Forza Italia...!!!

Yes so we were finally on our way to tour the country where soccer is the official religion, the land of Mafia’s and Al Pacino, of Julius Ceasar and Donatella Versace…of Pizza and pasta…..ah wata ‘perfect ending to the intro’….contrary in itself…???...Forza Italia!!!

It was there before we knew it….Vintimille was the first Italian territory we laid our tired, sleepy yet eager feet on. We went to the beautiful sea side and back in time for our ride to Genoa…one of the oldest Italian cities. It having a rich history of its own kept us on our feet….literally in our stop stay out there.
Pisa mein Pizza: Our next sojourn was at Pisa….yes it’s leaning all right…and that’s all there was to it….as per the information guide. So it was a nice “ice- creamy walk” to the tower. The first sight though was a wee bit unanticipated for my impatient set eyes. It really was not as tall and majestic in height as I remember ogling in those Encyclopedias at junior high. It just started off the ground….and finished….but yes what’s vital to all of us was that it sure was leaning….no tricks up there…

Since our pre determined quota of snaps had to be met….we decided to do it on the only leaning object in town….the tower. This started our Jeetendra antics and even the old man would have been proud of us then. We were literally jumping our asses off to get some nice “in the air” pics taken by a Swede, oh we sure got the looks and the pains on our landings. This was only after a myriad attempts at pushing and preventing the tower from falling and the miniscule differences in frame and vision which revealed the hoax and the rabbit outta da box…back to Gare….ahem Station…

Rome/Roma: All roads lead to…our train went via tracks…or so it seemed…but it sure led us right. Greeted by an enthusiastic guy, middle aged trying to help us out with accommodation confirmed our location in this world. We were quite apprehensive at first but on no other options available we remembered God and took the chance. Well what the hell…..”When in Rome do as the Romans do”…

We seemed to have got ourselves a pretty nice deal with our own apartment kinds due to lack of other occupants. The morning after we found this Bangladeshi restaurant in the neighborhood and it seemed more like we sure were in Asia rather than Europe. Desi food at a more or less seemingly peanuts price and a look outside only caught glimpses of Asians walking past. 3 months over already…???

Our next stop was at the infamous and colossal Colosseum…[am so damn sure the word came from there and hence just put them together….brothers in Arms…]. After reaching the place I couldn’t be more sure that the word had to be related one way or another. The sight required is one of pan-vision. The Colloseum was just as I had imagined it to be……a massive historical stadium and one could still hear the crowd’s cheers at the Gladiators last swipe of its sword into the belly of the beast if one pressed their ears close enough. The entire area around the Colloseum is high on historic value and showcases truly why Roman Architecture is deemed to be one of the finest.

We made our way onto The Pantheon amidst building, museums and structures of conspicuous elements of notable and eye catching architecture, style and design. The streets made even more sense and the Time more valuable as I was in the middle of flipping Fountainhead pages and thoughts. My favorite site though was the visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The gigantic palatial kinds Roman administrative centre was a definitely a sight to behold not only for its size but also for its pristine beauty. Of white marble [Italian for sure], and a portrayal of the respect displayed to the soldiers who had lost their lives in the World War only added to the effect. And for once a beauty like that could be accessed without paying an abnormal fee of some double figure Euros.

Then we chanced upon streets where shops exhibited nothing but top of the line brands…..and we aware….Brand Awareness. All throughout our trips the onus of interpreting the map was on me and I sure did deliver, have turned into an ace Navigator ready to be hired for any race…as anyways placements seem a distant dream. Again a few free bus trips ended the touristic day for us.


Vatican: We finally arrived, more of an extension to the city but obviously given the special place [with no pun intended]. The first sight is met with the St. Peters Basilica dome and the vast expanse of concrete in front for services and ceremonies. We started the tour of the Vatican from the renowned Sistine Chapel. This structure is composed of innumerable rooms and hallways, balconies and galleries, all adorned by only the finest and most excellent of artifacts, paintings, sculpture and other such artistic objects. The ceilings had some mind blowing paintings on them and we argued as to the means of how that was made possible. The Sistine Chapel is brilliant in its own unique sense and with the strict security and no pictures allowed it only extends that feeling of specialty and respect. Only the Louvre could be listed as better if one was to rank…reluctantly.
The Sistine Chapel leads into the way to the St. Peters Basilica. On entering the only sentiment that eclipsed us was that of grandeur. It was huge under the dome and with a perfect and striking mix of opulence, magnificence and talent it was a sight to behold. As we walked inside the dome one could witness the history and also the artistic beauty which existed. The best part being that it didn’t matter which religion one was from. The Vatican to sum it up is definitely a must visit in a life time along with Rome.


