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Day 1 in Germany and it turned out to be a beautiful day. This had been one of the most anticipated days this year for me, apart from the ones that had significant personal importance. I hadn’t been as excited as this for a long time that I can remember. I felt like a little child awaiting his first trip to the toy factory, not store but a FACTORY !
I travelled to London the night before I was due to depart and had stayed over at my friend’s place. I knew that it was going to be a big task to make it to the airport on time, not for me but for Tan, my partner in crime. I knew that he was busy shooting stuff, videos not people or animals, the night before and chances were that he would be late waking up the following morning. Hence I made sure that I gave him a call in the morning to wake him up. Perhaps the Gods had known of my plight from the Paris trip and took mercy on me. Everything went according to schedule and they also threw in plenty of hot girls for good measure !
The flight was a mere 50 odd minutes and Tan was a tad disappointed that he didn’t get his beauty sleep (he was under the assumption that the flight would be at least an hour and half long ! the journey was fairly uneventful apart for the fact that the gent in front of me at the immigration counter at Cologne was being grilled intensively by the officer and I was getting really bored standing there dreading what trouble would head my way. Fortunately all went swell and we had plenty of time to appreciate the beauty around us. Cologne airport was a tidy affair. It was perhaps the German equivalent of either Gatwick or Stansted but better in its lay out. The beauty of the airport lay in its simplicity. At once one could make out the German penchant for mechanics and efficiency. Heck, even the urinals were angular rather than curved !
After a long and hard debate as to whether we should use the public transport or take a cab we arrived at no conclusion. Therefore we duly proceeded to the information kiosk and a very helpful lady told us that the cab would cost us €35 and the train about €2.5 each. That more or less settled the matter as lessons on money management in Paris were learnt the hard way ! As a bonus, it turned out that our tickets for the convention allowed us to use the public transport for free. How great is that !
The trains were very nice, especially the trams. After we got off at what we considered the equivalent of Liverpool Street (as it was at a junction of red and yellow coloured lines on the map) we bumped into Mr Muscles, an American student in Cologne who pointed us in the right direction. Ofcourse, a while ago we were slagging him off for getting in between us and Skatey, a very pretty girl on, you guessed it, skates. A small conversation later we had exchanged numbers and knew where to go if we wanted to party. Tan got even more excited on hearing that that particular area had an Apple store. Poor chap, he has recently been the recipient of some bad news – his Mac was suffering from some hardware faults and was in a repair centre for some rest and recuperation.
Quite soon we arrived at the hotel, looked sort of plain from the outside but the allocated room was wonderful. Very spacious, equipped with a nice AC, a paid internet connection (yes you heard it right, PAID) and a beautiful view. We had to get the internet connection cos our itch to get online JUST WOULDN’T SUBSIDE !
We thought it would be a good idea to cool our heels off and go to the beer garden to have a few drinks and some food. It was a lovely place with a jogging track running right beside it and around the park that surrounded the lake. Now, what sort of image do you get in your head when I say ‘jogging’ ? Yes you got it right, we were thoroughly enjoying the ‘jogging’ !
Once a table was ready, we were ready to order, although we did sit at the table with our laptops, happily tapping away. Needless to say, we did attract a lot of looks. Hence we made it a point to come across as media professionals hard at work rather than two unsocial geeks. The meal was simple and yet tasty, the beer nicely chilled and crisp. After having had our fill, we retired to bed thinking about the days ahead of us and whether we would be seeing any of the industry’s eminent developers and producers. There was lots to look forward to, plenty of hope and an unparalleled enthusiasm. Once again I felt like a little kid, a kid who was about to see the toy factory.
At the end of the long tiring day, there was nothing more soothing than the comfortable bed. In a room with a very beautiful view.
I travelled to London the night before I was due to depart and had stayed over at my friend’s place. I knew that it was going to be a big task to make it to the airport on time, not for me but for Tan, my partner in crime. I knew that he was busy shooting stuff, videos not people or animals, the night before and chances were that he would be late waking up the following morning. Hence I made sure that I gave him a call in the morning to wake him up. Perhaps the Gods had known of my plight from the Paris trip and took mercy on me. Everything went according to schedule and they also threw in plenty of hot girls for good measure !
The flight was a mere 50 odd minutes and Tan was a tad disappointed that he didn’t get his beauty sleep (he was under the assumption that the flight would be at least an hour and half long ! the journey was fairly uneventful apart for the fact that the gent in front of me at the immigration counter at Cologne was being grilled intensively by the officer and I was getting really bored standing there dreading what trouble would head my way. Fortunately all went swell and we had plenty of time to appreciate the beauty around us. Cologne airport was a tidy affair. It was perhaps the German equivalent of either Gatwick or Stansted but better in its lay out. The beauty of the airport lay in its simplicity. At once one could make out the German penchant for mechanics and efficiency. Heck, even the urinals were angular rather than curved !
After a long and hard debate as to whether we should use the public transport or take a cab we arrived at no conclusion. Therefore we duly proceeded to the information kiosk and a very helpful lady told us that the cab would cost us €35 and the train about €2.5 each. That more or less settled the matter as lessons on money management in Paris were learnt the hard way ! As a bonus, it turned out that our tickets for the convention allowed us to use the public transport for free. How great is that !
The trains were very nice, especially the trams. After we got off at what we considered the equivalent of Liverpool Street (as it was at a junction of red and yellow coloured lines on the map) we bumped into Mr Muscles, an American student in Cologne who pointed us in the right direction. Ofcourse, a while ago we were slagging him off for getting in between us and Skatey, a very pretty girl on, you guessed it, skates. A small conversation later we had exchanged numbers and knew where to go if we wanted to party. Tan got even more excited on hearing that that particular area had an Apple store. Poor chap, he has recently been the recipient of some bad news – his Mac was suffering from some hardware faults and was in a repair centre for some rest and recuperation.
Quite soon we arrived at the hotel, looked sort of plain from the outside but the allocated room was wonderful. Very spacious, equipped with a nice AC, a paid internet connection (yes you heard it right, PAID) and a beautiful view. We had to get the internet connection cos our itch to get online JUST WOULDN’T SUBSIDE !
We thought it would be a good idea to cool our heels off and go to the beer garden to have a few drinks and some food. It was a lovely place with a jogging track running right beside it and around the park that surrounded the lake. Now, what sort of image do you get in your head when I say ‘jogging’ ? Yes you got it right, we were thoroughly enjoying the ‘jogging’ !
Once a table was ready, we were ready to order, although we did sit at the table with our laptops, happily tapping away. Needless to say, we did attract a lot of looks. Hence we made it a point to come across as media professionals hard at work rather than two unsocial geeks. The meal was simple and yet tasty, the beer nicely chilled and crisp. After having had our fill, we retired to bed thinking about the days ahead of us and whether we would be seeing any of the industry’s eminent developers and producers. There was lots to look forward to, plenty of hope and an unparalleled enthusiasm. Once again I felt like a little kid, a kid who was about to see the toy factory.
At the end of the long tiring day, there was nothing more soothing than the comfortable bed. In a room with a very beautiful view.
pictures,pictures,pictures......
ReplyDeletepictures in due time my friend.. patience is a virtue often forgotten in this day and age !
ReplyDeleteNice start mate .... but enough pre-seering...BRING EM ON!!!
ReplyDelete