Click here to read Part 1 : The Dream
Click here to read Part 2 : Bam! It's Amsterdam
Click here to read Part 3 : Here we land, Switzerland
Click here to read Part 4 : Its never late, for another chocolate
Click here to read Part 5 : Bye bye Chocolato, Hi to Gelato
Time to roam, then to Rome
2 July 2022
We had a free shuttle from the camp to the Florence city. Cars are not allowed in the city. We could use bicycles or segways which were available for rent. We chose to walk. We found a route in Google map where we could cover all major attractions and reach back at the same place. The architectural marvel of the buildings here truly awed us. 'David by Michelangelo' was the sculpture, but it was us who stood still!
We didn't have enough time to go inside the buildings as that would take hours of waiting in line. We had time only till noon, we walked through the streets with gelato in our hands. Of course, how could we not have a gelato after having discovered that the gelato was invented here in Florence. Me and Nachu also rode on the carousel.
We still wanted to see more of Florence, but the time didn't let us to. We had to take the shuttle back to the camp and check out.
We have to reach Rome, the last station of our Euro trip.
With all the blunders we had driving in Europe, we were sure that we wouldn't face any difficulties driving to Rome. Because 'all roads lead to Rome'. Yes, I was wanting to write this line the moment I decided to write this travelogue. 😜
We reached at Rome at around 4:30 PM. After checking in to our hotel, we immediately stepped out to see the Colosseum. On our way, in the last minute of course, we checked for tickets to the Colosseum and learned that we had to book those in advance, which we hadn't. Anyhow, we took our chance and continued the journey to the Colosseum. Rome, we felt wasn't as clean as the other cities in Europe and started giving us non-Europe vibes.
The metro took us via Vatican City. So even though we did not visit Vatican, we can say we passed through Vatican City.
Once we reached the Colosseum, we found a person who was selling tickets, unofficially, but we got a good deal and got into the Colosseum. It is always good to have a guided tour in such historical places. We had learnt that the hard way when we visited Harappa and had no clue what we were seeing. But we failed to learn from our lesson and entered Colosseum without a guide. We did our own exploration and imagined the gladiator stories that happened there years ago. We also walked close to the groups who had a guide talking loudly to understand what he was saying about the place.
It was the last dinner in Europe. We planned to have a fine dining experience and walked into a nice restaurant. While having food, the server came and asked us whether we were from India. 'Yes', we replied. 'Are you from Kerala?'. We were quite surprised by that question because we understood how he could recognize us as Indians, but if he had to understand the specific region, he would have to be some spy.
'Yes, how did you understand?'
'From the way you nod your heads'
Oh, that's when we realized that we do nod our heads in a specific way.
'Our head chef is from Kerala!'
'What?', We came to this expensive fine dining European cuisine experience only to know that it was cooked by a Malayali! That's great.
The server later came along with the head chef.
'Nattil evideya?' (Where are you from (in Kerala)?), we asked each other. Because that's what you ask when you see a Malayali outside Kerala.
We were further surprised that his home in Kerala was just a few kilometres away from Simi's home.
The world is such a small place that we met him of all places when we could have met him in Kerala.
The world is such a large place that we had to travel all this way from Kerala to meet him.
After bidding farewell to him, it was now time to bid farewell to Europe. It was our last night here. We had to wake up early the next day and go to the airport.
3 July 2022
It truly was a trip to remember. We were feeling disappointed that the trip was ending. We need more of this, more of adventure, we wished. Okay, one last time, the universe obliged!
So, we had to return our car in the car rental office in the Airport first and then head to the bag drop and other activities to board the aircraft. Google maps was set with the car rental office, and we started.
We reached the airport, and there was no car rental office there! What do we do now. We cannot leave without returning the car. (Oh, no. Will we be stuck in Europe with the car!! 😛 )
We needed to ask someone where the car rental offices were. Typically, all car rental offices would be in the same place. But we were in the Airport, and it was a drop off location where we couldn't park for long.
'Okay, you guys try to roam around or find a parking spot, I will check with someone', I got down of the car. Soorej was driving and he drove along. I went inside the airport and checked with a couple of people, and no one had any idea where the rental offices were. I called up Soorej. He couldn't find a parking spot and they had to exit the airport premises back to the road and continued searching for the car rental office.
We did try calling the rental company, but they wouldn't pick up as it was not their office hours yet.
I continued my research in Google maps and asking people and finally got some clue on where it was. There was a walkway connectivity from the airport to the rental company drop off location through the airport. I called up Soorej and he too had figured that place at the same time and was driving towards that place. I headed there by foot.
It is almost at the same time that me and the car reached a basement which was the car rental drop location. We were relieved. We took out our luggage, re-checked the car, took a video of it parked and dropped the key in a box there. That's it. The car is no more ours.
The luggage was heavy, we felt heavier (literally too from all that food) as we walked to the airport to board the return flight.
The Wake up call
Our transit was in Qatar, and we had some time there. From the airport, we all ordered a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant, Well, muscle memory.
Having that hot chocolate and chocolate croissant made us realize how rich those were in Europe. The croissant was soggy and hot chocolate not so much 'chocolaty'. That was our wake-up call. Okay guys, you are out of Europe. It was just like falling off from the bed, like pulling off the bandage. Reality has struck. Trip is over. Back to work. Back to school!!
Europe.
Well, that was our Europe Trip. It was an amazing experience. A great exploration. Various cultures. Various food experiences. Lot of blunders which truly made the trip. (And Lots of amazing planning which led to all of these. 😜)
The other day, me and Simi were talking about one of the experiences we had during this trip when we realized that with time, these memories will fade. Such rich experiences, I shouldn't let that happen. That's the inspiration to write this travelogue.
'This travelogue will help us keep these memories for ever..', I said as I started writing this.
' ..and also remind us that there are more places to visit in Europe.' Simi completed the sentence.
'There are?'
'Of course, there are. Is it time to plan the next one yet?'
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