#100HAPPYDAYS

#100HAPPYDAYS--This was one of the things that went viral on Facebook and other social media at the beginning of the year. The challenge was to post a picture of something that made you happy on that day and do this for 100 consecutive days. There was a lot of backlash against this challenge saying that its impossible for someone to be happy for 100 days. 

But this is what I thought of it- I don't have to be happy all the time, but I was quite sure, I would be happy even if it was for a minute in that day. So I began the challenge on 8th Jan 2014. Initially I found the challenge overwhelming- It was like I had to be on an alert for when I felt happy and snap a picture at that moment. After two weeks it just felt normal- a part of my routine.

When I was doing this challenge, I was suffering from depression. But this challenge helped me overcome my issues as I realized I have an extremely privileged life. That each day of my life is interesting despite the challenges I had to face. 

I thought people will be annoyed with me for posting a picture everyday and spamming their newsfeed. I was scared that I would be judged as a show-off. What I did not expect was the kindness and encouragement I received, from my friends. This helped me over come my fear of being judged and I stopped being cynical about people's attitudes. 

I am very glad I did this challenge. It made me realize how awesome my life is and how thankful I should be for what I have. It made me a positive person and gave me the courage to face things.

To quote from Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes- ' The world is a magical place Hobbes ol' buddy. Let's go exploring' -- This is how I feel about my life right now.

A collage of all the pictures taken during this challenge

Day 3: A day in paradise- Hallstatt, Austria

My euro trip was whacky so to speak. I wanted this trip to be an amalgamation of various experiences- a day in the place of my childhood dreams, a day in the alps, a day in a small non-touristy city and so on.

Hallstatt was voted as one of the best small towns in Europe, by traveler's choice. As I did more research on this town I found out that it had the oldest salt mine in the world. So I decided that I had to visit this place- plus the pictures looked gorgeous. Truth be told, the pictures I saw online did injustice to the breathtaking beauty of the place.

Nestled on the banks of Lake Hallstatt, the town of Hallstatt was famous for its salt mines. It has the typical feel of a small town, lots of cafes, rustic buildings, a small cathedral with a bell tower, which chimed every hour and the blooming flowers- harbingers of the upcoming summer.

The salt mine tour was mind blowing- I got to explore a 7000 year old mine. To reach the mine, I had to take a funicular up the mountain and I was treated to breathtaking views of the town below. The tour included a ride down a 64 ft wooden slide (it was awesome), laser shows inside the salt mine caverns and a train ride in a long tunnel. The train ride alone made the whole trip worthwhile! I was given a small salt bottle mined in those caves at the end of the tour

After the tour, I walked to a Viewing platform nestled atop Mount Salzberg, which gives a panoramic views of the city and Lake Halstatt.

The funicular to the top of the salt mine.

The caves inside the salt mine.

The wooden slide.

Salt crystals on display

The laser show inside the caverns.

Moi on the viewing platform

The view of the town from the viewing platform on Mt. Salzberg

View of the Lake Hallstatt from the funicular

I spent the afternoon, walking around town. It is extremely pretty. I spent some time sitting by the lake and reading a book. The weather seemed to have its own mind. It would rain heavily all of sudden. It seemed like the rain gods had a personal vendetta on me. Whenever I stepped out it started raining. I was wet and miserable but thankfully I found a cafe which had vegetarian options. I had some warm food and hot chocolate and was treated to some spectacular views of the lake. I was extremely happy to have found some vegetarian food in this small town. 

I did not want to leave. With a heavy heart I drove back to Salzburg to attend a formal dinner concert in a 1200 year old restaurant.

The view of the town from the south side

The restaurant by the lake Gastof Simony- Ate delicious pesto pasta, garlic bread and topped it off with hot chocolate.

View of the town from the north side.

Day 2: The drive across the austrian alps

The holidays I have taken so far kind of have a tone set i.e. I end up doing similar things or have similar experience. For e.g. if I visit national parks, its all about soaking in nature and if I visited cities its all about the diverse experience it has to offer. This journey however was markedly different from my previous ones, as it was combination of both. 

Swiss alps have earned a kind of notoriety in India, thanks to all movies shot in those locales. Majority of the Indians visiting Europe makes it a point to visit the swiss alps. I guess I was in that mindset of 'When in Europe I am must visit the alps' when I was planning. However I chose an offbeat section of the Alps (its not even Switzerland) to visit or rather drive across. 

