2013 Central Europe Trip- Day 15, Friday, August 9, 2013- Èze Village, Milan, Brescia

Our sojourn in the French Riviera had drawn to a close and as usual I felt saddened to leave the place as I took pictures of our hotel room like I usually do before we leave. It also hit me that I have only two more nights in Europe. They say you lose track of time when you’re having a good one and with our fantastic itinerary, I had lost count of the dates or the hours. I got so very comfortable in Europe, the way of life here, to the freedom and most importantly in the company of Andrej, I felt right at home.

Our destination for the day was Milan. There was confusion between me and Andrej a few days before about visiting or not visiting Milan as he felt I was hiding something from him by being reluctant to go there. Since I never bothered to check the map of Europe or Italy for that matter, I thought the city was off of our route and I thought it was okay to not go there if this was going to cause any inconvenience for him/us. I was more interested in seeing Venice so I thought one famous Italian city would suffice for this trip. I’m glad we sorted out this “disorder” in time and went along with whatever he had planned for us. On the way, Andrej told me we would stop by at a village that offered an extraordinary view of the Mediterranean Sea and its coastline. I didn’t bother to ask more questions as all the places he had taken me so far were nothing less than astonishing and I had a feeling this place was going to be a memorable as well. The coastline was fairly visible from the highway, the waters were sky blue and every town perched on top of hills by the seaside looked as scenic as could be. We followed the road sign that pointed towards Èze village. It was a long and winding drive up to get to the medieval village. When we finally arrived, I was awestruck like always because I had imagined this “village” to be rural as I know it in my country. The bucolic setting of the place was hard to miss but it had modern amenities such as cafeterias, classy looking shops and luxury hotels. We slowly climbed our way up to the top of the hill. The houses in the village had uniformity in its appearance and were built from a specific kind of rock (I forget the name). The narrow streets had staircases leading to different directions and we were greeted at every level by nice looking restaurants, art shops and homely cafes. Andrej and I checked on the price and were stunned by how expensive the tariffs were in this supposedly medieval village. I figured it must function as another getaway spot for the wealthy to unwind on weekends and such. Even though the village was breathtakingly beautiful and immaculate in its original, the sky-high prices seemed incongruous with the aesthetics of the place. We climbed a bit further to get to the exotic garden for which the village is known. We bought the entry tickets after agreeing it would be worth it to take a look. And we were right. The garden had all types of Mediterranean shrubs with gigantic cacti standing out the most in the landscape. It was obviously a very well-maintained garden with some ruins and structures left untouched. More tourists gathered as we continued to explore the place. The garden offered a stupendous view of the Mediterranean Sea, the coast and its towns. Standing up to its name, the waters were azure in color and in the horizon we could see a boat or two drifting stealthily on the clear blue waters. I was so impressed with Andrej and commended him for his knowledge about so many exotic places. I asked him how he came to know of Èze but all I got was his favorite dialogue, “I’m smart like that!” I wanted to make a face at him but I secretly knew he was right. I thought I had never seen a view this captivating in my life before and couldn’t stop obsessing about the place and told Andrej we should just live here someday or at least come back to visit in the future.

After Èze, we continued on our journey onward to Milan. Andrej informed me that we would be driving pass Monaco and if I was interested in checking it out. My mind was somewhat in a haywire and I became quite overwhelmed by the thought of seeing all these amazing countries, and a city-state state within a day. Monaco looked absolutely stunning even from a distance with its grand looking administrative buildings, harbor full of yachts, extremely leveled roads, fountains and gardens. From the car, Andrej told me the Formula One race was held on the roads itself and tried to show me the markings…Start/finish lines. After parking our car, we decided to explore Monte Carlo and took a stroll down its walkways. We came across fancy cars all lined up outside a hotel and we could see tourists busy taking pictures of the luxury rides. The place indeed looked very refined and as Andrej mentioned to me earlier about the absence of poor people in this city, I too could not imagine any person living here to be poor. As we checked out the yachts docked at the harbor, it became quite apparent that the citizens here must either be very wealthy or that the wealthy come to invest their monies here. Andrej also informed me that the principality had lax tax laws and with its upscale lifestyle and casinos, it reminded me of places like Macau and Mauritius where wealthy people are known to engage in dubious cross-border economic activities, “round-tripping” as it’s called to avoid paying hefty tax and find a way out from disclosing their unaccounted assets to the government. We sat down at a roadside café and ordered our favorite pizza and coca-cola. The pizza was really nice and we were pleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t expensive at all for a place as upscale as Monte Carlo.

