Italy I - Rome!! payanam seiDhom!!

Finally the day arrived when we had to leave for Italy..enaku aana ulla sema udharal, coz I had got the Schengen visa for France, but am entering Italy. To add to it, engakitta vera soltanga, that Italy-la Indians-na "appadi orama nillu"-nduvanganu. Seri ok, most probably appadiye returns of London-nu decide pantu I tagged along with others. We were 4 of us, engaloda innoru couple-um vandhanga.

So we left for the airport..naan decent-a ennoda jumper and jacket mattika ponen, to be prepared for the cold, aduku enga thanga thalaivar said, "che che, idhellam edhuku, its going to be a sunny trip!"-nu sema kushiya sonna udane, we all took thin jackets and left. Airport poi flight eri, oru 2 hrs kazhichu Italy land panrom...thideernu pappara pappara paaaan-nu oru trumpet satham, tension aagi nimirndhu partha, a voice boomed on the speaker "we have again arrived ahead of schedule"-nu solludhu! Ada paavigala, flight timings-a extrava pottu usual time-ku vandhuttu ivalo scene-a??

We disembarked the flight, and luckily for us, immigration-la kelviye kekkala, appadiye anuppitanga. We headed outside, and based on the information I gathered, we waited in a queue to buy a daily pass in Rome (adhula appadidhan ezhudirundhanga). Counter kitta ponappuram, the lady behind the counter said in broken english that they don't accept cards. Ada karmame-nu we searched for an ATM, and after a looong time found one. Avasara avasarama panam eduthuttu thirumba counter vandhu rome-ku ponum, ticket kodu, atha vaiyum-nu ketta...andha lady cool-a solranga - "no daily pass here, only weekly pass"! Grr..I don't want to say what I thought then.

Airport vittu velila vandhu, we stood in the queue to board the bus, it was quite sunny. We were all happy, and the other girl in our group even complained "acho, naan karuthuda poren-nu bayama iruku", we all laughed and boarded the bus. Konja neram kazhichu, bus-lerndhu irangarom...sema kulir!! Chumma pirichu meinju eduthadha partha udane, we all stared at thanga thalaivar, but immediately started laughing, coz he had happily left behind his jacket in London :)) So adutha 1 hr we spent time searching for a suitable jacket that he could wear.

Next we went to the hotel, had food, and left for the Vatican city. Oh, enga plan sollalaye, the plan was to explore Rome the first day, the second day to Venice and the 3rd day to Pisa. It was a universally criticized plan, coz rome needs more than a day. But hols engaluku avalodhan irundhadhu, so we were cramming up the attractions. Vatican city-ku poi Michaelangelo painting parthuttu, appadiye St. Peter's basilica poganumnu kilambinom.

We entered the museum after a 15 min wait, and ulla partha ellam udainja statues! Aniyayathuku udainju pona statues ellam vachu panam panrangale-nu light enga stomach-la oru theeyara vasanai vandhudhu, we went to the paintings section. Ulla porom...porom...porom, andha Michaelangelo painting-e kanom! We kind of got caught into a never ending passage of left and right turns to get there, kadaiseela veruthu poi Michael-um vendam, avar painting-um vendam-nu thittite (naandhan) we tried going to the exit, but unfortunately the exit has to go via the Sistine chapel where the angelo painting is. Nondhu poi we reached the chapel finally..partha mela dhammathoondu-ku andha painting iruku, along with other paintings. Podha kuraiku, no camera, no noise-nu school headmaster range-ku adakittanga anga irundha security menmakkal :( Seri vitta podhumnu, we hurried to the exit.

By now, we had spent 2 hrs, and it was already 4:30, seri Colosseum poi mudichidalam, that is more important than the Basilica-ntu we took the train and went to Colosseum. We had run out of cash, so the other 2 had gone to a distant place, found an ATM and came back. Ok, all is well-nu when we went to the Colosseum spot, anga oruthar Italian-la engakitta solrar, "Colosseum is closed because papa is giving a speech here for Easter Friday"! Major sodhappal!! Yes Popeku 'Papa'nutu innoru name italian languagela irruku. Ayya Pope Andavare, neenga speech tharardhukudhan avalooo periya vatican city vachirukeenga-la, anga thara vendiyadhudhane?? Kodumai Kodumai-nu church-ku pona anga kodumai jingle bells jingle bells-nu adina kadhaidhan enga Rome kadhai!!

