Rome Weekender 3

So my instinct was pushing me to explore more crowd-free Rome. I had the other side of an unexplored area in mind, Nero’s Palace…( Domus Aurea)! It was something I have not heard of anyone visiting in. We started walking in that opposite direction, entered the compound, climbed the hill, it was a beautiful, peaceful place to walk in. There was no tourist, some old people here and there, just in 200 meters of Colosseum’s crowd, there is absolute calmness!
I realized that it means there is no access the ‘palace’, and the compound belongs to the palace, is open for public…enjoying the evening Sun from that hill top…crossed over to the other gate of Domus Aurea…. lonely narrow streets, with walls of stone bricks on one side…it resembled to walking in the downtown areas of old Trivandrum( which is around the Padmanabha Swami temple), which will have either the high stone wall of the temple on one side, or the old wall made for the fortification of the downtown district itself…!
We got in to a main road, after another 10-15 mins of walk, now enough of peaceful streets… tried to see if we can get back to ‘site seeing’. Walked to the nearest bus stop, and saw two Indian faces…it is not only Indian…it is more specific…two priests(in ‘mufti’) from Kottayam…! Just said a Hi, and they were also happy to meet a mallu…they directed me to walk a little more to reach one of the three important Basilicas in Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore . We decided to take their direction, and passing through the big Basilica, we walked to Termini.
We were pretty tired, it was around 5, the walking tour at 5 also is ruled out ! We went in to the mall incorporated with the Termini station, and had cappuccinos, and Gelato for Pranav. That resembled the bakeries with a small serving area, and a few table + 2 chair setup, in India, it was good and the rates were same as anywhere else in the city. Took a metro to Flaminio… to come out of the station and see Piazza del Popolo. It was already dark… and darkness was something my old cameras didn’t like…Now I think I am in a better position to click as usual increasing its ISO. Then walked through narrow crowded ‘Via del Babuino’ to Piazza de Spagna where you can see the Spanish Steps. This is said to be the widest staircase in Europe, built in warly 18th century, a century after the Fontana della Barcaccia ( Fountain of the Old Boat), seen at the bottom of the steps, was built !
Imagine a square and a fountain in 1627… and then a French diplomat building a broad step from it to the church above, in 1724! If it sounds interesting, you would like Rome. And 1724 is something very recent, comparing to the structures made dating to BC… so for Italians, for them, it is modern Rome!
Climbed the steps, up to the church on the top, went in, I wouldn’t say anything amazing, the structures are made long back, the place existed centuries ago, and most important, the crowd was appreciating it! The same thing as Mona Lisa J, either it is so, or I don’t have enough sense or knowledge to appreciate it.
Climbed down, after taking some pictures of the view from the top, started walking a bit through much more crowded ‘Via Condotti’; it was too much a crowd, so came back and decided to walk through Via Due Marcelli (meaning Marcelli 2nd Street) to Fontana del Tritone( Tritone Fountain) situated in Piazza Barberini.
This fountain was executed in travertine in 1642–43. At its centre rises an larger than lifesize muscular Triton, a minor sea god of ancient Greco-Roman legend, depicted as a merman kneeling on the sum of four dolphin tailfins. His head is thrown back and his arms raise a conch to his lips; from it a jet of water spurts, formerly rising dramatically higher than it does today. The Tritone, was erected to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct( one of the springs which brough water to Rome) which Urban had restored, in a dramatic celebration. So the purpose was different; public fountains in the city of Rome had been passive basins for the reception of public water.
So, the water coming out of all these fountains are (still) drinkable…and it is not something which goes to be pumped again….
Time was nearing 7 PM, we had started this walk around 1:30! And, except for a small coffee break at Termini, we have not sat anywhere. The lunch was also that junk pizza, in standing mode. We decided to take metro from Barberini station to
Termini and walked back to the hotel around 7:30.
I was still in thrill to go to Colosseum and try a night shot with long exposure… asked Krithi about the idea…she looked at me and asked, ‘don’t you have a conscience!’ I got my message and immediately dropped the plan. She had been a patient companion for my voyages (I remember even my classmates never use to come with me if I say ‘for a walk’). She, even while 4 months pregnant, had dared to come sitting in overnight train, and two full days of mountain drives and then return journey also overnight sitting… in Australia !
An hour of rest, we found a small restaurant around the corner for dinner… it was a very good pick, though random. We enjoyed a wonderful Penne Arabiatta, grilled vegetables seasoned with morzerella, and Pranav also quickly became a pet for the two servers… we really enjoyed the meal, and ended our first day in Rome.

