Summer Vacation

[Tehsin]

ummmmmmmmm, going to chittagong and spend a week there .... *sigh*

I haven't beeen travelling a lot but I am glad I went to Aruba - it was absolutely amazing. 4 nights felt like seven. Now that was a vacation (if you are lazy like me).

Want to go to Europe. Only been to England and loved it there. That was almost 11 years ago. Paris is on my list and it will happen within the next three years. My brothers planning to go to the wc in germany. Don't think i'll join him. What should he expect there ?

I need to go to sunny diego to visit Z.

[rafiq]

Teshin (and also in response to The Learned One

The football WC next year in Germany should be loads of fun. There should be enough people from all over the world so the feel would be different than if you were there at any other time.

I've spent some time in Munich and parts of Bavaria in southern Germany. These trips have mostly been to see family, so I haven;t done the tourist thing in a while. I don't think I would necessarily go there if I only had 5 days in the summer (or spring which is nicer), as there are much more interesting places in Europe. But Bavaria/Munich as part of a larger trip would be fun.

Munich itself has the Olympic Stadium where Bayern play if you are a soccer buff. There's a BMW museum worth checking out if you are into cars & bikes. And of course there is a ton of food and if you are a beer drinker, beer. But I think after a couple of days of watching the cuckoo come out of the clock tower in central Munich you will start to look around for something else to do. I don't know much about the nightlife there but I imagine that could be a respite.

Something i have noticed over the years is a change in attitude towards Muslims and Turkish people in particular. This you already know probably but just be aware.

The area is really naturally beautiful and if you head south by car or train to Austria or Luxembourg to check out the castles it will be well worth it. If you ski then there are a ton of options but I guess Austria would be the place to go. Make sure you have the right visas - you can get one for a bunch of european countries...

The train system is the way to go IMHO. If you start in Paris and go west or south get a eurail pass. It's actually First Class travel and buy the tickets from the US or elsewhere before you get there. But watch out for how many stops you can make and any legs the pass doesn't cover. I once took a train from milan to munich and it passed through 7 miles of austria or switzerland ...for whatever reason i didn't have a visa or the ticket wasn't valid or i can't remember what - nor did i have any austrian currency and you needed to pay in it- actually ended up borrowing money from a fellow passenger on the train to get out of the jam.

my favorite place in all of this is southern france...and 5 days is a good start but you will want more....

[Pundit]

Great stuff, Mr. Rafiq. Keep 'em coming. Share with us your other world travel stories....cultural surprises, political changes, and ofcourse, the beauty of the land, food and its people.

Tehsin, please please please, tell us more about your Aruba trip..specifics & exact names of places. I had a friend from West Bengal in College who grew up in Aruba...many fascinating childhood stories.

New Zealand is a fine place to visit. Problem is, just going to NZ (and that's when I run out of money) and then not travelling onward to BD will surely invite a whallop from mom/dad.