... Sachin ...

My cousin woke me up at 5:30 AM, and for those who know me its like mid-night. "Sachin is batting, do you want to watch", he said. "Hell, yeah!" was my response. Bleary eyed I started watching the man many refer to as 'God of Cricket', batting on 12. I was glad that I didn't miss what could be his last innings. The way West Indies are batting; there may not be a second innings for India to bat. The Mumbai crowds were going berserk, just hearing the noise one could easily mistaken it for the death overs of a one-dayer or a 20-20 match. The energy inside the stadium was palpable. Even watching it on a laptop screen thousands of miles away gave me goose bumps.

He walked in with about 19 overs left for the day and India precariously placed at 77/2. He began the innings with an assurance not seen of him lately. With constant strike rotation and the odd boundaries he gave a parting lesson on how to build and innings after a setback. The one shot that defined his innings that day, was the one that has defined so many of his other innings too. One which he could very well file a patent for. The exquisite straight drive past the bowler.

Many articles have been written on Sachin. Every aspect of his game has been covered. His impact on them as individuals, on the Indian team, the Indian generation, the game itself, and even on the times he practiced his craft. All has been well documented. I have neither the skills nor the desire to add to that collection. 

I am just glad he choose a test match for his farewell. Although he revolutionized the one-dayers and his records, performances and unforgettable moments of brilliance in one-days will always over shadow those of tests. Tests hold a special place in the heart for many cricket lovers, I being one of them.  

Even as the sun was setting in the Arabian sea across the road, the noise showed now sign of relenting. As the shadows lengthened on the Wankhade Stadium the only thought going through my mind was that, he should remain unbeaten at the end of the day. Not because I want him to score another hundred,neither am I craving to see him on the crease just a bit longer. He has given us enough hundreds and over 25 years of memories to cheer and cherish.

...All I want is, for him to soak in the genuine love, admiration and adulation when he steps on the ground tomorrow.
...All I want is, for the 35,000 fans, to be able to express the deepest gratitude of theirs and those of million of fans all over the world through their vociferous cheering..
...All I want is to see Sachin walk down the pavilion steps one more time. Pads strapped, draped in white and a wielding willow is hand.

..All I want is to see Sachin walk, the way he was born to walk. with a bat in hand.

Euro trip - Day 4... "The amount of light should be just right, not too much, not too little, since having too much or too little light can both cause blindness" - Antonio Gaudi

One of the problems of not having concrete plans, is you need to make plans on the fly. So most of our limited time online has been spent making reservations and researching things. The unreliable and slow net connection did not help either. So, here it is, better late than never.

The Sagrada Família

Wonder-struck is the only word that comes close to describing my feeling when I first saw the Basílica. You step out of the subway tunnel and there in front of you the spectacular structure fills your vision. The brain is trying hard to process all the information which your eyes are capturing. Trying so hard, that for a few moments you are just seeing it in a state completely void of thoughts. 

What is even more astounding is that its only half way complete. Gaudi intended it to be a multi generation  project. For each each generation to interpret his ideas in their own way and express it on the two remaining the facade. The scale of the project is simply mind boggling.
Inside the state of wonder continues, the nave is filled with colorful light filtered through kaleidoscopic stein glass windows. The columns supporting the roof  resemble tree branches supporting a canopy. It is a unique Gaudi design continuing his philosophy of taking inspiration from nature. 
A nativity facade designed by Gaudi himself depicts his signature naturalistic style. Its very ornate and filled with minor details/ The entire face does not have a empty spot. One could spend hours just marveling at this one facade.
I can go on and on about it and still fall short of describing its magnificence. I have provided a link to a documentary at the bottom of the link.

To be honest I had not heard about Antonio Gaudi before, but I till after college had not heard about JRR Tolkein either. Sometimes one is introduced to great contributors and their greatest creations through travel, reading or friends. There are a lot of creations in the world, mad-made and natural that are spectacular even great. But very few have the capability to truly leave you wonder-struck.

The moment of Zen is one of Gaudi's quote and guiding principle about light.

Euro trip - Day 3... "Jabb biwi eak gaal pe marti hai to mien doosra gal aage karta hu, oppa Gandhi style."

Three in a row...,the travelogue has survived the third day. was a close call though.

... race day

We knew it was going to be a long day, so started the day with  a heavy breakfast. But, had to take care of the apt business first. Early am Gustavo gave give us keys to the original apt. By now, we have the travel to circuit figured out. Walk to Luice metro station, board the L3 to Sans Estacio, then renfe train to Montemello. From there bus to the circuit. 