Rome Weekender 2

Day 1: The condition in Brussels was bad, with all roads full of snow…the traffic was moving slow… the snow still falling down… I called up the taxi guy and preponed the booking by an hour. So, we were to leave by 4:30.
I was already excited because it was 9-14˚C in Rome, compared to my -4˚ to -6˚ and full of snow ! But I was still visualizing me stuck in the middle of the trip with my wallet gone… and still working out how to minimize the risk! Anyway, looked at my debit card, credit card (like I may not see them again) ! Believe me, that is the impression I have got about Rome from the time I am seeing people who visited it and even what , website, and therefore most of the people as well say....
So, our day started at 3:30. The airport is 60 kms from here. The driver promptly rang our bell at 4:15. And we were off…
He dropped us at the Charleroi Airport around 5:30… and he was speaking English !
The airport was crowded… 6 long queues( I would compare it to same as Chennai central station general ticket queue), we were just wondering how to fit in….and then, an announcement came saying the systems are down and move to counters 1-12, which were already crowded. Everyone pushed to crowd around that…. Good that I didn’t understand the announcement, went near to check what is happening … the system came back to normal again and we skipped the lines …. !!!
So I, who feared would miss the flight due to this crowd, got almost the security seal on my boarding pass almost immediately.
The security check gave us the first surprise – they asked us to remove the small water bottle, Pranav’s sipper, our moisturizer creams, all to be dumped as no liquids allowed ! I knew this law, but overlooked unopened Nivea pack going to dump ! Atlast they agreed to return the sipper after emptying it !
Then there was another queue to board the flight, and as no seats reserved on boarding pass, it is the same run to catch our intercity-interstate buses… it is a run because from the gate to the flight, there is about 100 metres in the open! And in the cold, we ran to get in to the flight and got a window seat. Now, it was a bus! Everyone trying to put the luggage in the top rack, push everyone else to get a better seat… holding seats with handkerchiefs … and shouting from one end to another!
The stewards, patiently watching, and at times loosing their temper trying to not show it in their words…
The boarding pass, which we have to print 10 days before doing an online checkin, said that the gates will close at 8:30… but I think it just opened at 8:30 ! But the packing in to the flight was quick… The good part was we got one window seat, and obviously Pranav took it over... only to just continue his sleep as soon as the flight took off !
It took off on time, and landed as well on time! I think for 20 Euros, I should not ask for more! The flight was not peaceful – the stewards were selling breakfast, some books, and were making sure no one sleeps, whether people buy or not!
Rome was proving easy… the desk at the exit was selling the ticket for the bus to termini, and the metro passes too. Pranav was free (unlike Paris), he was not happy with the situation though ! He was insisting on having a ticket…complaining ‘you are not even buying a ticket for me’ J!
The one hour journey to Termini gave me the same feel as being in Malaysia or Mexico… and at times somewhere in North India… - the moist air, non-photogenic scenaries (mainly because the greenery is covered with dust), old buildings here and there, rusted-and-dusted Hotel boards… an overall the real tropical feel!
We got down in front of the Termini station, walked a little here and there to figure out with my map where we are and then go the road, to walk to our hotel, a 10 mins walk away. I could see old pieces of broken walls all around….between the new buildings. The road which I have to take itself was covered with a huge wall and I thought that it is some old premises, where the wall ended around the corner!
It was 10:40. The hotel checkin time was 2PM. We were planning to leave the luggage there and go. But the hotel was fine we checking in after 15 mins. So we left the luggage, and walked back to a park which we saw on our way. Krithi had made idlis and packed at 3:30! We sat on the bench and had the breakfast :) ! First thing to do in Rome(picture)!
After checking in, we proceeded to take the first metro to Colosseo( the station for Colosseum). I was extra cautious inside the metro area, it was crowded, and Termini metro station was confusing as well! There were only 2 lines( A and B), but still the confusion is because of a lot of temporary structures made for repair work or reconstruction.
To get out of the station and see Colosseum just in front was stunning! The Sun was also playing hide-and-seek, and giving a good challenge for me to click when He is on…
We walked through the crowd in to the ‘what-I-thought-would-be’ centre of tourist Rome! But except the long queue for the Colosseum entry, some postcard-sovenir shops, and a couple of mobile pizza-panini-other junks shops, I couldn’t find anything(picture).
Pranav immediately sensed that it is all old junk around, and he has nothing to enjoy in it. He started putting his demands, from the pop corn packets to the balloons and whatever he could see!
We walked along the road in between the Old Rome ruins, and Colosseum, to what is shown in map as Circus Maximus …It took almost 15-20 mins walk to reach there and it was like a plain ground covered around with tin sheets so that none sees it! I could not see a single human being also around. I looked at the map, it matches the place! And as in the map, there is the metro station as well, ‘Circus Maximus’( Picture)! I think it was me who overestimated Circus Maximus… Astrix influence :) ! (Later back home, I realized that it is now a ground just used occasionally for some concerts)
I was a bit upset with my expectations shattered…took metro back to Colosseo from Circus Maximus. It was 3 PM already. We have started feeling hungry… The station had a couple of shops, and just outside that station there was another ‘small restaurant’( the Italian version of our thattu kada/kayyendi bhavan)… but I (wrongly) chose to try the mobile shop pizza. They cost 3 Euros each, a sheet of cheese sandwiched between two semi-circular bread bases with a splash of tomato sauce. He warmed it and gave…served by a Bengladeshi (obviously acting as if he met his lost Indian brother and eagerly trying to convey that he is also from India J to sell this damn piece of…..), an Italian lady (owner) sitting supervising ! It is a wonder how the little van is accommodating all this! I would just say that the ‘pizza’ lunch was a mistake… would suggest none ever try it !
Now my stomach also joined Pranav rejecting whatever I give, and asking for something I can’t.
In the plan, I had put 3 walking tours to be taken up on day 1. Now, we have missed the two walking tours at 11AM and 2PM. The 11’s one was tough arriving at 10:30. And the 2PM’s, we missed with my Maximus ‘Circus’( translated as maximum goof-up). Now, we finishing the lunch by 4, we could have rushed up for 5PM ’s walking tour.
But as always for me… all plans, strategies stop the moment the actual journey begins, and then I follow my instincts :)( that means I do whatever I like at that time according to what we feel). That makes any trip more exciting and with a lot of surprises (all preparations and homework is to make sure some of the obvious unpleasant surprises are avoided)…..

Rome Weekender 1

Rome needs no introduction…. the influence of Latin words, proverbs, quotes…in our daily life … whether we realize it or not. From the broad gauge’s width, to the radius of some of the payloads, will you believe if I say are influenced by size of ass of ancient Roman horses ?

I will start with what I went through before the trip,

Fix the Duration: It was much more than a site seeing trip for me, to just see colosseum, a couple of important spots…the Vatican… and it will not take more than a day or maximum two. And you have all your lifetime to go through your photos back home J.
I wanted to feel Rome, walk through the streets, the non tourists streets especially. I wanted to give a try to get a feel of an Italian…though I know Rome will be different with its cosmopolitan nature, from Italy. And provided I loose all my money pick pocketed on the first day, I wanted to do it as good as possible.
To fix your durations for a quick tour, check this suggestions by national geographic:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/rome-walking-tour-1/

Book the Flight: Ryan air – it worked out cheap…
Ryan gave me a very good deal for a morning flight (7 am) which I later realized, was because reaching there by public transport from my place at time is impossible. There are shuttles from Midi station, but till Midi station I can’t reach before 6…So only choice, get a taxi for that 60kms… at 4-5 AM ! Still it was cheaper…
Book the Hotel: Booking.com – I could pick a few hotels, looking for near the Central station ‘ Termini’, and looking for reasonably good reviews. Ratings lie sometimes… for example, I will ignore a ‘the hotel staff was rude’ if it was written by an American. So, it depends….
There are many more sites as well to book hotels… I am just telling what I did… need not be the best way…
Climate: It is winter start in Italy( Dec first week), and it will be dark by 5:30. But the temperature ( 12-16 C)compared to Belgium(-4 to -6 C) is much higher… it was a good reason to choose this time.


