a unique weekend, cherished ...

Another week, and that too with a holiday in between. Unfortunately, my Sunday evening was committed, so I couldn't have made it a 4-day weekend for a long trip, plus with the (in)famous austrian trip still fresh, we decided to play it safe.

Thursday was a holiday, so we went to Garmisch. A very old town at the foothills of Alps, it is better known as the town nearest to zugspitz, the highest peak in Germany. And this is what we were interested it. So off we went, reached there in like 70-80 minutes, and didn't think twice on learning that the round trip to the top and back was worth 39 euros. the narrow gauge train (reminding me more of the toy train in shimla) chugged along the track, but definitely upwards. The worst (and the best) part of the journey was a 6-km long, cold, and often dark, tunnel. We had no idea, the train just kept on going and going. And then it stopped all of a sudden. Bewildered, we got out, and the glare that met us was something special. Snow, snow, and more snow. All around me, till as far as i could see. It was so bright, my eyes were aching. Undoubtedly one of the few good things of life that one can see. We played around in the snow, met another indian group from siemens, snapped photos, until we decided to go further up, this time with a trolley. It went up, up, and up, until u couldn't get any higher, atleast in Germany. We were at Zugspitz, the highest peak of Germany! The sun was so bright there, and the snow so pristine, and the weather so perfect!! It took us quite sometime merely to absorb the details of everything around us. Everything looked so good, so picture perfect from up there, boy!

We hung around there for quite sometime, until it was late in the afternoon. We felt hungry, and moreover, u have to have a really fat purse to dine in a restaurant higher than any other for abt 500kms around. So we came down via the cable car to eibsee, a picturesque (at any rate, picturesque from top) lake. The trolley came down real fast, 1800m in 5 mins!! and my ears and forehead in between the eyes were aching like anything.
We roamed around lake, had an ice-cream, and then decided to return via the same narrow-gauge-khat-khat train. Came back to the bahnhof, got the next train to munich, and the evening was whiled away.

Most people in the office had taken friday off, which was a quiet affair. Saturday morning we set off for Venice. This is a city that hardly needs a testimonial. Italy is the kind of country that would remind u of India, with visible poverty, quite the same weather, and bewitchingly beautiful girls. venice is a proper tourist city, and i m pretty sure that a substantial part of the city's economy owes itself to tourism. venice is famous for its canals, its 'streets', in the true sense of the word, for, the best way of transport within the city is ferries. We left in the morning, and the bus took us right through the heart of Austrian Alps. Sceneries that can only be seen, and registered in the mind, not easy to describe.

We reached Venice around 1pm. And first went to the most famous spot, San Marco, where we went up a bell tower and saw all of venice, with its waterways and red buildings, from top. The eyes registered everything there is to see -- the magnificent church (i forget the name) next to the bell tower, the famous square with shops all around, people feeding those hundreds of pigeons, and those torturingly pretty beauties.

We next moved to murano, one of the islands around venice, world-famous for glass blowing. A short demonstration convinced us to the same. We came down from there, and decided to go to the places within the mainland (if u could call it so), all along the canal grande. we spent some time at one of the more famous bridges (jeez! what a sick memory i have!) across the grand canal. It was getting late, and dark, and with clouds that were fiercely turning from attractive to threatening, we decided to come back to San Marco. The sight that greeted us was straight out of a 19th century novel. Rows and rows of lights, and traditionally attired (remember Godfather 1?) performers, and a cool breeze, the type of which blows before a thunderstorm. We had to get back to where we landed by 11, and it was getting late, so we immediately took a ferry thru the Grand Canal, and that was an experience to savour. Imagine this -- the lights of the city reflecting from the water, a cool breeze blowing across ur face, and a slight drizzle, and a tour thru the canal in a ferry. An unforgettable 35 minutes. We landed at the main port, decided to walk back to where our bus was standing, becoz the wind was cool and hard and it was not raining as yet, lost our way, blamed each other, found our way again, and reached there just in time for the bus to depart. One final look at the glimmering skyline and into the bus. Slept like logs after a hard day, and woke up only when we reached Munich, around 6 in the morning.

