Pickpocket Incident

19 AUG 2009

I had a pick pocketing experience in AUG 2009 on my short visit to India. We were travelling in a night train from Madurai to Chennai in 2 AC. My handbag got stolen and i realized it right after we crossed Vilupuram around 3 am. We informed the TTR immediately. I did have suspicion on one of the fellow travellers - a single guy in his 20s, sitting on the side berth with the screens closed. Earlier in Madurai station, i caught him looking at us peering through his screens. We enquired about the suspect with the TTR. The suspect had gotten down at Villupuram and the address he had given was bogus. Once we arrived in Chennai, we gave a written FIR at the Egmore station. Inside the handbag, I had my US driver's license, 2 credit cards, 1 debit card, Rs 1500 cash, cell phone, Sony 14 Megpixel Camera and a 3 soverign gold chain. I listed all these things in the FIR, ask the police to make a copy of my FIR for my reference and also gave description of the suspect. We gave my uncle's contact information for future correspondence who happened to travel with us. At this time, I didn't have the slightest hope of getting back anything. 

After about 6 months, I got the biggest surprise of my life. The police called my uncle and said that they have caught the suspect. Sure, he was the same guy who travelled with us. Except the money, police replaced all my lost things - cell phone, camera and gold chain (though they were not the exact ones that i lost). This made me change my opinion regarding the Tamil nadu police department.

No Processed Food

I was just reading an interesting post in Runners World where some runner is trying the "No Processed food in November". It is baffling for lot of people to even think how it is possible. For people like me coming from a culture where every single meal is prepared from scratch, its is not that tough to comprehend. It could be very time consuming, but certainly doable.

I am not into 100% unprocessed food. But try my level best to eat the product close to its natural state. I don’t eat any boxed, canned or frozen food, no boxed cereal, no breads, no deli meat, no sports bar or drink. These rules don't hold good when we go out as a family to eat out which is like once a week. Also, when we are on long road trips, we eat out in Subways or whatever is convenient. Other than that, I cook all 3 meals at home. I buy the organic rolled oats in loose from whole foods, cook my oatmeal and add a banana and honey to it. For lunch, its organic brown rice with lentils and veggies (sambar or kootu). For dinner, I make steamed rice cakes(idly) or brown rice crepes(dosa) or lentil pancakes(adai). I have never bought frozen or canned veggies or beans. I buy the dried beans/lentils, soak them overnight and prepare my own lentil curries. To make the rice cakes, I soak up raw rice and lentils, grind them and let it ferment (no yeast added) by leaving it out on the kitchen counter for about 12 hours. I can use this batter to make rice crepes or steam it in a special utensil to make the rice cakes. For the crepes and pancake, I soak up the lentils, grind them and prepare pan cakes. I do eat chicken, fish and lot of eggs. I buy the meat/poultry/fish raw, add some spices and cook it with onion and tomatoes.

During my long runs (anywhere from 10 miles to 20 miles), I take a lot of fruits with me – dates, bananas, fresh grapes, cut up cantaloupe or honey dew melon etc., take a short break every 5 miles, eat a fruit with some salt added to it and drink water. I use the GU only during the actual half marathon or full marathon race day.

I am not taking any special effort to go for unprocessed food. It just so happens that the country and culture I come from, people still cook their meals from scratch each and every day. So, I am still following the same process. Since the food is cooked by me from scratch, I know what is going inside and I feel very good.

My weight loss story

Article Written on: 22 SEP 2008

I remember weighing like 50 or 52 kgs before marriage. After marriage, I got introduced to all kind of restaurants, eating outs and slowly I had become a “saapatu raami”. I could eat ..eat…eat. One would be surprised by the amount I could eat. Luckily, I had a good metabolism that kept me from bloating up. And to add to the luck, I have always been associated with fitness industries. 2 years in Oklahoma was the only time I had to buy a fitness club membership which I used only on weekends. At the age of 25 and 26, fitness didn’t take priority in my life.

In 1999, I moved to San Diego. Voila! I landed a job in 24 Hour Fitness. With this, I got free admission to all of the 350 clubs located all over US. I was in a team of 5 people – me and 4 other men. We were responsible for building the Intranet which was used to register the new members into club and track their performance. Day in and day out we got to meet so many CPTs(Certified Personal Trainers) as they were the one’s who tested our system. My team lead organized a beach volleyball theme for Mon-Wed-Fri during lunch. He roped in the Web team(3 men and 1 woman) too so we would have enough people to play. All of us were in our 20s except the team lead who was in his 30s. We took a 2 hour lunch break and would play volleyball in the beach. On Tue-Thr, I would hit the gym with my co-worker Marco. This continued for 2 years until 2001 when things got crazy at work and we all had to give up the lunch time exercise stint.