Risks/ Mitigations:
Pick pocketers and bag snatchers: This was a very high risk as told to me. I had a lot of colleagues who had such experiences atleast one in their gang. And a quick fix from me; if you keep your purse in the front pocket and the pants is tight enough that you can feel it, your risk is reduced by 70% or more…Then comes the cellphones, laptops etc. But you don’t go with them for siteseeing. If the camera is always in your hands or around your neck, it is tough to take it out without you knowing it.

Preparation: I got some very good maps and books, from my colleagues. The best site I would suggest if you are going to explore Rome: http://www.enjoyrome.com/tourist/cityguide/main.html
Else, just take a Hop on hop off bus and enjoy 2 days… he will tell and show whatever you need to know as a tourist. It is safe too… hardly pick pocketers get in to them…
http://www.viator.com/Rome-tours/Tours-and-Sightseeing/d511-g12
If you are alone, or with no restriction to walk and walk fast…. Use this: http://www.romefreetour.com/

Budget Estimate: My budget estimate came to 1000 Euros, for 3 people, 4 days and 3 nights – including airport transits, flights, accommodation, food, siteseeing… everything… but atlast we finished it with 750 Euros… so for me it was cheaper than I estimated…

4 day Itinerary: I was to reach there on a Saturday morning 10:30 and fly back on Tuesday afternoon flight. It was a derivative from a lot of info from web, books, and then some discussions with colleagues:
Day 1: See if I can walk around, see if old Rome can be finished. Go for two of the three freewalking tours.

Day2 : As it is a Sunday, Vatican is not possible( they are closed except the last Sunday of the month). So if Saturday was fruitful, and Rome proves so small as I hear, and we could finish everything except Spanish Steps, trevi area and Vatican, then I was planning to take a bus day trip to one of the nearby places – Florence, Pisa, Naples, Capri…
Else, keep old Rome, for this day, as this was the day predicted with least chance of rain.

Day3 : Obvious choice… Vatican… and then walk to Trevi fountain… see the areas spotted so that though we take a little longer route… see much more….

Day4 : Don’t keep anything for this day… use it to go to the place where we feel like going once again, or somewhere we had to rush back.

Belgium Weekender 8

I am walking through the red light district! I think, may be, it is the first time in my life I am doing this. Time is around 4PM on a Saturday. It is canal on my one side(snap), and the street consists of ‘tools’ shops, ‘CD’ shops, houses and hotels on the other side.

I had one instance of a little difference – one middle aged female chasing another one, both nude except for the ornaments pierced all over the body; all I had to do was to just ignore them.
Otherwise, most of the people walking with me are tourists; just finishing their city visits with the red light district walk. As for the part of the ‘red’, all I could see now will be the old or outdated ones; the main characters will be sleeping after their regular night shifts. So it is much safer and better to walk through these streets in the early evenings. But it may be a little tough if you are unaware where you are, and take a room in one of the small hotels here. Prostitution is legal here and so you may not end up in Police station, but you may have to see a lot of sights in your life, which you are not used to and not sure how to react to.

I am in a city, which is represented by black ‘xxx’ in red background in its flag – the boats with ‘xxx’ flag, the bridge having embossed-shield written ‘xxx’ on it (snap) (I think the x ratings got termed from here)! A city, where the visit is incomplete unless you get the ‘feel’ walking through the red light district! The red light district is, just opposite to the Central railway station!

The city otherwise, is known as the capital of the country of the Tulips and Windmills, I am in Amsterdam!

I am very sure that this city of canals and museums will never be known to many of us by its famous (or we say infamous) reddish tint.

* * * * * * *
Once Paris was done, Amsterdam was the next most accessible destination in terms of another European capital, which needs no reservation, and close enough to be reached in 3 hours (actually it is closer than Paris, but as there is no high speed lane, the train can’t go faster than 150kmph. Again the slowing down for stops, picking up, all kills time. So it takes 3 hours to cover the 230kms.

I was of two minds, whether to plan a stay or not. Due to budgetary constraints, I decided that unless I am too much impressed with the city, I would not stay back. Now, if I start early I will get a full day there. There lies the problem. I didn’t have the thrill of going to Paris and so have to negotiate with my Saturday sleep.

And as always, the sleep won. I got up around 8:30. The only way I can make it up is by skipping the breakfast. That gave me enough time to take a shower and take the 66 bus to the city, at 9:01. There is one train per hour, at all 39 minutes of the hour.

The bus takes 30 minutes during a weekend to the city. I got down at Central Metro stop at 9:30. It was a dash then, thru the tunnel to the Central station. It was 9:34 when I reached the International tickets queue. I was at the counter in another two minutes. The lady at the desk realised the moment I told ‘Amsterdam weekend return’ that I am rushing for the 9:39 train. She quickly finished filling the details and it was 9:37 when I got the ticket. Ran piercing the crowd, down the steps, I was inside the train at 9:39. The doors just closed behind me!

It was settling down, the train was not crowded though not empty either. Through Antwerpes, it was crossed the Dutch border, stopped at Rotterdam (after Antwerpes), it reached Amsterdam by 12:30. Except the bottle opening incident (see the tailpiece), it was a pleasant journey : ).

It was bad news immediately, the sky is fully cloudy and it started raining too! It was pretty cold compared to Brussels, and I had to take my sweater out.

Half the day is lost in sleep and travel, and the rain seems to spoil the rest! At least, why to keep hungry :)! Looked for food inside the Central station food court, and found a New York Pizza shop, which had a couple of veggie pizzas and one ‘tandoori pizza’ also, to my surprise! I quickly realised that English works well in Holland than Belgium; I mean it works well in Amsterdam better than Brussels : ).

