FIFA - Weltmeisterschaft 2006 : The round of death begins

As the World Cup reaches its final phase, the excitement grows exponentially. The quarter finals are about to start in a couple of hours. Of the eight teams 6 are European and 2 giants from South America. The ties give an indication of tremendous action about to begin. In the past 56 matches we have seen some amazing goals being scored, some great performances and some heart-breaking exits. Of the teams that couldnt manage to make it to the "viertelfinale", I personally miss Austrailia, Ghana, Czech Republic who definitely deserved much better deal. However since only 8 teams can be selected we have the best of them. Now lets see, how these teams fare from here.

As the 1st quarter finals kicks off, there will be intense competition between the two most promising teams in the tournament so far. It will be a pity that only one of them will make it further. Both Germany and Argentina have scored plenty of goals so far. Will the host nation take advantage of its home conditions or not, will the German supporters in Berlin see their team in finals or not, only time will say. Among the other heroes battling for glory, we have Brazil meeting their nemesis Zidane and his France in Frankfurt. A repeat of the 98 finals is anybody´s guess. Its too difficult to say at this moment, but after seeing the performance and composure of Le Blues against the Spaniards, Ronaldo and Co are not going to have an easy song. England have an advantage against a depleted Portugal. The Azzuris are surely looking ahead for their Semi-finals, but can Shevschenko upset their plans? I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Travelogue : Milano, Italy

Last friday I had to go to Polytechnico Milano for a project Seminar. This was the first time for me to visit Milano. After the talk, me and my colleague could visit the city, but that particular day was not optimum for visiting any place. The temperature was soaring, the sun was scorching hot. All one could do is be at a lake or beside a fountain sipping some drink.

We spent some time at the Duomo in the center of the city. The Duomo is one of the largest Catholic Cathedrals of Europe. But unfortunately the frontal view was draped in banners as the musical group Sting were scheduled to give a performance that evening at the city square. I took some snaps around the place. I was impressed by the glass cieling work of the neighbouring promenade. We went around some of the shopping malls. There were tourists everywhere. The fashion capital of Europe, Milan attracts shoppers from worldwide. The home city of D&G, Prada and Giorgio Armani does a buisness of 7 million euros on a daily basis through shopping alone. We also saw the huge store of La Regnisance which is in the vicinity of the Duomo. Tired and beaten by the sun, we could not venture out much into the city and took the earliest train back home.

I have uploaded some of my snaps here

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=551628689&security=bvXrMt

if interested you could read some more history of the duomo here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duomo_di_Milano

Travelogue : Pisa, Italy

On my way back from the Summer School in S. Vincenzo, our group of friends had decided to visit Pisa which was on the way back. After seeing around Pisa all of us would take different routes to go back home. Well we had a small walk down the city, passing through some lanes and streets. Crossing the river of Arno. A little before the Campo dei Miracoli, there was a small festival in the town. Plenty of shops were up for display and sales. There were hawkers selling olives (several varieties - I was amazed to see some of them), Capperi, Clothes, Sweets and Confectioneries, pets (parrots, love birds, turtles, squirrels). The crowd was full of tourists - Americans forming a majority again, some Germans, Chinese, Japenese, I overheard some Russian also, later I also saw some Asians as well - old, young and kids in the pram. The Campo dei Miracoli is the only thing worth seeing in Pisa and its so small that I wondered that people spent so much money to see such a thing which could be as large as the Giant Football Stadiums Germany had made for the World Cup. We took our regular snaps at the leaning tower, then walked around the Cathedral and the Jewish Cemetry. The 3rd significant building you see in the Piazza is the Monastry. The entry to the tower was a little expensive, and due to time constraints, we decided against it. We saw the cathedral from the inside. Photography was allowed, but I was surprised that one could not a tripod in there.

as usual the links to some of my snaps is here

Travelogue : San Vincenzo, Tuscany, Italy

Last week I had gone to San Vincenzo last week to attend a Summer School on Multimedia Digital Libraries. San Vincenzo is a small tourist town in the region of Tuscany, about 50 Km from Pisa on the West coast of Italy. I guess its a popular destination among family tourists, as all through the week I could see a large number of kids and grand parents. The majority of holiday makers were from Germany. If you want to take a break along with your family on a quite beach, with some decent hotels and serenity in the neighbourhood, then San Vincenzo is the place to be. Among the hotels in the city, I guess Hotel Delphino is recommendable, as it is close to the city center, has a good view of the beach and the room prices are pretty good. The region of Tuscany is famous for its Red Wine and Olives. The food of also very good with the restaurants serving some very good delicacies. I suggest Serendipity and La Paradisino for some good evening dinner with the gusts of the Meditterrainean blowing on your face.

I have uploaded some of the snaps I took during my stay there at this link

Travelogue : World Cup at Munich

I had gone to Munich for the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup. Though I could not manage to get a ticket for the stadium, my friends in Munich had decided to watch the games at the Fifa Fan Fest which was being held at the Olympia park. The Train from Trento to Munich was full of crowd both old and young who were going to Munich for the same reason. The Munich Hauptbahnhof was dressed for the occassion. All the stalls and kiosks were decorated with football themes. Flags from the participant nations were all around.

The afternoon of the D-day was full of enthusiasm. One could feel the pulse of excitement among the people, as if something great was being anticipated. There were people from all over the world, dressed in their flag colors, interesting costumes etc. We took a small walk through the Karlplatz to Marienplatz. The mood all along was festive, supporters of several countries, Mexico in majority among the foreigners, were flooding the streets. The game was starting at 6 so we planned to reach the Olympia park at 4 to get in. The way to the park was full of people everywhere. I had never seen so many people in Munich before, also never before I was in Munich during a World Cup. Germany was playing the opening match, so German supporters were for sure pumped up. On the way to the park, we noticed some people going in the opposite direction. The reason was the huge queue lined up at the entrance to the enclosure where the games were being shown. We waited for our turn, but around 530 we were told that the maximum capacity of the place was fulled, and they could not let in anymore people. To our badluck the whole of 20,000 places were taken already. So we went to a nearby restaurant to watch the match. In the evening afer Germany had won, the whole of Munich was celebrating it. Pepole were partying on the streets till the early morning.

The next day we went almost 5 hours ahead of the match to get in. It was England playing Paraguay and there British supporters were already filling in the places. We waited in the hot sun endlessly. There were some small fun games organised by the Fifa guys. There were several shops and stalls in the enclosure selling official Fifa goods. When the match started, the crowd was uproarious. After the goal was scored the whole park was echoing with the song "Its coming home ....". After the match the English fans were rejoicing as before. All in all it was a great experience for the two days. I had taken several snaps and have uploaded some of them here.

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=551462217&security=AJorIT

on a break

I am currently on a break ..... firstly I had gone to Munich for the Opening Ceremony of the Fifa World Cup, and then had to go for a Summer School in San Vincenzo.

In a couple of days, I shall be back with some good snaps and experiances of these places.

Hay fever woes !

Come May and for many people these days the problems related Hay fever rises .... I am myself a new victim of this allergy ..... while browsing around I found some good information and thought of sharing it here so that those of you experiancing the same woes can find some good tips here ...

One fellow blogger summarises good info here .....
http://organically.blogspot.com/2006/05/hay-fever-plus.html

here is a forum for it
http://www.hayfeverforum.co.uk/

and the wiki stub is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_fever