I was in Germany for two cold and chilly weeks. I was highly excited when i landed there and when my local guide picked me up from the station, even though i was shivering, i could hardly realize that. We talked and slowly made our way to my accommodation. It took one hour, but it took us that long because i was a weekend. We met my landlady, a charming lady, and they both talked and my guide later on translated the things to me. By the way, my guide is a student of the professor i was visiting. He was very helpful throughout my stay in Germany. My room was amazing, much more than i had expected and quite cheap. The landlords were such nice people, both spoke alright English and made me feel more than welcome. They ordered me to stay at their place the next time i go to Germany.
Coming back to the weather, it was chilly, wet and chilly and more wet. There were just couple of sunny days in Germany, but i loved the place. It was absolutely amazing. I was in the city of Dortmund. One might have heard about Borussia Dortmund! it is the local football club. This club has a mad mad following. I managed to attend a game there, what an atmosphere! The game was a nil-nil draw but the atmosphere in the stadium was nothing less than spectacular. The fans were simply right behind the team, jumping, shouting and waving and clapping. Truly Signal Iduna Park has one of the best atmosphere in Europe, I heard that a lot of times but realized it was nothing less than the truth. Just amazing.
During the two weekends I toured the cities of Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Koln. These cities, like most of the other European cities, have not moved for centuries. The city centre has remained and this means the historical places are around the city. This makes tourism easier. I did not have much time for tourism but managed to see the cities by just walking around. Koln especially was so beautiful.
Then i travelled to Vienna. What a city! Pity i had to spend three days in the conference? I would not have had any problem if i had to spend all my days in the conference. The university was nothing like a university. It is a palace. A palace where one hears the echoes of some heavy historical footsteps. Footsteps of Schrodinger, Doppler, Kant, Freud, Boltzmann to name a few. Another important reason being the free-lunch!!! The one problem was the weather, very chilly.
And I am very tired with all I had to do in this trip. If it was just tourism I might have endured, but the stress of the conference and the work in Germany and what i expect when I reach Sydney tires me out. Add to this some bad news from Chennai. I had bad headache last night. I decided to not travel anywhere in Vienna today. Instead I went to the Albertina exhibition. They have paintings of Renoir, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Von Gogh, etc. It was nice to see their work.
But i am resting tonight, because I have a very long travel to Sydney tomorrow.
