[AdiSolEn]

Amazing travelogue! Europe is such a beautiful place to be anytime of the year. I really miss my student days in Germany! I am also in the process of writing a travelogue of my recent trip to Munich, but finding the time for it is really proving to be difficult. I can completely agree with you about Munich! The city has a distinct charm to it, inspite of being a big city. It is normally the smaller towns and cities in Europe that are charming, but Munich is definitely and exception. There is just so much to see over there.All my visits to Munich have made me fall in love with it! Another such city that is normally off the tourist radar is Strasbourg! Please try and visit it in the future if you can.

[benbsb29]

Absolutely love it! Europe is a continent I have always yearned to travel/visit, and sadly for me, every opportunity to do so has resulted in flops. Made my peace with it now, and continue to indulge in such views from travelogues and other avenues.

Great pics, love the long exposure street effects you've captured, as well as the locales.
Looking forward to more.

[N33raj]

Even with these photographs, you sir, have filled me with a lot of joy, brought back a huge trove of memories that had been packed away, made me reminisce about those days gone by and filled me with this urge, this longing to go back to the EU. Perhaps when my son is a bit older, we will go back. I did not realise how terribly i missed being there.

Thank you for the photographs! I know there are more coming. And may you go on more such trips!

[MandarMax]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

It does take a long time to write a travelogue. Looking forward to reading more about your experiences in mainland Europe.

Yes. I've been planning since last six months and only recently I have found the time to write.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Great start! This have all the makings of a blockbuster travelogue; looking forward to the upcoming instalments. Thanks for sharing

Thanks. I hope not to disappoint.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Did you make a trip to Disneyland near Paris or the kids have done that earlier? Also, were you not tempted to go towards the Black Forest or down further to the Riviera (Monte Carlo/ Nice/ Cannes)?

Disneyland and the Black Forest both were on my initial itinerary. I was very keen to drive through the highway B500 also known as Schwarzwaldhochstrasse. My initial plan was to drive northwards from Switzerland and return the car in Karlsruhe and from there spend a day in Strasbourg and then take a TGV train from Strasbourg to Paris. Unfortunately, though I had to change my plans as I simply didn't have the time.

Regarding Disneyland - the same thing. Just didn't have enough time and we had to change plans due to an SNCF train strike. My daughters too were disappointed, but I have promised them that we'll go back in a couple of years. Fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

Honestly, this is an Overdose... Perhaps the travelog of the year.

Please provide as much information as possible as I hope your log could remain a baseline for future travelers.

Thanks. I do not post much on the forum, but when I write - especially travelogues - I like to add as much useful information as possible. My intention is to make the reader feel like they are travelling with me on this journey. Hope that I have been at least moderately successful with that goal.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I have always yearned to travel/visit, and sadly for me, every opportunity to do so has resulted in flops. Made my peace with it now, and continue to indulge in such views from travelogues and other avenues.

I was in a similar situation. Hope you will be able to do your dream trip to Europe soon.

Originally Posted by N33raj

Even with these photographs, you sir, have filled me with a lot of joy, brought back a huge trove of memories that had been packed away...

Thank you for the photographs! I know there are more coming. And may you go on more such trips!

Thank you and I am glad that you have liked it so far.

Originally Posted by AdiSolEn

There is just so much to see over there. All my visits to Munich have made me fall in love with it! Another such city that is normally off the tourist radar is Strasbourg! Please try and visit it in the future if you can.

Strasbourg was in my plan as I have mentioned above. Next time. Yep, there is so much left to see.

[Samba]

What a travelogue! The pics are beautiful with an informative & detailed narration.
This can be considered as a guide for an Euro trip. I will keep this as my future reference, if i ever plan for such a trip.
Rated 5*.

[MandarMax]

Keukenhof is simply amazing. The huge variety of flowers, myriads of colours, the landscaping, the smell, it’s all very delightful. I do not have words to describe the sheer beauty of this place. It’s an experience to be had.

Check out one more video:

https://youtu.be/e5ebRH5EnZ0

I will let my pictures do most of the talking.















































This dude was playing piano and he was playing very well.


Kids really enjoyed this real-life maze.


Bye, bye Keukenhof!


Panorama of the tulip fields outside.


It was so mesmerizing that we totally forgot that we had hardly slept the night before. Except for one coffee and snacks break that too in the middle of the garden, we did not stop much. We just walked and walked exploring almost every area. We were there for nearly five hours. We decided to get out by 2:45 pm only because it was raining a bit and it seemed like the rain was not going to stop. It was also getting very cold and we started feeling tired. We also hadn’t eaten much since the morning, so we decided to head straight to our hotel in Rotterdam.

S90 has a big screen like an iPad. The navigation worked quite well and so we didn't have to use our mobile much. You can see the destination added to GPS.


Smooth roads and very little traffic.


After less than an hours drive we had reached our hotel, which was just outside of Rotterdam city.

