P.S. I lOVE ITALIA

Truly the land of Pizzas ,Piazzaz,Pisa ,Gelatos, Pastas,Wine and warm (HI-FASHION) people!!!!
My 1st trip to Italy ITS BEEN ALMOST A MONTH now am back but  let me tell you I still can't get the thought of the piping hot pastas out of my mind. The country which captivates your senses with its historic significance and the preserves n the relics ---all leave you exhausted from the awe you feel at every step. You just keep wanting more. I officially stepped in the following places- Rome, Florence, Pisa, Maranello, Quarto d'Altino, Treviso, Venice, Vatican & Tivvoli.
The best deal is seeing 2 countries in one trip--yes "Vatican" is officially a different country where the Pope's world is enclosed in the high walls. Its the smalllest country in the world.We visited it twice-one was a day tour -other by ourselves at night since I insisted -ahem!

We stayed in B&Bs in Rome & Florence and they were absolutely gorgeous places impeccably clean. I would suggest Bed & Breakfast stays since you are going to be in your room just at night. Find placesin the city centre always.The 1st thing I noticed when I landed in Italy was that all girls were wearing high boots & was happy as I had packed  a pair too. Besides looking stunning the boots serve the purpose of beating the chill brrrrrrr.Bought 3 knit tops, a legging , a shawl & a pair of gloves from Italy.

As soon as we landed we collected our hot wheels from europcar which is conveniently located on the termini walkable distance from the main airport. Drove to Florence and stayed there for the night. Best shopping area is around the station.Not to miss the GALILEO museum here - FEel almost like you a part of history when you are strolling through the museum which houses the crazy &complicated instruments the scientists started exploring space and science with .Huge globes dated A.D. gosh its super dumb to give this a miss. Next day took an open top bus tour & vening went to Pisa clicked loadsa pictures,had amazing & really low priced lipsmacking food sitting just 200mts away in a restaurant overlooking the Leaning Tower.Blisss.

The bus which took us to the tower from the station got stuck in one of the narrow lanes at the turn hahaha. We had to get down a lil ahead of the actual stop.Back to Florence by night.

Next day we started for Maranello-Red town of the Ferrai.Took a tour of the factory & the Ferrari museum.
HIGHLIGHT of THE TRIP-

We drove a ferrari.Ok I didnt!! It was a paid test drive- I got to sit & my hubby drove. The red beast gives you an adrenaline rush like u must hav never felt before.The town was quaint enough with quiet roads and lovely houses with attractive display of colourful flowers on the windows and gardens.

Same evening reached Quarto d'altino-checked in at this gorgeous hotel with even better breakfast.Can't forget the soft, orange jelly centred muffins.We reached around 7pm so decided to explore a town nearby and as advised by the front office helpdesk "again very very courteous & ready to help Italian "went to Treviso.Just 20min drive.

I was absolutely in love with the town, it had cobbled streets, no people on the road but mind you the pubs were OH SO FULL and many handsome old men with their perked up wives were out for dinner. We soaked ourselves in wine and pastas.Every evening the aroma of  food just held me by the arm and pulled me towards it. Mesmerising the taste buds & tantalising the senses-in short drivin me nuts-sexy food.

Visited Venice the next day- was a wet day for that part of Italy but we enjoyed it nevertheless.I forgot to take my overcoat so bought a shawl and gloves from Venice to keep me from freezing in the rains.We visited the main sites and then hopped on & off the ferry wherever we felt like and walked inside some of the tiny streets where you almost brush people if there are 2 passing in opposite directions.Crossed the bridges-come on had to do that ..there are so many.It was too crowded the place-
I didnt find it that romantic n mayb thats the reason. By evening back to base Quarto d'altino & had splendid dinner there.

 

We started for Rome next morning after super awesome breakfast...were plannin on visiting bologna but we had a lazy morning packing and stuff so had to skip as we had to return the car by late afternoon.