Things were better once I finished the brunch and came out. It was still cloudy and dark, little bit of drizzle too. The first thing I noticed was the cycles; the three-floor parking lot for cycles, packed with cycles was a real surprise (snap)! The next thing was, as I expected, there was a canal just in front. I spotted one office, which offers a hop-on-hop -off boat service and it costs some 18 € per day. I took a day ticket, which is valid till next day noon. That means, even if I chose to stay I can use the boat tomorrow also.

Here also, there were three routes defined for the boat –red line, green line and blue line. They are start from almost the same area, the first available was the green line. The frequency is less, once in 20-30 minutes and they take 90 minutes to complete the loop. So I was sure that I would have to skip one route.

Greenline started at 1:50. It went under a couple of small arch bridges and it was the outer harbour area. It moved in to the canals again. The buildings on both sides, a narrow road on both sides separating the houses from the canal, and there was one more important thing – the boathouses(snap)! I could call them houseboats too, but feared it may convey a different meaning. These are boats turned in to houses, and registered to the local municipality paying tax for mooring. So the place for a given boat is stationary, they are all homes floating on water. It is estimated that there are 2500 boathouses in Amsterdam across all the canals, and the government has stopped giving permission to ‘park’ any more ‘houses’. Imagine, people living their whole life with all their assets floating on water!

I got down at one stop after the Museum stop, to see it later. A little walk around taking pictures, the most surprising ones were seeing the same sight as in Chennai – husband and wife going in a cycle (snap)!

Back in to catching the next Green line boat and got down at the Town Hall stop and walked through a flea market to only realise that the souvenirs are much costly than I could ever imagine. I just made sure I am not overspending, and took the next Greenline to Central to finish the red light district walk.

It was 5:25 when I took the redline boat, which also goes to the Museum. It reached the same by 6, by which they had closed down. Anyway, roaming around in a museum was not in my plan, including the Van Gogh museum. I walked around the area taking pictures of the buildings, and had a snap done with myself in front of Van Gogh museum (snap).

It was another Aussie surprise while I was taking pictures in front of the Museum; this time it was a familiar face coming towards me smiling! It was Chris Nicoles, a business analyst in Woolworths! He had left the firm before I left Sydney.

I got the 6:30 Greenline to reach the Central by 7:20. It was another run to cross the road and run to the station. Got the 7:29 train to be back in Brussels by 10:30. It was mere coincidence that while nearing the Brussels Nord station, the red streets of Brussels was to my right. I could see a lot of houses having glass walls, lighted inside with neon lamps where 'Live' models were trying to tempt the 'window-shopping' customers. Later only I knew that prostitution is legal in Belgium as well. Anyway, I got down at Brussels Central, and took a bus to Evere, reaching home by 11:25.

Tailpiece: (1) You know the difference between ‘Eau de source Bronwater (plat)’ and ‘Eau de source Bronwater (Bruis)’. If you are planning to come to this part of the World, better you should know. The first is mineral water, and the second is soda! Both look the same. Imagine you picking up soda for mineral water from a vending machine during run for the train, and opening the bottle after your run sitting in the train! I don’t have to imagine, it took two hours for my dress to dry from the mess!

(2) You want to know about the auctioning of bicycles and boats sunk in the canals. You know what an owner or a boat did when he found that his boat is sunk and someone else have moored his boat in that place. Check out this site: http://gezonken.wordpress.com/ . I was looking for some information in google and bumped in to this site. I have to really appreciate this guy for picking the lighter side of Amsterdam so sensibly.

Belgium Weekender 7

Day 2.

Another day fighting with sleep, I couldn’t get up before 9. Had breakfast in the hotel itself, which was included in the rent.

10 AM: Checked out, kept my bag at the hotel for taking it back in the evening. Got the yellow line again to change to Green bus, and the plan for the day was clear. I want to finish off Louver museum, and then may be a bit roaming around the other routes.

11:30 AM: I got down in front of the Louver Museum. The queue was not big enough except for the security check outside.
I collected a map of the huge museum (snap) with the ticket. I could easily compare it with The British Museum for the space, but I will have to praise the latter for the diversity of things they got!

So, I had no plans to see the whole museum. My main aims were to cover the sculpture and painting galleries, for they are the European special! I accept my lack of sense to appreciate the paintings, as for me, the oil painting of our old school master (that is the first I am seeing as a painting) is as complex as Monalisa :) ! Even for sculptures, I can’t boast my taste. I have seen enough in Kerala and Tamilnad temples, which for me as so complex. So just a single sculpture of Venus (it is also broken a bit by time) doesn’t appeal that much still I took its picture with the crowd around so that I won’t be blamed for my stupidity:).

My main aim was to see that picture which became World famous because of its publicity, and something else which I don’t understand. And for me, if I am compelled to look and pay for something I can’t explain why, it is a trick of publicity :). It was amazing(snap), a small photo and a huge crowd around it, like Aiswarya Rai surrounded by photographers! They were allowing to take snaps, so I think it may be a fake picture also! How do any of us know?

I could see people taking pictures everywhere, even at places where there is a board which says no photos.

I finished up, and went in to many other parts of the museum and saw many more things in my attempt to find an exit :). I think it is another French trick!

1:30 PM: At last, I succeeded in finding an exit to come to the main area, under the pyramid (I think, u may have seen it in the film Da Vinci code).

Another blunder under the pyramid as I got some romance fever from around, and decided to buy a perfume under the very Museum Louver. There were some shops selling them, and got in to a very classic one. I saw some incense candles and perfumes. My romance started melting by the heat of Price tags. As I was almost about to leave, I saw a small gift cart sort of a thing to my surprise priced at € 22,50 ! It had four pieces, one flower and one candle and two more containers-sort-of near each of them. My creativity told me that the perfume near candle will smell like the candle and the perfume near the flower smell like the flower. I asked the shop keeper, ‘Is it perfume?’ and he nodded Yes. I very clearly tried to tell him in English as well as by actions that I want to buy a gift for my wife, and looking for perfume. I want to make sure that the perfume is feminine.

As he started packing, I was back to Earth noticed the so-thought-container near the candle look like a cap for the candle and the other, cap for the dry flower. The shop-keeper was busy packing it with the gift thread and all(snap).

