Mummelsee

In the last weekend of April, we decided to make a day trip to Mummelsee to watch the autumn colours before we left for our annual India vacation. Mummelsee is a small but beautiful lake in Schwarzwald or Black Forest in Germany. Well, winter started early in Germany and we got to see winter wonderland instead of fall colours. Mummelsee is only an hour and a half drive from our place and is beautiful in all seasons. The drive to Mummelsee through Scwarzwalderhochstrasse is scenic. The lake is in the middle of a pine forest. It is better to carry warm clothes even in summer as it can be a bit chilly.

Schwarzwaldhochstrasse - On the way to Mummelsee

There is a restaurant right next to the lake and couple of take away places. The restaurant serves authentic German food, which I do not particularly like because it consists mostly of meat preparations. But they serve really good cakes and we indulge ourselves in the rich cakes every time we go there. This time, we ordered some käse spätzle as well, in the hope that Sunshine would eat it. But I ended up eating it. It is just a kind of pasta with melted cheese, but was quite tasty.

There is also a souvenir shop right next to Mummelsee which has a decent collection of cuckoo clocks, dolls that are typical of this region and even German cheese and sausages.

It is possible to walk around the lake or up the adjoining hill and we usually do when the weather is better.

This is just the right place to get the 'Black Forest experience' especially when short on time

Thekkady

We visited my parents in Kerala in November during our annual India vacation. They took us all on a trip to Thekkady - a reserved forest area with a beautiful lake in the middle. The drive there was rather long and tedious with winding roads and unruly traffic, but the destination was worth the pain.

Thekkady Lake

Our accomodation was the best part of the trip -Lake Palace, Thekkady -  it was in an old palace which belonged to the Travancore royal family on an island in the middle of the lake. A short boat ride through the lake brought us to the island and our accomodation. The lake is one of a kind; it has old tree stumps all over the place, making it look a little eerie, but charming. The island was so serene and since we were the only guests there, we had the place to ourselves. Sunshine and my sister's son ran all over the manicured lawns and well kept gardens while we sipped on tropical juices and relaxed.

We went on a boat trip later, in the hope of spotting wildlife, especially tigers since it is a tiger reserve, but had to return disappointed since we spotted only a few deer and bisons. The next morning, the forest officer promised to take us on a hike through the forest. We all got ready in the morning and set out. The forest officials took us on a path which was on the edge of the forest. Again, we did not have much luck and we didn't spot any tigers. A part of me was happy about it as I am scared of wild animals and the fact that there were two toddlers with us only added to my fear. I did get attacked by some wildlife however - leeches. When I discovered a couple of them latched to my feet, I created quite a scene screaming and jumping all over the place. The forest guards reassured me by saying that they were not dangerous at this time of the year and that I discovered them very fast. Later, everyone discovered atleast a leech or two clinging on to their feet and we all applied generous doses of odomos before proceeding. Others hardly reacted when they found their leeches and I felt a little silly, but they were truly disgusting.

The Lake Palace

I was happy to be back at the palace for a sumptous breakfast. I don't think I am going for a wildlife advanture anytime soon, but I did enjoy the lake and the island and its palace. Back on mainland, we took an elephant ride which everone enjoyed except me and my two year old nephew. We were both terrified and while my nephew was wailing openly, I would have done it too but for the mocking I would have to face from everyone if I threw another tantrum. Sunshine enjoyed it the most; I guess he felt like a true maharaja riding his elephant.

Grindelwald

It was a quick weekend getaway planned at the very last minute as I was not at my fittest. And we had three brilliant sunny days nestled in the foothills of the majestic Alps.
During our first year in Germany, we used to visit Switzerland almost every other weekend. We were so enchanted by its beauty. It is for sure one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Despite several visits, we have never once taken the ever popular train to Jungfraujoch, top of Europe. This time, we decided to drive to Grindelwald although we have been there several times and Papa and Mummy have been there last year as well. Grindelwald is full of beautiful chalet hotels and holiday apartments and it is difficult to make a bad choice. Although we have been booking only apartments for all our recent vacations, this time we went for a hotel.
We reached there on Friday afternoon and went for a stroll in Grindelwald. Three Apline mountains - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are visible from Grindelwald. The views are beyond decription and can only be experienced. It is so heavenly to wake up in the morning and look at the majestic peaks - one can only marvel at nature's glory. Another amazing thing is, how sunny and bright it is - in all my visits, I cannot remember a single cloudy day in Grindelwald.

On Saturday, we saw an Indian movie being shot in Grindelwald. The hero was old enough to claim the senior citizen benefits and the heroine was probably a teenager. They were doing some ridiculous dance steps on the road and quite a few people were watching and having a laugh. We drove to Strechelbach to take the cable car to Mürren via Gimmelwald. It is quite cheap at just 21 CHF per person and totally worth the money. There are many farms at Gimmelwald and several hiking tracks for the fit and athletic. We just had a lazy stroll in the almost car free village. I say almost car free because we saw a few agricultural vehicles and a couple of beat up all terrain vehicles on the roads. One can sit down on the old benches on the hiking trails and soak in the spectacular views of the mountains. There are a couple of restaurants offering very cheap fare as well.
It is possible to hike to Mürren and to several other villages from Gimmelwald, but we took it easy and took the cable car. Mürren is another quaint little alpine village and there are more hiking trails there, some going all the way up to Schilthorn. But that is for someone looking for adventure and with Sunshine, his pram, Papa, Mummy and our own tired feet, we wanted nothing more adventerous than a stroll in the village. We had our picnic lunch and Sunshine drifted off to sleep after all the 'hiking' that he had to do. The rest of us continued our walk around the village and then sat down for coffee on the terrace of a cafe from where we could watch paragliders. In summer, the region is full of sport enthusiasts - cyclists, hikers, paragliders and I felt like a couch potato even though I was outdoors all the time.
On Sunday, we decided to take an easy hiking trail in Grindelwald and enjoy the mountain air before driving back.

