A farewell to europe...

This brings to an end, the series of our European holiday snapshots, an awesome experience that will leave lingering memories lasting my lifetime. its not that this wont be repeated, but to do it in this manner, as close to genuine backpacking as we could get, will be really hard.
Yes, it was not all a cakewalk, there were tough times as there were great moments, staying in a room with total strangers, making do without water every morning - where its absolutly essential for us Indians, living on a shoe string budget, making burgers a staple diet, matching mindsets of 3 different individuals who had not interacted much in the last few years, having roomates sick with - god knows what, non functional hostel coolers in the sweltering heat of a Roman Autum, a sprained ankle, a set of hurting heels and an aching back, huge backpacks, a daylight saving time change, super long walks with the back packs, a super slow train from Versailles, Paris taxis, a critical missed flight, bread, cheese and salami for lunch, last day fog in Paris are only a few that come to mind, but each of these only went to enhance and enrich the experience, the holiday probably would be less memorable without them all.
But these were also backed up with, fantastic weather, awesome people, some new friends, great locales, sets of diverse cultures, enviably seamless transport facilities, some awesome food, flawless planning in most cases, a copy of the lonely planet, a budget that did not spiral totally out of control, and 2 awesome people for company. All in all, an experience I deeply cherish, and wish for every adventerous person that I know.
A few thanks are due here, First, to Rohan, without whom the trip would not have happened, for the huge amount of time spend by him in researching, planning,and booking, and part financing of the trip to Noella, who did the critical job of arranging the travel stuff out of India, gave us awesome company and carried a can of volini, to Effy, whose place turned out to be our first haven in europe, sadly we never got to meet her,to Ruben and Isabella, who opeaned their home and hearts to us, to the two sailors at Trapani, who gave that warm homely feeling on first getting to Sicily. To Valentina who really made us feel at home in Catania, to the papa in paris, to the catacomb guard from madagascar, to the strange lady in notre dame who gave us a guided tour, to the taxi driver in paris who tried to get us to the airport on time, to the mount etna guide, to brighty from grenada, for some free sangria, and to a host of other people, who added colour and flavour to make the trip most memorable.
For all those who havent yet done the euro trip, dont waste your time, its a must do in a lifetime.