We got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, still don't know the reason but we weren't charged for coming in 2 hrs later than the said time to return the car. So we head to Rome-WATA GORGEOUS PLACE!!
The people have preserved the city ruins so well & made it accessible to the world-no doubt its one of the most visited places on earth!!!The history is ghastly when you listen to the audio guides-I mean I hate history but since it was Rome I was hooked on to the audio guide-it described Julius Ceasar as "not the 1st ruler" but "1st tyrant or dictator" of Rome. They referred to him with unkind words. The history of the Colloseum left the insides of my stomach churning and uncomfortable with the number of fights to death between humans & animals. There were many "Gladiators" and "Julius Ceasars" spread all over the vicinity waiting to pose with tourists.Their get-up was to impress and they get tipped generously.

2days of Rome and 3rd half of the day we visited the VAtican-What a secluded place enclosed by really high walls. They run their own country without interference from Rome.The St.Peters Basilica is the most humoungous at the same time delicately & minutely detailed structure I have ever seen. So much art  & architecture.Spell bounding works of Michealangelo sculptures, Rafael frescos, Trojan horse, Greek statues , Egyptian sphinx, Caravaggio painting--phew its a Classic piece of beauty born from the hardwork of the skilled artists. Hats off to them for creating these works of love-love & passion for the skills they were blessed with.
You can walk a lot & see most of the places in Roma or they are just 10min away by the effecient  metro or bus.
We had were guided by the owner of teh place we stayed in Rome -his name was Emmanuelle. He gave us a map and told us exactly how we should spend our 4days in Rome. The most amazing favour he could do ever ---was to impart the the address of restaurants which are frequented by the Italians & BOY were THEY good OR what!!
slurrppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp-lipsmacking food & Vino.

Most of the nights we were high on house Wine heehee. There's hardly a place in Italy where you an find bad food - you could try defend that.

The last day we chose to travel to Tivolli-city of fountains instead of Capri islands. Thanks to this Swedish lady we got talking to at the b & b reception.She said its a must visit destination and is a treat to the eyes.Emmanuel was quick to bring up the pictures of this place on his desktop & as soon as we laid our eyes on them we decided to put that on out itinerary. Well Capri isalnds & Sicilia would be on our agenda on our leisure trip maybe few years down the line.
Tivolli had the most amazing landscaped garden in front a castle standing tall on a hill. So basically I went a town on a hill-which I secretly was wishing I cud visit while on the way back from Quarto d'altino on the highway---We saw some mind blowing small towns far far away -cast away in the cozy arms of huge huge mountains & thats when I felt wish we could actually walk around in one of those mysteriously tucked away villages. So here we were on the station of Tivolli very very few people on the station except the noisy bunch of students who got off-probably architects or painters in the making-desserted station.

We walked towards the city -actually just followed the people who got off with us heehee. Reached signboards and found directions for  "Villa d'este" the most sort after fountain garden there. Had to walk quite a few steps and had to struggle a walk uphill .THE PLACE-It was "Oh my GAwd" .Beautiful is an understatement. Thank u aunty from Sweden. You are the best.What crazy fountains and what a design -ok check this I dont have words to explain the experience----http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm

We visited the Pantheon square twice & one evening just sat there to watch people and hear the guitarist just sitting in the middle of the road & playing his electronic instrument .He was talented & the music carried me n teh rest of the audience away to another magical place .


So m back from Italia but still lost somewhere in the small towns and museums and music notes out of nowhere and most indefinitely in a food coma.Did SHOP a bit though that wasn't on the agenda but hey visiting the country which hosts the unveiling of the latest seasons trends & not shopping -doesn't make sense to the Shopaholic me ;)
Italia has successfuly taken the place Paree held in my heart & am not at all being biased here.
Italian food, history, warm people & hi-fashion -all overtake the French in every sense.

Itne paise mein itnaich milega-by bai

8AM the door bell rings-n my heart skips a beat.Seriously I wonder and pray always that it should be my house help standing out there, this my friends is an everyday scenario!!!!

Everyday I wonder will she or will she not make it.

Lifes like that!!!!

Either the maid comes in late-has perfect excuses or they just dont show up.

Every kamla and vimla has a mobile nowadays but even then they have the audacity to switch it off so that their memsaabs dont call and bother them when they decide to chill on any given day!

