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Day 1

The day started with our arrival at the Mumbai International Airport around 11ish. As you would have read in my previous post, we had bumped into our buddy from the office at the old watering hole and were well fed before we reached the airport. For obvious reasons, our spirits were high as we walked towards the Jet Airways checkin aisle. Since both of us are Jet Platinum members, we went to the Premier checkin counter, tossed in our bags and then checked for the possibility of an upgrade. We had to give 3 upgrade vouchers each and, lo and behold, we were flying into Brussels in Business Class!

After checkin, it was Immigration and Customs. Collectively, the both of us were carrying the following:

1. Three SLRs (2 D90s and a D200)
2. Five lenses (12-24mm, two 18-105mm, 50mm f/1.8 and a 70-300mm)
3. Two Video Cameras (Kodak  zx3 Sport and FujiFilm XP10)
4. Four Tripods (two Nikon, one Joby Gorillapod and one Sony)
5. Three phones (two iPhones and a Nokia)
6. One laptop (MacBook Pro)

Thanx to a suggestion by Abhin Patel at the office, we had taken a printout of a list of serial numbers for all our gadgets. The Customs officer was surprised to see so much equipment come out from our backpacks. It was interesting to note his expression as he asked us what we do and whether we were photographers by profession. Then it was the lounge and then time to board the flight and get our vacation underway.

Now you need to know this about Jet Business Class...it rocks! The seat flattens out like a bed, they give you a night suit for you to change in, there's a nice flat screen TV for you to watch movies (if you are so inclined), there's a plug point where you can charge your hungry iPhone. And they serve Glenfiddich. Perfect.

So I watched "The King's Speech" while sipping my scotch and then ate a bit, just enough to make me hit the snooze button hard. The flad bed seat helped to get me a decent sleep and I woke up completely charged and pumped to begin our journey within Europe. After waking, it was time to wear my thermals and get ready for cold weather.

Immigration within Brussels (or should I say, the EU) was a breeze. Just a stamp on the passport and we were off. We headed towards the place that has a train connection to Bruxelles Centraal Station. To our dismay, our Eurail passes worked for all the other trains but not the connection between the airport and Centraal, the thieves! So it was a small amount (rolling my eyes here) of €5.40 per person to get us to Centraal. The journey was a revelation in the amount of graffiti that exists in Brussels, especially around the train tracks. Not a single area on the trip was sans graffiti.

After arriving at Centraal, the hunt was first to get to a luggage locker. Obviously, we didn't want to lug our bags around town. To check on this, we went into the International trains reservations area where we got our Eurail Pass stamped and our passports checked and then were told that, thankfully, the luggage lockers were just a floor below where we were. So €4 for the locker and we had stowed most of our luggage and were free to roam about. 

As soon as we stepped out of Centraal, we were greeted by a nice Citibank logo. Cash withdrawn, we were ready for what Europe had in store for us. We had seen a (I) sign that meant "Tourist Information" which pointed down the street and gave as directions "right next to the hotel opposite Centraal". So we walked up and down the street, yeah the weather was cold but not that much, and couldn't see the (I) sign. The nearby coffee shop looked very inviting plus that seemed to be the best thing to walk around with on a cold day. Into the coffee shop we went where we got directions on where we "might" find the (I). And so we walked down that road and came to this place:

Can you see the (I)? We couldn't...and there were no signs. but the place looked very pretty, despite the muggy grey skies. So we stayed there taking pictures and during one particular composition, we saw it! The (I), in case you are going there, is on the ground floor of that huge cathedral like building you see on the left. So we got information about how to get to the Hergé museum, found out that Brussels has no Hard Rock Cafe (the pathetic city) and a set of maps we could use.

Back to Centraal to catch a train to Louvain La Neuve (or LLN as they mercifully call it) which we realized is a University town, 45 minutes by train from Centraal. This is where the Tintin museum is located and that was our first stop.