We continued to drive towards Milan after this. The non-stop chattering of Italian radio jockeys kept us entertained throughout the journey and before we knew, we were in Milan. Apparently, vehicles are not allowed in the city center and people are required to park their cars on the outskirts of the city, and take the tram or walk on foot. No wonder the city looked so empty and deserted with almost nil traffic. I was getting a little paranoid because Andrej continued to drive on the busy streets despite knowing we weren’t allowed to do that. But he tried to calm me down by either saying, “I can do anything I want,” or, the Italian police are the most chilled and friendly officers so we needn’t worry. I did not want to be a part of this “law-breaking” exercise but stayed on as his partner in crime him anyway. We first went to Piazza del Duomo that houses a group of cultural monuments including the Milan Cathedral. As we entered the Cathedral, we were stopped by a man requesting us to cover our arms (we were both in sleeveless shirts!). This need to observe a “decent” dress code came as an unwelcome surprise because we didn’t face any problems of this nature in France while visiting the cathedrals there and assumed it would not be an issue in Milan either. We debated whether to go back to the car to change our clothes or not. We instead took pictures of the glorious-looking cathedral from outside. There was a shopping arcade in the Piazza and I immediately recognized it from some of the pictures I had seen of friends on facebook. Andrej wondered why it was so popular and saw nothing unique about the place. We walked in anyhow to look around and scout for an Italian jersey for my brother. We did not find the t-shirt but picked up an “Azzurri” scarf instead. We made our way into a bookstore and as expected, every publication was in the Italian language. After spending a few minutes in and around the area, we got back to the car and made our way to Brescia.

Andrej had booked a room for us for the night in a small Italian commune of Brescia. The place’s description read, an “ancient hamlet” and I became all thrilled by the idea because I was looking forward to experiencing a “village life” in Europe at least once during my trip. The place was sleepy, quiet and had an old-world charm. We checked into a pretty looking hotel that we got for a relatively cheaper price. Andrej spoke in Italian effortlessly with the receptionist and I couldn't help but notice how polite and charming he sounded even though I did not understand the language. The bedrooms were cozy with twin beds and the bathroom was spacious. I thought this was the best hotel we had stayed in on our vacation thus far. The location was probably rural for European standards and had hardly any people in the vicinity, but it was far from what one understands as a “village” in India. The man at the reception had recommended a bar/restaurant nearby so we went out immediately after checking into our rooms to grab some authentic Italian grub. As we entered the restaurant, I could feel some eyes on us, mainly old men folks from the village probably wondering where we came from. We took our seats outside in the porch as we looked forward to our Italian dinner. Naturally, Andrej is used to eating classic Italian food as he comes here often to train or compete. He wanted me to eat local food as the locals make it and I thought this was very kind of him. Our waitress was a very energetic and friendly girl and engaged in an animated conversation with Andrej in Italian. Being clueless about what’s on the menu, I let Andrej decide. He explained to me that Italian meals consisted of two main courses so I was already preparing some extra space in my tummy to be able to accommodate both. We ordered for some red wine which too was made locally and tasted like a very fine cabernet. Andrej was drinking at a rather fast pace and I asked him to slow down while he urged me to drink up. First up was spaghetti bolognese for me and Andrej. It was rich and tasted incredible, nothing like the ones I have feasted my heart on before. I tried to eat as much as I could as the serving was pretty big but I also reminded myself that there was another round. The waitress came to collect our empty plates and in no time, brought out our second main course. My roast beef looked dry at first glance but tasted exquisite after I seasoned it with olive oil, pepper and lime. Mosquitoes were starting to feast on my legs but I didn’t care much as I was having too good of a time. After food, we ordered more wine and engaged ourselves in more conversation. I got up from my seat and moved closer to Andrej. In the course of our dinner, I accidentally spilled wine on the table to my utter embarrassment. The waiter made light of the situation and asked me not to worry about it, “happens all the time” he said in his fluent English. Andrej said I was already drunk, I insisted I was tipsy. What’s interesting is that as much as Andrej does not like being labeled a “romantic” guy, I felt if this moment here with him and the place(s) he takes me to are not romantic, I wouldn't know in what other contexts to use that word. The food, the wine, the environment, the night slowly creeping on us and our conversation that ranged from food to dress, from the two of us to our families, from current to future plans whether inane or serious… all added to the beauty and tenderness of the moment. I tried hard to look into his eyes and smile at him every time but I figured I could not do that for too long thinking he might be able to read my private thoughts! And that’s also when I start to giggle like a silly school girl and say stupid nonsense like “I’m laughing because you look funny!” I had such a wonderful time that I wanted the night to never end. Andrej tipped the waiter and we headed back to our hotel room.

