Current Affairs - 21st October, The Quest for Northern Lights beings

I know I’m running one month back, time does fly. Today, it is one month since I have been here in Barcelona (well, technically not). Even though it has been one month since I have arrived here, I have hardly stayed here. I’ll tell you one shocking fact, I have not experienced a weekend in Barcelona till now J (Surprising, isn’t it?). The thing is that winter is approaching and t will get very cold everywhere, except Spain of course. Being the southern part of Europe, it is comparatively much better and the weather here has in fact been just like that in India, well slightly better considering the ‘Atmosphere J’. Also, I had all my long weekends and breaks in the initial half of my term and henceforth, it will be only 3 day weekends, so I will leave Barcelona for then. Most of my other friends in Europe ask me about what to do in Spain and what not to do in Spain, and my reaction is like, “I’m in the same boat as yours, we’ll enjoy Barcelona together.”

So, basically what I have been doing in the past month has been travelling and more travelling. When I call back home, I generally do not like talking about the studies and other serious stuff, I feel like telling them all the fun parts of travel. However, that has really shocked Dad a lot, he always asks me the question, “Are you really doing an MBA?” Well, his question is totally justified as I have always been on the move; one of the major reasons I have not been in touch. So, the weekday is dedicated fully to lectures and cases and other ‘Ghar Ka Kaam’ (groceries, food, etc.) and planning for weekends and come Friday, I’m out of Barcelona, heading towards another “Must-Do”.

Today starts an unexpected vacation for us. The full time students have their Career Week and thus there are no classes for the entire next week. Combine that with the weekends and I have 10 days off. So, I head off to Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, etc.); the northern part of Europe. They say it is one of the most beautiful places on the earth and we all are really looking forward to it. Mostly, for the Northern Lights, a phenomenon which makes the sky so colourful and so beautiful, that it is considered to be one of God’s most wonderful painting. However, like all good things, this does not come easy. Distance wise, I have to travel 60 hours to the Northern most point of Europe and that in sub-zero temperatures; knowing that I still have only 20-30% chance of seeing them. But, some things are worth the effort.   

So, now I head from Barcelona to Paris to Lille to Brussels to Koln to Copenhagen to Oslo. (It is going to be one looooong ride, but some things are worth the wait.

You must be wondering about the jump from Day 4 to Day 31. Don’t worry, I have not eaten those days away. To make it more contemporary, the days in between will be covered in flash back. As it is, most of them were spent travelling, so I will cover them one by one.

P.S: Here is my (short) Travel Plan Barcelona Sants	Fr, 21.10.11	dep	09:00
Figueres Vilafant	Fr, 21.10.11	arr	10:42
Figueres Vilafant	Fr, 21.10.11	dep	11:06
Paris Lyon	Fr, 21.10.11	arr	16:45
Paris Est	Fr, 21.10.11	dep	19:05
Frankfurt(Main)Hbf	Fr, 21.10.11	arr	22:58	18
Frankfurt(Main)Hbf	Fr, 21.10.11	dep	23:24	4
Hamburg Hbf	Sa, 22.10.11	arr	06:51	11a/b
Hamburg Hbf	Sa, 22.10.11	dep	07:25	6a
Koebenhavn H	Sa, 22.10.11	arr	12:10
Koebenhavn H	Sa, 22.10.11	dep	12:33
Göteborg Central	Sa, 22.10.11	arr	16:17
Göteborg Central	Su, 23.10.11	dep	12:42
Oslo S	Su, 23.10.11	arr	16:45

Travel Summary:

Departure: 21^st Oct 9 am

Arrival: 23^rd Oct 4 45 pm

Total Travel Time: 55 hours (Northern Lights, if I don’t see you, Bahut gandha Katt Jayegaa Yaar)