Touchdown! in one of the famous lands of fashion. I could tell that in just one glance. The women and men who were on my flight here turned "Italian" as soon as they left the aircraft. The men sported sunglasses, fancy leather shoes and the famous Italian hats; while the women were a completely different story, I cannot believe that people would wear such fancy clothes while traveling. I normally wear my most comfortable clothes when I fly and I always have a jacket since I freeze on planes. Nonetheless, I could not allow myself to feel out of place when we all had just got of the same vehicle.
It is amazing how much we learn when we travel. About so many different cultures, different perspectives of normal and different aspects of beauty. Smiles are universal in general, and smiles communicate with ease.
Cabin crews sure have hard lives, flying from airport to airport and shifting from hotel to hotel. We will never understand the depth of their commitment to our safety and we break their monotony by treating them as you would a friend. I have met many people who never would have opened up or even smiled unless I took the initiative to smile.
From a Serbian cabin crew who said that he was the only gentleman on board, a British Australian cabin crew who just got back from an accent refreshing trip to the UK, to a cabin crew from Moldova who mentioned how one passenger called her country's capital "Kiss me now" instead of Chisinau (pronounced kiss-ee-now) and felt that no place smaller than Moldova could be called a country.
Many faces pass us by each day, I think that we should make contact with at least one new person every single day, that alone will widen our world and make our lives more abundant.
Because, no matter what they say, people are interesting.
It still hasn't settled into me. I am unsure of whether I am going on a holiday or to start a new chapter in my life. Have I prepared myself well? That is a question I am yet to find the answer to. After all, sometimes answers are epiphanies but sometimes we need think about how to get to the answer using some formulae of life; accumulated over the years of living.
We landed in Milan and took a bus to our hotel. The airport doesn't seem all that different apart from the Italian words. This is what I kept telling myself, "nothing out the ordinary, just another airport". It is easy to deceive oneself unless obstructed by the challenge itself.
The highways look like how European highways should look, clean, wide and without potholes (unlike in India). One thing I did notice is that the bus kept switching from the fast lane to the second lane to let the faster cars go ahead. That was a bit odd in my opinion. Another interesting fact was that most of the vehicles do not indicate when they are about to lane change, they just do it. Despite the laws, I think the Italians are laid back about this; as compared to the British of course.
We reached our hotel with some help from an African person who helped us with our luggage. He was huffing and puffing when he finished taking all our stuff off of his little trolley. I felt a little bad for him since he didn't realize that this Indian family could have so much stuff! And so we gave him what he asked for, a whole ten Euros. To be fair, he did ask for more, but any more was too much for us! I felt stringy after landing here, like all of what I had was something precious and not to be given away without dire reason.
The side of the road is really hard to get used to. It is the opposite of the British system and I feel like it is ingrained so well in my system that if I am on the left side of the road and walking forward, I feel that I'll get hit by a car coming behind me. It is a constant fear. I hope that I don't die on the streets of Italy just because I looked in the "wrong" direction. I mean, there is no wrong direction! Everyone is right, even when they travel on the right or on the right of the right. That was a mindful, let's go to some easy thoughts now.
The lift in the hotel was very small and our luggage could not fit in one trip. I couldn't even believe that a lift was in this hotel, it felt so small, or quaint as one would say. I must commend the engineers for building such a lift, it only carries six people but it still looks very robust (unlike the unreliable Indian lifts).
The room one the other hand, was another story. It had a window to the balcony, amazing, who would have thought about that? Step through the window into the outside world, poetic no?
We left the hotel and ventured out into the city of Milan, after boarding a very noisy metro rail/public transport, we reached the Duomo station. It is interesting to me that tickets for public transport are bought in local shops where they sell magazines and candy, called TABACCHIs. These places are closed at not so late hours so it is always better to be well prepared and buy your tickets in advance. We reached the grand cathedral that is one of the icons in Milan and were received by many Africans and Bangladeshis selling handmade bracelets and selfie sticks. This is an unusual trend for me. I am quite surprised by this. I feel like the Italian culture has been infiltrated effectively with these "poor countries" asking for sustenance and a certain quality of life; but that is for another time.
There was a huge gathering of pigeons in the "PIAZZA" (A name given to an open square place) and just as I came close, yet another African handed me some grains (Moong dal in India). And when he lifted my hand with the grains, pigeons came flying and pecking at it. I'm sure that it would have made a wonderful picture but I felt uncomfortable holding about 4 pigeons in my hand pecking until the grains had vanished. And since nothing in this world is free, we had to pay him some money (5 Euros! can you believe it? that is petty change for him!)
There was a water fountain away from the main piazza where three different types of people drank water.
I finally had gelato! It was an unusual gelato and I knew not what I was ordering but since it looked like chocolate I went for it. It costed too much in my opinion but "When in Milan, do as the Milanese do"! It had chocolate, marmalade jam and lots of nuts, there were even some pieces of brownie in it. My favorite part was watching the chocolate flow from the taps in that shop, they never stopped flowing! All in all, a delicious experience! I honestly feel like I've had enough gelato for a month. But, I am sure that I will prove that feeling wrong very soon!
Words that I have learnt since arriving in Italy so far
USCITA - exit (at the airport--Oo-she-tah)
GRAZIE - thank you (pronounced grat-see-eh)
ARRIVEDERCI - goodbye(Arree-veh-dare-chee)
CIAO - hello and bye (informal--Chow)
MI SCUSI - excuse me (Although they say "Scusa" mostly)
[EDIT: I have been corrected on my spelling of Mi Scuzi and Scuza. Thank you dear Italian friend :)
I have also added some photos of Milan!]