2013 Central Europe Trip- Day 16, Saturday, August 10, 2013- Verona, Venice, Treviso

Today would officially be my last day in Europe. We had no intention of slowing down as Andrej wanted me to fully utilize each and every day of my time here. So after Brescia, he wanted to take me to Verona and Venice before checking into the last hotel we had booked in Treviso. I did not know we were going to Verona until the very last minute. Like I said before, he’s sneaky like that and prefers to surprise me every time instead of informing my poor soul well in advance of our next “adventure.” And I let him take the lead because I knew he was capable of planning things well and being organized. After touring Central Europe with him as my guide, my friend, my lover, and my bugger and getting to see places that only existed in my imagination or in books I took comfort in before now, I felt as if I became a more complete person. It has been such a whirlwind of a tour; one the one hand, it is as if I can barely keep count of all the wondrous cities and towns we have been to. On the other, every scene, every sight, every place comes back to life every time I drift back to the endless expanses of my memory. They would keep recurring like a dream work in my mind.

We packed our bags and headed downstairs to the restaurant for the complimentary breakfast. The hotel was so well decorated that the wood paneling on the ceiling, the exposed bricks on the wall and the homely, rustic interior reminded me of a nice cabin by the woods. I ate a heavy one as usual while Andrej had his fill with bread. Often he tells me that I should get used to eating bread and baguette like a European and I would retort back with a Biblical verse, “man shall not live by bread alone.” I would watch him eat a baguette and would wonder to myself how one could chew on something so dry? I’m finicky when it comes to eating habits and Andrej very well knows how much of annoyance this can cause to him as well. He counseled me that if I were to ever travel with him again, I would have to shed this habit of mine and eat whatever he eats and whatever the locals eat. Honestly, I don’t mind, so long as they’re not serving silk worms on the plate! It was another sappy moment as we drove away from the hotel and go on the highway to drive to Verona. At first I wondered why we were driving to Verona and then hit me, of course I know why…it’s the city of Romeo and Juliet! But I had no idea they had a balcony that was purported to be Juliet Capulet’s. Again, I thought to myself… why does Andrej claim to be an antithesis to anything connected with romance when his actions speak louder than the words he never dares utter? I felt tempted to harass him a bit about this but decided not to and was delighted that we were going to go see a historical city and the setting for one of the Bard’s most beloved plays.

It took us about a couple of hours or more to reach Verona. At first sight from the car, it reminded me a lot like Salzburg. But soon I was to realize the city was one of its own kinds and had a distinctive artistic heritage and old world charm to it. We drove about the city for a few minutes in search for a parking space. After parking the car, Andrej recommended this city to be the quintessential city of romance and not Paris. I thought any place could be romantic as wrong as one is with the right person and in their right elements. Every part of Verona seemed to have sprung out of an old world with the old and the new buildings standing by each other. The roads were cobbled in a typically European fashion and the streets were abundant with cafes and restaurants but in the distance one could also see remnants of ancient civilization fitting right into the modern façade of the city. Before finding Juliet’s balcony, Andrej wanted to show me an ancient amphitheater built by the Romans. The structure was well preserved and there were tourists thronging the area.  He told me Rome would have been the ideal place to see architectural marvels such as this but even the amphitheater in Verona could be considered as good as the ones in Rome. We took a few pictures of the place before heading into the narrow lanes of the city which was full of designer shops. I had expected women in Paris to be the icons for style and elegance but during our 4-night stay, I did not come across any French lady I could call as such. And the relatively better looking people turned out to be foreign tourists. This was strange to me because being one of the fashion capitals of the world, I thought Paris would steal my heart in the fashion sense but it didn’t. Fair estimation or not, I told myself no one does it better than New Yorkers because on the New York subway, it’s a usual sight to get to see hoards of classy, well-dressed men and women. But unlike Paris, here in this little city of Verona, the ladies were stylish and looked prim and proper from top to bottom. This came as a pleasant surprise to me because I did not expect the place to have so many well-dressed Italian ladies or all the upscale designer stores that lined up the streets.