In spite of all the exercise,  I was slowly putting on weight. I was 54 kgs in 2000. After having Ajit in 2002, I came to 57 kgs. From 2002 to 2004, I stopped going to the gyms for lack of time. My exercise was limited to the occasional lunch time walk around the campus. This was also the period when I suffered from severe sinus

By 2005, I was weighing 59 kgs.

After coming to Sicily, I gained 2 kgs and touched an all time high of 61kgs eating the wonderful Italian foods like pizza, pasta etc. Though I diligently exercised for almost 2 years, I only lost the 2 kgs that I gained here. My weight wouldn’t budge from 59kgs. Then I took help from my Italian friend(Claudia). She is very good in dieting and keeping her weight in control. I got a copy of her diet plan and started following it from March 2008. Instead of the Italian diet food, I just tweaked it to suit my needs. I had to cut down my food intake to half of what I would normally eat. Slowly, I started losing weight and after 6 months of diet and exercise, I was able to lose 5 kgs and came down to 54kgs. I think this is the rock bottom. Now, whatever I do, I am not losing anything.

For breakfast, I have 1 glass of milk with cereal or 1 spoon of sathu maavu (kanji powder) cooked with 1 glass of milk. Around 10:00 am, I have a fruit, mostly a banana. For lunch its usually the previous days leftover like vegetable daal (kootu) or dry beans varieties(like rajma, konda kadalai, pasi payaru etc) with 1 slice of wheat bread, 1 yogurt and a fruit. For dinner, its brown rice or wheat/ragi dosai with tomato chutney and kootu and  a fruit. On Saturdays and Sundays, I have 1 piece of fish. That’s it.

I totally avoid foods like Biryani, white rice, variety rice like tomato, lemon, puliyodarai etc. Also, I don’t cook kurma or kuzhambu varieties like chicken or fish kuzhambu since it requires coconut. Red meat (mutton, pork, beef) etc are banned. I don’t cook them at home. No coconut or any kind of fried foods like vadai, bajji, poori etc. No chips, biscuits, cakes, icecreams or any kind of snacks. Also, no coffee, tea, pepsi, coke or any kind of packaged juice. Eating out is a no no. Home cooked food is the best way to lose weight.

The key is to eat half of what we usually eat and fill the rest of our stomach with fruits. In India, there is no dearth of fruits. We have so many varieties. For lunch you can have 2 phulkas with daal and veggies. For dinner, switch to wheat or ragi dosai.  In between whenever you are hungry, keep some fruits handy. Initially it will be tough. You will feel like you are always hungry. But slowly your body will adjust to the low calorie input and you will be okay. It does take some time. I don’t believe in any of the fad diets like Juice diet, Atkins diet (eating only meat), South beach diet etc. Its better to eat all the healthy food, but in limited quantity.

Exercise is another key factor to lose weight. For me, dieting was very tough. Increasing exercise was not a problem at all. Like I said before, just exercising doesn’t help to lose weight. I tried it and didn’t help. Combining both diet and exercise was the only way to lose weight. My 5 days of exercise schedule is:

Mon-Wed-Fri – 35 minutes of non-stop running(3 miles), 10 minutes abs workout(crunches)

Tue-Thr – 35 minutes of Elliptical machine, 10 minutes abs workout(crunches)

The key is to have a non-stop cardio workout for atleast 40 minutes. Only after 30 minutes, you will start burning fat.

It was my co-worker who taught me the technique to run. He was practicing for Rome marathon and he needed multiple running partners since he ran once in the morning, then once in the noon. I was initially scared to run with him. He talked to me for months and finally convinced me to run with him. First day, I felt so horrible. After 10 minutes of running, I felt like my legs needed a break. But the guy wouldn’t let me stop. He let me to slow down but never to a full stop. Somehow I hugged and puffed and completed the 3 miles.

The reason I said non-stop is I used to run before, but would stop every 10 minutes, walk, then again run. Instead my marathon running partner/co-worker taught me to run slowly

I don’t believe in any of the fad diets like Juice diet, Atkins diet (eating only meat), South beach diet etc. Try to lose weight slowly. Don’t diet and exercise too much. You might get frustrated and give up.

