Day 2 was uneventful, mostly time spent at the conference.
Day 3 on the other hand, was very lively. The first half was once again spent at the conference, but I decided to forgo the site tour of Virgo and go to Pisa instead in the afternoon. So Sanjit, a postdoc at Nice France decided to come along with me and we both walked down to the Cascina Railway station, which is about 2 kms from the hotel. It was a little hot today and so the walk wasn't as pleasant as it was on Day 1. When we got to the railway station, the ticket machine did not accept notes higher than 5 Euros and since we both had only 20 Euro notes, we had to walk around for almost 20 minutes before we could get change from a coffee shop.
The train ride wasnt too bad and then we walked around in Pisa till we got to the leaning tower and the other monuments. We sat there for about an hour and saw the people walking by. A lot of them were English speaking and there were a disproportionately large number of Indians in the crowds. I even caught a couple of words of Gujarati and Hindi now and then. After a brief look at the tourist shops in the area, we walked down to the river and I was bowled over. The sights were stunning and the city was very quaint and nice. The colors that Italians use to paint their homes is just plain excellent. The sunlight was interfering with my pictures and so I didn't take too many snaps. Sanjit then left to catch his train at 6 pm.
I decided to take a walk in another part of town and I ran into this Gelato shop near Garibaldi Piazza (Plaza). The ice cream was divine, and there were atleast 50 different flavors out there. I had 2 of them by the end of the day I hope to have a lot more by the end of this trip. Then I had a vegetarian pizza at a small place near Garibaldi square. The most interesting part of the whole day was talking in Italian with different people and at one point, I was in a supermarket asking a girl which shampoo was for dry hair. The look she gave me was very funny and we both burst out laughing. I needed shampoo because I had forgotten to bring some from the US and the shampoo in the hotel wasn't too good. Another funny incident was when I was asking for directions to the train station. I asked in perfectly decent Italian Dove' il Tren Stazione (Where is the Train Station) and the reply I get is "huh???" , So I repeat the question and at this point start flipping through my Italian book again and see if I made a mistake somewhere; then she looks at me and the book and looks at her husband as says, damn these tourists here, even they don't know English. So I smile and just walk on by, not bothering to correct her romantic notions about Indians knowing Italian and not English.
The ride back was uneventful and I now have a big day ahead tommorow. Arrivederci (goodbye) for now. Ciao.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Day One
Why is life such that you only enjoy moments of utter triumph after they have passed? After having spent over 3 days of my life behind a document, giving me the right to enter Italy, I was let through after just a cursory glance. The stamp used was barely visible on my passport. If only the immigration officer had made a ruckus; sang a song; doodled over my passport; did something to mark my entry into this country.
I landed about half an hour early at 10.00 am at Milan/Malpensa airport and didn't have to catch my flight to Pisa till 3.30 pm. So with time to kill, I opened up my Italian guidebook and decided to ask someone if I had enough time to go to Milan and be back in time. So my first words in Italian were - Para Inglese (pronounced Paraa Ingleesyay), which meant "Do you know English" ;). She told me that Milan Centrale (Centraalayay) was 40 minutes away and that I shouldn't risk going out there. But I had heard enough warning from the Italians and so I decided to go. The train was very interesting; it had 3 levels not all at the same time, but 3 distinct heights of the windows and seats. I sat on the topmost level and instantly fell in love with this country. It was like home with all the modern amenities of the west (it is the west you might say, but you have to visit Italy to see what I mean)
Milan station was deserted as it was Sunday and most shops/restaurants didn't open till noon. So I just started walking around at random till I came over to an open cafe. Once again I whipped open my Italian guide and asked the lady at the counter to recommend something to me. I fumbled through the words at the first attempt and she cursed her luck for having to deal with me so early in the morning, but after several attempts, she recommended a nice cappucino to me along with a broiche (some sort of sweet croissant). Meanwhile someone behind me heard about the ruckus and introduced himself as Marco, a student who was in his final year studying economics at the university of Milan. We both took up a table and had a hearty discussion of economics, during which I learned that he was going to come to Harvard the following fall to pursue a PhD in economics. Imagine my luck that I run into one of the brightest in the city within 15 minutes of going there. He had some very interesting ideas about China and India. Meanwhile, my cappucino arrived with a seemingly ordinary Broiche. The Broiche was extraordinary with a rich chocolatey flavor. The coffee was too strong for my taste; but then again, as Laura (my mentor) pointed out to me later, even American coffee is usually too strong for me. After this, I walked around for a bit, ran into the building housing the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci and found out that it usually entails about a 2 week waiting time.