Thedinen vandhadhu....

A couple of years ago, when I had started this blog, naan pulambitrundhen, adhu eppadi ennoda blog-ku endha search-ume land aaga mattengudhu-nu, and then Rajesh advised me to use the keywords that spiders can crawl on, and still no use. Then I left it to it's fate (spiders-ku 8 legs irundhum crawl panna therila-na naama enna panradhu ;) )

This month, I came upon the google tools that kind of tells you what searches land on your page (ofcourse, page rank-la naama adhala padhalathula irukom, so adhai ignore pantu micham ellam parthen)...and I was surprised. Definite-a ennada, poren appadinra search ellam en pageku varudhu-nra avamana matter-a naan solla matten, so kekkadheenga.

The highest search is on Urmila, illa illa, not Matonkar, namma Ramayana Urmila. Adhu ennanga adhu, ivalo perku Urmila mela oru pasam? It ranges from the simple "urmila ramayana" to the longest search I have ever seen on the face of google, "what is the name of urmila in new ramayana and photo of urmilla in new ramayana" (eppadinga ivalo porumaiya adikareenga??) Photo of Urmila thedardhellam konjam over-a therila? Urmila pathi therinjavanga romba kammi, but en indha sudden flurry of interest? Aana paavam, edho genuine Ramayana theda poi, ennoda mokkai post-la vandhu mattikaranga :D

The next is on Sun Music Mahalakshmi...I was seriously amazed at how many people are interested in this lady!! Enaku therinju she doesn't even appear on the television these days, appuram en en en avangalai thedaranga?? Avanga illaye-nra varuthama, illa enna kanome-nra curiosity-a, illa rumors unmaiya-nra sandhegama? Ada Sun Music-la evalo per irukanga...hema sinha, prajin, kaana soona, oona vaana-nu, avangalai ellam thedungalen, adhu enna Mahalakshmi, Sandhya-nu history ellam thedaranga?

En vayitherichala kottikanumne, gobi manchurian, gopi manchurian-nellam thedaranga, and that comes to my blog!! And people who know me know that adhu enaku evalo kaduppana experience-nu. There were some funny phrases too - "enaku bore adikuthu", "naan ileengo", "adi vanga pora" :)) Idhellam enna basis-la theduvanga, room pottu yosipangalo??

Idhellam kooda ok, edho reasonable search, I chanced on the worst possible term that led to my page...and the credit goes to......"palana padam"! Aniyayama therila, palana padathukum en site-kum enna sambandham? Naan U certificate vangi oru site nadathitrundha, A pada range-ku kondu vandhu vidaranga?! The next worst was "vettis blog"...grr...grrr...grrrrr...en blog partha vetti blog madhiri theriyudha? naamalam enna vettiyava irukom? Idhai vida kodumai "sneha and saravana stores manager"...idhellam romba over, solten!!

Munnadi ellam suthama crawl-e pannama vayitherichalai kottiyachu, ippo indha madhiri terms (minus Urmila and Mahalakshmi) ellam kondu vandhu temperature-a 100 degrees-ku kondu vandachu...vazhga google spiders!!!

Kathirundhu kathirundhu...

Seri naamalum konjam oor suthi parkalam (ahem!) appadi-nu decide panni Europe-la enga pogalam-nu thedi Italy-a kandupidichen. March easter hols-la poradhuku Dec-lerndhe trip plan panni, ella bookings-um mudichu I had the complete itinerary ready by Jan end.

