This post was long due and I attribute my laziness for the delay. I write this, sitting at home in Mumbai while not enjoying the heat. Probably, that’s why this is a good time to reminisce about my exchange semester to Europe last year. This blog post will talk about my experiences in every place I visited, what I did there and the random observations I had. I have also tried to have as many pictures as possible, all taken by myself.
This is August 2023.
I was to go to the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE, henceforth) in Sweden as part of my CEMS student exchange program. I was the only one from IIM Calcutta going to this school or even Sweden for that matter. Fortunately, I had two guys from IIM Bangalore, who soon became my very good friends, with whom I shared an apartment in Stockholm. Our plan was to stay in Stockholm, finish the compulsory courses and then opt for ones with no mandatory attendance and travel. All three of us booked the same Turkish Airlines flight from Mumbai to Stockholm, with a layover of 4 hours in Istanbul.
The excitement was still sinking in. When we flew over the Baltic Sea, the geography nerd in me was thrilled because I had only read about these places in school textbooks. Seeing them in real life made that child happy. After 15 hours of travel, we finally arrived in the land of the vikings - Stockholm, Sweden.
The first thing I noticed when I landed in Stockholm was how green and clean everything was. The temperature outside was a very pleasant 15°C. We bought a sim card from the airport and took an airport shuttle to our apartment, which is the cheapest way to go to the city. We stayed at Mornington Longstay, which turned out to be pretty convenient for us, given we weren’t staying for the entire semester. Our room was on the 5th floor with a good view of the neighbouring areas. Although we hardly kept the windows open due to cold winds. It was a suburb in western Stockholm called Bromma, with most amenities nearby including a grocery story, tram station and even a paddle court.
We could reach SSE from Bromma in 15 minutes by public transport. We purchased the SL pass (Storstockholms Lokaltrafik) that gave us access to every mode of transport (tram, metro, ferry and bus) throughout the city. Whenever we had classes, we took a tram or spårvagn from Johannesburg, the nearest station from our apartment, to Alvik and then a metro or tunnelbana from Alvik to Rådmansgatan. On the days I didn’t have a class, I put the SL pass to its full use and tried exploring the entire city.
I was introduced to the concept of Allemansrätten which literally translates to “All man’s right” or the right of public access. Unlike in India where you see signboards with “trespassing is prohibited” written on it, public access is granted to most of Sweden's nature, including uninhabited islands. As long as you don’t litter the place around and keep it clean, nobody can legally stop you from going anywhere. This unrestricted access allowed most people to rent/buy boats and go to random uninhabited islands with family and spend the day there hiking, rock-climbing, barbecuing, and bouldering (it’s a very popular thing to do in Sweden and there are even apps where climbers mark suitable climbing spots). There are even bouldering gyms called Klättercentret all over Sweden, one of which I tried out in Stockholm.
Some notable things I did during my stay are a visit to the Nobel Prize, Vasa and ABBA Museums, Stockholm Palace, Europe’s largest IKEA (cannot miss going here if in Sweden), countless walks through Gamla Stan or old town, have traditional Swedish fika and glögg and explore metro stations that are themselves art exhibits. Stockholm’s subway system is said to be the world’s longest art gallery - around 110 km.
Incidentally, I was in Stockholm in December and 2nd - 10th of that month is called the Nobel Week, as the Nobel Prize is awarded on 10th December each year. In that week, major attractions around the city are lit up by what’s called the Nobel Week Lights and beautiful light shows take place - definitely a treat to the eyes.
We also went on a road trip to nearby towns - Uppsala and Sigtuna. Uppsala is a university town with beautiful cathedrals and university buildings all around. Uppsala University is one of the oldest universities still in operation (estd. 1477) where Anders Celsius, the inventor of the Celsius temperature scale, was a professor of astronomy.
Sigtuna is known to be Sweden’s oldest town where the vikings laid foot in AD 980. It had tiny cafes, souvenir shops, a museum, and a lake.
The first train I ever took in Europe was a Flix train from Stockholm to Gothenburg and it took around 4 hours. It is Sweden’s second largest city and isn’t as happening as Stockholm, but it’s well known as the birthplace of Volvo and Hasselblad. I visited the Volvo museum, saw the tallest building of the city and went on a hike to Hönö Islands, which is part of Gothenburg’s archipelago.