U'd think that the weekend was all but over, but no. We slept for a couple of hrs, had a breakfast, and set off for Dachau. The first concentration camp set by Hitler, and the only one in germany to be made into a memorial, this had always promised to be one of the most unique places of all 3 months. The place was not as gory as i imagined, which makes sense because not many people are as less sentimental as i m, and so even that much was a little too much for some people. We were introduced to a more animal nature of humankind, and the depths that one could stoop to. In the afternoon, the whole place presented such a desolate appearance, as we were walking from the parade grounds towards the crematorium, with a stupid afternoon wind blowing across our faces, jeez! The mere comprehension of the plight of the people there, not more than 70 years ago, is difficult. We were shown a 20 minute movie, which started with the dialogue "no movie of whatever happened at Dachau has ever been made public". The clip was not the most gruesome i have seen, but it was bad enough to find people crying at the end of the clip. The museum, the now grazed barracks, the reconstructed living chambers, all speak of tale, a story not pleasant to any human who has even a touch of benevolence in his heart.

Not utterly, but feeling a touch forlorn, we left the place around 5, also because I had to go to the Metallica Concert at the Olympia stadium. I was getting late already, and the security personnel at the stadium stopped me, because they did not want a camera to go inside. Stupid me! why did i have to show it to them in the first place? But anyway, when i finally got inside, around 6:15, for a show that was supposed to start at 5:30, for the first time here i saw something that did not kick off on time. The atmosphere of the place was amazing. I was sitting almost halfway up, about 70-80 metres from the huge stadium, and there were like 20000 odd people standing in the area in front of the stadium, where the soccer pitch used to be (obviously covered for this occasion). Rock fans in all colours, sizes, and shapes, the place had a frenzied appearance. Finally the show kicked off with the SLIPKNOTS, a screaming, face-painted, long-haired and head-banging variety of rockers, who i hated right from the start. So different from the shouting types like Linkin Park, whose lyrics atleast have a meaning, these guys tried to arouse the crowd using just profanity. I was just hoping that they end this performance and give way to what the people were waiting for. Thankfully, they ended soon enough, around 8 or so, and then there was another lull for abt 30-35 minutes. The METALLICA show started in a way in which none other could have, with a video of 'The Ecstasy of Gold'. The acoustic marvel was all that was needed to get the crowd at its feet. The stadium was charged within seconds, and then Hetfield appeared, with that guitar of his.

What surprised me most was the lack of profanity that Metallica displayed, even when they talked to the crowd. They were as civilized, and as friendly, and as thankful as any can be. The show whipped off with 'Blackened..', followed by some of the other better songs. All the good songs that i knew were sung, and they worked up the frenzy with one song after another. The crackers going off at strategic times during the songs (eg, when the music stops in 'For Whom The Bell Tolls') made it all the more livelier. They briskly worked up the tempo with 'Enter Sandman', the acoustic ballad 'Nothing Else Matters' (this one was a special one, becoz when this was sung, all the lights of the stadium were switched off, and there were like 30000 lighters swaying gently...). People were going crazy, and the ambience was there to be seen, and to be a part of. All the good songs were there, except the 'Unforgiven(s)', from 'Master of Puppets' to 'St. Anger', all thru the 20 years that Metallica has reigned supreme in the world of rock.

When the show finally ended around 11:30, i could feel that this was an event, a show, that had marked my internship period. Whenever i would look back at this time of my life, i would remember this show and the day at Disneyland (which is to come later in this blog) more than anything else. The carnival environment, the clourful people, and the sheer numbers will all add upto the night that i could never have envisaged, even in my imaginations. A thoroughly enjoyable, yet contrasting weekend over, i returned home, cooked something for myself, and slept off, only to wake up into yet another work week.