Sweet tooth

We had to drive back on Sunday, but there was just enough time to once again indulge our sweet teeth at one of the Viennese cafes. We went to a cafe chain called Oberlaa and had brunch there; and ofcourse our coffees and hot chocolates and most importantly, our cakes. We bought some Sachertorte for later as well. The funny part is, it didnt really survive until much later. We ate it up all during the drive back.

Rainy day

Saturday was a wet wet day after a night of thunderstorms. So we decided to spend it indoors in museums. We visited the Hofsburg Palace which was the winter residence of the Habsburg dynasty. It was a huge palace and part of it is currently the sear of the President of Austria.

Hofburg Palace

The first of the museums that we visited was the silver collection which housed the very grand and very vast cutlery, crockery and other tableware, kitchenware and household utensils that belonged to the Habsburg dynasty. The collection was magnificent and many pieces were extremely beautiful as well. Mummy, Papa and I took the tour and left DH and sunshine behind partly because DH is not interested in any kind of museums and partly because Sunshine would get bored.

An exhibit in the silver collection

The next museum was the Sisi museum, also housed in the Habsburg Palace. It depicts the story of empress Elisabeth who was a renowned beauty, but led a very tragic, reclusive life. There were several personal items on display - things right from her infancy to her death. The displays and the intelligent lighting in the museum captures the enigma of all accepts of her personality - an extremely beautiful empress who was a restless soul, a misfit in the imperial society, a rebel, a poet, a slave to her own beauty and finally a depressed, melancholic woman who withdrew from public and her own family. While I was fascinated by the museum I was happy to get out because it was a bit depressing.

The next museum that we visited were the imperial apartments, which were the actual rooms that were occupied by emperor Franz Joseph and empress Elisabeth. This felt like any ordinary museum especially after the Sisi museum which captured my imagination. The emperor lived in a quite spartan surrounnding as he was apparently not very interested in luxuries. The empress' rooms were slightly more luxurious and she even had a personal gym, but they were also not out of the world.

By the time we finished the tour of the three museums, the weather had cleared slightly and Sunshine had his nap on DH's lap. We drove to the Wiener Riesenrad which of one of the earliest Ferris wheels. By the time we reached there, it started drizzling again. So we couldn't do nothing much except some souvenir shopping. Sunshine got to take a ride on the banging cars with DH and it was time to retire for the day.

Outdoors

On Friday, we woke up very late, since Sunshine also slept in, to a brilliant morning. After a quick breakfast at home, we packed enough snacks for Sunshine and drove to the Schönbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Austrian monarchy.
It was such a glorious day and we didnt want to spend it indoors. So, we skipped the palace tour and went straight to the vast palace gardens. It is so huge and divided into several sections with each section featuring a different style of landscaping. It was too vast to be covered in one day, atleast at our pace, so we did not rush ourselves. We just wandered around aimlessly soaking in the beautiful day outdoors, lazing around on park benches. Sunshine chased countless ducks and pigeons, screamed 'hosh' every time he saw a horse drawn carriage with tourists and threw stones into the fountains. He is an outdoor boy and is happy anywhere in the world as long as it is sunny and he gets to run around.

Gloriette

After spending most of the hot afternoon in the garden, we decided to walk to the monument Gloriette which is on a small hill across the palace. On the way, we stopped at a cafe and indulged ourselves again with some local delicacies both sweet and savoury. At the top of the hill, one gets a beautiful view of the Schönbrunn palace set against the backdrop of the city. We spent some time there enjoying the view and letting Sunshine explore around.

Schönbrunn Palace

We called it a day rather early as all of us were tired after all the walking around.

Gruess Gott Vienna

It was yet another long weekend in a series of long weekends here in Germany. Thursday was a holiday and we took Friday off and drove to Vienna for four days. It was about 7 hours drive with a couple of breaks. We had booked a small apartment very close to the Ringstrasse, where all the cafes and most tourists can be found.
After checking in, we headed to Stephansdom, the ancient cathedral and probably the most important landmark in Vienna. The square next to the cathedral, Stephansplatz, is lined with many cafes and all of them were brimming with patrons both local and visitors. We took a table on the terrace of one of the cafes and it was so close to the church that it was like sitting in the churchyard. The square was full of street artists and small crowds around them. Sunshine ran after the pigeons on the square while we drank our coffees and had our cakes. Vienna is a cake lovers paradise with an amazing variety of delicious cakes and pastries available in numerous cafes dotted all over the city. So much so that Mummy who is a vegetarian decided to eat cakes as long as she is in Vienna. ;) Papa, Mummy and I stuck to the most famous fare, sachertorte  while DH had a cardinalschnitte.

Stephansdom

We had a lazy walk back to the apartment through the cobbled streets and past many old and historic buildings and had frozen yoghurt on the way. That is right, we eat a lot while on vacation (and otherwise as well;)) although one would never guess that by looking at DH. After visiting so many European cities with well preserved historic buildings, we seem to take them for granted. I remember in the initial days, when we had just moved here, we would click so many snaps in front of every building and take the trouble to find out what it was. Now, we just walk past them although we still enjoy the flavour that they bring to the city.