First Snow

Coming from a tropical country like India, I had not experienced snow. Especially, the part of India I come from is one of the hottest places even within the country. Last week, when snow was forecasted I was excited and had been looking forward to this first experience of the snow.

And finally, yesterday I had my first experience of snow. As soon as I got an alert on my phone about the snow fall in Luxembourg City, I rushed to the window to confirm the news. What I saw that moment was unbelievable!! Yes, snow has arrived in Luxembourg City.

The first glimpse of the snow fall through the huge glass window was just more than amazing. It looked like a fairy tale. My mind had captured the frame like an unforgettable picture. I stood still at the window admiring the beauty and the grace of the snow shower.

A little later, I wanted to go down and touch the show. So, I quickly decided to go out of the building to actually feel and experience the snow. With all my winter gear on, I walked across the street for a while, clicked a few random pictures on my phone. It was such a thrill to walk in that gentle snow drizzle. On a whole it was a delightful experience.

I wish I could take a print out of the image from my memory for a better visual. J

This morning...                                                                                                     pic courtesy Yesh

Corda Bamba

I watched this movie Corda Bamba (in Portuguese with English subtitles), directed by Eduardo Goldenstein, in the Brazilian Film Festival 2013 in Luxembourg. I really loved the movie. The plot of the movie is pretty simple. But the making of the movie and the imagery is amazing. The story revolves around the struggle and unhappiness of a little girl to overcome a memory lapse from her past.

Corda Bamba is a story of a little girl, Maria who was born and bought up in a small circus. Under forced circumstances, she comes to live with her grandmother in a city. But, all her life and memories were woven around the circus. Maria gently rejects the luxurious lifestyle arranged by her grandmother and prefers to live the way she lived back at the circus. She sets up a camping tent inside the bedroom and continues to sleep inside it. A few scenes between her and the little boy with whom she shares the room were cute. During the day, mostly she spends her time looking out of the window. And that is her only solace.

Every night, she walks on an imaginary tightrope tied from her window (reality) to the other facing window (fantasy). On the other side, she perceives her subconscious or the lapsed memories. This theme has been extraordinarily portrayed as a dark corridor with colorful doors. Behind each colored door is a past memory. The memories are about her parents, how her rich grandma didn’t want her mother to marry a man, her father from circus. But they got married and Maria was born. Maria was raised in the circus and she too learns to walk the tightrope like her parents. One instance, when her parents walked the tightrope without safety nets is the tragic moment of her life where she lost her parents. This is her lapsed memory she finds behind the last door.

Maria was so much attached to the circus and the past. But when she remembered the lapsed tragic moment, she finally gathers the courage and strength to be able to move forward.

Corda Bamba is an excellent film and for those who are interested in psychological insights. The grief and happiness among the human minds is allegorically depicted through the image of a sensitive child. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHsWaY3hw1Q

Tatonka Challenge!

Yesterday, I got to be at this Tatonka Event organized by the amazon.EU team for their employees at Trombar. And my husband, Yesh was one of the participants.

A week ago, I remember he had mentioned about this Tatonka and had explained me that this will be a competition where each registered member will have to eat 16 chicken wings and the winner will get an icon on some tool they use internally within amazon. Being a chicken lover, I liked the concept but Yesh is not a big foodie like me. So, I was really skeptical if he would do it!

Then yesterday, he asked me if I would like to join them at Trombar for their event just to encourage them.  But, seriously, why would they need some cheering to eat??!! Whatever, he said that it would be fun and would be a good opportunity to meet people. Since the day I have moved to Luxembourg I hardly got a chance to attend any social gathering. For this reason, I thought I shall go!

At the event entrance was a registration desk, where each contestant pays a certain amount and enters the Tatonka Challenge. Each participant has an identification wristband in colors yellow, green, purple and red to represent the type of challenge. Yellow is for the basic 16 chicken wings, green for vegetarian to complete 100 celery sticks, purple for 40 chicken wings and red, the atomic challenge for 16 chicken wings cooked in spicy sauce. The place was completely filled up with fun and enthusiasm. Once they were served, they jumped in and their dedication was just awesome. Each one had their own style and technique of attacking the bone. They have pre-shown examples of the rightly and wrongly eaten chicken wings, of course based on the remains. It was not a time bound event. Each person can take their own time; the only thing that mattered was how clean the remains looked.

To my surprise, Yesh actually completed the challenge and was eligible for the icon. By then my stomach started growling in hunger and my palate started craving for chicken wings ;) I wished the contest should have been open for me too. Whatsoever, I ordered for a portion and finally enjoyed a whole bowl! J

Thanks Amazon for the enjoyable experience!! 

A Day Trip to Vianden!

Château de Vianden or The Vianden Castle is one of the must-go tourist destinations in the country of Luxembourg. So we planned a leisure day trip to Vianden. Luxembourg has an excellent and well-connected public transportation; hence we decided to take a train as it would be easy and comfortable to reach there. We checked online for the train timings the previous day but didn’t have a solid plan.

