Once we were onboard the aircraft, it was all exiting. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep. The first thing that struck me was the air hostesses, who resembled more the Air India variety rather than the Singapore Airlines variety that I was hoping for. Don’t know what the younger Dutch girls are up to. Made a mental note to check on this point later during my Amsterdam visit ;). But the service was definitely friendlier than Air India! It felt as if it was a cosmic game of hide and seek. Sun counted till 5 and gave us a 5 hour head start. However, the sun was soon catching us up and we were running within the shadows as fast as our big fat carbon footprint can carry us. Finally after 14 hrs, the sun caught us and we had to give up and land. 2 meals, 5 snacks, 2 Hollywood movies, 10 tries at solitaire, 100 tries to become a millionaire later, we ended up in Amsterdam.
I knew Amsterdam was predominantly white, but when I landed up, it was literal. A light snowfall of a few inches had given a white coating to the entire landscape and delayed countless flights, one of which was luckily our connecting flight. And I saw my first snow right when I landed. What more do I want :D Amsterdam airport is huge and it can only be felt. It took us a good 20 mins to get across the transfer area, with a bit of heckling happening with the duty passenger assistance officers.
The transfer to Rome was largely uneventful, except for the excellent in-flight service on this short 2 hour sector. The Dutch attendant was always smiling and very helpful. Smile does help to enhance how you are perceived. Once in Rome, the drama started. It so reminded of Chennai airport. The tour guide was nowhere to be seen even after 30 mins of collecting our bags and later learnt that 5 of the bags from our group are missing. I heard from the disgruntled passengers that the administrative staffs are as kind and helpful as the Chennai ones I heard. You can’t miss the sarcasm there! It was around 1pm, so we started sightseeing directly.
First up was Vatican city. This tiny city-state is probably smacked in the middle of Rome, so I don’t see the logic of it being a separate nation. The big central square is adorned with huge buildings made use of by the Pope and his staff. The quality of the buildings and St Peter’s church with all its beautiful sculptures by Michelangelo is a sight to contend. Walking back, we did get the first tingle as a sweep of the night chill hit us hard. Looking at the watch it was hard to believe it was only 5pm, given that it was dark and cold. Welcome to Europe during winter!
The freezing cold caught a few of us out, especially the poor souls who lost their bags and were without any warm clothes. We then went to a guided tour of the city of Rome. The Roman empire has done a tremendous job with their architecture. Every nook and corner is filled with historic buildings. The most infamous is The Colloseum, where tigers and humans were once the chief entertainers. We walked across to the Trevis fountain, which was fabulous. After a few snaps, we learnt that we need to throw one coin with your right hand over your left shoulder to wish for coming back to Rome, two coins to get married and three to divorce! Seems divorce was quite expensive even centuries back :P
We went to a Italian restaurant for dinner and got a taste of Italian vegetarian three course meal, namely spaghetti for starters, grilled eggplant and tomatoes for main course and Tiramisu for desert. It was different and the eggplant took a while to feel comfortable in my stomach, but what the heck, we are on a tour and need to experience different food. Whats the point coming all the way to Italy and searching for dosais and idlis?
Random Access
The search has just begun !!!
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