The race itself was good one. Plenty of position changes in the beginning. But about midway through the race it was clearly evident that Mercedez desperately need to improve their car. Red bull's deficiencies are masked by the brilliance of Vettle. Lotus is going to keep on relying on Kimi's ability to get the car home on 2 stops. And Ferrari has unleashed a monster after the first break. For the Europen leg of the championship. They were so dominant that Alonso stopped thrice and was still ahead by 16 sec. An eternity in F1

... Catalunyaian trifecta

 Barcelona won the la Ligua, Alonso won the Sanish GP and Nadal won the Madrid open. What a lucky omen we are, we should have a work with the mayor to give us key to the city :)

Our attempt to go out clubbing was a big dud. We came in around 9 slept till 11:30 and then headed out. The one club we wanted to go was closed and the other said we were not dresses appropriately. WTH I thought Europe was less formal, nothing much to do we just got something to eat and called it a night.

...moment of Zen

after about the 4th round of Glenlivett the topic of discussion diverted to marriage. Kishore being the only married one in the group shared his secret for 3 successful years of marriage ;).  "Jabb biwi eak gaal pe marti hai to mien doosra gal aage karts hu, oppa Gandhi style."

Euro trip - Day 2 ... "Idhar aao meri Jaan"

I am trying to start a trend. The titles off all euro trip blogs are going to be quotes I hear, that leave an impression. At the end of the blog I will give the backdrop. It's like the 'Moment of Zen' showed on the daily show.

Day 2 started off with Hari joining the troupe. Trip to the circuit went on smoothly because Hari had done his homework. Circuit de Catalunya is in Montemello, about 20 miles from Barca. Won't harp much about how impressive it is to see and hear the F1 machines live. For F1 fans, this is a experience you must not miss. As an added bonus our seats were right in front of the Lotus pits.  Kimi as expected finished 4th. :|. After qualifying we decided to take advantage of gorgeous Spanish weather and walked back to the station.

Generally F1 teams setup exhibits somewhere in the city center and they are very good. That was our plan for later in the evening. Online search was not of much help so we decide to figure it out on the fly. As they say some of the best trips are the ones unplanned. Sri suggested we should go to Espana station , where she had seen some tents. When we got there we didn't find the F1 exhibition. But instead got to spend some time at the Plaça d'Espanya. Its a city square. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya on top of a hill with a cascading waterfall at its base, culminating in a huge musical fountain. It a treat to the eyes. Google it, I'll update some pics later.

Later on our way back got to participate in a Barcelona supporters victory celebrations. Barcelona won the Spanish la Ligua today. A big group had gathered near Las Ramblas to party. Perfect timing :)

...moment of Zen

Remember in the last post I had mentioned that the alternate apt was in a not-so-good neighborhood. This happened on our way back from the qualifying. We have to walk through a narrow lane lined with shops and pubs. Midway through there is an open space for people to congregate. Generally later in the day prostitutes setup their shop too. On our way back one of the Spanish prostitute tugged on my shirt and said "Idhar aao meri Jaan".

Euro Trip - Day 1

Historically I have had bad track record about maintaining a travelogue. Either the laptop runs out of juice, or we stay out too late, or it simply passes out of conscience. The reasons are as endless as my excuses. Sometimes I pen down my thoughts in drafts, to be edited and polished later. But later never comes.This time however I hav decided to just publish the blog every night without fail. So pardon the grammatical and spelling mistakes.

A day of travel...literally...

Started the trip with a late night Kuwait Airways flight from JFK to Heathrow. The three of us made an interesting trio. Me, the girl next to me and the guy on the other side of the aisle. Me, early 30s traveling outside of US for true first time that too for just 2weeks. The girl early 20s traveling to Europe for a college assignment for a month. And the guy in late 20s out on an 8 months long trip around the world. Had and interesting conversation.

Immigration was routine and when waiting for Kishore was informed by Hari that his flight was arriving at another Terminal. Had to scramble across, the only annoying part being I had to unload the cart before boarding the train and put it back on another cart at the other terminal. Kishore's flight was on time and we had a hour long drive to Stansted airport where we had to board our flight to Spain. Yellow flower filled fields banking the Motorway M25 constantly reminded me of DDLJ. The idea behind going to Stansted was to take a low fare airline to Spain. But after factoring in the checkin baggage fees and cab fare the price evened out. We would have been better off taking a flight from Heathrow. We however would have missed the Entourage moment of the day. An extra 10$ for priority  checkin brought us VIP treatment while boarding, where the entire flight crew was standing by the plane's stairs to greet us. 

Reached Barcelona and again thankfully immigration was quick. We however were in for a shock. We had booked our apt bang in the middle of Las Ramblas and had also paid a bit of premium for the location. After reaching there and seeing the party scene were feeling very good at that decision. But the booking agent told us that the apt we had booked was unavailable and he had arranged for an alternate. He said, the cables in out apt had caught fire and the repairs won't be done till Sunday. How convenient, we were furious. It was apparent that he had given the apt to a higher bidder. That left a sour taste in what had otherwise been a pretty nice day. Unhappily we took possession of the other apt and later went out for a stroll on Las Ramblas. Had dinner and am finally glad to get a chance to unwind. Eager to get some sleep. A long day awaits tomorrow