I jumped on him and again showed another mime to ask if they are just caps, no-spray-no-liquid perfumes for body? He broke my heart saying that it is a candle and flower set!
I apologised and he got the message :).

1:45 PM: Took green bus again, to get down at Notre Dame church. Roamed around there, it was a long queue again, to go to the top. I skipped that, went around buying some souvenirs. I spotted a pancake shop, and for lunch had one pancake (snap), lemon and sugar and ate it standing on the road side.

2:30 PM: I am done with my main items. There may be many things in Paris which is a must see, but I don’t know. I took another bus route (the blue one) to just go for a full round, sat inside sipping a pepsi(from the vending machine inside the bus). I also had the Milk Bikis bought yesterday from Indian stores. That completed my lunch. It started raining outside and so I remained inside the bottom floor of the base than going to the open top deck.

3:30 PM: I shifted to Green bus and it went again through Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triumph, for having a last look. It got redirected in between due to some demonstrations and the driver couldn’t communicate back to my query that he will take another route and drop me at my destination to catch the yellow bus. But anyway he did.

4:50 PM: I shifted to the Yellow bus at Opera, after one round to be dropped at the Nord station.

5:40 PM: I got down at Nord, walked to the hotel, and collected my bag. Had a glance in to a couple of shops for seeing if I can get any gifts.

6:00 PM: I was at the station by 6. I took a handful of pics to make a stitched long landscape shot, a policeman came to me and said no photography allowed. Though there were no signs on this anywhere, I apologised and kept the camera back. The train started at 6:22 PM and left me at Brussels Zuid by 7:40 PM. Back home, uploaded my pictures, again to office tomorrow morning…. :(. Slept around 1:45 AM.

Tailpiece :

(1) Novelist Guy de Maupassant — who claimed to hate the Eiffel tower — supposedly ate lunch at the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where you couldn't see the Tower :)

(2) Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years, meaning it would have had to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiration of the permit.
(3) Just putting a snap of the dustbins in Paris. I didn’t mean anything. If it resembles something to you…… I will say ,’you dirty mind’ :p !

Belgium Weekender 6

It was only 9:15 AM Saturday when I came out of Paris Gare du Nord station (snap). I had the route to an ibis hotel nearby from my colleague. So walked towards it only to find that the ‘cheap rate’ he mentioned was €79 per night! This would have been a place I would have confirmed if I were with Krithi. But now, as a bachelor, I need something just better than a dormitory. I went out on room hunt, and kept checking all hotels in all cut roads on my random route. Most of them were €89, €129, €119, and €99…

But my hunt didn’t last long, before I got a place for €59. I went in actually seeing €45, but that was rate for a common bathroom accommodation. I would have gone for that if it was London, but I was not that sure how this would have been maintained. Also, if I take the €59 room, he offered me an immediate check-in. And once I kept my luggage and came out, I realised that I am just 100m away from the Nord station (I had come around completing a full circle in my search) where I have to again catch the train Sunday evening.

Now, the main constraint for me was time, and I was always monitoring and planning with the time. So better thought it will be worth to continue based on time.

10:00 AM: I started from my hotel for exploring Paris and my plan was to finish Eiffel Tower today for sure and then get around Arc de Triumph. There are these hop-on hop-off buses; I think I had mentioned how they work when I tried the same in London. They become the best choice when you have very less time to explore a place, say, a couple of days, or only one day.

I got one in Paris, which works with four routes (four colour coded buses for each route) and charges €29 for two days to explore Paris in all four buses routes. Their frequency was less than 15 minutes, and so you never have to wait for a bus. It works this way: their yellow bus covers the Nord (means North) rail station, some areas like Moulin Rouge and have a common point to share with their green bus. Green bus covers the Museum Louver, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame Church and some key areas of Paris. This is the bus, which has common point with other two routes: orange and blue. So basically, you can see that the mainly used one will be the Green and the others just form connections to the rail stations or to have a look some extra places in Paris in case you have time.

So for me, I have to take the yellow one, find the common point where I will get the Green, and change for Eiffel Tower. This was my highest priority not just because I just wanted to see that for sure; but the fact that there is a lot of waiting time to get in and I don’t want to take that risk tomorrow.

12:30 PM:I reached the Eiffel Tower (snap). There are four counters on the Tower’s four base pillars, and a long queue at each one of them. The last time I have seen such a long queue (outside India) was in Sydney during the New Year fireworks. But that queue was for getting their liquor ration, inside the Botanical Garden premises.

The average wait time was written as 30-45 minutes. But that wait gave me enough time to feel the surroundings. I could see a lot of couples than the lone wanderers like me. They are all, except a very few, in the excitement of standing at the bottom of this World Wonder. They were enjoying excitement with the togetherness, the ‘French’ way! At this point, I have a suggestion to anyone going to Paris – never go alone if you are married!

1:00 PM : Almost reaching the end of my wait for tickets, I noticed everybody walking to the counter with some money and then taking the purse out and fetching more money. I realised the reason only after reaching near the counter. The fare written in front of the counter and also displayed in the electronic board is 4€. It is written in small fonts that the fare is 7.7€ for going to the topmost point! So this 4€ is to go till the 2nd floor, that is the second horizontal line (if you remember the rough structure). Now, I will introduce you to Eiffel Tower before I start climbing:

The building of a 300-meter tower was conceived in preparation for the Universal Exposition of 1889. The assembly of the pillars began on July 1 1887, and was completed in only twenty-two months (snap below)!

Now, I can take the 700 steps to climb the first 115 meters, that is, till the second floor. That is, climbing our Pazhani malai paying Rs.200! Or, taking the steps to climb the Sydney Tower! I can as well wait in another queue for an elevator to take me up till that.
But there waits another much longer, unavoidable queue at the second floor to take me to the top most point another 276 metre high. There is no steps up there, elevator is the only way up.

I started climbing the steps. The only food I had was a waffle with a coffee in the train’s restaurant! So it was almost like a pilgrimage. I straightaway stood in the other queue up in the second floor and that was another 30 mins! I reached the top by 2:20.

2:20 PM : I reached the topmost point of Eiffel Tower.Enjoy the view, the couples ‘French’ing around you, take a view snaps, and then time for another queue to go down! I took the elevator from the second floor to the ground too, as I was too tired and hungry to come down the 700 steps.