By the end, Stockholm almost started feeling like home. Places and roads were familiar. I didn’t really require Google Maps to navigate my way anymore. It felt like I could live here.
Netherlands 🇳🇱 - Amsterdam
Netherlands was the first country I visited after Sweden during the semester and the first time I met some of my friends from IIMC in Europe. Amsterdam was fun. We went to a lot of coffee shops, had the world famous Manneken fries and stroopwaffles, went to museums, Anne Frank House, walked through the Red Light District and overall just soaked in the vibes of being in a foreign country with friends.
Here are pictures of the two main things Dutch cities are really known for - culture of riding bicycles and the beautiful canals.
After Sweden, Germany was the country I visited the most number of times given that it was the entry point from the Nordics to mainland Europe. The night train from Stockholm to Hamburg (and reverse) was a saviour while travelling. I went to Miniatur Wunderland which is a must-visit while you’re in Hamburg. I had to go to Cologne for my CEMS Block Seminar which was happening with the University of Cologne. A lot of European cities are quite walkable and so was Cologne. They have the concept of a city centre where public transport could be avoided in most cases. Cologne Cathedral (which is bang opposite the Köln Hbf station), Fragrance Museum or Farina House, and Museum Ludwig are the places I visited during my 1.5 day stay in Cologne.
My 5-day Block Seminar took place in Prüm, a quaint little town nestled in the mountains of Rhineland, Germany, and a place even the natives are less aware of. It’s 2 hours by road from Cologne and very close to the Germany-Luxembourg border. If not for the block seminar, I don’t think I would have ever visited Prüm. In hindsight, I’m absolutely thankful for this opportunity that I got to experience and live in countryside Europe - a place that is connected only by road, having a population of a few thousands and that turns into a ski resort during winters. The theme of the seminar was ‘Climate and Sustainability’ and we had comprehensive lectures, corporate partner interactions (Bayer, Metro AG, etc.), a visit to Tesla’s automation factory and a major evaluative project with Bayer.
After the seminar was done, I headed towards Stuttgart only to visit one place that has been on my list ever since I developed a liking for cars - the headquarters and museum of Mercedes Benz. It was a beautiful guided tour that starts on the topmost floor of the museum and ends on the ground floor. History of the car maker, major events that happened during that time, etc. - everything is explained in immense detail. Original models of the cars are kept, right from the very first Benz Patent-Motorwagen to the Mercedes W14 F1 car. Stuttgart is also the home to Porsche, whose museum I couldn’t visit. In the evening, I went to a view point named Teehaus, from where you get an unobstructed view of the entire city.
The next city was Munich. And we were right in time for the last weekend of Oktoberfest. This also happened to be a mini IIMC reunion. Most of my friends on exchange were in Munich to attend the festival and all of us were staying at the same hostel in Augsburg. Right outside Munich Hbf station, we could spot signages leading us to the tents. We are around 20 of us in the Augustiner Festhalle tent and we could see people all over dressed in traditional Bavarian attire (Dirndl and Lederhosen) sitting, laughing and chugging beers. It was quite an experience.
One cannot leave Germany without experiencing the remnants of the world war and the horrors inflicted by the Nazis. One notable building in Munich that exudes villainy is Führerbau, that translates to the Führer’s Building. This was the seat of the Nazi power during the war days, a building very close to Adolf Hitler. I remember just standing in front of this building and absorbing the entire feeling. Even though it currently houses the University of Music, I got goosebumps just thinking about the fact that this was the very place where Hitler signed treaties, agreements and would’ve ordered killings from.
Having read a lot of holocaust stories, I really wanted to visit related museums and memorials. Two such places were the concentration camps in Dachau, Germany (the longest running camp) and Auschwitz, Poland (the largest camp). I wasn’t able to visit Auschwitz but managed to go to Dachau since it is only 30 km from Munich. The walking tour there was by far the most painful, heart-wrenching and mentally-draining one I ever went on. Such things weren’t meant for the human mind to comprehend and the eyes to see, yet have a significant role in shaping our understanding of the past and future. A must visit.