The next morning, we went to the mobiliteit counter in the Gare de Luxembourg (railway station) to buy tickets to Vianden. It was there we got a proper plan for the trip. The service employee was very kind and helpful in explaining us the best way to reach there. He told us to get down at Ettlebruck and then take bus 570 to Vianden. The ticket for a whole day travel within the country costs 4 euros per person, including any bus or train. We precisely followed his suggestion.

It just took around 50 minutes to Ettlebruck and there was a connecting bus 570 standing rather waiting in front of the station. As soon as we got down, it started drizzling. We were taken aback for it may spoil the whole experience of the trip. With this confusion, we boarded the bus to Vianden. I felt, the route to Vianden was a bit hilly. It dropped us at the Vianden-center after 30 minutes, right next to the ‘river Our’. And from there we can see the castle faraway on the top of a hill.

We hiked through the several restaurants, cafes, hotels and some souvenir shops lined up on either side of the path to the castle. When we were half way, it again started to rain slightly. However, the shower was so gentle that we didn’t really need an umbrella. The drizzle had completely turned the weather perfect for the trip. Hiking on the stone-road in the drizzle through a quiet path was awesome.  

Finally, we reached the castle. The castle was an ancient piece of magnificence. There is a small kiosk that sells tourist information guides and entry tickets into the castle. Inside the castle was a museum exhibiting the antiques, art, architecture, and archeology of the 11th century. Also, we have some picturesque views from the castle. People with historic interest would really love this place. I really enjoyed the whole experience of being in the castle. The complete structure of the castle, the built, the stone walls, and the views greatly contribute to the grandeur. And just after we exit the castle, is a sign board leading to the ‘Indian Forest’. A walk through the Indian Forest is worth a try. We really loved it.

Then we head back the same way, walked along the river, while we waited for the same bus 570, to drop us back at Ettlebruck. But we got down at Diekirch, walked in the city center for some time and then from there took a train back to Luxembourg City.

Somehow, I really enjoyed the trip and this getaway filled in a lot of fresh energy and enthusiasm. The memories of the place and experience lingered with me for a while.

For historical information on Vinaden Castle...

view of the castle on hill top from the bus stop

view from the castle

Indian forest

Indian forest

River Our

Walking through the ‘Grund’…

I have been mentioning a lot about Grund since I started posting about Luxembourg. The reason being, I was secretly fascinated with the term, the description and the appearance of the place. It kind of created a mystical perspective to the whole imagination. In fact, it instantly reminded me of ‘Moor’ from The Hound of Baskervilles, one of Sherlock Holmes curious detective novels.

When I expressed my imagination of Grund as a mysterious and desolate place like the Moor, Yesh immediately dismissed my idea. He rather said that Grund is actually a nice and calm place where a lot of people go for a regular walk. The next day, when he took me out for a walk in the Grund, we came across joggers, cyclers, women walking with kids/babies, tourists and an elderly couple picking up some berries from the trees. It was really a scene of beauty and I was almost proved wrong!

Until…I walked all alone in the Grund.

After a week of cloudy, rainy and cold weather, that evening the sky was clear and the sun was shining bright. So, I was enthusiastic to go for a walk through the cheerful Grund. I called up Yesh asked him for the direction to the Grund. The route from my house was actually pretty simple; I just had to cross a couple of streets. Hurray! I was there.

With loads of excitement, I was hopping down the stairs with a musical rhythm. In addition to my rhythm, I could hear the sound of the dry leaves crumbling under my feet adding an unwanted creepy effect to the scene. I paused to look around. The tall and dense trees were hardly allowing any light onto the stairs. So it was a bit dark, damp and cold. And the absolute silence swallowed my enthusiasm.  I was panicky. To climb the stairs back is equally frightening.  At once, my thoughts were filled up with those many possibilities from several horror stories.  I stood clueless. But I could see bright light out there. At that moment a joyful little girl passed my sight followed by her parents. This gave me hope and I proceeded further.

After I was on the Grund, I was once again mesmerized by its magnificence. I was slowly recovering from the scary thoughts and started enjoying the place. The biggest relief was that there were a couple of random people a little far but within my sight. The sun rays and light contributed a lot to enhance the beauty of the place. Like always, I was lost clicking pictures on my phone. After a few snaps, I turned back to go ahead. Again I was alone and those people I saw earlier vanished away from my sight. Then, and then came a fierce dog running towards me. I was frozen with terror and my mind went blank. The huge dog was almost near and I didn’t know what to do just in case it jumped at me. ‘Marx’ called out someone and it immediately stopped and turned back and joined its master. I saw that person coming but I didn’t know that the person was its master. Whatever, I was rescued. And that moment I decided not to go for walk alone in the Grund.

The fact is that Grund is extraordinarily beautiful. However, going alone or going in the dark can be horrifying and may turn out to be a memorable adventure, especially for those who are new to the place.