3:15 PM: I came down. Tried to find something to eat, and got some French fries and coke – right under the Eiffel Tower, for 6 €!

4:00 PM: I finished walking around the area of Eiffel Tower and bought some souvenirs from the young Indian guys and took the Green bus

4:30 PM: Got down at the Champs-Élysées. The Champs-Élysées is the most prestigious and broadest avenues in Paris. And with its cinemas, cafés and luxurious shops (you know of what), this is said to the second most expensive strip of real estate in the World just next to New York City’s fifth Avenue. The rent goes to around Rs. 6 crore per year for a 1000 sq.ft of business space !

Again, it has nothing to do with me and I never knew about this place before . So it doesn’t matter. I got down here since I felt the place is glamorous with the Arc De triumph at the other end (snap).

Before starting the walk towards the Arc, tried get in to divider the middle of the road to take a snap, and two guys busy taking pictures behind me greeted, ‘Mate, where are you in Australia?’ in a typical Aussie accent !

I was amazed. How do they know I have an Aussie connection? I put the thought aloud, and they had caught me with my Aussie Open cap! Now you know what an Aussie is! I just introduced myself, and didn’t forget to convey my love to Australia especially the Aussies. They helped me to take my snap with the Arc behind me at distance. They are from Sydney itself, had come on an European trip.

I continued with my walk to the Arc, it was pretty crowded – the walkway (snap) and the road too (snap)!

5:30 PM: I reached the Arc taking pictures and doing some window shopping. It was also crowded for going to the top, and dropped that plan. I had to take the next Green bus to get the last Yellow connecting bus.

The yellow bus’s return journey consists of Moulin Rouge and those areas too. Moulin Rouge also had a long queue for entry, for the Saturday night ‘show’(snap).

7:00 PM: I got down at Nord and walked back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, left souvenir load, and out then for another walk. Just opposite to the hotel, the street slowly started looking like some downtown street of Pondicherry(snap). I am seeing confused desis, ladies in ‘western attire’ (they think so) to meet the local competition, and some ‘malligai poo’ on the hair and hard lipstick and a heavy coat of talcum powder, which will tell the whole story how confused they are :).

And obviously, the pram drama is always there. The prams are meant to keep the baby freer and give him so freedom to enjoy the ride with out distraction from the main conversations, and give the couple also some more ‘privacy’. Again it keeps the dress and hair out of mess.

We use it to show off that we got one, the baby is always with us and the pram mostly becomes a shopping cart. So, I could see only the mess worsens! Now, imagine the baby sitting in the pram with grocery bags hanging all around him! I also saw a guy struggling with a pram at the Eiffel Tower where the mother and kid were enjoying the views. I couldn’t stop laughing!

Now, I tried some Indian shop, tried to get a couple of pickle bottles (to make up for my loss at Frankfurt). Then, seeing a board ‘Hotel Saravanah Bhavan’,I tried to peep in for some food (as my only food was one plate of French Fries). I was tempted with the menu and ordered dosai and poori (2.5 € each). I also ordered for a filter coffee too! I did two mistakes: I forgot it is Paris, and I forgot this name ‘Saravana Bhavan’ (an extra ‘h’ makes it no better) never go well for me. I had to pay for it. The dosai was not very bad, but the poori spoiled the whole show. It was like the whole dough has fallen in to the hot oil while making the dough! For my hunger I ate the dosai, and poori seemed to take more energy to eat than what it could generate.

I wasted the poori almost all, in spite of my hunger; Mr.Hotel owner-cum-waiter-cum-maybe-cook-also doesn’t seem to be bothered about it. He is in his World, speaking dirty Tamil (with a proud expression in his face that say, ‘see, I speak Tamil’), serving the two-three customers this junk-old-food. Any French guy eating here to get a feel of India will have a ‘good’ impression for sure!

10:00 PM : Walked around again, bought one bottle of water (here also it is only bottled water you can drink. Again, no cans or drinking water sources available other than the bottle-packed in shops or vending machines) and a pack of Milk Bikis from one of the Indian shops (Rs.10 pack costs 1.5 €) and came back to the hotel.

11:00 PM: I was too tired and slept almost immediately.

Belgium Weekender 5

It was a sunny day, my second weekend starting. The Thalys train took off from Brussels-Zuid (Zuid just means South in French) station around 7:40AM. I realised in a few minutes that I am going at a speed, which I have never travelled in land before! I could see the cars in the freeway are been overtaken like a bus overtakes a pedestrian (Later found out that, the train use to go at 200-300 kmph, and this is not the fastest around here)! In less than 90 mins, covering 310 kms non-stop, I was in Gare du Nord station, around 9.

I got down the train and was walking towards the central platform, one of the police officers from the group who were randomly checking, stopped me and announced: ‘Passport, please!’
Once I showed my passport, he started asking an immigration officers’ regular questions, and at last asked,
‘Do you have your hotel address where you are going to stay?’

‘He got me’, I thought, and politely replied with a smile,
‘I have come here for a weekend, yet to see if I could get an accommodation somewhere’

The smile returned with my passport, and I am cleared for being in Paris!
* * * * * * *
Paris was something I would have loved to visit while I was in London, given that I had the permission to enter France without any more paper work. But they needed an extra visa, and that means I have to skip my working time, which was not possible in my 3 months stay.

Now, when the Belgium trip was finalised (that is, once I realised that I can’t say no to this trip, but only can decrease the term from a proposed 3 months to 6 weeks), my first place in my mind was Paris! The biggest hurdle for me was the ‘white card’, which came in the middle. If it were a business visa, I could travel around freely in Schengen countries, but I heard it is not possible if I am going in Work permit unless I get my white card. I am here in Work permit as per company rules, and as I mentioned it takes minimum 4 weeks for getting a white card. So again, I was thinking I will have to plan some travel inside Belgium and come back.