The next stop was the capital city of Berlin. This is again a city with rich history where a lot had happened in the last 100 years. There are still remnants of the Berlin Wall throughout the city and clear distinctions separating the former East and West Berlin. Topography of Terror, a museum showing the rise of Hitler through the formation of Gestapo and Schutzstaffel (SS) should not be missed.
A personal recommendation would be to opt for a walking tour in every German city that you’re visiting. Each one would be like flipping through the pages of a history textbook. There is much to learn from a country that had such a widespread and atrocious impact reaching far beyond it’s own continent.
Luxembourg 🇱🇺 - Luxembourg City
I was able to visit Luxembourg serendipitously. I had taken a Ryan Air from Stockholm to Brussels and was going to board a connecting train to Paris. But to my luck, the train got cancelled and I had to book another train with a 5-6 hour stop at Luxembourg.
Similar to most European cities, this too is a fairly walkable city. But if you don’t want to walk, you could take the trams or any public transport for they’re free for both residents and tourists.
The one thing that caught my attention are these trams which were absolutely unlike what I had seen in other cities. The design I found to be quite futuristic with each coach having different colour tinted windows. Other than that, Luxembourg doesn’t have much to offer for a tourist and is best if you’re here on a day trip from France/Belgium/Germany.
A new day. A new country. Continuing my journey from Luxembourg, I boarded my final train and reached Gare de l'Est, Paris at night. I was tired, but somehow managed to locate my friend’s Airbnb which was on the outskirts of the city. I still have a beef with Paris metro not being easy to use for tourists.
I spent the next day walking through the streets of Paris and staring at the Eiffel Tower for hours, trying to capture it from every possible angle. It was gorgeous. I was absolutely looking forward to seeing it lit at night with all the sparkles. But unfortunately for the 3 days I was in the city, it was either not lit up or had the Israel flag colours (following the attacks by Hamas).
Apart from this, some of the other places I went to were the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Company, Bourse de Commerce and had lots of croissants and pain au chocolat.
One can’t leave France without travelling on the high-speed TGVs. I travelled on the below train from Gare du Nord, Paris to Karlsruhe, Germany from where I had connecting trains to Hamburg and then back to Stockholm.
Norway 🇳🇴 - Narvik, Tromsø
Northern Lights and Norway has been on my bucket list since childhood. Although you can watch the lights from multiple places in Europe, but we chose Tromsø as our destination. Studying and living in Stockholm had its perks. There was a direct 18-hour train from Stockholm to Narvik every day and that was the best and most economical option.
The views were fairytale-like. I honestly felt like I was on a different planet. As we were entering the Lapland region, vegetation dwindled and all we could see was snow, mountains and fjords. We crossed through Kiruna and Abisko which are in the Swedish Lapland and terminated our journey in Narvik, which is part of the Norwegian Lapland. We then took a 4 hour bus ride to our final destination.
After travelling for almost 24 hours, we had finally reached Tromsø. And the place was nothing short of beautiful. The Airbnb that we stayed at was the best (as per my experience during the semester), having two floors, four bedrooms, a huge living room and a deck that offered a breathtaking view of snow-clad mountains, a lake and the entire city. In the midst of all of this, I forgot how far we were from India and even from rest of Europe. I opened Google Maps to check and realised that this is the northernmost I have ever been in my life (yet). Felt surreal. Although more surreal things were awaiting us. We came here to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. On the bus ride to Tromsø, we had booked a lights tour called the Arctic Guide Service for ~€70 per person. We dropped our bags in our Airbnb and even though all of us were tired, the thought of even seeing the northern lights was overwhelming.
It was a group tour that began from Tromsø city centre in a bus. We were taken to a place that was on the outskirts, beyond the city limits with no mobile network and absolute darkness. So in order to see the northern lights, two things are important and needed to be in our favour. First, the weather and cloud cover. A clear sky is imperative. Second, a high Kp-index. This index shows the level of geomagnetic activity in a region and can be easily seen on apps like Aurora. A high Kp of 8-9 would be futile if it’s a cloudy sky while an average Kp of 3-4 is more than enough to watch the show on a clear sky.