After walking for about fifteen minutes into the square, we finally reached Juliet’s “home.” As we walked into a tunnel like entrance, we could see the walls on both sides had graffiti of lovers’ names and love quotes left by visitors. There was barely any space left to write on the walls. I had expected Juliet’s Casa to be grander but it looked like a simple stone building. The place was teeming with visitors and everyone wanted to get a picture of the famous balcony. There was a souvenir shop in the complex and Andrej and I decided to check it out. As romantic as I may like to be, I don’t really follow in the footsteps of cheesy teenage love habits like exchanging hearts or sweet nothings etc., but I came across a keychain that had two hearts conjoined in the center by a magnet. One half had Romeo’s name and the other Juliet’s. I don’t really know what I was thinking but I got it anyhow for keepsake I thought. While making our way out of the place, I hastily look for my pen, called Andrej over and wrote our initials “A+J” and encircled it with a heart shape on the minutest white space left on the wall. We had a good laugh about this. We had frozen yoghurt after this, walked into a few stores and window shopped; then headed back to the car to make our way to Venice. Verona to me was even more beautiful than Milan as least from the parts that I saw of both cities.

Andrej was not very keen on going to Venice but since I wanted to see the gondolas and what not, he was being a sweetheart and decided to drive me there. He had got information from some people that the parking costs nearly 30 Euros in the city and therefore it would be more economical to take the ferry to and fro to Venice from Fusina. It took us a while to find Fusina and when we arrived, we got to learn that the parking fee along with the tickets for the ferry turned out to be way more expensive. In other words, our plan to not incur money on the parking in Venice had gone futile. We walked around the area as we waited for our ferry and saw people sun bathing in the open space. We left at 4:30 PM and the ride to Venice took about 20 minutes. Andrej decided to nap on the ferry while I enjoyed the wind blowing against my hair and attempted to take snapshots of us, of the waters and the indistinct view of Venice in the distance. Venice looked beautiful from the ferry with its multicolored homes and historic buildings. Some of the building looked dilapidated and forlorn but the revelry in the canals courtesy the gondola riders serenading their passengers. I thought riding on the gondolas at night would be a dreamy experience but Andrej disputed with me on how one could call these rides romantic with all the traffic and crowd. I was amused by this argument because I never thought about the crowd or the traffic until he mentioned and thought he had a point! We walked at the main center of the city which had the St. Mark’s Basilica and Piazza San Marco. Since Andrej said he did not like the city, I had promised him I wouldn’t take too long. After seeing the main attractions, we hurried back to catch the ferry. The one souvenir I could not forget to pick up from this place was as a Venetian masquerade mask. Every shop and kiosks on the streets sold masks and I wished I could have picked one in every size! The city had a carnivalesque-effect because of these flamboyant artifacts they sold which seemed to contradict the otherwise somber atmosphere of the place. Andrej got me a small mask of my choice before we headed back to catch our ferry which we would have missed had we arrived a few moments late. I looked at Venice from the ferry and bid it a silent goodbye.