Trip to Prague

Saturday 30 JUN 2007

We depart from Catania through Alitalia @ 7:00. The flight arrives in Rome @ 8:30. We walked from Terminal A to Terminal C, went through Passport control and boarded the flight to Prague @ 11:00. The flight arrives in Prague @ 13:00. We had a sandwich and a roll. We then headed to the CEDAZ, the taxi service that runs from the airport to any hotel. We arrived at the hotel around 16:00.

Sunday 1 JUL 2007

Breakfast buffet – On the RHS they had cheese and cold cut meat. On the LHS, they had hot stuff like fried potatoes, stirfried veggies, mini sausage, fried eggs and hard boiled eggs. Then they had cereal, breads, rolls, pastries, cakes etc. They also had the fruit of the month concept. Each day, they would have fresh fruit juice and fruit tart made out of a certain fruit. This month was designated as month of melons.

We took the 4 hour Prague City tour on a coach.

Monday 2 JUL 2007

Got up at 4:30 in the morning. We all got ready to head out to vienna. Since the driver didn’t show up, we cancelled the trip. I took a walk outside in the park. I returned back from the walk around 8:00 AM. Me and Ajit went for breakfast buffet. After breakfast, me and Ajit went to take a nap since we were tired. DS went to the casino on the 2^nd floor. Me and Ajit woke up at noon, got ready and took the train to New town (Wenceslas square). I bought a Chicken schnitzel sandwich for each of us from the roadside kiosk. It was delicious and huge. It costed only  45 KCR ($2). We walked from the New town into the Old town square.

The Staré Město (Old Town) is dominated by the twin Gothic steeples of Týn Church (1365), the baroque wedding cake of St Nicholas Church (1730s) and the clock tower of the Old Town Hall, where the famous astronomical clock (1410) entertains the crowds on the hour with its parade of apostles and a bell-ringing skeleton. At the centre of the square is the Jan Hus Monument, erected in 1915 on the 500th anniversary of the religious reformer’s execution at the stake. Me and Ajit waited for the astronomical clock to strike 4PM to watch the apostles parade. It was a short one though, lasting for about a minute. But the old town square was jam packed to watch this spectacle.

Later, we headed towards Charles bridge. It was a nice long walk. Entire old town was flocked by stores selling Garnet jewellery, Bohemian crystal wares, Swarovski crystal jewellery etc. The elegant Charles Bridge (Karlův Most), is graced by 30 statues dating from the 18th century, and lined with jewellery stalls, portrait artists and the odd jazz band. The bridge was one of the most crowded places in Prague.

Tuesday 3 JUL 2007

Lunch at Indian Restaurant.

Bohemian crystal shopping.

I bought 3 pieces of bohemian jewellery.

Around 2:00 PM, we took a taxi (250 KCR) to the hotel.

DS fell asleep.

Me and Ajit waited for the shuttle to come pick us up for the Prague Boat tour. The shuttle picked us up around 15:00. The boat trip lasted for about an hour. We had cake and juice in the cruise. After the boat cruise, the guide took us around the Jewish quarter, and dropped us off at the old town center.

I got 3 chicken sandwiches for the night.

Wednesday 4 JUL 2007

Got up in the morning, took shower, packed all of our things and headed for breakfast. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, left all of our luggage at the lobby and took the train to New town square.

DS went for a Thai massage. I went shopping for bohemian crystal jewellery. I didn’t have money. So, I just selected all the jewellery, left it with the storekeeper and promised to return back later. Then we walked to the opposite side of the street and bought couple of toys for Ajit. By now, DS was done with his massage. We all then had Thai food for lunch. It was way too spicy. We couldn’t even eat it. I got money from DS and went back to the jewellery store. Ajit and DS went for suitcase shopping. They bought a suitcase to carry our Bohemian crystalwares. We left from the New town at 3:00 PM and took the train to our hotel. We were there by 3:30 PM. We then packed all of our crystal wares into the suitcase and waited for the CEDAZ aiport pickup shuttle. The minibus arrived at 4:30 PM. We arrived at the airport around 5:15 PM. The plane took off at 6:30 PM.