Attitude huh!

Even then am so dependant on them more like they are my life line--my schedules get totally disrupted if either the cook, maid or nanny doesnt show up!

"BAI".--Cant imagine my life without one!!

 They do hold you ransom at their "jhaadu point"

Unbelievable that these so called poor people purchase gold every alternate month, enroll in saving schemes as well as attending social gatherings mind you----they celebrate the occassions in each and every neighbours life in their vicinity!!!

I mean they have a much organised life as compared to mine -hah!

We over analyze life and also join "art of living" and these people------- manage their life so well!

They dont need a MASTERS degree et all.

They was a lady I recently employed -well she worked for around 4days more or less.

The 1st day I explained the routine to her. Once I finished explaining she started speaking and went on and on till she finished the entire work. The noise I must say lasted for 2 hours. I was just sitting in front of my laptop rolling my eyes and smiling, trying to be nice-you never know what might offend these people. After she completed the last lap of work and swayed her hand over the sink to make it spotless and dry as I always expect from my bais she said 'noone can clean as well as me", to which I smiled and said ya "good job". She went to the basin which has a mirror hung above it- checked her hair and kajal -prepped up her duppatta and headed towards the door to leave. While leaving she said the following golden words which I will never ever  forget "See how clean the kitchen is and also your sink-now till I come back in the evening dont spill water over it"

I was left speechless and my jaw dropped at the bluntness. I double checked with myself- did that really happen!!

Well that was the last I saw her work as I left the next morning for an amazing vacation to the land of passes for a good 8days.

Meanwhile back home my mother fired her as she talked a lot and just wouldnt shut up. She annoyed her to the core.

I can only imagine what my mom must have gone through and how many golden words she must have heard but forgot to make a mental note of!

though i missed them (golden words)

I can write a whole thesis on 'bais" and my rendezvous be it even for interviewing them--i tell you I have shut the door on their faces so many times. Likewise they have walked away in between a conversation "n" number of times.

I could write a whole volume on "bais'!!

The most famous dialogue I have heard from them till date remains "Itne paise me itnaich milega"

One thing I learnt from the bais(in maharashtra)-LIVE LIFE KINGSIZE

gheyun taaak!!!!!

A SUDDEN n HAPPENING VACATION!!

While in college @dypce -pimpri years ago......u can sing puraani jeans- n all those songs come to mind.Ya that long ago I used to stay in a girls hostel! I cant thank god enuff for the fact that I was forced by my parents to stay in one-THANK YOU once again.I got the best friends for life and the best lessons in life- & hands on experience :))) I would like to pause here for sometime to think of the osum beautiful people who are now my dear friends and family as well.

The rebel that I was and given the limitations of the semisphere(not even a complete circle) that I had to prove myself within..i did quite well! OK-one of the trips which my parents are unaware of till date was a super mad adventure which am so eager to tell you all. The idea conceptualised on a bright sunday morning (it was in the rainy season maybe August )in my hyper brains and of course to channelise mere insanity I had the famous Puja! We decided we want to visit MALAVALI CAVES for the waterfalls there in the gorgeous wet weather.Now we were pretty conservative and protective kinda girls--- so we asked almost all the people we know to join us! Viola-we had a total of 8 people nod a YES to the spur of ta moment plan and withing 30 minutes we were out ready-tats really fast for girls to get ready but hey we did it!!

We reached the Kasarwadi railway station that happened to be the closest to our hostel-we were forced to think on economic lines all the time like most hostelites.We had it all figured out -how we ll travel and what we should do on this unPLANNED DAY.1st thing we see when we enter the station-an abandoned ticket window so had to knock and make a bit of noise to get someones attention.I started wondering do people in Pune use trains et all-knowing that I come from MUMBAI-land of trains you can empathise.Just then someone exclaimed-hey this station is so damn deserted mann!! hmm meanwhile as usual Puja took charge of the situation and told us to go run across and catch the train which was almost pulling in the station-now why shud we run? Cause the man at the ticket window told us there are trains available every 1 hr @kasarwadi -ONLY.This was way back in 2001/2002 when the millenium craze had hit us but not lazy laidback Pune.