After Venice, we were to drive to Treviso and spend our last night together in a budget hotel we had booked in advance. When we got to the place, the building looked derelict and uninhabited. It reminded me of the motels in slayer-slasher movies where two unassuming couples check in for the night without any knowledge of what gory circumstances await them. But there was a somewhat decent looking sushi restaurant in the ground floor so we thought it could not be that bad. We stood there waiting for nearly fifteen minutes for someone to turn up. Andrej thought maybe we should book another place as I would not incur any loss here in any case as they only had my debit card details and the hotel accepted only credit. Soon after, a family of four arrived in the scene. A girl came over to speak with us in French but Andrej could not understand a single word she spoke. She called her brother/a male companion over who could speak English. He informed us that the owner of the Casa was on his way. After completing the formalities, we checked into our room. The room looked very neat and tiny for the price we paid and so did the shared bathroom. The people in the next room were very friendly and offered us their snacks and some peaches which they had put out on the table. Andrej and I headed out to the nearby grocery store to get some snacks to keep us going for the night.

When we came back, I finished packing up my bags and we watched the remaining parts of “Volver.” This was our last night together and I consciously tried to avoid drowning in any emotion. We knew we had to get back to our lives, to our routine, to our countries. So I/we tried to make the most of our last moments together and keep our moods hopeful. I thought Volver was a great movie and for once, Andrej and I did not disagree on his movie choice.

2013 Central Europe Trip- Day 17, Sunday, August 11, 2013- Goodbye Europe!

The cantankerous noise of the alarm woke me up at about 7:30 AM. It felt like just another day of our vacation even though I knew this was my last day in Europe. For some reason, I thought I had one of the most peaceful sleeps the night before. This was strange because I knew I was troubled from leaving and the thought of going back to India made me nauseous the night before. I imagined it was because Andrej had never hugged me this tight or felt this close to me before that somehow that intuition cast some positive spell on my sleep as well. I was under the impression that the departure time was 11:00 AM, whereas the real time was noon. What an oversight on my part! Andrej was still asleep so I did some last minute packing. We left our hotel at about 8:30 or so and arrived at the Marco Polo Airport forty-five minutes after. I had noticed during our time together that he always took care of my bags and carried them for me. He continued to do that at the airport. I’m not really the type of a woman that says “Well, he’s a man, that’s his job!” So, I was appreciative of the fact that he would be thoughtful like that without me having to ask him. Sometimes, it’s the little things that get me. Gestures one often takes for granted or forget to acknowledge but without such gestures, however small, human relationships wouldn't be as fulfilling as they can be.

The counter for FinnAir was not opened yet as we arrived at the airport “too” early. In India, a person traveling to an international destination is expected to arrive at the airport 3 hours before the departure time. I suppose I was under the impression that the same ruled applied for European airports. I felt quite stupid at my desire to follow and stick to laid-down rules which in this case made me appear to have lacked discretion. Andrej felt a bit edgy and I felt accountable for the extra expenditure he had to incur for parking. The Italian airport was so stress-free in the sense that there were no pestering policemen, no security check hassle at the entrance and no uniformed personnel in sight to question or harass us, save the airport staff. So different from the suffocating environment of my own, how can anyone expect me to let go of such a carefree life and living I wondered. Andrej waited with me till I got my boarding pass. There was no excess baggage which was terrific news because I did not have the resource to cover it. I wanted to stick around longer but I could tell Andrej was in a hurry to leave so I didn’t bother him further. I hugged him and kissed him. He told me he was not the sentimental guy with a naive look on his face. I told him I know, it's okay. We smiled and we said bye to each other.

It was unimaginable for me to accept that our vacation was over. I held myself back and walked right on towards the security check. I looked back but Andrej had disappeared in the crowd. I wanted to chat with a friend there and then so I could ignore the numbing ache I was feeling at some place within. But the fact is, no matter how much I talked or shared, the truth would be apparent and reasonable only for me. I had to look for the positives and reminded myself what a fabulous time we had and all the beautiful memories we created. And to know that I would be seeing him in December offered me peace and assurance. And even though I was sad to leave, I constantly reminded myself that it’s only a matter of four month’s wait which pales in comparison with the six years it took for us to meet again. The vacation may have been short lived but it surely endowed in me a greater capacity for patience. After knowing the extent to which he could go to make me happy, to make our first vacation worth it, I promised myself I would make his trip to India count for him as much as my trip to Slovenia did for me. We have much to talk about still and to do when we meet again. For now, I’ll count the minutes until that day arrives…and look forward to more exciting travels, more journals to write and more memories to cherish.