Trip to Rome

Article written in 2007

Friday 9 MAR 2007

My flight from Catania to Rome got delayed by an hour and a half. I reached Rome @ 6:15 PM. When I was walking out of the arrival gate, Shankar called me and said that Subha is waiting at the Train Station. Within a minute, I got a message in my cell phone from a stranger telling me that Subha is with him and asking me to call his number. I called that number and asked Subha to come to Terminal C, Arrivals area. Around 7:00 PM, Subha came to Terminal C. After 10 minutes of wait, Latha anni came out from Terminal C. We all walked to the Left Luggage just few feet away, and dropped off 2 suitcases. Then we walked to the Train station which was close to Terminal C. I bought 3 tickets to Rome Termini. It costed us Euro 33 in total (Euro 11/person). The train departed @ 8:07 PM. We arrived at the Termini @ 8:45 PM. There are 3 exits from the Termini – Via Giovanni, Via Vicenza and Via Marsala. We exited from the Termini through the Via Vicenza exit, then walked through the Piazza (Square) Indipendenza and kept asking people where our hotel was. We arrived at the Hotel around 9:15 PM. The hotel was only 400 meters away. We checked into the Hotel. Our room was spacious and had 4 single beds. The bed sheets were quite drab. Mine had holes in it. The shower enclosure was really tiny and  had bad doors. The bath towel was OK, but the hand towels they provided were disgusting.  We  refreshed, got changed and sat down to have dinner. I had packed Lemon rice and Potato for dinner. We chit-chatted and had our dinner. Around 10:30 PM, we all went to bed.

Saturday 10 MAR 2007

We all got up at 6:30 AM, took shower and were out of the room by 7:30 AM. The receptionist said that the Pope’s speech is only on Sunday. So, we decided to see Vatican on Sunday. The free breakfast at the hotel was just a croissant(marmalata or ciocollata) and coffee. We reached the Termini Bus Station @ 8:30 AM. I bought 3 tickets on the hop on-hop off 110 Rome open Trambus. The ticket costed Euro 13/person for unlimited bus trips on the 110 bus. Managed with open double deckers, this line runs every day with a 15 minute frequency. Since it was little early, there wasn’t much crowd. We got the perfect spot on the bus – top deck, front row. We decided to sit in the bus and get a glimpse of Rome instead of hopping on and off. Iam glad we made that choice because, later in the day, it was literally impossible to get seats on the top deck. Anyway, we had a nice glimpse of Rome. The whole tour lasted for about an hour and a half. Once the bus came back to the Termini Station, we got down and alighted the 1^st bus in the 110 series that was ready to depart. The bus was almost full.

We got down at Stop # 3, Colosseo. All of our handbags had to go through the scanner at the entrance to Colosseo. The entrance ticket to Colosseo was Euro 11/person. And there was long line to get inside. Latha anni was not much impressed by Colosseo. So, we decided to just go around the Colosseo.

Few facts about the Colosseo: This is the first permanent amphitheatre in Rome. Its construction was started by Emperor Vespasian in AD72 in the grounds of Nero's private Domus Aurea and it was inaugurated by his son Titus in AD80. Thereafter, inaugural games lasted for 100 days and nights, during which some 5000 animals were slaughtered. The Colosseum had 80 arched entrances, 76 for funnelling in the crowd, two for the Emperor, and two for gladiators. The bowl, or entertainment area, was originally a deep pit filled with water where naval battles were staged, until it was discovered that the water was damaging the foundations. A wooden floor was then installed, covering a honeycomb of rooms and passages below the arena, where the day's entertainers, animal and human alike, were kept. We took some pictures in front of the Colosseo. It was very crowded. We did some shopping for mementos.

We also took a glimpse of Roman Forum. The Forum was the business center of ancient Rome. Its currently in ruins. We will have to look at the pictures of  Roman Forum in the past to really appreciate it.

We then started walking towards Piazza Venezia. We took a glimpse and couple of pictures of Domus Aurea. Domus Aurea is the ruins of Emperor Nero’s legendary “Golden House” which in its days took up one-third of the city of Rome.

We walked to Stop # 5, Piazza Venezia where lies the magnificent Victor Emanuele II monument. This monument was built between 1885 and 1911 to honor the memory of the first king of united Italy. The monument is built of pure white marble and features majestic stairways, a huge equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. The interior had a museum of  warfare artifacts. We were not allowed to sit on the steps of the monument. We took lot of pictures. We spent almost an hour admiring the monument. It was almost lunch time. We then walked to the bus stop to go the next attraction.

We didn’t get down at Stop # 6 Piazza Navona. We just got a glimpse of the Piazza with its fountain, Fontana dei Fiumi, built by Bernini.

