Europe – the funny, good, bad and indifferent parts..

I had never actually been to Europe before, but for short while waiting for transfer flights. This trip for a week was the first time I have set foot (in real) on Europe. It is a very different place from Asia and America. Europe is all about culture. In every city, every village- you will find some sort of history associated with it.

I felt German people to be very friendly, though they seldom understand English (at least the older people don’t). I realized that I did not carry the address of the hotel I was to stay when I landed in Munich. A rather helpful German lady guided me through the metro station and helped me buy a ticket. It was funny when she asked me if I was a Russian J. I would make a rather short and dark Russian for sure :P

The other thing I was a little surprised about was- the almost laid back attitude people carried with them.. the gentleman who arranged the customer meetings in Spain said that he envied the French who work 40hrs a week, while he worked for 52Hrs.. (now I would like to be in his place!).

Bah.. its so costly to travel and stay! Its almost twice what you would spend in US. Be it for the hotels (a 4 star hotel costing anything over 100euros to 150 euros) to taxi fares and food prices which almost makes Indian prices look like a 90% discount sale..

But, the one thing which surely impressed me was the vast number of museums and monuments spread across everywhere. It might seem a little strange- but people actually go to the museums pretty often- if you ask someone what he would prefer- going to the nearest art museum or the movie theater, the museum would be a hands down winner!

In the US its not a strange thing to be a Indian (except may be in places like Texas because you see.. in California every third person you meet is a Chinese or Indian), but here.. everywhere you go there is white skin all around. People are a little indifferent when they see you.. hey who is that desi roaming around! I couldn’t help but give a smile when I came across a fellow desi in Spain… he returned my smile offcourse (I have never tried smiling at a desi in US, lest he takes offense)!

All in all Europe is a great place.. and I fell in love with the place. I am sure I could do good business with the Europeans..!

PS- Why am I not differentiating between different countries?... Hmm, good question- to come to think of it, though people speak different languages, they all seemed same to me. May be I need to visit again to differentiate..

Ciao till next time...Harsha