Back to India...

My work has now brought me to Bangalore for a few days and I am not complaining at all. Though I missed being with my family during the Durga Puja festival in mid-Oct, I will be with them during Diwali and this is a awesome feeling. Cannot thanks the good Lord enough. Sharing a nice Pronam mantra rendered by Sri Robin Ganguli.

Frankfurt Marathon 2015

The 35th Frankfurt Marathon is underway as I write this post. There has been a huge build up to this race. My live on a road which is on the route of the race, hence when I went down, I saw a lot of spectators standing on both sides of the road and cheering the marathoners up. There were small group of young folks who were playing drums and other musical instrument and these only added to the din and bustle of the street. Here are some of the snaps I took of the event:

Frankfurt Marathon 1

Frankfurt Marathon 2

Frankfurt Marathon 3

Frankfurt Marathon 4

A pause

Today is a Sunday and I am doing nothing. I am just taking a pause and in this state, I wish to ask for nothing to God. Isn't this a right moment to ask "God, give me complete contentment in whatever condition you choose to keep me in; let me wish to ask for nothing."

Came across a fantastic post here on Genuine Yearning and Utter Surrender.

Scenes from Stockholm

My work has brought me to Sweden this week and I have been to two cities in the late two days, the first is the capital city of Stockholm and second, Gotenburg aka Goteborg, 1 hour of flight from Stockholm. Gotenburg is where the headquarters of Volvo and SKF are located.

I have been staying in a hotel which is away from the city and nearer to the airport. It is actually in the middle of nowhere but does present some nice scenes. Here are are some random pictures.

Back to the den

Hauptbahnhof at night

I came back to Frakfurt yesterday night. For the second time in my trip, the train where I had tickets got cancelled. My confidence in the European railways has not hit the rock bottoms since the miss ratio has been 100%.

After a week of intense labor, I was really tired yesterday. Reached Franfurt at around 9:30 at night and the Hauptbahnhaf was looking splendid with all the lights.

I will not be resting for too long. Traveling tomorrow.

In Zurich today...

In about a week's time, this is the second European city I am visiting. I have come for some official work to Zurich, Switzerland. This time I was not alone and was accompanied by a colleague of mine. It was his idea to take a train from Frankfurt to Zurich instead of taking a flight. We got our tickets done on the previous evening itself and was at the station at 6:30 in the morning for the ICE train. As ill luck would have it, our train got cancelled in the last moment. The replacement train started almost 30 minutes behind schedule but would drop us only till Basel Bud, a small station on the German-Swiss border. From there, we boarded a local train to Basel SSB, a Swiss city this time. Folks familiar to banks would that this city is famous for the Basel norms which are to the followed by all the banks of the world. From Basel SSB, we took a TGV train to Zurich. By the time we landed in Zurich, it was almost 12:30 pm.

This experience is a reminder that things can go wrong developed nations as well.

Frankfurt sight seeing

Euro: A strong currency?

I was out today for my groceries and was thinking to do some sight seeing myself and luckily came across a Frankfurt City Tour bus at the Hauptbahnhof (The Central Station). The hour long tour would cost 15 Euros but one had an option to get down anywhere, spend time in leisure and take the next bus, any other bus for that matter. This luxury would cost a mere 4 Euros more. Of all the sights I came across today, the scene of the Main river that cuts through the heart of the city was the best. I took the bus for a complete circle and then got down took one more, but this time, I got down at the bank of the Main river. A long walk took me some 30 odd minutes around the river and over the bridge. It was fascinated to be see a fleas market on the other bank. I guess this temporary market is set up every weekend and one can expect to see less expensive stuffs here. Many things here are "used" as well. After having a quiet bite at the fleas market, I located one of the city tour bus waiting at the signal, I just hopped in ( I had a day ticket you see).