Stop # 7 was San Pietro. Time was around 1 PM now. Since we were hungry, we got down at this stop. Right in front was a Cafeteria. Since the Ladies wanted Pasta, we went to this Cafeteria. But turned out to be a bad idea. I ordered Fettucine with prosciutto and white cream sauce. Lathi anni had Spaghetti with tomato sauce. Subha had gnocchi with tomato sauce. Me and Latha anni had sumptuous quantity. Subha on the other hand, was given only 4 to 5 pieces of gnocchi. The price we paid was atrocious – Euro 24 for lunch. We learnt our lesson to not to eat in main streets. After lunch, we took the 110 series bus to go to our next location.

We got down at Stop # 9, Ara Pacis, and walked for 10 minutes to get to Piazza di Spagna. The walk was through one of the famous crowded shopping streets of Rome. We arrived at Spanish steps around 2:30 PM. The steps were literally invisible because of the number of people sitting on it.

We got down at Stop # 10, Fontana di Trevi, and walked 500 meters for Trevi Fountain. This is the most famous among the fountains in Rome. It was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1672. The central statue in the fountain represents Neptune, surrounded by two tritons riding sea horses – one wild, one docile – representing the moods of the sea. The famous custom is to throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder to ensure you return to Rome. A second coin will have you falling in love with an Italian, and the third marrying him or her. Needless to say, the terraces around the fountain are always packed with tourists throwing coins.

The final Stop was # 11, Via Veneto. This route takes us through one of the most famous and elegant streets in Rome, full of luxury cafes, restaurants and shops. The U. S Embassy is located on this street in the prestigious Palazzo(Palace) Margherita. The streets were lined with Citrus trees in full fruition.

Sunday 11 MAR 2007

Same morning routine as the previous day. We reached the Termini Bus Station @ 8:30 AM. I bought 3 tickets on the local bus to go to St Pietro’s (Vatican). The ticket costed Euro 1/person for a round trip. It took us about 15 minute bus ride to the Vatican. We had to stand in a line to go through Security checks before entering the St.Peter’s Basilica. The Sunday Mass was in progress at 09:00 AM. We attended the Mass. At the end, we had to form a line to get the holy offering (of nuts/dry fruits) from the Priest. I blurted out “Thank you” instead of “Amen” or “Pace”(meaning Peace) and the Priest corrected me. After the Mass, we climbed the 300 steps to go to the Cupola. As we got closer and closer to the top, we had to crouch so as not to hit against the roof. We had a stunning view of the Vatican Square from the Cupola. We all took some pictures. We came down right on time for the Pope’s speech. Sharp @ noon, the Pope was present behind a window on the upper level of the Right wing of the Vatican Square. The whole of Vatican Square was crammed with people. The speech lasted for about 10-15 minutes. We had spent all the morning in Vatican and now we were hungry. We walked around the side streets in Vatican and had fresh pizza in a small eatery. It was one of the best fast foods we ever had. After lunch, we shopped for some memorabilia. We returned back to our hotel, took rest and had a nice long chat with Subha until 17:30. Around 18:00, we left the hotel, came to the Termini, took 2 tickets to the Airport, boarded the train and left for the Airport. Subha saw us off. She will be taking the morning train next day to Venice.

Trip to Florence and Pisa

Article written in NOV 2007

NOV 22, THR - Florence

 

Blu-Express Flight BV 1759         

Depart Catania 22 Nov 2007 @ 09:10

Arrive in Rome @ 10:30    

We took a taxi from the Airport to the Indian Embassy – Euro 50. Reached the embassy @ 12:00 PM. After going through our paperwork, we were asked to come back on a later day before 10:30 to make a payment for OCI. DS talked his way through and successfully submitted the OCI paperworks.

Took a taxi from the Indian Embassy to the Rome Termini – Euro 6. We grabbed sandwiches at the Termini – Euro 15.

Bought the 1^st Class Train Tickets from Rome to Florence – Euro 94. The train was splendid and very fast. We departed from Rome @ 2:45 pm and reached Florence S. M. Novella @ 4:15 pm.

Checked into Hotel Alamanni @ 5:00 pm. The room that was allocated to us was not part of the main hotel. It was just 100 meters away from the main hotel. Nevertheless, the room was spacious and very clean.

Alamanni Hotel

Via Alamanni 35, Florence, 50123

We ventured out later around 6:00 pm. We stopped by a small café and got Potato chips and Water for Ajit, Vodka with Kiwi Juice and a beer on tap for Shankar – Euro 10.

For dinner, we found an Indian Restaurant called Haveli very close to our hotel. We had Kheema naan, Aaloo Paratha, Chicken curry, Mutton curry, Biryani and Gulab Jamoon – Euro 41.