Regarding this hotel - I would have preferred an Airbnb but none were available and those that were available were quite expensive. Second factor was that for a family of four, in most cases you are forced to book two rooms, which made most city hotels very pricey. Very few hotels had family rooms at a good rate which is the reason we chose this hotel - Novotel Schiedam in Rotterdam, and it was only for one night.

After a bit of rest, we decided to go out to get some milk that evening. We drove to the nearby Albert Heijn which is basically a Dutch supermarket chain. We brought some cheesecake, bread, and milk.

Got back to the hotel and we made nice hot coffee and added this Milk! First sip and I was like damn, why is it tasting like this? Was something wrong with the milk? I had definitely Googled up before that “Melk” meant “Milk”. There was a picture of a cow on the pack, so what was wrong? Took a photo of the pack and fed it the translation app only to realize what it was actually buttermilk



I thought "Karne" was a brand name, but "Karnemelk" means buttermilk. Who knew? I love these little experiences that you gather during trips. Making mistakes is part of the fun. You don't learn if you are too careful with everything.

Fortunately, I had also purchased "Choco Melk", so that saved the day!

Tomorrow’s plan was to see Rotterdam. Slept like a baby that night.

[Thermodynamics]

Kuekenhof is an artificial wonder. Sheer varieties put up are mind boggling. Can’t imagine the amount of work that goes behind screen to keep the show on. You have picked the best time to visit Nederland. By the way, did you manage to see the whole park. When we were there in 2011, our legs gave up half way. We ate lunch, took some rest, hired bicycles and explored the country side, miles and miles of tulip farms. It never ends.

[Thermodynamics]

Some snaps from my trip




Play of Macros



Country side tulip fields, close by camping site




Actually, Tulip fields can be found in other parts of Europe as well. The following one was shot at Blumenberg, Germany

[Derezzed]

Wow! The scenic route & natural beauty of Europe was well captured in pictures.
Curious to know what camera did you click the pictures?

[deepfreak15]

Lovely pictures! Can't wait to see the rest.

[androdev]

Hey @MandarMax, fantastic travelogue with stunning photos. For a lazy person like me, all my overseas trips with family remind me of semi-painful memories of planning, logistics, shepherding, etc. But photos such as yours always remind me it was worth all the hassle. Great stuff!

[MandarMax]

Originally Posted by Derezzed

Curious to know what camera did you click the pictures?

I use a Canon EOS 70D, it's a good camera but more than the camera, I think the lens makes all the difference. The photos were taken with Sigma Art 18-35mm f1.8 lens. It's my favourite lens and I use it practically for all the occasions.

[deepakc]

Beautiful pictures. Looking forward to the rest of your travelogue, and especially your Rotterdam pictures and experiences, as I live in Rotterdam.

[rst89]

Hey Mandar,

Awesome pics. Eagerly waiting for the whole travelogue.

One hour for immigration in UK is horror. And here we complain that it took 10 minutes to complete immigration at Indian airports.

Your pics of Keukenhof reminded me of my visit in May 2017. We encountered a big traffic jam that was not moving and when we were very near to main entrance of Keukenhof, the bus driver allowed us to alight from the bus in the middle of traffic jam and we made our way to the main entrance.

[MandarMax]

Let's take a slight detour from the travelogue, for I want to tell you a little story of the little Dutch boy who saved Holland.

You might know that a large part of the Netherlands is below the sea level. The geography of Netherlands is mostly flat and until the last few centuries, the country was extensively covered by swamps. So how did the land appear? There was no geographical event or any miracle to cause the land to rise. For hundreds of years, the Dutch have been reclaiming land by drying out low lying areas (called Polders) which are typically surrounded by Dikes - artificial embankments created to keep the surrounding water from flooding the low lying areas. That's how they have "created" most of their country.

There is a saying that "God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."

The day I reached Amsterdam, I was talking with my father on phone and he told me an interesting story of a little Dutch boy who saved Holland. My father had read the story when he was a schoolboy himself. The story goes like this -

There was a little boy, named Hans, who was headed home one fine evening. On his way, he heard water trickling. There in the dike was a small hole. Every child in Holland knows that if the dikes break, water will rush and all will be lost. The boy quickly put his finger in the dike and cried for help, but alas, no one helped. So, the boy sat there all night long, braving the darkness and the cold weather. When someone saw him in the morning, they quickly called for help, repaired the dike and carried the boy home. Thus everyone hailed Hans, the little boy who saved Holland.

I believed the story to be true. Later I came to know that it’s a fictional story. But I think it's an interesting one highlighting how the system of dikes, canals and other flood control mechanisms are essential for the survival of the country.

Not only have the Dutch reclaimed land, but they have also created a highly productive agricultural sector that provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. It’s also the largest exporter of flowers in the world. They truly value the land they have created and use it in the most effective manner.

You can probably tell from the pictures how flat the country is.



Everywhere you travel in the Netherlands, you will find yourself surrounded by canals and smaller drainage ditches and a system of pumping stations (historically Windmills) that keep the country dry.



You are never too far from those canals. They are everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes, for example, this one was just outside of our hotel in Rotterdam.