The tour was nice. They had these little iPod Touch based audio guides that explained the tour and the significant things on the walk. That made the entire experience very silent within the museum. You could see Hergé doing his earlier drawings, expanding his team when he started doing the books in colour and a lot of paraphernalia associated with the Tintin books. It was a nice thing to see for someone who has always been a big Tintin fan.

By the time we finished with the museum, it was almost 4pm CET and we were quite hungry. Hitch is that Praveen is a vegetarian, so we had to look for a place that served veggie food. Finally we zoned in on a local burger joint (called Quick) where I hogged down two large burgers to sate my hunger. Back to the station we went. On the station, as we were waiting for the train to take us back to Centraal, I looked across the platform and I could see Praveen's reflection on the train window. Moving a bit, I could see me as well. And I thought "hey, that's a cool picture", so I asked him to stay where he was and then after a couple of experiments, I got this shot:

 I thought it was quite cool!

In the train back, there was this lady sitting diagonally across from me who was sketching this wonderful superhero like character. She was doing a real good job, unfortunately I could not get close enough with my 12-24mm lens and could just about get there with Praveen's 18-105mm, but her hand would get in the way. I think Praveen still has a lot of those pix and I will put one of them up here later.

Back to Centraal and a bit of looking around. Clicked a few pix, but nothing great. Sat in a bar near Centraal having local beer and checking the next train to DenHaag, which was our next stop on the trip. The train was to leave Bruxelles Midi at 6:18pm and we had to make a call whether or not to take that one or to wait for the one an hour later. We decided on taking the 6:18 which meant it was going to be a mad dash. Rush to the luggage locker, flash the bar code receipt, take our stuff out, rush to the platform, board the train during what seemed to be rush hour, get off at Bruxelles Midi, rush to platform 8 (I think) just in time to see that the train is there and will leave in 7 minutes. Perfect! Only problem was, in all this rush we had forgotten to pee. So now the hunt for the loo was priority.

Every toilet we looked at was non-functional, which was soon going to pose a serious problem. On top of that, we were having beer that we bought on the train (Heineken and Palm) which was aggravating the problem. In some time, I was going to reach crisis levels and so was Praveen. Then an announcement came on the train's PA system telling us that only 2 toilets in the whole train were functioning and their locations were on the two extremes of the train. So we both crossed two whole bogeys (one at a time, of course) to relieve ourselves and return to the beer cans and the Bhujiya that Praveen had carried (lifesaver).

Now I know I have mentioned graffiti before, but you have no idea how much there was. The funniest moment was when Praveen spotted a train which had "???" painted right above the driver's cockpit! A train which doesn't know it's destination?!?! :D

In the same bogey, sitting on the other side of the bogey with two ladies was an elderly gentleman who started a conversation with us about photography. They too were taking the train to The Hague and were colleagues who had some business in Brussels. He was one boisterous guy, I should say. It was fun talking to him. Even while taking a picture of him, he insisted he wear his "signature" which was this black felt hat he wore. Time flew as we talked to him.

Two hours and a few minutes later, we were standing on DenHaag station, realizing that we were standing in the 3rd country that day! And right there on the platform was Praveen's cousin waiting to pick us up. Her dad had parked a bit further from the station and it was a short walk. I was pleasantly surprised to see him drive a Toyota Prius and was quite thrilled to sit in the car. The more I sat in that car over the space of 24 hours, the more I liked it. I think I will pick that one up as my next car.

We stayed that night with Praveen's relatives. They were very warm and made a lot of effort to make us feel comfortable. Both the daughters gave up their bedrooms for us, which must not have been a pleasant experience for either of them as they had to sleep elsewhere. To add to it, the mercury had dropped even further and the forecast of Amsterdam being at 8˚C looked completely wrong. I think it was closer to 0˚, but I really didn't want to check out the temperature scale. A light dinner, conversations about where we should go the next day (a lot of great suggestions), some freshening up and it was time for slumber.

It's so good to get into cozy warm covers when the outside temperature is so low. Was just hoping that I sleep well, mainly cause I had not slept well for a while. I didn't know the extent to which I would sleep.

It had been a fairly eventful Day 1.