Let me start from day one. we started from house at 6 or so in the morning-already forgot the time!!Col madhu mohan dropped us. We were travelling by Finnair to Helsinki.& then to Rome from there.Our luggage was booked till Rome so we didn't have to wait for baggage collection at Helsinki.There was a 1 hr gap between the flights. Had Indian lunch on board. Reached Helsinki at 5.50(Indian time) .It was 3.25 local time.Our next flight was from gate no 29. Had to go through security check again & when I passed through the detector it started beeping. So had to go back & come again with my hands held up!!!Then had to open my hand luggage also& she took out my toilet bag & took out the things inside-Didn't like my face I think.Had to somehow pack it again & run to the gate.There was no 'Q' for boarding the plane so thought we were late &we almost ran to see that we were the 1st ones to board. So the marathon started from there. they served some snacks to all but I didn't get any as they had no veg items. For that we have to place an order beforehand it seems.Reached Rome at abt 6.53 pm -local time( I am able to give so accurate the time as I have noted it down.:-)).Watched the movie Burfi in the plane, played some games etc from India to Rome. Since we were on our own till Rome we took a taxi & went to the hotel. Our stay was arranged in Sheraton. So the driver dropped us there. Had to pay 65 Euro for it & he gave a tip to the driver also( which they do there normally) The change he kept in his pocket & went inside the hotel. At the reception they said it is in another building & they arranged a car to drop us there. Got the keys to our room & he realised that he can't find the change- abt 20-25 euros. He went again to the reception but no luck. So we started with a loss.
Next day we started our sight seeing trip. started at 7.30-8 in the morning after breakfast. This was our daily routine on all days-wake up call at 5.30 or 6, breakfast at 7 & start at 8 except may be one day in Paris as we had gone for a late night show. That day we started at 9.30 only I think. Our 1 st stop was at the Colosseum.We had a local guide there. Her name is Marie Therese.We were all given a head phone so all could hear . The tour manager used to lead us holding a Thomas cook flag(held high so all can follow him). there were many groups like that including other groups of Thomascook. So he used to call out Thomas Cook Ashwin( tour managers name). felt like kids going on excursions or sometimes reminded me of the political rallies we have!!!We saw more Indians in all these places-tourists i mean. Most of the places were so crowded- we could hardly see any locals there. Most places have free toilets so that was not a problem. If the drive was long they used to stop at comfort stations as they are called where we can use the toilet, buy a coffee & other small items. We had forgotten to take umbrellas so we had to buy 2 in one such stop.
Then they took us to a big Fountain called Trevi fountain. It seems if you put a coin above your left shoulder with your back to the fountain you will visit Rome again. The money collected thus goes to charity Any way we didn't try it out as it was so crowded.Did some memento shopping or was it just window shopping- sorry for the memory loss. Our main motto for shopping was 'sasta sunder & tikao"& also small to fit in our bag( & budget ). So he ( I am using the pronoun HE as otherwise i will have to write achan, vijayan.... etc etc so it refers to my husband dear Pulluttupadath Vijayakumaran -given name in the passport) was joking that we have brought enough magnets that we will have to buy a new refrigerator when we get back.
We then went to Vatican city. There we went to the museum, Sistine chapel & St. Peter's Basilica. Saw the window of Pope's room!!The paintings, architecture & sculpture in these places were amazing( though after visiting a few in other places felt all look the same almost)
We had lunch at Jaipur Restaurant.
Then we drove to Prato which was 4 hrs drive. we had a coffee/ toilet break in between. We stayed at WallArt In Prato. So the 1st days tour ended there.
Sesham vellithirayil........
No comments:
Post a Comment