[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

Absolutely, the undulations on the iconic green hell are enough to catch the best drivers out even on a sunny day.

Did you get a chance to witness the legendary Sabine Schmitz?

Sadly no, or not that I was aware of. It was a pretty busy day at the ring.

Originally Posted by saisailendra

One of the most interesting posts I've read based on a travel experience. This post and video had created a desire in me to visit the Nürburgring.

Thanks for the detailed post.

Thanks for the kind words Sai.
Trust me it's worth every penny you will spend for it.

Cheers
Krishna

[turbowhistle]

Wow such a different travelogue, seems like you had so much fun!

Walking in Europe is basically like taking an local in Mumbai. You have no choice if you don’t want to spend a lot on Uber. Also Uber can get pretty expensive before you know it, I remember spending almost 40k only on Uber in 2 weeks.

[shaheenazk]

Thanks for the lovely post and beautiful pictures. A slightly off-topic question. How did you take care of your communication needs? Did you use an Indian SIM or bought a SIM upon arrival in Europe? Which was cheaper to use, especially for internet surfing? Could explain the procedure and price for obtaining an European SIM, (if you bought one) and which one is recommended?

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by turbowhistle

Wow such a different travelogue, seems like you had so much fun!

Walking in Europe is basically like taking an local in Mumbai. You have no choice if you don’t want to spend a lot on Uber. Also Uber can get pretty expensive before you know it, I remember spending almost 40k only on Uber in 2 weeks.

Thanks for the kind words turbowhistle.

You nailed the analogy perfectly. In our 14 days of travel we used a cab/taxi maybe 4 times. Those situations where we were left with no other choice. In many cases renting a car becomes cheaper than getting a Uber or taxi.

Originally Posted by shaheenazk

Thanks for the lovely post and beautiful pictures. A slightly off-topic question. How did you take care of your communication needs? Did you use an Indian SIM or bought a SIM upon arrival in Europe? Which was cheaper to use, especially for internet surfing? Could explain the procedure and price for obtaining an European SIM, (if you bought one) and which one is recommended?

Thanks for the kind words Shaheen.

Now to answer your question. We did initially consider about getting a travel sim card like the Matrix card, but since now a days most major Indian carriers have tie up with the carriers in EU , it is really not required. So I use JIO for my phone and my friend uses Airtel.
Both of us just decided to go with Int roaming recharge with data pack for the trip. Even though we had a bit of an issue to get it to work on Landing in Germany, but once that was sorted we faced no issues there after.

Call connection was seamless, Data access in some places got patchy but since we weren't using a lot of internet during the travel it wasn't much of an issue, not to mention almost all places had free wifi available so that wasn't a concern either.

We had one advantage though, our other friend who stays in Germany so he had a local sim card in his phone, so that was our fall back/backup phone.

To encapsulate it, unless you are on a business trip I do not think there is a need to get a travel sim as most of our Indian carriers with Int roaming will work out just fine.

Cheers
Krishna

[alphadog]

Wow! Krishnaprasad. That was a great travelogue, replete with lots of fantastic pictures of bikes and cars.

It must have been a great experience to see all those in the flesh and also to watch the MotoGP from up close. Although the advantage of watching that on the screen is that we get an overall perspective, I bet nothing can match the atmosphere and experience of being there. I am sure made all the more special by experiencing it in the home country of Mr 46, with the passionate loyal fan following that he has.

The Nurburgring experience seems to be a lot of fun, the video itself was amazing, I can only imagine what the real thing would have felt like.
Europe can get very expensive to visit, rather quickly. One has to plan well and book well in advance to make the most of the budget. I guess you guys saved a lot, transport wise and ended up using the dough where it really matters - for the focussed experiences and the memorablia.

Thanks for sharing

Cheerio!

[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

To encapsulate it, unless you are on a business trip I do not think there is a need to get a travel sim as most of our Indian carriers with Int roaming will work out just fine.

Cheers
Krishna

Thanks for the useful information. It has put off a lot of worries. I am an internet buff. Planing a 15 days visit to Switzerland with my wife next year and explore the whole country through trains mostly.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Although the advantage of watching that on the screen is that we get an overall perspective, I bet nothing can match the atmosphere and experience of being there. I am sure made all the more special by experiencing it in the home country of Mr 46, with the passionate loyal fan following that he has.

Oh yes. This is a very big difference. The races as such are best enjoyed from our homes on TV, no doubt about it. But every motor racing enthusiast should watch a GP in person at least once just for the atmosphere and experience of it. Even though half the time you don't get to know what's happening in the race.

Yeah, for sure being in the Rossi grandstand was an epic experience in itself and that too in his hometown. The support he gets was unmatched, just the booing towards certain rider did leave a bad taste

Cheers
Krishna

[AZT]

Perfect petrolhead travelogue. Now you have me tempted to replicate this entire trip. 5 star thread
I also have to ask what the Malyali sign board your friend was holding at the airport means

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by AZT

Now you have me tempted to replicate this entire trip.

My job here is done.
That aside, thanks for the kind words AZT. I did secretly hope that this could inspire at least one person to do the same and enjoy themselves to the fullest.