7th September 2016
It is amazing how much we learn when we travel. About so many different cultures, different perspectives of normal and different aspects of beauty. Smiles are universal in general, and smiles communicate with ease.
Cabin crews sure have hard lives, flying from airport to airport and shifting from hotel to hotel. We will never understand the depth of their commitment to our safety and we break their monotony by treating them as you would a friend. I have met many people who never would have opened up or even smiled unless I took the initiative to smile.
From a Serbian cabin crew who said that he was the only gentleman on board, a British Australian cabin crew who just got back from an accent refreshing trip to the UK, to a cabin crew from Moldova who mentioned how one passenger called her country's capital "Kiss me now" instead of Chisinau (pronounced kiss-ee-now) and felt that no place smaller than Moldova could be called a country.
Many faces pass us by each day, I think that we should make contact with at least one new person every single day, that alone will widen our world and make our lives more abundant.
Because, no matter what they say, people are interesting.
(^__^)
It still hasn't settled into me. I am unsure of whether I am going on a holiday or to start a new chapter in my life. Have I prepared myself well? That is a question I am yet to find the answer to. After all, sometimes answers are epiphanies but sometimes we need think about how to get to the answer using some formulae of life; accumulated over the years of living.
(^__^)
We landed in Milan and took a bus to our hotel. The airport doesn't seem all that different apart from the Italian words. This is what I kept telling myself, "nothing out the ordinary, just another airport". It is easy to deceive oneself unless obstructed by the challenge itself.
The highways look like how European highways should look, clean, wide and without potholes (unlike in India). One thing I did notice is that the bus kept switching from the fast lane to the second lane to let the faster cars go ahead. That was a bit odd in my opinion. Another interesting fact was that most of the vehicles do not indicate when they are about to lane change, they just do it. Despite the laws, I think the Italians are laid back about this; as compared to the British of course.
We reached our hotel with some help from an African person who helped us with our luggage. He was huffing and puffing when he finished taking all our stuff off of his little trolley. I felt a little bad for him since he didn't realize that this Indian family could have so much stuff! And so we gave him what he asked for, a whole ten Euros. To be fair, he did ask for more, but any more was too much for us! I felt stringy after landing here, like all of what I had was something precious and not to be given away without dire reason.
The side of the road is really hard to get used to. It is the opposite of the British system and I feel like it is ingrained so well in my system that if I am on the left side of the road and walking forward, I feel that I'll get hit by a car coming behind me. It is a constant fear. I hope that I don't die on the streets of Italy just because I looked in the "wrong" direction. I mean, there is no wrong direction! Everyone is right, even when they travel on the right or on the right of the right. That was a mindful, let's go to some easy thoughts now.
The lift in the hotel was very small and our luggage could not fit in one trip. I couldn't even believe that a lift was in this hotel, it felt so small, or quaint as one would say. I must commend the engineers for building such a lift, it only carries six people but it still looks very robust (unlike the unreliable Indian lifts).
The room one the other hand, was another story. It had a window to the balcony, amazing, who would have thought about that? Step through the window into the outside world, poetic no?
(^__^)
We left the hotel and ventured out into the city of Milan, after boarding a very noisy metro rail/public transport, we reached the Duomo station. It is interesting to me that tickets for public transport are bought in local shops where they sell magazines and candy, called TABACCHIs. These places are closed at not so late hours so it is always better to be well prepared and buy your tickets in advance. We reached the grand cathedral that is one of the icons in Milan and were received by many Africans and Bangladeshis selling handmade bracelets and selfie sticks. This is an unusual trend for me. I am quite surprised by this. I feel like the Italian culture has been infiltrated effectively with these "poor countries" asking for sustenance and a certain quality of life; but that is for another time.
 |
| Bellissimo |
 |
| I finally feel like I'm in a different world! |
 |
| The eye of the dome |
 |
| Most of the cities here have a similar structure |
There was a huge gathering of pigeons in the "PIAZZA" (A name given to an open square place) and just as I came close, yet another African handed me some grains (Moong dal in India). And when he lifted my hand with the grains, pigeons came flying and pecking at it. I'm sure that it would have made a wonderful picture but I felt uncomfortable holding about 4 pigeons in my hand pecking until the grains had vanished. And since nothing in this world is free, we had to pay him some money (5 Euros! can you believe it? that is petty change for him!)
There was a water fountain away from the main piazza where three different types of people drank water.
- Those that took handfuls of water and drank
- Those that went so close to the tap that their mouth almost touched it
- And the intelligent folk (could also be called unintelligent depending on how they executed their "knowledge") who knew of another way to drink the water. They simply used the outlet at the top of the tap and thus forced the water to flow up, towards the drinker (effectively getting themselves drenched in the process if he was unlucky)
(^__^)
I finally had gelato! It was an unusual gelato and I knew not what I was ordering but since it looked like chocolate I went for it. It costed too much in my opinion but "When in Milan, do as the Milanese do"! It had chocolate, marmalade jam and lots of nuts, there were even some pieces of brownie in it. My favorite part was watching the chocolate flow from the taps in that shop, they never stopped flowing! All in all, a delicious experience! I honestly feel like I've had enough gelato for a month. But, I am sure that I will prove that feeling wrong very soon!
Words that I have learnt since arriving in Italy so far
USCITA - exit (at the airport--Oo-she-tah)
GRAZIE - thank you (pronounced grat-see-eh)
ARRIVEDERCI - goodbye(Arree-veh-dare-chee)
CIAO - hello and bye (informal--Chow)
MI SCUSI - excuse me (Although they say "Scusa" mostly)
[EDIT: I have been corrected on my spelling of Mi Scuzi and Scuza. Thank you dear Italian friend :)
I have also added some photos of Milan!]
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