It is 48 km of road across a section of the Austrian Alps called Grossglockner. Its open only 5 months of a year and I must say the drive was spectacular. The road had opened to traffic a week before my visit and I pretty much had the road to myself. I must say I loved the lack of crowds as I could stop when I pleased at turnouts and savor the beauty and majesty of the alps. There are 36 bends along the road and at certain turnouts you can view the these bends.

The view of the hairpin curves at one of the turnouts.

I had the road to myself :D I could fix a tripod in the middle of the road to snap pictures

When I started driving on the road, the weather was amazing- clear blue skies, amazing sunshine and the snow around me glittered like diamonds. 

As I approached the highest point on this drive, I decided to take a break at one of the cafes and savor Austrian pancakes- A decision I came to regret. In a matter of 20 minutes, the clouds appeared out of nowhere and it started snowing! I have never driven in snow! I have lived all my life in the tropics. The 20 minutes drive from 8848 ft to 6000 ft, was the scariest in my life. Visibility was bad and the roads were slippery. I started chanting Hanuman Chalisa and was close to getting a heart attack. Eventually, the snowfall abated (they were around only on the top) and I could breathe easy. I thanked god and the rest of my drive was uneventful. There is a hike to a glacier along the drive. The path was closed due to inclement weather.I stopped at a beautiful hamlet called Heiligenblut which is at the end of the drive. I snapped more pictures and drove on to Salzburg. 

Snowfall at the highest point on the drive.

The other side of the mountain and I had clear skies once again. Thank heavens!

The view of the Heiligenblut valley.

The chapel at Heiligenblut- with Austrian alps in the background

P.S: The drive to Salzburg on the autobahn at 200kmph was not as scary as the 10kmph drive in snowy conditions on Grossglockner. Irony!

Day 1: Visiting the land of romance- Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Castles

My favorite memory of childhood is the one where Ajji (dad's mom) would do kai tuttu (putting small morsels of food on hand) under the moonlight and captivate me with stories and fairytales. The magical worlds described in those fairytales enthralled me. I spent countless hours with my sister making up our own fairytale worlds which eventually turned into a hair pulling, kicking and name calling fight as both of us wanted to be the same character in that story. As I grew older I began reading about the origin of fairytales and was surprised to discover that cinderella, rapunzel, sleeping beauty etc were of written by german authors. Thus began my fascination with german romantic literature and I have always wanted to visit Bavaria, the setting for many of these tales. 

On May 11th 2014, I finally got to visit Bavaria the place I have dreamt of since childhood. I must say my imagination did injustice to the beauty of this place. The rolling slopes, green meadows, the crisp air, flowers in bloom-- it was magical. The drive itself put me on a high.

I visited Neuschwanstein castle first, built by King Ludwig 2 of Bavaria, as a dedication to Wagner's operas. Its a half an hour walk up to the castle in the woods, with amazing views. The palace was never completed as Ludwig 2 died (or murdered) under mysterious circumstances. I took a tour of the castle, but wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. After the tour I headed to Mary's Bridge, from where I got amazing views of the castle.

View of the castle after the short hike

One of the walls of Neuschwanstein

Mary's bridge from the castle

The front entrance 

View of the castle from Mary's bridge

Next stop was Hohenschwangau castle. It was built by Ludwig's father and Ludwig grew up over there. Both castles are on top of small mountains and have outstanding views of the valleys below.

View of Hohenschwangau castle from Neuschwanstein

View of Neuschwanstein from Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau Castle

Neuschwanstein as seen from the highway

My next stop was Linderhof Castle, the smallest of the castles built by Ludwig 2. The best features of the castle were- The venus Grotto and the gardens around the palace. The king built the grotto and gardens to have musical concerts. The lucky bastard! I was truly envious. 

Linderhof Castle and the surrounding gardens

The venus grotto- There is a boat in the middle of the lake, where the king sat to listen to concerts

The tour of the castle, was creepy though. It showcased the eccentric artistic tastes of the king. His private room in particular was weird- filled with mirrors and inlaid gold patterns. Five minutes in the room, made me dizzy, sort of like a drug induced haze. Ludwig 2 spent hours in this room. May be it was his way of going on a high!

The king's private room! He even had chandeliers made out of Ivory!

After spending a day getting drenched in rain, I was looking forward to the warmth of my hotel room in Munich.