Passionate people

Enormous history

Brilliant food

Oh and yes a 5-letter country name starting with an I

I _ _ _ _

India <->Italy

Central Pyramid facing the Louvre

The Trip. Air France. Fat man in seat beside. Squeeze. Push. Slide. Phew! Fat man fit! First, fat man drink a lot. Then, fat man snore a lot. New found respect – ear plugs, sleep masks.

Paaree. CDG. RER B. Denfert Rochereau. Wait. Enter Gayatri (*applause*). Metro Line 6. Eiffel Tower! *click*  Souvenirs. Metro. Champs-Élysées.

Place de la Concorde Fountain (me no remember name – thanks amey mankar). Louvre. Ultra optimized viewing – super Gayatri. RER to airport. Plan change. Get off RER. Lunch. Back on RER. CDG. Waiting Lounge. Meet cool Canadian. Fun talk.

Verona Airport. Less happening than Pune Airport. No customs, no immigration (weird). Quick exit. Cab. Solo Italiano :| Not know Hotel. Next cab. Next cab. Yes cab! Reach Hotel – No booking! Perfetto! Good ol’ Indian jugaad. Get room.

The restaurants at Piazza Bra - the focal point for tourists in Verona

First client interaction. Tie-Blazer (*too formal*). Everyone in tie-blazer (did not help). Given desktop. Cannot use laptop. Worst, cannot use internet. Think of excuse – work efficiency will be affected – excuse not speak much of my abilities. Cancel excuse. Work :(

Lunch. Pizzeria. THE Italian Pizza. Thin crust, awesome cheese. Wine! Fun. Receipt. Not fun. Next lunch, coke or acqua naturale.

Dinner. Piazza Bra. Actual name. Not made up. Lovely place. More awesome food. Weissbier. Happy. Nice people around at square. More happy :)

Friday. Discreetly make weekend plan. Find train. Find bus. Find youth hostel. Forgot, find friend! Only bus found. No worry.

Saturday. Early morning (yes really!). Sack + me > train station. Find train! Awesome train! Frecciagento (silver arrow). Eurostar. Nice. Nicer person in facing seat. Nicest time.

Nice ends. Rome. Termini. Buy return ticket. No ticket on direct train. Buy connections. Mess up. No bus when reach Verona. Damn, use taxi. More Euro gone!

Colosseum (Roman Coliseum) - Flavian Amphitheatre

Forget ticket problem. Buy Roma pass. Linea B. Termini-Colosseo. Walk out of station. Bang. Colosseum. Awesome. Long line. Pretty solo tourists. Talk. Line wait tolerable :) Go inside. Brilliant. Read history, see paintings. *click* Roman Forum. Palantine Hill. Broken buildings. Ruins. IMO, excessive history. Sun + walking = less appreciation of early Roman Empire. Get out of Palantine Hill. Go to Pantheon. Buzzing square. Tourist herds. Gelato! Shiva-Prashant join. Pantheon – beautiful. Piazza Navona – beautiful. Piazza di Spagna – beautiful. Realize same adjective too often.

Piazza Venezia – bus – Termini – pizzeria dinner – tram – Hotel – crash.

Sunday. Hotel tells Vatican Museum + Sistine Chapel = closed for Sunday. Perfetto! Shiva-Prashant go to Pisa. I to Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica. Find the now common Italian long queue. More common – old lady nonchalantly walks in front of you. Audaciously gets in place before you. I stunned. Feel like a fool. Lesson – it happens not just in India.

Lucky Sunday. Pope addresses the crowd. Crowd goes berserk. I not quite understand the frenzy. I *click*, back in queue. See St. Peter’s Basilica. Brilliant. Tomb of Popes – ok. Buy souvenir. Out. 4 hours to train. Hop on random bus. Go till last stop and back. See Rome.

Termini – Train – Verona – expensive cab – hotel – buonanotte.

Roof of Basilica di San Marco and Venice view - From Bell Tower

Busy week – office. TIBCO. UniCredit. phone. webex. Good part – pastas, lasagne, NUTELLA!, mozzarella, wine.

Again Friday. Again discreetly make weekend plan. Find train. Found train.

Saturday. Early (again!). Heavy breakfast. Verona Porta Nuova Train Station. Venezia Santa Lucia! 6.15 Euros only. *thinks – this side of Italy cheap?* Vaporetto to Piazza San Marco – 6.5 Euros *cancels previous thought* St Mark’s Square. St. Mark’s Basilica. Bell Tower. Pan view of Venice. *click* Quick lunch. Walk to Academia. Follow yellow sign boards. Tag along with solo tourists. Academia house art museum. Not so interested. Walk to Rialto. *click* Meet Marina (Uncle’s friend). See Venice markets. Gondola token ride. Walk to see Venice lagoon – Murano-Burano islands. About to rain. Walk back to Santa Lucia. Verona. Hotel. crash.

Sunday. Day for Verona and shopping, finally! Breakfast (eventful, not discussed :)). Go buy Verona pass. Told – Verona closed. Goddamn bicycle race :-| Plan flop. Stuck in hotel. Find every online friend and bore them. Plan moved to 2nd June, day before flying out.

Gondolas, Venice

Last week. Great dinners. Great colleagues. Every night at Piazza Bra – Piazza Erbe, Verona.

Tuesday. Buy fine wine. Buy Parmesan. Talk to colleague – plan to roam Verona + shop on Wednesday. Colleague laugh. Not without reason. Wednesday – Italian Republic Day. Italy closed. No shopping. Less traveling. Screwed. Royally. Buy any available chocolates. Damn, European stores close by 7.

Thursday morning. Leave hotel early, reach airport early (2 hr 45 mins before), want to check-in early – routine that always works to get emergency exit window seats. Realize that Verona is not a happening airport. No one at check-in counters! Perfetto! Wait 45 mins. Counter opens! Lady informs cannot choose seats since system in Verona is different than in Paris :-| Air France still in Renaissance age. Take given seat. Reach Paris 10 minutes late. 1 hour 10 mins to next flight. Different terminal. Bus. Walk. Sprint. Run. Reach gate as on boarding pass. No Mumbai flight at that gate :-| Run to changed gate. Last passenger to board. Walk to seat. Angry stares.

Thursday night. CS Intl Airport. Mumbai. Maharashtra. India!

Note: Italy no affect English.