Journey Begins ( Part 1 ) - Berlin and Amsterdam

Journey Begins ( Part 1 )
The day had come to set out on our bucket list of conquering the cities we planned, so off we set off on a mission that was meticulously planned to keep it tidy on the wallets and the time on hand. The journey starts with the morning wake up call at 05.00 hrs and a rush to reach the nearest railway station on foot by 06.00 hrs.

The amazing company and excitement let us sleep well through our tedious 9 hour journey to Berlin from Ingolstadt not forgetting 5 train changes, but yes we did it... all in just 11 Euros. Thanks to the DB app on our phone we had updates of trains at our finger tips. The journey around Berlin was short yet fruitful, experiencing the different historic monuments in the city and enjoying the busy city life of this metropolitan.

Berlin Wall Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

Our next stop after an overnight journey was the city of Amsterdam. While a lot of good and bad was heard of this place, we needed to experience it first hand. After we reach the city bus station, we get a view of a lot of mind blowing experiences... A robber trying to rob a bag on the station, watched by police and caught in the act.. wow the experience was really chilling but should hand it over to the police for keeping a real strict vigil of the city. We then moved to the famous canals and moved around this beautiful place visiting museums, locations and special mention of the Red Light District. Overall was a pleasant experience and smell of marijuana was all over the place. 

Journey Continues... Stay Tuned...

College, Life, Celebration and Happiness

This was a new experience and life had been different before . Never was there such attention to that back bencher kid who tried to stay away from the limelight . The world had now taken notice and he was here grabbing this opportunity in the land known for its football, music heritage and beers !!! All synonymous with our home state of Goa in the diverse country of India.

A cultural shock was in store when you enter a class where you are free to walk out or in , drink coffee and bite your burgers. The teachers here interacted so freely with the students and teaching was a notch higher and relevance to the industry vis a vis the subject was aptly noticed in lectures right from the day one. Interaction with professors, foreign exchange students and off course the German students was a learning experience never to be experienced in my life again. The whole course has been a delight and the added advantage of getting a chance to travel to such magnificent places will be cherished forever.

Given a chance to work with Professor Dr. Peter Augsdorfer(an expert on innovation management himself) on a project at Nokia, Munich under the guidance of Mr. Fabian Schlage(Head of Innovation Management, Nokia) opened up a new dimension in the thought process towards innovation and technology management. Also this opened the opportunity to meet up with some great minds of the college and work together as a team towards building a design for the future of the automobile sector. Innovative ideas flowed without any opposition but only praise and guidance under the two stalwarts of the industry.

Friends from all over the globe helped us build relationships that would last forever and enjoy each others cultures, foods and banters together.  Be it the French, Italians, Brazilians, Germans, South Africans and many many more.... all were an amazing bunch of enthusiastic friends. While some became close friends the others shared a beer in parties raising cheers to your intentions. The amazing evening chatter and the meets for different birthdays were really special to all. 

Systems at the college is also something worth mentioning about. Nobody asked you to visit a bank to transfer small bills any more. Be it the canteen ( Mensa in this case) or the admission fees , all included the contactless RFID card that was your identity proof, college library card, canteen credit card and your access card to the library way after college closed. The moodle is a well updated one and can be compared to any hifi data management systems which needs special mention and recognition. It was also for the first time I was introduced to fully online classes where I met my professor only for the exam yet interacted with him every week pretty efficiently. A learning experience beyond words can describe. A lot to take back home !!

Journey for an Exchange

Finally the day had come that we fly to Germany !!! With all the bags packed and masala sealed in various packets and with wishes, prayers and blessings from the whole family I head to bed to have my final sleep in Goa.

Its 3:00 am and now have to lock and check my bags. Head to the airport at 4:00 am and the journey included a silent journey that was filled with disbelief yet to realize that finally I was flying abroad for 5 long months, bracing for the chilly cold that was expected.

We reach the new terminal of Dabolim Airport and finally say our good byes to all !!! The journey now begins. We leave Goa on the GoAir 6:50 am flight. Touch down at Mumbai Domestic Airport at roughly about 7:15 am and pick our bags and head to the International Airport through the shuttle service inside the domestic airport. We reach the International Airport at 8:30 am and have to now wait a long 7 hours for our next flight to Muscat.

GoAir flight says Good Bye to Goa !!!

Time is such a funny runner, when u have to wait, it runs slow. While if your doing something interesting, it freaking flies. But, as destiny would have it, thanks to the newly built architectural wonder of Mumbai, the International Airport is one superbly built airport. So we go clicking and passing our time at the new airport.

Food Court has some great tastes

Beautiful vases that go well with the Architecture

Uniquely Designed Lamps

Beautiful Flowers

Just another pic of the Vases

The Entrance Lobby

 Back again its 3:40 pm and time to fly again. Oman Air Mumbai - Muscat awaits our presence to fly. Didn't expect the flight to be equivalent to our domestic flight. But yes the plane was small and it was pretty stuffed. The best part of this flight though was the food served. It was delicious !!

We arrived at Muscat Airport and here were a bit scared to go clicking. The guys were a bit hostile and didn't know what to really do there as we were expected to spend about 9 hours here. But somehow we did it. Finally at 2:15 am, we were back on a flight to Munich from Muscat. On board Oman Air Muscat-Munich flight was a delight. Good food, Good Choice of Movies and Pleasing On board staff meant the journey was pleasant.

Finally we reached Munich early morning. Checked out at the Immigration Counter and then headed to offload our bags. Took the Airport Express Bus to Ingolstadt and were received by  our buddies at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt.

P.S : For those flying first time, Laptop can be carried separately and is not included in your regular luggage weight.