Here are some of the pictures I could take:

Erstwhile European Central Bank office

Walkway beside the Main

Hauptbahnhof: The Central Station

Main River: cutting through the city

A bridge on the Main

(C) Prijit Debnath. All picturs are taken with a Sony Xperia phone

My first workweek at Frankfurt

Today I completed my first workweek at Frankfurt. This week has been pretty hectic for me. The first past of the week was spent in looking for an accommodation, opening a bank account, getting a local SIM and a phone and in all such initial set up formalities, while the second part of the week was spent in knowing the local team here and in a few meetings.

I am looking forward to the weekend now. I will spend my time in moving around the city and doing a bit of a shopping.

Coming Monday I will be traveling to Zurich and will be there the entire week. I will be back here on Friday evening once my customer meeting is over. 

A home at Frankfurt

Finally, I managed to get an apartment to stay in Frankfurt. Since I will be staying alone, at least in the near term, I was looking for a 1 room (zimmer) apartment here and would have preferred a furnished one as well.

Thankfully, after a bit of search, I finally got a place to stay. I have accommodated myself in a nice Student hostel on the Mainzer Landstr called The Fizz (Studentenwohnheim THE FIZZ Frankfurt Gallus). I have a got a furnished room with a bed, a study table, a chair, a small table with two stools, and a kitchenette which has a microwave oven, and a fridge. I also have an attached bath too.

This place is in Frankfurt Gallus and is within the city and has all the basic amenities. The nest part is that my office is about 2 km from here. I have just moved it and am liking it. Right now, I have to do the initial set up and I guess I will be fine in a day or two.

So far, so good.

First view of the Main

(c) Prijit Debnath. Photo taken  with a Sony Xperia phone

I happened to wander around the Main area today evening. Though dark, I was delighted to take a few snaps of the Main river which flows the heart of the city. It was past 6:30 pm and with the sun setting in, darkness was about the engulf the river bed, though these couldn't deter me taking a few clicks.

(c) Prijit Debnath. Photo taken with a Sony Xperia phone

First day at Frankfurt

A glimpse of Frankfurt's skyline (Captured on a Moto G phone)

My first day at Frankfurt has been a very eventful one. The Lufthansa flight I took from Bangalore was on time and I arrived at Frankfurt airport at 8:30 am in the morning. Immigration and luggage claim didn't take much time and in next 30-45 minutes, I was on my way on a taxi to the hotel. And this is where the fun started. I was told that the check-in time is 3 pm which meant that I had to kill almost 5 hours before i could even get a room. Luckily, the lady at the reception obliged to keep two of my heavy bags in the Cloak room. The weather was not great, it was drizzling a bit but still I thought it would be worthwhile to explore the city a bit despite the rain. I walked down to the train station, called Hauptbarnhoff here and started checking out the place. My little errand took about 2 hours and by the time I came back to the hotel, it was past 12 noon. Another half an hour at the hotel lobby helped me get a room. Relieved at getting the room earlier than what was told earlier, and refreshed after a quick bite, I decided to walk around the city this time. I had some idea, thanks to Google maps but the earlier walk in the morning helped. I walked down to MainzerLand Stasse and then walked down all the way to the Skyline Plaza, one of the largest mall I have ever been to. Five minutes in the mall and I realized that this is a preferred shopping in Frakfurt. A further walk took me to WestgateEnd, a building that has Wipro's office. On the way back, I thought that I should be more adventurous and took a train from Frankfurt Messe station to Hauptbarnhoff. Big deal for me !

To sum up my effort, I must have walked around 6 km in the city today. This should help the fact that I haven't hit the gym in the last 7 days, however, what's more important, I am even more confident for tomorrow.

   

Flying out today

The Traveller
(Courtesy: Aishani Debnath)

I am flying out to Frankfurt today. Last few days were spent in intermittent packing and repacking. The first thing i did in the morning is to web check-in. I always prefer a Window seat on a long distance flight and thankfully, I was able to secure a Window seat this time as well.

Here is my daughter's rendition of my catching the flight. She wants me to leave with enough time in hand so that I don't have to rush at the airport.


Bon Voyage !