NOV 23, FRI - Florence

1. Uffizi Gallery
2. Boboli garden
3. Ponte Vecchio
4. Piazza San Giovanni - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Breakfast in McDonalds.

Took the Red Touristic bus. The tickets are valid for 2 days – Euro 20/person. Costed us Euro 40 totally.

Went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Ajit had minced meat Glass noodles. We had Hot and sour soup, Veg fried rice, Shrimp fried rice, Malaysian Chicken - Euro 54.

Ajit got a Pinocchio puppet on strings. We got 2 apples, some grapes, blue berries, raspberries, 2 bottles of water and disposable razors in a store – Euro 25. We then headed back to the hotel around 5:00 pm for a short rest.

We went out later around 9:00 pm to the same Indian Restaurant, Haveli, as previous night. Tonight, it was crowded. We had Kheema naan, Aaloo Paratha, Prawn curry, Mutton curry, Chicken Biryani and Gulab Jamoon – Euro 57.

NOV 24, SAT - Pisa

Train every 30 min to Pisa

Journey time  1 Hr 40 Min.

We had fruits for breakfast. Then packed all our bags, checked out of the hotel and walked to the train station. We bought the tickets to Pisa – Euro 8. The train departed at 9:30 am. This was a slow train and not that nice and trendy like the Rome-Florence train.

We reached Pontederra station at 10:15 am. We got down and walked to the station lounge. We got 2 slices of pizza, 2 cornetto di marmalatta and 2 caffes. We were about to eat when Adriano showed up to pick us up. He and Shankar went out to get the car. They returned back after 30 minutes. Meanwhile me and ajit finished our breakfast. Adriano took us on an hour long tour of Toscana – Pontederra, Volterra etc.

We reached their home around 1:30 pm. We had Lettuce, tomato and mozzarella salad, Pane Integrale and Prosciutto crudo for lunch. We were just about finishing lunch when Mario’s sister, Olinda called. We all piled in the car and headed to Pontederra town to pick up Linda.

From there, we headed out to Leaning Tower of Pisa. Spent the evening there taking pictures. Later went back to Linda’s home.

We watched the videos of Adriano taken in Chester(UK) and South Africa.

For dinner we had Spaghetti w/tomato sauce, another homemade pasta with tomato sauce, Caprese Salad(tomato and mozzarella), Peanuts and Oranges.

Later Adriano copied some software for Shankar. Around 10:30 pm, Ajit had fallen asleep in Linda’s house. Then we took our baggage, loaded into the car and headed out to Pisa @ 11:00 pm. It was pouring in Pontederra. At 12:00 midnight, we arrived at Hotel Terminus Plaza in Pisa.

Hotel Terminus & Plaza

Via Cristoforo Colombo 45, Pisa, 56125

Night stay in Pisa.

NOV 25, SUN - Pisa

Booking number: A72BIF 

Windjet Flight IV 541

Depart Pisa 25 Nov 2007 @ 14:55

Arrive in Catania @ 16:30 

Breakfast in Hotel Terminus.

Head out to Leaning Tower of Pisa. Walked all the way from the hotel to Leaning tower. Kids under 10 not allowed to climb the Leaning Tower.

Around 11:00 am, Linda and Adriano arrive with wonderful homemade sandwiches. We sit by the beach and have the sandwich.

Arrive late at the airport and miss the flight to Catania. Adriano drives us to the Train station. Take the evening train from Pisa to Rome.

Dinner at Rome Termini Mc Donald’s- 3 McChicken sandwiches, 2 Hamburgers, 6 piece McChicken, 2 Potato wedges, 1 French fries – Euro 11

We got some Snacks – Potato chips, Grancereale biscuits, Gum, Gatorade – Euro 5.

Arrive in Sicily Monday morning @ 10:00 am.

Trip to BENELUX

Article written in APRIL 2007

25 APR 2007, WED

Have Arancini for dinner at Catania Airport. Depart Catania @ 19:25 and arrive in Dusseldorf @ 22:20. Rented out a BMW 3 series. Had a tough time to figure out how to start it while anni was happily snoring in the back seat. Arrive at Air Hotel Wartburg at midnight.

26 APR 2007, THU

Shop in Dusseldorf for breakfast. Drive to Amsterdam. Reach Lisse @ 1:00 PM. Have picnic lunch of Chapathi, tomato chutney, lemon rice and chips. Spend the evening in Keukenhof Tulip garden. Drive to Amsterdam city in the evening. Check into Hotel Crystal. Climbed 4 stories due to the lack of an elevator. 8 – 10:30 Downtown. 10:30 – 11:30 Dinner at Indian restaurant. Sleep at 12:00 midnight.