Our tour guide announced that we had a Kp of around 3 and the sky was clear. We kept staring at the black sky in the hope we see at least something. Slowly, the sky changed colour and we saw a green tint appear but it was almost invisible to the naked eye. We waited at the place for an hour but the intensity did not change. Disappointed, we sat in the bus and were driven to another location. Similar to the previous one, this was also far from the city and pitch black. But again very slowly, we saw magic. What started as a small green blob had become this huge light show. Not only we saw green, we also red lights which we were told was pretty rare. I’m getting goosebumps as I see the pictures and I write this. As someone who had only dreamt of this and had seen it on reels, watching the dance of the lady aurora I felt extremely grateful at that moment. Words honestly cannot describe what I saw on that day.
For people heading to Norway, I would recommend you to checkout Lofoten Islands - a place, like Tromsø, accessible by road from Narvik. I felt it has much more to offer in terms of the dramatic and unreal Norwegian landscapes and fjords.
After Norway, it was time to explore another beautiful and stunning country - Switzerland. We knew Switzerland is going to be expensive so our main aim was to do activities that will not require us to shell out a lot. We had booked a small accommodation in Interlaken besides Lake Thun and it was just two minutes from the main station. Switzerland turned out similar to what I had seen in movies. It was an almost perfect country that it felt I was in a painting. The greens were greener and the blue was bluer than any other place I had ever visited.
Switzerland is when I started to appreciate the European rail network a lot more, particularly Deutsche Bahn. DB is notoriously known for delays and late arrivals, quite contrary to the German values of punctuality. Keeping this aside, one couldn’t help but just admire the connectivity of DB. At the Interlaken station, I saw a Deutsche Bahn ICE train coming all the way from Hamburg. So if I want, I could effectively come from Stockholm to Switzerland with just one change at Hamburg. I understand India has a much more extensive railway network, but I guess it’s just the thought of so many countries being inter-linked so seamlessly that amazed me.
We did the panorama trek to Oeschinen Lake, hiked to Bachalpsee Lake near Grindelwald First, sat on a cable car, rode the downhill trotti bike and went to Aare Gorge - a limestone ridge formed over thousands of years by the Aare Glacier. I missed experiencing the Rodelbahn aka the mountain coaster as it was closed due to bad weather. If I had the time, I would’ve definitely visited CERN in Geneva, Matterhorn and the Lindt Chocolate Factory in Zurich.
Austria 🇦🇹 - Vienna, Hallstat, Werfen, Salzburg
Saying goodbye to Switzerland, we took a train from Interlaken to Basel and then a connecting train to Vienna. Again, a place with a lot historical significance which had an important role to play during the world wars.
Just a stroll through the various streets of the Austrian capital is enough to take you back to the 19th and 20th century. I went to the Hofburg Palace, Albertina Art Museum, Central Cafe (one of the most important cafes of the 1900s), Österreichische Nationalbibliothek or Austrian National Library (it has the only ‘globes’ museum in the world), saw a few engravings dedicated Jews of Nazi-Vienna, attended a Mozart concert at the Mecca of classical music and visited history museums. In fact, the Military Museum has the pistol with which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot, starting the World War. The gun shot that would go on to change the trajectory of the entire world.
I would also recommend trying out the original Sacher Torte at Cafe Sacher. Not the best dessert you’ll have, but definitely something to have when in Austria.
We explored Hallstatt in day-trip from Vienna. Taking a ferry to the main town from the nearest railway station, we could clearly see ‘fall’ setting in. The main attraction is the Hallstatt Salt Mines - the oldest in the world. We hiked all the way to the salt mine which is on the top of the hill. You could also take the funicular (shown below), which looked fun.
The other day trip was Werfen. We were quite eager to visit the ice caves since it closes for tourists after October 31st. Werfen ice caves are the largest in the world and once you enter it, it’s quite evident why. It’s pretty deceiving as even during summers, the temperature inside the cave is sub-zero. Once we were on the top just outside the cave entrance, we had an unobstructed view of the Austrian Alps.
