The complimentary breakfast was a hearty one and I ate as if it were brunch. I saw there were lots of protein choices and I wondered how people could eat so much meat early in the morning! We first drove towards Ulm to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. Andrej told me that Disneyland had drawn inspiration from this castle to build its trademark castle. We passed through the German countryside and I was captivated by its greenery and pristine beauty. We stopped on the road at one point because I wanted to take pictures with cows grazing on the fields. I thought German cows to be the cutest cud chewing creatures I had ever seen…very unlike the malnourished cows that roam the city streets of Delhi often posing as secondary traffic police. We reached the castle and we had the option to either take a carriage or a bus to get to the top of the hill where the Castle was located. We agreed to walk instead and to my surprise the walk up wasn’t at all tiring as we reached our destination quickly. The view of the valley from the hill was breathtaking and so was the Neuschwanstein Castle! We walked a bit further up, took some pictures, picked up souvenirs and returned to the car.
Our next stop was the world’s tallest church or rather the cathedral with the tallest steeple in the world—Ulm Munster. From afar, it didn’t appear all that impressive and looked like any regular Cathedral but after taking a hundred flights of stairs I became dizzy and started to pant heavily. By the time we made five hundred steps, it became almost impossible to look out of the peepholes on the walls because I am terrified of heights. Andrej pushed me on and urged me to finish the task. We finally made it through all 768 steps to the summit, the view from the top was absolutely stunning but I did not dare look down to the ground. This was such an amazing experience and I thought to myself, how many people get to do something like this in their lifetime? Not many! As much as the climb left me utterly stressed and exhausted, I was thrilled to have made it. I would have never attempted something like this were it not for Andrej. He made me forget my fear of heights and had my butt and back, literally! I think he was proud of this little achievement of mine too!
We went to the tourist information center to inquire about where I could exchange some of my INR with Euro as I had already run out of the Euros I had on me and also the location of McDonald’s. For me, eating at McDonald’s was the only way to ever feel full and satiated. European cuisines as fancy as they may be were a bit bland for my palette and too small a portion (except Italian which I was to learn about later). Besides, it was more feasible for us with limited budget to eat our meals at McDs rather than spend Euro 30 on a meal that wouldn’t even fill me up. I think I may have really fattened up Andrej during this trip by making him stuff his face with fatty junk at McDonalds. We went to a very nice book store but did not find anything of our interest as most publications were in German. I made a fool of myself at the bank by approaching the counter directly instead of waiting in line. Andrej reproached me for this behavior and as much as I acknowledged my error I felt annoyed that he was trying to talk to me as if I were a child. I got Euro 130 in cash in exchange for Rs. 16,500. We stuffed ourselves up at McDonald’s and walked a long way back to where we had parked the car.
Andrej had to drive for almost 9 hours until Paris. I felt guilty for not being able to take turns with him and could only imagine how tired he must be from the incessant driving even though he would constantly tell me that he is used to long drives and is doing fine. I used to get excited every time I saw a “now entering” signboard with the country name. European borders are so porous and have no control. At every border you see a check post that may have once teemed with inquisitive immigration officials or irksome homeland security but now stood empty and forsaken. I found this very fascinating and assumed only the nations that are truly developed, peaceful and secure could enjoy this level of mutual trust and cooperation with its neighboring countries. We crossed over the French border at about 8:00 PM as we listened to the French radio. I was at lost and could tell how little French I remember from school. We finally arrived at Paris after midnight; it seemed quaint and laid back, nothing like I expected it to be. But well, I had not seen anything yet. Andrej went to find a parking spot for the car and I went to check in for us. The receptionist informed me that there was no reservation by the name of Andrej. And then I remembered that the dude must have forgotten to hit the confirm button on booking.com. We were lucky to get a room for the night and the staff told us we could book the room for three more nights like we intended, in the morning. The both of us were pretty exhausted from the long drive so we decided to head to bed after taking shower.
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