27 APR 2007, FRI

Parking issues in automatic car parking lot. Breakfast in Hotel Crystal. Drive to Antwerp. Snack on Noodles in a snack bar in mall. Diamond shopping in Antwerp. 2:45 – Lunch at a grill. Shop for chocolates. Have coffee in  the mall. Drive to Brussels. Check into Hotel Four Points Sheraton. DS falls asleep. Rest of us walk to kabob place for dinner. Sleep at 11:30 PM.

28 APR 2007, SAT

Breakfast in Sheraton. Bus tour of Brussels. Fries for Ajit. Kabob for lunch. Rest in the hotel for afternoon. Anna, Anni and DS visit the Casino in the evening. Ajit and me in

Grand Place

, Mannekin Pis statue. Ajit had a plain waffle. Later, he had a Ham, lettuce and tomato Sandwich. Dinner at Pakistani restaurant ‘Anarkali’. Sleep at 12:00 midnight.

29 APR 2007, SUN

Breakfast in Sheraton. Drive to Dusseldorf. Check into Monopol Hotel. Lunch in Korean restaurant. Wait for the tour bus in Dusseldorf Train station. Take a taxi to Rhine Tower. Rest in the afternoon in shores of Rhine. Boat cruise on Rhine. Walk around old town. Burger King for Ajit. Pick up Chinese food for dinner. Sleep at 10:00 PM.

30 APR 2007, MON

Breakfast in Monopol. Chinese Acupuncture massage for DS. We shop around for clothes. Lunch in Tandoor Indian Restaurant for me, DS and Pandian Anna . Hot dog for Ajit and Veg sandwich for Anni. Fill up gas. Drive to airport. Drop off car. Check in all baggage. Arrive in Catania at 7:30 PM. DS got called from CSEL. Arrive home at 9:00 PM. Had mushroom soup, bitter gourd, chapathi, rice, curd and pickles for dinner.

Trip to Venice and Swiss

Article written in June 2006

 

DAY 1 – June 14 WEDNESDAY - VENICE

The Windjet flight from Catania to Venice was at 7:00AM. We got up @ 4:30 AM, took shower, packed Jelly Sandwiches for me and Ajit and left the house @ 5:30 AM. We got into the flight without any incidents. The flight landed at Venice Marco Polo airport @ 8:45 AM. We collected our baggage and arrived at the Hertz Car rental service at the airport. We upgraded to a Mercedes A 160 series and included me as an additional driver. We also got a military discount. All in all, it came up to 370 Euro.

We drove (8 miles) up to Tranchetto Ferry landing area. Tranchetto is an artificial Island. We parked our car in the garage(18 Euros, 3 Euro/Hour) got 2 tickets (12 Euro/each) to get to Piazza San Marco(San Mark’s square). This ticket is valid for multiple trips. It was a 45 minutes ferry ride and we reached around noon.

The square is bordered by historic buildings and surrounded by chic sidewalk cafes and boutiques. Basilica di San Marco is a magnificent Byzantine dome with  mosaics. It is covered with more than 3000 precious stones and enamel icons inlaid in gold. To the right of the Basilica is the Venetian Gothic edifice, Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. It is striking, with its warehouse-like upper stories being supported by two layers of delicate stone arches. The clock tower is named the Torre dell'Orologio and has been ringing out the hours since 1499. Piazza San Marco hosts thousands of pigeons who flourish from the food that tourists offer them. The  flock of birds swoop down on anyone willing to stand still and offer them food. Ajit and daddy absolutely enjoyed this act.

We walked around the narrow canals and alleys before stopping by a fast food to grab some pizza slices and hot dog (18 Euro). After lunch we took a Gondola ride (80 Euro) for 30 minutes to the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge area. Gondoliers invest a great deal in their boats: nearly €30,000 for a traditional hand-built wooden gondola with a useful life of about 20 years. After the Gondola ride, we returned back to the San Marco square and boarded a ferry to Tranchetto.