Ok so here it is Deepa ,Sophi and myself rush up the bridge to go on the other side when I see the train has almost pulled in the station when I was almost atop the staircase (skipping 2 stairs at a tim)e--just turned around and told the girls forget the stairs lets go across the railway track(very very bad idea when i think back)rest of us were huffing and puffing at step no-2 or 5 heehee so they gladly agreed.

ATTACK!!seriously CRAZY was in charge of us! So Sophie is the 1st idiot who follows my instruction n jumps n hauls herself across the tracks and over the platform no-2. I rush and Deepa aka dopee n Snigdha(dopees dominating n oversized roomie) and  Devika too are pulled up by the magnificient Sophie = saviour!

We have Suvarna aka SU, Hemali ,Sunaina aka Rana n Puja /Poo still to complete this task!!!! The train has come to a halt and we like insane creatures are yet to cross a live black horrendous looking engine.The engine driver was blowing the ugly loud horn of the train to our face!! I think he was doing it deliberately-as if we'll get scared or get blown away by the shrillness of ta noise or something like that must have been in his imagination.He was annoyed to bits which is understood -he also shouted out something like-R U ILLITERATE PEOPLE?? I still havent figured out why he didnt say anything else--the look on his face said more than that though.

Ok now only Sunaina n Puja were left on the tracks-Rana was wearing -FOR GODS SAKE -a platform slipper-a thick slipper which in no way is useful or connected to railway platforms, which unfortunately and to our horror got caught between the train tracks but on the one where there was no train- phew! So we were confused here as to what we should do--should one of us jump and get her or etc etc we had thought clouds. Meanwhile "Rana" that she is shouted back at the engine driver himself for honking on her face while she is desperately trying to free herself from the odd situation.SHE IS AFTERALL THE GREAT RANA-he stopped honking and she jumped on the platform.I, of course gave her a piece of my mind about wearing platform slippers to MALAVALI CAVES n till date make fun of  it.Meanwhile madam Puja who had the tickets was standing on the other side of our world -listless-spaced -zonked-oh boy! She just couldnt absorb the absurdity of the whole situation-maybe she couldnt believe this could be happening after a(NOT SO ) meticulously planned day and must be wondering where exactly did I go wrong dude while delivering instructions to these girls.Ya she had that exact look on her face and as she was my roomie you can tell a lot bout your roomies-usually everything!

So coming back to the impatient and mean engine driver who could have waited for the girls to reunite-NO NO NO-he had decided to teach us(ill) literate people a lesson-so he did.He moved the train ahead and we all exploded into a chorus- "BHAIYA nahEEee" Sophie the most dramatic, obviously she was called the DRAMA QUEEN afterall" --meanwhile Puja came back to her senses and literally with a jumpstart ran towards the platform.Amidst all the chaos our very helpful engine driver started the train and we all said JUMP n found ourselves in the 1st compartment.

I managed to jump in just behind Sophie and we gave out a sigh of relief that after all this trauma we made it.YES.Within seconds of being in ta train an awful smell clouded my senses-oh fish-it was. Sophie started asking who all are in please shout and give out your names-

I was like aye aye captain , Dopee also said YEAH M IN then we heard Snigdhas voice "arey mujhe uthao" we were wondering where the heck is she -she said "neeche dekho" N we saw that unforgettable sight of Snigdha sitting between 2 fisherwomen n their huge baskets filled with "fish" aargghh holding on to the pole at the entrance.Quickly not to forget our one line master-Dopee said -Why r u doing a pole dance-get up come on nows not the time!!We helped her huge being up and giggled.Next as we were pulling out of the station Sophie popped her head out the door to confirm that all girls are in-she sees that 4 girls are still on the platform they didnt have the guts to push in their way through the crowd.As if the separation wasnt enough we heard people from the train giving a peace of their mind to the 4 hahhaha.We escaped that -so we thought-when ladies inside the compartment got JOSH n started shouting on us too.Meanwhile Sophie shouted out loud telling the girls waiting at the station to STAY PUT as the train was speeding and we should get down at the next station and come back for you ll.