Then one day, out of curiosity, I went in to the government sites for reading the condition of how they define the importance of White card. It was a pleasant surprise for me to see that white card is required to roam around in Schengen countries only if my visa is Single Entry! Then I realised that many of us have single entry visas and that is why it became a general rule that the person travelling on Work Permit can’t travel out of Belgium unless he gets the White card! It was a Tuesday and I had no doubts that I am going to Paris at the earliest.
Booked my tickets on Friday evening after checking and making sure that no deal is on and I will have to pay the same amount if I am going next weekend or the weekend after that. The only unplanned part was, as I mentioned to the policeman, the accommodation.

Belgium Weekender 4

My first weekend in Belgium! It was a Sunny Saturday! As usual, the earliest I could start on a weekend is around 10. I have an idea on where all I have to go, but all according to a couple of Dutch maps I have. I couldn’t find a detailed map in English, all in Dutch or French!

The only way I can reach city from Evere is by bus. I took route 63 around 11, and got down at De Brookeré, its last stop around 11:30. I had no plans other than wandering around for the first 2 hours just following the pointers and then see how far I have covered. I saw a couple of Pizza huts on the way, and that relieved me of my tension for lunch.

I was following pointers for Grand Place, which is a sort of old Brussels Centre place. The pointers seem to vanish when I reach one point and then I go in another direction looking for the same pointers! Again I will come around the same area and the pointers for Grand Place vanish!

In that looping, I walked through some of the shopping streets with chocolate making shops, Fresh Waffle shops, etc. The same waffle piece if I buy in packed form from a supermarket will cost less than 25 cents; here it costs € 1,60 – more than 6 times! I decided to try it once, to taste the hot Belgian waffle and I think I fell in love with it! Fro, that moment, if for any reason, I happen to pass a fresh waffle shop, and I get the smell, I loose €1,60!

Another surprise I got during the walk through the shopping areas was a lot of beggars, Turkish girls, roaming around with an empty Coke can begging for money. I also got a painful site of a fair lady sitting with his about 7-year old son in the middle of the street, with an empty can in front of her ! I couldn’t really believe it! You can see them and say they had been thrown out to the streets from a far better condition and her face says she is not yet adjusted to this state! The other Turkish girls – sometimes women with infants – have no hesitation in begging! I am not sure what reason, but they would have to flee from their homeland and end up as refugees here. Anyway, I made up my mind saying why not I sympathise to any beggars in India who is in a worser situation.

I decided that one of those funny junctions is what is Grand Place, and even convinced that Brussels’ best glory is that small junction :)!

Then followed the rest of the pointers to see the symbol of Brussels – Mannekens Pis. It was a statue of a little boy doing what the name says. The statue is been there for centuries and there are many stories behind the making of this status. The story I liked is : ‘a man had lost his little son. He found the child after two days near the place where now the fountain of manneken-pis can be seen. When the father spotted his child, the latter was peeing. As a token of gratitude the father had the fountain with a statue of a peeing boy constructed.’

There was a huge crowd taking snaps in front of it, and they led me to the real Grand Place! I had no way to photograph its full glory in one shot! I miss my 28mm lens of my SLR :(. I enjoyed the place and stood there for more than an hour!

I was actually always coming very near to this place, so near that I could see this through a narrow street entry. Being built and preserved for more than a couple of centuries, its entry roads are all narrow.

Had my lunch in Pizza hut, it cost me around €10 for a medium pizza with coke. Now, I had one more thing to be finished for sure today – the atomium. I could see it from our apartment (as we live in 8th floor) far away. So just tried to find out what it is, and found its name is Atomium - that is all I know about atomium J!
* * * * * * *
I have seen all cities build a tall structure for people go up and have a look at the whole city. I think, this is Brussel’s version of the same. The only difference is that it is outside the ‘downtown’. Also known as the ‘Eiffel Tower of Brussel for the fact that this was also planned to originally last for only 6 months, below is what Wiki says about Atomium:

“Built for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo '58), the 103-metre (335-foot) tall Atomium monument represents a unit cell of an iron crystal (body-centred cubic), magnified 165 billion times, with vertical body diagonal, with tubes along the 12 edges of the cube and from all 8 vertices to the centre.
Nine steel spheres 18 metres in diameter connect via tubes with escalators as long as 35 m, among the longest in Europe. Windows in the top sphere provide a panoramic view of Brussels. Other spheres have 1950s exhibitions. Three upper spheres lacking vertical support are not open to the public for safety reasons”
* * * * * * *
This was the first time I ever got in to the metro train and tram (which sometimes go underground on layer above the trains), my jump card could be used anywhere.

I had almost concluded that the trains are pretty slow here, before trying this metro train. Though Evere is only 10kms from the city centre, it is outside the metro network and the only way to reach the city, is by bus.

I tried to see the dutch map and made out the station where I can get a direct train to Atomium, and took a tram to the station. The train was going fast enough to my concept of European standard. It dropped me in Atomium’s nearest station……. in 10 minutes! This train also changed its direction in between, as my Evere-Halle local train.

A few minutes walk to the bottom of the structure, and a queue to get the ticket costing € 9, and another queue for the lift to the top. Had a view of the Brussels city, came down and tried to go in to the other molecules climbing the steps. After coming out, I just had a walk around the peaceful greenery. Took a train back to the city, continued walking seeing the Palace, and some more of the old structures in the downtown.

Had another waffle before taking 63 back to Evere.

Tailpiece: The electric female plug sockets are of this configuration:

That means male pin will look like our Indian one with no earth pin, and will have a hole for Earth. The shaded dot is a pin in the female part, which really looks funny! They had just intentionally done this to make it unique. And it is all in a small projection inwards and none of our plug with Earth will get in there (that makes it not follow the standard usage of electricians – male and female pin :D). I got a European adapter, which won’t work here!
Then had only one way of getting out of the dependency for using others’ pins – trim one of the Indian multi pins I have to fit in to this; It all went fine, and the first testing, unexpectedly the metal parts touch each other in between and it dripped! No power! We tried to reset our internal drip boards; and it is not working. After a little bit of panic, we found there is another main board in the basement and reset it!

Belgium Weekender 3

As anyone can easily guess, food is surely a problem for a vegetarian in most of the places in Europe. I am talking of real starving, starving for most of your taste buds :). If you are in your apartment, you can cook something, which can keep you happy. Anyway, it is good that I got used to Cornflakes, and that too with cold milk. Else I would have only had one option of bread with jam/butter.