Vienna being centrally located, has direct trains to almost all major cities nearby. We took a direct train from Vienna to Prague that took us around 4 hours. Visiting Prague Castle, Dancing House, Franz Kafka Museum, Sex Machines Museum, and pub crawls are some of the things we did in Prague.
Utilising my time there, I also opted for a skill seminar with VSE Prague. It was a corporate skill seminar that happened at URW’s office.
Food and travel go hand in hand. We had trdelnik - a chimney cake supposedly of Hungarian origin but found almost everywhere in Prague. This is an interesting article on the history of trdelnik. Do read if you’re interested.
I really wanted to visit Bohemian Switzerland, a national park in Czech Republic, but missed it. It is a day-trip from Prague and some of the scenes from the film Narnia were shot there.
Hungary 🇭🇺 - Budapest
Taking a direct train (again) from Prague, we reached the Hungarian capital of Budapest. We went on a boat cruise on river Danube that also acted as a guided tour, passing through major attractions. One of them was the magnificent parliament building (as shown below). We also spent almost half a day at Széchenyi Thermal Bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It felt like being in a giant swimming pool with hot water. It was a calming experience. One of the local food items I remember trying was Goulash - which is a vegetable/meat soup with different kinds of spices.
Barcelona was the second time after Oktoberfest where most of us from IIMC met again, partially thanks to the CEMS Career Forum happening at ESADE. Barcelona was nice where the day was mainly spent at the ESADE campus, eating tapas, going to Camp Nou and FCB stores and observing Gaudi architecture.
The Career Forum itself was a delightful experience considering it’s so different from the ‘placement process’ in India. We got to interact with a lot of companies that had setup stalls. One of my best takeaways was the skill seminar with McKinsey which was a competitive case solving session followed by a fancy dinner in a sea-facing restaurant in downtown Barcelona. I noticed people were really open in sharing their career goals, reservations, and what they want in life generally.
Coincidently, Diwali happened right around the time when most of us were together in Barcelona. We took that opportunity to dress in traditional wear and party at a friend’s place at La Rambla (certain Joka habits don’t go away, do they).
ZNMD spoiled us in a lot of ways. Wanting to do that boys Spain road-trip was one. Five of us (hostel wingies at IIMC) rented a car from Europcar in Barcelona and drove to Valencia. It was a huge Airbnb on the 10th floor, opposite a stunning beach. Such clear waters and clean sand with no crowd was a treat for us. The next two days we spent exploring different beaches in and around Valencia and playing volleyball.
Next city was the Spanish capital, Madrid. And it is definitely one of the grandest European capitals I had visited, with large squares, picturesque monuments with everything being very walkable. We ended our Spain trip with the high-speed train back to Barcelona from Madrid Atocha railway station.
Finland 🇫🇮 - Tampere, Rovaniemi
Italy was the next major country I wanted to visit. But since our time in Europe was almost coming to an end, my friend and I thought of going to a place that’s anything but ordinary, is difficult to reach, offbeat and unconventional and a place from where could see the northern lights, again. So we shortlisted three locations - Lofoten Islands in Norway, Longyearbyen in Svalbard and Rovaniemi in Finland. Going to Lofoten would require us traverse the exact same route till Narvik .i.e. go to Hamburg, take the night train to Stockholm, then an 18 hour journey to Narvik and finally 4.5 hours by road to Lofoten Islands. We decided to skip it. Svalbard was interesting. It’s the northernmost town in the world, a place where polar bears roam freely and where you’re legally required to carry arms. I’ve been wanting (still do) to visit that place ever since this Veritasium video. But because the place was going through polar night (24 hour darkness), a lot of the activities were shut and we weren’t sure of the weather as well. So, maybe next time? This left us with Rovaniemi. It is a town in Finland, in the Lapland region and is known as the official home of Santa Claus. It was a lucrative option for three reasons. One, Finland was a new country for us. Two, we were required to take a 12 hour cruise ship from Stockholm, again a new mode of transport. And three, chances of northern lights were high. So, Rovaniemi it was.
We reached Stockholm and stayed there for a few days. Well rested, we embarked on the Viking Line (got discounted tickets because of eurail pass) from Stockholm in the morning. We had a private cabin and the entire journey was mind-blowing. It was late-November so temperatures were already near/sub-zero and we were cruising on the Baltic Sea. There were ~15 decks, multiple restaurants and pubs, arcade room, live performances, and a duty-free store. There was always something to keep you entertained. After 12 hours, we reached the port of Turku in Finland.
