MEMORIES OF EUROPE.

Dear all,

After the initial post about the first leg of my trip I haven’t had time to blog about the Euro journey. Things came up and as they say, life happened and memories began to fog up.

This morning as I was going through the pictures again I thought I’d just reminiscence about the interesting parts of each place…. Something like a summary if you will.

So here goes.

PART 1

FRANKFURT

Saw a stall in the market place which is possibly a pork lover’s Heaven and a Muslim’s Hell. It sold every possible variation of products that you could make from a pig. Absolutely delish. Thank God Swine Flu was no where in the picture then.

‘Acted’ in an ad for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Was offered 50 euros to stand in the ‘crowd’ and clap but didn’t expect it to go on for so long with so many retakes. Ended up clapping for 3 hours in cold weather wearing just a Tee. The hardest 50 bucks i've ever made.

HELSINKI

Saw a Nepali restaurant. Predictably it was called Mount Everest. Didn’t know the Finn’s liked gundruk and bhatmas. The Helsinki marathon was also on.

Didn’t participate though.

ROME

Very Hot. Very Crowded and Very Very Historical (duh!)
The Coliseum under whelmed me. Was expecting something much bigger. Very grand, architecturally though.
Realized that there is no place where McDonalds wont go. There was one just next to the Pantheon which was dirty and grimy and sad looking. The Pantheon that is, not McDonald's.

The burger place was better mantained than an ancient historical masterpiece. It looked like it belonged in Calcutta not Rome.

The Trevi fountain was fantastic as was the Gelato (they claim it has no sugar and no dairy. Seriously!)

VATICAN CITY

Long line. Tall Wall. Strict Guards.
Very Very Impressive. Artwork was out of the world. So much so that many “extra” sculptures/paintings of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Rodin etc were dumped in a huge store room like place. The ceilings, walls, floors everything was a work of art. Now I know what it means to ‘live’ history.

Sistine Chapel. Everything that I had imagined it to be and more. It is the Pope’s private chapel and he prays there every morning. No pics allowed but my otherwise, law abiding friend managed to sneak a few in. Thought I’d do so too but I think I heard Michael whisper in my ear and tell me not to.
St. Peter’s Cathedral & Square. Now this is what you call a Cathedral. HUGE. If the doors were wide enough you could fit a couple of jumbos in here.
Michaelangelo’s Pieta is beautiful but also heartbreakingly sad. You can actually feel Mary’s anguish as she holds the dead body of Jesus. WOW.
The square outside has a statue of St. Peter holding the key to heaven. Did try, but it was too high to get to. Alas.

PISA

Had my mobile stolen here. Stolen not lost. Was in a filthy mood till we reached the Tower. It was definitely leaning but also one of the best maintained and preserved monuments in all of Europe. Pristine, clean and stunningly white. This is what Marble should look like. Milky.

There was the wolf feeding Romus and Romulus with a stubborn pigeon refusing to move out of the frame.

FLORENCE

Almost missed our Eurail as we could not find any trains going there. Realized it was because FLORENCE is FIRENZE in Italian. A laid back and very beautiful city. Great galleries. It also has, what is possibly, the most high end street in the world.

"Via Tornabuoni" The Street with the shopping if anyone wants to know for future reference.

A 100 meter alley with almost 40 top fashion brands. Thanked the lord that my sister wasn’t with me there. I would have begun the recession there itself. Also met a lovely Indian couple who ran a small liquor shop. I wonder if they face any racism there?

VENICE

If you could only choose 1 place for your honeymoon this should be it. The gondolas however are very very expensive (60 euros per person for 1 hour) but the Vaporettos (Venetian equivalent of a local bus but on water) is a steal. St. Marks square is beautiful and full of birds. Bachna Ae Haseeno released after my trip there so did not get to do any of the “Khuda Jaane” poses. Caught a Vivaldi concert performed at the Opera House which was also the place where he lived and grew up in. History doesn't come more first hand than that.

The Lido beach and island is also great. The international Venice Film Fest was to start a week later. Wish I could have stayed for that. Heard Brangelina came.

NICE

One of the most relaxing places of our vacation. Great beaches (pebbly not sandy) and a section which was for nudists. Can’t tell you if I tried that part. ;-)
Wanted a cola but could not find any machines. Saw many condom vending ones though.

Maybe the Niceans (is that correct?) like to screw more than they like to drink.

Wait a minute. Its not just the Niceans who like that is it?

MONTE CARLO

Opulent. Ostentatious. Over The Top. And wonderfully so.

Wouldn’t want to live there but can easily spend a fortnight there every year. Aahh if only to be filthy rich was so easy. Maybe I should plan a heist or maybe just sell some bogus properties here in UAE. But many have already done that.

I probably haven’t seen so many Ferraris (all red) in such a short time in such a small area.

No not even in Dubai.
The road signs also have signs to the nearest Defibrillator. Maybe its for those who lose all their money (and girlfriends) at the Grand Casino and begin having heart attacks. I almost needed one when I saw a 60 year old lady with the boobies of a 20 year old.
Saw Princess Grace’s grave and surprise surprise, it is simple and elegant. So not Monaco.

to be continued..........