Originally Posted by AZT

I also have to ask what the Malyali sign board your friend was holding at the airport means

Well, I can bet that it will get lost in translation. It is a dialogue from a very famous cult classic comedy Malayalam film in the '90s. Film name is Akkare Akkare Akkare.
To filter it down, 2 CIDs go to the US to investigate a robbery case and they decide to use the phrase "Sadanam kayyil undo(Loosely translates to "Do you have the stuff")" as a call sign to identify their aid in the US.

Oh boy, I have already butchered the joke here.

I'll attach the clip here in the hope to make it a bit more clearer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZLYMg7nX0

Cheers
Krishna

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

It is a dialogue from a very famous cult classic comedy Malayalam film in the '90s. Film name is Akkare Akkare Akkare.

And 5 years back I walked the same stretch (in Chicago Airport) while on transit from Philadelphia to Singapore

[kar_thikr]

Great thread buddy, A Europe trip covering all the petrolhead attractions like automobile factories, race tracks and museums is a dream of mine. Currently its in the concept stage, hope soon it will become a production spec.
As an F1 fanatic I wish to watch the Italian GP at Monza amongst the thousands of Tifosis.

[vishwasvr]

Awesome write up! Thanks to you, I saved 4 lakhs (me and my wife) and a lot of unhealthy calories () just by seeing your photos and the write up! Literally felt like I was in them!

I too have a lot of pictures of IAA Frankfurt from 2012 and Sinsheim Technical Museum but no time to share!

[AltoLXI]

Excellent travelogue . Are you planning to update the France leg of your trip?

In fact, I believe the best way to explore a new place is to walk. Of course, we tend to spend a lot of time like that which directly translates to cost. But the experiences gained are beyond the monetary value.

Were you able to meet your target of 2 lakhs / person? I suppose the budget was excluding the airfare.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by kar_thikr

Great thread buddy,
As an F1 fanatic I wish to watch the Italian GP at Monza amongst the thousands of Tifosis.

Thanks a lot for the kind words. Hope you get to attend Monza GP soon.

Originally Posted by vishwasvr

Awesome write up! Thanks to you, I saved 4 lakhs (me and my wife) and a lot of unhealthy calories () just by seeing your photos and the write up! Literally felt like I was in them!

I too have a lot of pictures of IAA Frankfurt from 2012 and Sinsheim Technical Museum but no time to share!

Haha. The amount of cheese I consumed in that 2 weeks gap is just insane. But like I said we did a lot of walking so I did not end up putting on much weight at all.
And thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Excellent travelogue . Are you planning to update the France leg of your trip?

Thanks for the kind words.
Not really, France was just a normal trip, we just did some typical touristy stuff like visiting the Arc De Triomphe, Norte Dame, Eiffel tower, exploring the Catacombs, and the Louvre museum which we did not enter as it was very crowded. Since it was just the typical stuff and nothing specific to an automotive interest I decided to skip it here. Even in the food department, we had to save up money for the rest of the trip as food in Pairs is super expensive that we only ate at McDonald's and Burger King. I still regret that decision of not trying the food in Paris but no other way was there for us.

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

In fact, I believe the best way to explore a new place is to walk. Of course, we tend to spend a lot of time like that which directly translates to cost. But the experiences gained are beyond the monetary value.

Fully agree, the perspective is insane. You get to see all kinds of people too like that. Got the first-hand experience of a lot of common tourist frauds/scams that we were able to avoid as we had luckily read about before going there. Another not so fun experience we had was a "Help Desk employee" just flat out refusing to help us with information about ticket/pass required for the validation machine at the metro/subway by just saying "No English" to us but then later we saw her helping a couple of people and was speaking pretty good English with them. But we did not fret, there were 10 other helpful people to offset this one terrible lady.

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Were you able to meet your target of 2 lakhs / person? I suppose the budget was excluding the airfare.

Yes, we did. Maybe a few thousand over like 4-5k don't remember correctly. It is not that tough actually if you can adjust on a few creature comforts.
And the budget was incl airfare. Airfare was Rs.55,000/- up and down via Lufthansa, we booked the tickets way in advance and was non-refundable too, so risks are involved.

For local transport we opted these methods:
* Super cheap airline tickets via Ryan air
* We often took slower trains for cheaper tickets which meant tighter schedules but we managed
* Hotel reservations we chose places which offered free breakfast so we could save money on food
* Any destinations within 10kms distance we walked
* Took day passes which can be used in buses, metros and subways(Thank God these exist)
* Even in restaurants we ate outside as opposed to inside the restaurant because you have to pay extra to sit inside. Each restaurants will have plenty tables placed outside their shops.

Yup, we cheaped out on many instances so we could enjoy the things on the main agenda.

Cheers
Krishna *

[sgm]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

M


Well, I can bet that it will get lost in translation. It is a dialogue from a very famous cult classic comedy Malayalam film in the '90s. Film name is Akkare Akkare Akkare.
To filter it down, 2 CIDs go to the US to investigate a robbery case and they decide to use the phrase "Sadanam kayyil undo(Loosely translates to "Do you have the stuff")" as a call sign to identify their aid in the US.

Oh boy, I have already butchered the joke here.

Cheers
Krishna

Amazing travelogue krishnaprasadgg. I don’t remember seeing any other thread with so many clicks Looks like you had a well-planned but a tight schedule, visiting so many places. Amazing variety of cars, bikes and places.

“Sadanam kayyilunde” could not stop laughing, reminded me of the typical conversation among us when we were new to International travels What a “secret code” , finding the right person without a single word being uttered.