With this, we had officially made it into a different timezone as Finland is an hour ahead of other European countries (except Portugal, which is an hour behind). We took a 2 hour train from Turku to Tampere and then an overnight train reaching Rovaniemi the next day.
The Airbnb was an extremely cozy cabin just off the road shown below. We ventured out, shopped for groceries and explored the nearby areas.
One day was completely reserved for visiting the Santa Claus Village. There were letters from around the world addressed to Santa, souvenir shops, and people dressed as elves walking around. We even got to meet and talk to Santa Claus. It’s also the place that the Arctic Circle goes through and we crossed it. Yes, precisely at 66° 33' N. It felt strange, in a good way.
There was also a husky and reindeer (omg) park nearby where you could play with them and also go on sledge rides.
The temperatures in Finland were consistently hovering around -10℃ with some days reaching as low as -19℃. We even went for a lot of short hikes nearby. Amongst all of this, we unfortunately couldn’t catch a glimpse of the northern lights. But definitely no regrets as we were able to experience much better things in Finland.
We returned back to Stockholm taking the same route .i.e. Rovaniemi - Tampere - Turku - Stockholm. With this, I was able to visit all the three Lapland regions of Sweden (Abisko & Kiruna), Norway (Narvik and Tromsø) and Finland (Rovaniemi).
I still had a few days left in Europe and staying in Stockholm for a shorter duration is a bit expensive. That’s when I checked the cheapest flights from Stockholm and I was able to get a Ryan Air round trip from Stockholm to Gdánsk for €27. Yes, it was time for a new country - Poland.
Gdánsk was a little town in north Poland that had Christmas markets, cathedrals, and of course history and war museums.
I spent two days in Warsaw, stayed in the city centre, took a walking tour, tried local food and bought some souvenirs.
I returned back to Gdánsk and my short 4 day solo-trip to Poland ended and I returned to Stockholm
Denmark 🇩🇰 - Copenhagen
My flight back to India, again a Turkish Airlines, was from Copenhagen. I took my last train in Europe from Stockholm to Copenhagen. This was the day my eurail pass expired and I don’t think I could’ve utilised this pass any more efficiently.
I spent my 2 days in Copenhagen exploring the main touristy spots like the palace, Tivoli Gardens (world’s third oldest amusem*nt park), Little Mermaid statue, etc.
I reached Copenhagen Airport well in advance, checked-in and just waited to board my flight to Istanbul.
Ah! I was finally leaving Europe. :(
While booking my flight, I came across something called Touristanbul. If you are travelling via Turkish Airlines and have a layover of 6 - 24 hours, you could opt for a free tour of Istanbul. There were different options available depending on the layover. Having read this, I booked a flight with 20 hours layover and got myself an e-visa for $40. After reaching Istanbul, I spent the night at the airport and reached the Touristanbul counter at 7 AM and opted for the full-day tour.
We had a bus along with a tour guide waiting for us. The tour started with breakfast at a restaurant - dates, coffee, some eggs, and salad. We visited the Hagia Sophia mosque, Blue Mosque, The Obelisk, Serpentine Column, and the Spice Bazaar where we had tea and traditional baklava. We also stopped for lunch in between.
We were dropped back to the airport at 6 PM. I checked-in, finished my immigration and was all set to board my last flight to Mumbai. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to be back.
As I write this in May 2024, the feelings stay the same. My exchange semester was like a dream. You might think that I was on a vacation to Europe. I won’t deny, but sometimes it felt like that. But almost everytime I was travelling, I was constantly on my laptop finishing assignments and projects. It was tough - managing academics and travel. Eventually, I just got better at it. I backpacked to a lot of places, and tried saving every penny I could. There was occasional discomfort, I fell ill and was constantly tired due to back to back travel. The next time I come to Europe, things will feel different. More comfortable, maybe. But I’m grateful and will cherish the 100 days I spent in this beautiful continent.
After all, life is nothing without travel.
Thank you.
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