Ofcourse, poradhuku visa venumla, adhanala Italian embassy-la I booked an appointment for the 29th of Feb. Nammadhan oorai parka poga sonna cheri-ya parkara sect ache, 29th feb appointment miss panniten successful-a :D coz I was in India then. Seri, agents-ku call pannalamna avan avan £46 worth visa-ku £150+la rate solran! Naamale try panna vendiyadhudhan-tu I checked the Italian and French websites, ellam totally booked. But vidiya vidiya Ghajini padam parthuttu muyarchi pannama vidalama-nu I tried on the French website, and luckily every Thursday additional appointments release panra nalla pazhakkam embassy-ku appadinradhala I managed to get an appointment for the very next day.

Appa, ippadi oru experience kidaichadhe illa enaku...I had asked for a 1 hr permission to go to the embassy thinking it won't take long. Ada, Belgium embassy-la kaalaila application form submit pannina adutha naal madhiyam visa kidaikum, and I expected the same thing here. Nalla thedu thedunu thedi consulate-a kandupidichu poi serndha...there was this looooooong queue outside. Poi oruthanai ketten, "enga enaku 11:30 appointment, ulla pogalama" nu, adhuku andha paavapatta jeevan said that he has the same hr appointment and was in the queue for that.

Ennada nagaruku vandha sodhanai, 1 hrdhane kettutu vandhomnu I stood in the queue, and eventually we were let inside after a 15 min wait. Ulla pona...mudhalla security check-nu oru queue, adhu mudinju oru token vangittu thirumba cashierkaga oru queue. Seri cashier kitta pay pannita udane forms vangippanganu ninaicha, we were made to wait in another queue for checking applications!! Seri applications check panra idathula documents vangippanga-nu ninaichu kitta pona, they gave me yet another token for the interview! Ada pavigalanu hall-la partha sema kootam, and the token that was being called was 840. Namakku enna-nu ninaikareenga, it was 905!

Indha embassyla enna clause-na, you are supposed to wait and collect your visa instead of coming back after some time. Clear-a doorla otti vachirukan, "No re-admission"-nu. There were 2 counters open when I walked in, and after 840 one counter closed. Ivalo kootathai vachitu just 1 counter?-nu yosichitrukumpodhu one more counter opened. Appada-nu oru relief-oda partha, it processed one form, and closed. Ippadiye konja neram counter magic kattindhanga...there was no consistency in the number of counters or the opening/closing of counters. This minute oru 3 counters irundha next minute adhu 2-avum maralam, 4-avum maralam. And the time they take for an interview totally depends on your luck, either it is 5 mins or a whole 1 hr, which means you can't get an estimate of when you'd be called. Hannibal Lecter madhiri namma moolaiya self-service kodainju eduthu saptukaranga ;)

Enakku mandai kanju crack vittu brainquake vandhutta nilamai, erkanave vacation 1.5 weeks extend pannen, ippo indha 1 hr permission-ayum extend pannina nammalai velaiya vitte thookiduvangale-nra bayam vera...so I messaged my boss that it is getting delayed promising to make up for the delay. Finally oru 3:15ku (I had walked in by 11:45), en token-ai kooptanga.

I went and submitted my docs, and theriyathanama multiple entry visa kidaikkuma-nu kettuten. Avalodhan, I got a long lecture on people expecting multiple entry from French embassy and visiting other countries, and how german embassy does not give visa or something like that...thevaiya enaku? Ponoma passport-ayum docs-ayum koduthomanu irukalamla?

Interview-va mudichuttomnu partha she gave me another token (?!) to collect my passport. Adhukum konja neram wait pantu vaanginen. By now the time was 4:00 PM. Iraiva!! oru visa vangardhuku 5-6 hrs embassy-la irundha velai enna aradhu? Even my US visa didn't take this long!! Andha idathula vending machine kooda wait panna vaikudhuna parunga. I tried getting a Mars bar from the vending machine, and it took the money from me but Mars tharala! Ore oru thadavai peruku rotate pantu, cliffhanger madhiri orama nikkudhu. Seri help pannunga-na, external vendor machine idhu, we don't have the keys-nranunga!