But my lunch at office is a problem. Mostly I imagine as if I am having Veg:Biriyani or aviyal, and eat up the only vegetable salad available, which tastes almost grass. But there also I opt some bread, butter and banana with some chocolates, which keeps me happy at the end of the meal.

Night again, we will have cooked food with the limited varieties available. I have not fully explored the Indian stores, but have heard that nothing much is available here – like our pickles, or powders etc. So it is mostly rationing with what is been brought from India. I repent on the pickles I lost to security in Frankfurt airport :(. I couldn’t find pizza bases here; they have only ready to make pizzas, done with cheese and toppings! It irritates, really!

I am so much explaining it because I use to have a better food available in Sydney. I was feeling there, it is not as good as London. Now I am in a place, which is hardly a three hours journey from London, and it is all a different story here! Funny World!

Now, about the Traveller’s cheques: They are changed on a commission in most parts of the World, but you will have at least one option to convert them without commission. It may either crediting to your bank account or crediting at the counter belonging to the issuing company.

Here nothing works out! It varies from 5% at the airport to 1.75% at a place, which opens Mon-Fri 10-4:30 :). The normal other places charges from 3 to 4.5%. I at last made up my mind to pay 3% for converting some of my TCs with minimal loss of time at office.

Commune reporting is another drama I had to go through if I come here with a work permit (to be done in 8 days of landing in Belgium). I reported to the local commune (like a panchayat office, gave my details of residence, got my work permit verified. Then, they initiated a process charging me around € 23,00 (it varies from place to place in Belgium – from €5 to €40). That process includes police verification and will issue a white card in 3-4 weeks if all goes fine. There were some rumours that I need a permanent address to register here (that is I have to be part of the housing lease; or the lease should be in my name). As the lease is minimum for 6 months, I have look for costly options like Business apartments which signs lease for a month at a higher rent. My application was accepted with no question on whether I am in the lease agreement, it depends on the person sitting there. Till I have a white card, I have to carry my passport always as my ID. The fun part of my particular case is, I will have to cancel it by the time it is issued :D, as I will be here.

Commune has more powers than I thought, when I realised many things later. All work permits are issued in the Schengen Visa stamped will be for 3 months. The white card issued for an extended period serves as a Visa after that! So local commune can decide on whether a person can stay in their country or not!

Tailpiece1:- Tap water is not suitable for drinking – calcium contents they say. So we have to buy water bottles for drinking, though we use tap water for cooking. The bad part is, water is available only in bottle (max 1.5 litres) and no cans! We have a big box in each floor of our office to collect the bottle caps (I don’t know why not bottles). That is sold to raise money, which the firm donates to an orphanage!

Tailpiece2:-

Astrix: It is only afternoon and you are taking supper now ? Then when will you take lunch ?

Belgian: Immediately after the breakfast !!!
(taken from Astrix in Belgium)

Belgium Weekender 2

The weather here also is similar to London for its uncertainty. The day will sunny and all of a sudden it becomes cloudy and rains! So better always keep an umbrella and be ready for the rain anytime. And when it rains, I am seeing a lot of snails on the roads and the pathways, sadly half of them crushed to paste :(.

My first day to office, I partially made up for the loss with taxi. There are no counters or ticket machine in Evere station; it is so small. The train will have one conductor who will be walking across the train to check your passes and give tickets, like UK trains. It is not a tough job to walk across 3-4 compartments (that’s all this train consists of) and check the passes, and issue tickets to one or two people. Even in the peak hours, it will have very less people. The whole train will contain less than 10 passengers by the time it reaches Halle. The conductor didn’t come, and my first Belgian train travel became a ticket-less travel! There are no checks at the stations. Evere station doesn’t even have a single employee, not even a sweeper!

Applied for a train pass at Halle station, you have to come out of the station for the counter. Sham helped me with his memory on what he filled in a few months ago, as the form was in Dutch (I assume it is Dutch). For unclear ones, we cleared them with the person at the counter, who speaks English like an outline story. We mentioned that the pass is needed for bus and train, and he noted that also down. It came around €84 for a month which was much less than what Sham paid a few days ago. Then we tried to check why it is, and realised on comparison that the pass doesn’t include travel in Metro trains and buses running in and around the city (like Evere). I can only use it in the train to Halle and the buses in Halle! It is all so confusing; I have to take another so-called jump card for using in the city transports. The card is issued for 10 jumps costing around €11.

Now, what is a jump? Whatever trains, trams or buses I take in one hour will be counted as one jump. So if I have to go to a place taking a bus and then a train and it took me 20 minutes to reach there, finish my work and make it back to my destination with my last boarding within the next 40 mins, I will only be using one jump!

But that was all theory; I was initially not fully clear on its usage and successfully showed the pass in a wrong bus (it needs to be showed to the driver, not the scanner. As except for what is included in the pass printed, it is the same pass) and later when I learnt it; I was more confident that I can use it comfortably, I did it some more times when Sham was warning me I have to pay €50 if caught. I was just showing off my frustration in my helplessness to understand their system and was planning to explain it clearly if caught (surely was keeping a €50 note in my purse always). I stopped it when I got through the frustration, and did stop before I was fined :). Now Sham travels with me much more relaxed :). But I am also relaxed on being able to fully make up for my loss with the taxi.


Office is different from my previous offices, onsite or offshore. They are made of many cabins, and some are big to contain 10 people and some for one person. I am sharing my cabin with 2 others, looks far better in terms of non-distracted work. I have to swipe to enter as any other offices, but here the system updates my entry and everyone (including Chennai office) can see if I am in or not. The card’s use doesn’t end there. If I fire a print out in the central printer, I have to swipe my card to get my printout. It is security for me, none will see my documents, and traceability for the management.


Tailpiece:-
There is a solution I found here to make sure the buses doesn’t start before time from their starting point. There is a digital board kept at the station, which displays the time, then a random number. This random number changes every minute. The driver have to note the number at the time he has started from that point and report it as a part of his trip sheet. The route supervisor checks this number with what would have displayed for that time and confirm if the bus has not started before time. We could use this for our clock rooms, which is there to avoid over speeding.