We get off take a rickshaw--now since we were 4 passengers we wud hav to take 2 rickshaws. We just convinced one rickshawalla to tak us all in n bargained hard. We reached ta station and saw the 4 buffoons getting a lecture by the station master. We asked them to come over on the other side you know to avoid receiving a piece of his mind. It seems the station master alongwith advice also gave back half the amount of ta tickets-how generous! SO now we have 2 people completely shaken up by the experience and need to be put in TCU trauma control unit. So Rana and Su happily go back to their hostel beds n laze around their Sunday. Now we are told theres some station I don remember where we can get in a train to lonavala n get off at Malavali. We stop a 6 seater aka tumtum with 2 guys in it-driver n his friend! We convince them to drop us to --its dehu road (total recall).We jump in & almost near Dehu road we start talking to the driver saying just little ahead is malavali caves please drop us on the next station blablablabla. The drivers friends was the letchy one and convinced him to drive us till Malavali heeheee omg-once we reached we paid him. He was asking for more money but Sophie said (to the shock of ta driver) that he hasnt dropped us very far away from Pune hhahahahahahahaha i burst out laughing there itself and so did the rest who were trying so hard to control--the last words of the driver before he left "Ladkiyon ke chakkar mein phuss gaya-malavali aa gaya" HAPPY REALISATION!

So we climb up the steps to Malavali caves excited to get drenched in the waterfalls-Alas!! no waterfalls just trickling streams of water on the rocks. We dont give up! So what we did is stuck ourselves to the rocks and got drenched with the mineral water hahahaa if WATER doesnt FALL on you-you FALL on the WATER omg!! n we had empty water bottles we filled them up too. I remember Sophie  Devika saying this is mineral water so they took some home with them. After all the exploring got over we noticed the sky losing its colour, so we walked slowly alongwith many other tourists to the Malavali station. Had amazing vada pav-we were famished n the CHAI jus pepped us up :)

Darkness fell and people were waiting drenched and exhausted for a train to show up. Dopee & me went for a stroll on the platform.Others were like please no more adventure--they were pleading in their meek voices. We told them we ll be on the platform walking with the  speed of a snail -dont worry. So talking about the day & "others things" we almost reached the end of the platform and turned to walk back to the girls. Suddenly we hear an engine and a bright light on the track out of nowhere-no points for guessing our 1st reaction was to RUN...we ran as fast as we could but the engine overtook us!!!!! To our relief it was only the ENGINE....test drive i guess. We stoped right where we were to catch our breath and laugh like hyenasssssss. Our friends watching us too realised what happend and joined in and so did tourists on the station. Finally we did manage to get in the train all of us together this time and enjoyed the quiet and peaceful return to Pune.

A sudden shocking adventurous & totally happening vacation!!!

How To Lose Your Cellphone and other things and not your mind!!

Well they say that some people have a curse on them!


Before i forget n memories start fading away I want to jot down the 4 epic ways in which i lost my cellphones!!!


something so dear--u cant imagine LIFE without this little device now---my latest is my BLACKBERRY CURVE--which I didn lose yet-but I did damage the screen in a comic way!


I dressed up and wore a long white jacket over the nice tee n jeans-as if the tee n jeans werent good enuff.THERES A PICTURE ATTACHED FOR YOUR EYES from the day this happened for visual effects!!!


Jacket was flowing like upto my knees n to find it on that particular----- day--- from all the huge collection/pile of clothes that I have----my eyes had to fall on that "jacket".Hmmm remember the curse I was talking about hahahaha yeah it was working its way!




After dropping my aunt home from her routine check up while returning to my place I parked my WagonR(blush),got down to buy some idli/dosa batter--imagining the amazing CHAI n DOSA am gonna relish just a few minutes away with a smile on my face. That was of course was an evil smile because I keep on promising myself to DIET at every evil thought of food that I have.I returned to my wagon with joy filled in my heart and a song on my lips,pressed the unlock door symbol on my key-which is a very distracting almost embarrassing sound and only because of that I jumped in the drivers seat almost flew in-before I see people giving me that "I AM ANNOYED WITH THIS SOUND LOOK" and pulled teh door to close.BAM!!!


