My Snow Diaries—How I Realized My Dream in the Frozen Corners of Europe

What does travel mean to you? For some, it’s socializing in the thumping clubs of Vegas and for others, it’s reconnecting with their inner self in the spiritual corners of Angkor Wat. And for Bhuvana, our star Customer Happiness Executive, it’s seeing herself playing with snow. Simplest dreams are the most beautiful, true that!

We were super happy when she went ahead and realized her dream on her trip to Europe. Here’s what she has to say, with her eyes gleaming.

Why Europe?

Never in my 23 years of life had I seen snow. Me being me, have always wanted to see snow. What better time than now? So that’s it, I decided I’ll take a vacation even if it’s just to go see snow, whatsoever. Luckily for me, I had my sister and her family living in Brussels (Belgium). I also wanted to surprise my sister, so I along with my brother in law, planned everything in a month and on the 1st of October it was Adios to India.

While on vacation, my first stop was Brussels. My sister stays at Wavre, 30 minutes away from Brussels city centre. I visited all the must-see tourist attractions like the Royal Palace, The Atomium, The Mannekin and Jeannekin Pis while I was on my way to Wavre. Did I mention it’s one of the calmest places I have ever seen?

Any important heads up that you want to give travellers about Belgium?

Plan your timing well! It rained almost 70% of the time there, and I heard it stays the same way throughout the year and the stores there close by 6 PM or 7 PM maximum. Although I felt a little bad because of the rain, their weekly Wednesday market made me happy. Every Wednesday the locals come together and put on a small market in the city centre between 8 AM – 12 AM. From fresh fruits and Belgian chocolates to fashion outlets, you name it and there’s a store for it. I stayed there for two weeks and I didn’t do much other than going to those markets whenever they happened. But it couldn’t have been more perfect!

What is the one ultimate experience you’d suggest for travellers on a multi-country vacation in Europe?

What better experience than a road trip from Brussels to Switzerland! Switzerland was 8 hours away from Brussels by car. We planned on driving our car and guess what? It was THE best decision we ever took. We started early in the morning around 3 AM and it took close to 10 hours because we made few or more than a few pit stops along the way!! The entire drive had beautiful scenic views. It was mesmerizing. The green landscapes, the white clouds and freeway, everything was so surreal. We reached Saint Luc in Switzerland by 3 PM where we rented our very own private chalet. The view from the chalet was mind-blowing. That includes each and every corner. The temperature there was 2C. We enjoyed our first night there; we had a small party inside the chalet itself.

Waiting for the snow story? Here comes!

The next day, we were off to Zermatt. To see SNOWW!! My entire reason to go on this trip. Apparently, between September and October, there is not much snowfall in Belgium. But that didn’t stop me, I still had hopes of seeing the snow. We parked our cars at Tasch station and took a train to Zermatt. We had bought our tickets to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. Also, did you know, you get to take free shuttle insides Zermatt if you have the tickets to MCP.  So, yes, BINGO! We had to take three cable cars to reach the top. With every car we switched, my excitement got out of control. And on the final table, as I was reaching the top, I could see snow. Yes!! It was more than beautiful, exactly the way I imagined it to be. I couldn’t express the way I felt through words. I was Speechless. 😇

As soon as I set my foot on snow, zoom, and I slipped. My first time on snow and I took to fall, by its beauty (and also because of my shoes). I clicked pictures and played in the snow with my niece and nephew as much as I could until 5 PM and then, it was time to say goodbye to the snow. By night, I was back to Saint Luc. Next morning we went on a funicular ride and we had to trek our way back during which I again fell comically. I have never trekked in my life and the first time I tried being a little adventurous, I ended up spraining my ankle. 😬

How was the mandatory Paris trip though?

After three days in Switzerland, I was back in Wavre, and we left for Paris the upcoming weekend. The City of Love. The City of Lights. I never thought I would go to Paris on the same trip. I would say Paris is an overly crowded city. To reach a place through the car, you would have to at least cross 10 traffic signals. We reached Paris by noon after a 3 hours drive from Belgium. We planned to visit the Eiffel Tower the next morning. Since we woke up a little late than expected, we wanted to finish our lunch before visiting the tower. After a serious web search, we found an Indian restaurant near the Paris Gare du Nord station(There’s not a time that’s not good for some desi food!). We took a tram and a train to reach the station from our location. First left from the station outside, and I saw several famous food chains from India. The street would at least be about 2 km long and it was filled with Indian & Srilankan nationals. Not just Singapore, even Paris, to my surprise had a mini India in it. Having hogged Indian foods and delicacies, we reached the great Eiffel tower by taking a metro from Gare du Nord. We stayed there till the tower was lit with lights and trust me, it was a feast to eyes.

Two days later, I was on a flight back to India, with happily shopped stuff from Dubai Duty-Free! 😉

I never really planned on going on this trip two months back and now after the trip, I have tonnes of beautiful memories to keep telling stories about:)

---

When are YOU planning on realizing your dream? Fancy a snowy vacation like that of Bhuvana’s? Book your Europe Tour Packages now at unbelievable prices!

---