Zurich as the bullet trains arrived and departed; we walked around the main streets, had a glimpse of the statue of Alfred Escher who is the creative mind behind the railway connectivity to Jungfraujoch, and finally ended our mini tour with ice cream and returned to hotel in tram.

Zurich Central Station with the statue of Alfred Escher

Day 5 – Switzerland – Jungfraujoch

On the way to Grindelwald

Here comes an exciting day ahead. We were about to travel to Jungfraujoch, called the Top of Europe, located in the stretch of Alps Mountains at an elevation of 3,466 metres above the sea level. Switzerland is famous for its beautiful sceneries, snow capped mountains and cold weather. Is that only so? No... The world record breaking movie ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ and many other movies have been shot in Switzerland.

Enroute Grindelwald

The blockbuster DDLJ movie has made tourists to throng to these areas. The highest numbers of tourists to Switzerland are from India, a study says. My dream destination has also been Switzerland right from my childhood when I have heard about the beauty of it. The longingness to visit the place aggravated when I watched DDLJ. Now, it is the time my dream is gonna come true. Much awaited place and yes, I wasn’t disappointed. I was stunned by the beauty both in the plains and on the path while travelling towards Grindelwald.

Outside Grindelwald Station

We took train from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg (I was finding it very difficult to spell or pronounce the names of few places and while writing this, I had to cross check with google to get the names right!!!). Sceneries everywhere around and as we were moving slowly uphill, we witnessed the snow mixed with sand and that delighted every one of us, as we were gonna experience snow for the first time in life.

Kleine Scheidegg Station

Once we reached Kleine, we had to take another train to reach the top of Europe – Jungfraujoch. Within few moments when the train started, it entered into a tunnel for quite some time and finally reached our destination. With all the travel, we first barged into the Bollywood restaurant there to have our lunch. This time vayitrukku unavu first 😊

From the top of Jungfraujoch

Post lunch, we went around to have a tour of Jungfraujoch and oh man, how much were we stunned to see the beauty of the snowy slopes. The climate was quite opposite to the warmth in the hotel we stayed. We secured ourselves with our winter jackets and enjoyed the place trying to capture those moments with pictures, pictures and more pictures.

Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe

We, just like any other kid, wanted to play in the snow and we went out in the open. Oh my, it was so slippery to walk on the snow. Yet we managed, threw snow on each other and had good fun. We wanted to take the rope ride; however, worried about the limited time to finish the tour, we let it go. We consoled ourselves to do it next day while visiting Mt. Titlis.

We went around the artificial ice palace and that was the place that really chilled our spine. No no, nothing scary. Just that it was sooooooo cold and we were freezing. Later we got back to the station to take our train to go to Grindelwald via Kleine Scheidegg.

At Interlaken town - Park

Our next destination was Interlaken, a small town, where many scenes of DDLJ were shot. A park in the town has the statue of Yash Chopra who had been the Brand Ambassador of Interlaken.

Yash Chopra Statue

We took pictures near his statue and also near the fountain where Raj gives a rose to Simren in DDLJ (SRK to Kajol)! Awww... each of the couple were feeling themselves as Raj and Simren 💓💓 The day ended with happy notes after dinner at Maharani Indian Restaurant.

Raj gives rose to Simren (DDLJ movie)
Pic courtesy: The Quint

More snow, more fun, more places - Way to go... Keep watching this space for the next part soon!!

Part I here
Part III here
Part IV (Final) here