Inimel life-la French embassy pakkam naan pora madhiriye illa, neenga yaravadhu poneengana office-ku leave pottutu inniku day nammaldhillanu oru manapakkuvathoda ponga :))

Paris-a suthi parka poren...

Ithanai naal Londonla irukome, namma neighbors ellam parkama irukardhu romba thappu-nu we decided to go to Paris. Since Paris is a Schengen country, I had to get a visa (UK visa pathadha, imsai paduthardhukkune ippadi ellam treaty podaranga), and I decided to go via Belgian embassy for 2 things: quick processing and Belgium was our entry point. Naamadhan enga ponalum kodumai devadai koodaye irundhu arul purivangale, adhe madhiridhan ingayum achu..

Normally Schengen visa vanga poravanga oru 6 monthsku multiple entry vangittu varuvanga, adhai use panni matha Schengen countries-ku povanga, so in effect it is an one-time investment. Naanum adhe aasaiyoda Belgian embassy-ku apply panninen with an itinerary that showed a 3 day trip. Infact, since the Belgian embassy is outsourced, £46 visaku £70 vanginanga, idhukagavavadhu vendiyadhai koduthirukalam. I went the next day to the embassy and got the passport. Passport open panni partha...1 month Schengen visa with a permit to stay for 3 days at one time and a Single entry!! Ada pavigala, £70 ippadi waste-a pochenu I was grrrrrr......

Seri parvalla, naama Paris-avadhu enjoy panvomnu we packed our camera and camcorder along with the other stuff and went to Belgium, stayed overnight, and left for Paris the next day. Eurostar, Thalys trains ellam irukara station kitta vandhappuramdhan uraichudhu kaila camera-vum illa camcorder-um illanu!! Evalo aasaiya Eiffel tower picture edukanum, river cruise-a videola record pannanumnu vandhen :( I was totally off for sometime, but konja nerathula Paris parka porom-nra sandoshathula I recovered.

When we reached the hotel in Paris (adhavadhu naan last minute-la thedi kandupidicha unnadhamana hotel), adutha kodumai nadandhadhu. We were asked to go to a room in 6th floor. Che, ivalo floors vachirukane indha hotel-la, periya hoteldhan pola-nu yosichitte we asked where the elevator was...appodhan adichudhu minnal - there was no lift in the hotel!! Ada pavigala(2), lift illamaye enda ivalo floors kattineenganu thittite we climbed all the 6 floors to reach a dingy room.

Ok, idhellam oru matter-anu night thoongittu kaalaila kilambi Eiffel tower ponom. We purchased an automatic camera which cannot focus more than 3 ft, so angaye ennoda Eiffel towerai full length edukanumra aasai panal! We cimbed up Eiffel tower, spent some time seeing the distant places from the top and when we returned, the Eiffel tower lights went up - sema kankolla katchi!

Pesama idhoda vitrukalam naanga, evano oru Asian caricature varayaran-nu avankitta poi engalai varaya sonnom. This guy made us sit on a bench and sat across us and started drawing. Mudhallerndhu sonnan, we are just bringing out a cartoon, so enjoy it-nu. Appuram oru 30 minutes enga rendu peraiyum appadi parunga, ippadi parunga, siringanu sollitu varainjitrundhan. Podha kuraiku, I'll draw you as a macho man appadi ippadinu hype vera koduthitrundhan. I was so eager to see the outcome, and this guy kept talking to us about India and Pakistan. Nadula oruthan vera vandhu avan varayardhai parthu sirichuttu ponan...appovavadhu engaluku strike aagi irukalam, but naamadhan anubavikanumne porandhirukume :)) Anyways, kadaiseela varainjachunu roll panni koduthutu panathai vangittu poitan. Aasaiya pirichu partha, it was totally someone else, konjam kooda en jadayo ivar jadayo illa!! Ada paavigala (3), caricature-nra perla engalai nijammave komali aakiteengale!!!

We did the river cruise and the Louvre museum, and came back to Belgium, collected the camera and camcorder :(, and left to London. Ippadilam kodumai pattu oru trip thevaya??