For some strange reason it did not close n I was like aargghh tried to pull it again with a lttlle more strength this time round.Then it dawned upon me and that sinking feeling took over.I slowly looked at the pink plastic flower pot stuck on teh dashboard--which had dancing irritating flowers-which supposed to be in my friend Supriyas car anyway---to check if my cell was beside it---NO NO NO it wasnt, where was my cell my new blackberry CURVE ???? I was harrowed and torture by KAINAZ SAHER to buy one, it was my latest pride n joy.Trust me am not a gadget freak but i was conned into wanting TO buy this one.


Next step was checking the pockets of my oh so long jacket -------it wasnt in my left pocket --nope !!


I put my hand in my right pocket which was hanging outside the door frame and almost all nerves were on the edge --slowly pulled it out---and i said lets check ...........................Alas screen was slammed and damaged badly. I tried to dismantle and restart hoping for some change in the white screen with a coloured line--which I must say had some beautiful rainbow like hues-nope i couldnt really read!!


I spent 1400 bucks to get it repaired. But hey at least it was repairable damage ;)








Now here are some short stories-----




1st time when i lost my cell-@mac d-------i thot il block a table by keeping my sling bag on ta table -how wrong was i?


While we(Rohan n me) were standing in the line for food--glorious food--hungry and deciding from all the many options of having something stuffed between sawdust (the macburgers r so not appealing after these many years) some hardworking staff spotted an unattended bag-MY BAG- and very deligently put in the section marked "LOST PROPERTY".


Sweet na? Then when I did find the bag--my cell was not found and only my cell was missing from my bag.It was a cute Nokia model let me remember aah 8250 -n i loved the smiley icons it had.My wallet and the cash in it didnt amount to the price I paid for this phone.


2nd time i lost it while doing my wedding shopping-i thot i left it at the Millionare juhu --yayya ROHAN was with me again.Well me and my brother were in one car -I tried calling my cell n it was ringing so I thot that it definitely is forgotten at the store.We told others that we taking a U turn and will be back in 10!


We reached the same exact spot where we had parked before and I got in the car. While approaching the parking spot my brother N me just exchanged a thought and laughed about it--WE SAW SOMETHING ON THE ROAD AND THOUGHT ITS MY PHONE- n laughed something like this "HEEHEEE" giggled actually-and parked the car.There was some wierd noise at the halt.I got down and rushed towards the store--the separation was becoming unbearable by now---happy thoughts of being reunited with my FAT 6102 NOKIA phone were taking over.When asked the people there said "yahan NAHEE HAI YAHA MADAM" !!!!Now I got the dirty feeling that the thing that we saw and laughed about while parking the car over it well may just be MY PHONE & IT WAS.I was this close to getting my cell back but NAH -the curse!!!


i had dropped it while gettin inside the car!!! n came n parked right BANG ON the --U GUESSED :)))




3rd time i lost it--well it was stolen--i was travelling in a PMT aftr ages and I thot I saw a suspicious woman but i ignored my hunch my 6th sense, my beautiful mind!phewww i shudn hav-n cud have saved my cell AND MY WALLET !! When i got off I realised that woman had pushed me while getting off the bus and done this misdeed of robbing me while agitating me by pushing me-she took my mind off my bag!how cheap..this reminds me of an incident where I LOST MY WALLET years ago while getting in the bus to pune but found it :) will tell u bout that later.


By the way when my cell & wallet were stolen I had a rucksack on my back and like the biggest fool on earth I was carrying a small purse in which I kept only my cell and my wallet--like a silly showoff-it was bought by Rohan from Singapore .Let me describe the purse -it was small and like a rectangle and didnt have a chain :) cute naa and I kept only and only my wallet and cell in it --HOLLYROCKAMOLLY!


FROM THAT DAY ON I LEARNT TO DRIVE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WEll at least somthing positive came out of that!


;)