Venice: As we reached the place where almost all romantics and definitely the entire female population of the world wants to visit and maybe even settle down our initiation was not quite something to remember. The issue was simple…..there was no place to put up. All hotels and hostels were fully booked thanks to an annual marathon which was to be held the next day…..I mean wat were the odds???.....1/365…crazy…..Hence after trotting almost the entire city looking for accommodation we were so sure that it’s gonna be us and the road tonight….now that would be really romantic right?Walking with our bags we used to attempt at deceiving any individual or group whom we found suspicious. By God’s Grace….and note the CAPS on that….we did get an address of some hostel in an alley [obviously intercepted by a water canal] which might have rooms. What’s the harm in knocking on another door and ringing a few bells? We took our chance and there was this old couple who rented out beds for travelers like us. It was really their benign nature which saved the night for us. They accommodated us even though all their rooms were full and somehow we arranged something in the living room and slept there. She definitely was an angel for us, [the 4th as per Jajoo’s calculations till now] not knowing how much that gesture of hers had meant for us. Not only did we get shelter but also an experience of staying in an authentic Italian household as our breakfast suggested.
But first lemme describe to you Venice at night, under the mystic stars and shining water thanks to the moon. Shelter taken care of now we had to fulfill our second basic physiological need of food and it seemed like the bad luck continued as everything closed on our second round of the city. But what we saw defined Venice to the hilt. Almost 93% of the people walking the streets were drunk or about to be in the near future. The rest 7% had just got off the station looking for accommodation like us. I had very high expectations of the romantic element in the city and it didn’t disappoint me on this beautiful night. Couples walked so close together and by together I mean literally together. Age no bar every individual seemed to be enjoying their time over here no matter where they came from and with whom…..lol. As my friend Seeteez would have said….”everyone was set and scene ban raha tha.”

After the filling Italian breakfast we started out on the morning tour of the city. As heard, it is a maze of narrow streets and alleys and on every nook and corner a canal with aquamarine water and artistic facades in the background emerged. We made our way to the famed Rialto Bridge and to the most popular tourist destination of St. Mark’s Piazza or place while clickin some hundred pictures on our way as every view was nothing less than spectacular. St. Mark’s place is well-known for one thing and this one figures out as soon as one steps foot there…..the pigeons. They are in huge numbers and maybe even surpassing the human count. Tourists trying to click pictures while feeding them makes their concentration look even more threatening. We tried too and I personally didn’t like the weird sensation on my shoulders and palms while feeding them. This is also where a lot of famous movies have been shot. 2 weeks after our trip this place was flooded with thigh high water.
We then went onto witness the marathon and a canal ride [which we had to take being in Venice]. Venice by the way is the largest non motorable part of Europe and every kind of transportation is through the water or on foot. While on our ride we saw some fantastic sights and also the world famous gondolas again with couples occupying and gracing them. Before we realized we were again running late for our train. Venice overall I think personally is a bit overrated, maybe because of my sky high expectations. Brugge I thought which seemed like a preview or mini Venice seemed a better choice.


Milan mein Milan: I had this image of Milan being a scary place horded by mafia’s of various families carrying guns in their long leather jackets. Fortunately we didn’t encounter with the latter but it sure was spooky and intimidating when we arrived late at night at Milan. As I had observed in many San Siro matches that there was a dense fog which hung quite low I could see that this extended to the entire span of the city as well. To make matters worse our destination hostel was quite far away which required us to tread via abandoned roads and districts. We walked remembering all Italian gods at once and people whom we loved and our courage increasing with every step we took in the hope that the hostel was constructed keeping in mind that petrified tourists could reach faster. We finally found the place and then had dinner outside with a weather which could easily be mistaken for a place on a hill station and reminded me of Darjeeling. Our first stop in the morning had to be the San Siro, the fortress, for the ignorant it is the football stadium, home to two of the most successful Italian and world clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan. Many greats have exhibited their skills here and written history in this stadium. It’s like the Mecca for soccer fanatics like me and my pilgrimage was successful. The stadium looms large over its surroundings and commands respect just by the way it is built. It is majestic and definitely an apt home for two historic clubs and for a country so crazy over the sport.

Our next stop was a castle as per our tourist map which we thought was a waste of time and quickly moved to the Duomo region which was the main area of the city. We then pampered ourselves with Italian Pizza admiring both Italian fashion and beauty. This was like unreal…..we were sitting in a fashion capital munching on authentic Italian Pizza and observing a literal ramp show in progress. The temporary Duomo Rock fair was a pleasant surprise for me but as desperate as I was to get inside Jajoo very politely reminded me of our train timings and that we cannot afford to miss anymore of them. But we were quite a rich bunch and we did afford to miss a train from Nice to Marseille on our way back.