After this, I returned to the airport and flew out to Pisa. I was afraid that my bag would get lost, but my fears weren't well founded and I got a taxi with all my stuff to the hotel. The taxi was very expensive and it took about 10-15 minutes to get to my hotel, which is in this obscure place. The nearest public transport is a good 20 minute walk away and the train comes only once an hour. At first the directions to the train station were a bit confusing, so I started asking around for the tren stazione, much to the bewilderment of the Italians. Luckily I got lost into a very nice part of town and saw that the architecture was absolutely stunning. An easy way to describe the city would be to call it a huge Caltech Campus. I ate some pateta (potatoes) and margarita pizza for dinner and had a nice walk back to my hotel.
The receptionist at the hotel complimented me for my Italian and told me that I was already way ahead of most English, Americans and others. He told me that Indians don't even try and that my 'r' s were great. That was the end of an exciting day, my first major visit to a foreign country on my own.
I landed about half an hour early at 10.00 am at Milan/Malpensa airport and didn't have to catch my flight to Pisa till 3.30 pm. So with time to kill, I opened up my Italian guidebook and decided to ask someone if I had enough time to go to Milan and be back in time. So my first words in Italian were - Para Inglese (pronounced Paraa Ingleesyay), which meant "Do you know English" ;). She told me that Milan Centrale (Centraalayay) was 40 minutes away and that I shouldn't risk going out there. But I had heard enough warning from the Italians and so I decided to go. The train was very interesting; it had 3 levels not all at the same time, but 3 distinct heights of the windows and seats. I sat on the topmost level and instantly fell in love with this country. It was like home with all the modern amenities of the west (it is the west you might say, but you have to visit Italy to see what I mean)
Milan station was deserted as it was Sunday and most shops/restaurants didn't open till noon. So I just started walking around at random till I came over to an open cafe. Once again I whipped open my Italian guide and asked the lady at the counter to recommend something to me. I fumbled through the words at the first attempt and she cursed her luck for having to deal with me so early in the morning, but after several attempts, she recommended a nice cappucino to me along with a broiche (some sort of sweet croissant). Meanwhile someone behind me heard about the ruckus and introduced himself as Marco, a student who was in his final year studying economics at the university of Milan. We both took up a table and had a hearty discussion of economics, during which I learned that he was going to come to Harvard the following fall to pursue a PhD in economics. Imagine my luck that I run into one of the brightest in the city within 15 minutes of going there. He had some very interesting ideas about China and India. Meanwhile, my cappucino arrived with a seemingly ordinary Broiche. The Broiche was extraordinary with a rich chocolatey flavor. The coffee was too strong for my taste; but then again, as Laura (my mentor) pointed out to me later, even American coffee is usually too strong for me. After this, I walked around for a bit, ran into the building housing the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci and found out that it usually entails about a 2 week waiting time.
After this, I returned to the airport and flew out to Pisa. I was afraid that my bag would get lost, but my fears weren't well founded and I got a taxi with all my stuff to the hotel. The taxi was very expensive and it took about 10-15 minutes to get to my hotel, which is in this obscure place. The nearest public transport is a good 20 minute walk away and the train comes only once an hour. At first the directions to the train station were a bit confusing, so I started asking around for the tren stazione, much to the bewilderment of the Italians. Luckily I got lost into a very nice part of town and saw that the architecture was absolutely stunning. An easy way to describe the city would be to call it a huge Caltech Campus. I ate some pateta (potatoes) and margarita pizza for dinner and had a nice walk back to my hotel.
The receptionist at the hotel complimented me for my Italian and told me that I was already way ahead of most English, Americans and others. He told me that Indians don't even try and that my 'r' s were great. That was the end of an exciting day, my first major visit to a foreign country on my own.
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