From Tranchetto, it was an hour drive to Aviano Airforce Base via Pordenone. After arriving at the base, we checked into the hotel($35/night) and headed to the commissary. We bought water, juices and bagels for next day’s trip ($17). Ajit got a Chicken Nuggets kids meal with a Toy from Burger King. We then headed to a Restaurant in the Base which had the Mongolian BBQ for dinner($40). There was a big crowd. We got seated @ 8:15 PM. We ordered Chicken with fries for Ajit ($7). By the time we finished eating, it was 9:45 PM. We then took Ajit to the Children’s play area behind the Lodge. Finally, we went to bed @ 10:30 PM.

DAY 2 – June 15 THURSDAY - SWISS

We got up @ 4:30 AM, took shower, toasted our bagels and left the room at 5:45 AM. We had our breakfast in the car. Around 9 AM we reached Milan. There was big traffic jam. So, we pulled over and I switched to the driver’s seat. Around 10:30 we entered into the Switzerland border. We paid CHF 30 for using Swiss Motorways. They didn’t even ask for our passports. Around 11 AM, we took a break in a gas station and filled up with diesel (CHF 60).

The rest of the journey over Swiss Alps was marked with numerous tunnels. Some of the tunnels even ran upto 15 KM. It was really claustrophobic to drive in long tunnels. But one comforting factor was that Swiss had strict road rules unlike Italy. So, we had a relaxing drive at 80 MPH without an Italian tailgating us. The drive was very beautiful. Since this is beginning of summer, the snow on the mountains were melting and coming down the hill as numerous waterfalls. These waterfalls merged into a river and it was a gorgeous sight of the river running through the valley.

Around noon, we took a break for lunch in a quaint mom & pop place. We ordered 2 bowls of soup, and 1 pork cutlet w/French fries. The food was great and costed us around CHF 40. Yes, food is really expensive in Swiss. After lunch we drove on for half hour.

We noticed lot of people mountain biking at high speed. The scenery was so breathtaking. We decided to make a restroom stop. After taking few pictures, Shankar fell into deep slumber on a short parapet wall. Ajit was enjoying his walk up and down on the parapet wall. After an hour Shankar woke up and I resumed the driving.

Around 5PM, we arrived at Interlaken town. We went straight to our hotel, Gasthof Schoenegg (in German). This is a private house where the house owner converts his house into a Guesthouse. The room was really tiny with wooden floor/windows etc. The bathroom was quite small but really clean. We took a short nap (while Ajit was wide awake and occupying himself). Around 7 in the evening, we got ready and headed out to the town. We had Indian food at an Indian Restaurant. We ordered 2 Naans, Rice with Mutton curry and Chicken curry. Again food costed us around 50 CHF. The Interlaken town was marked with hoards and hoards of Indian tourists. The town was very beautiful. There was a huge green football field right in the heart of the city with huge mountains bordering on one side. On the other side of the field was the typical European style side walk streets lined up with Cafés and Restaurants. We returned back to our room and went to bed.

DAY 3 – June 16 FRIDAY - SWISS

Me and Ajit got up at 6:30 AM. Got ready and headed down for breakfast. DS joined us in few minutes. We had bread, jam, cheese, cold cut meats and orange juice for breakfast. We went straight to the tourist office. We learned that there are 2 options to go to Jungfrau – one from Grindelwald and another from Lauterbrunnen. They suggested us to take the Lauterbrunnen train. So, we drove to Lauterbrunnen which was 15 KMs from Interlaken. We arrived at 9:00 AM in Lauterbrunnen. We parked in the Train station parking lot and walked down to the station. Right by the parking lot was a beautiful green river flowing down the hill.

The ticket to Jungfrau was CHF 198. We got 2 roundtrip tickets. We will have to switch trains at Kleine Scheidegg station. For the first time we noticed that the Lauterbrunnen station was overflowing with Indian tourist. On enquiring, we found that SOTC/Thomas Cook tours book bulk european tours for people from India. There are 2 trains every half hour to Jungfrau – 1 for bulk tours and another for independent tourists. We took the train at 10:00 AM. Around 10:30 AM we arrived at Kleine Scheidegg station (altitude 2061 metres). The trains from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald come to Kleine Scheidegg. All the tourists will have to take the special train from Kleine Scheidegg only to go to Jungfrau. So, the trains to Jungfrau are very crowded.  So, we decided to wait for the next train. Ajit and DS went down the hill for a hike while i took some pictures and videos of Kleine Scheidegg area. We took the Jungfrau train around 11:00AM. The entire trip continued through the Eiger tunnel to the stations at Eigerwand and Eismeer, with a five minute halt at each. We enjoyed spectacular sightseeing through large observation windows hewn from solid Alpine rock. Ajit was getting very crancky by now because of the long hike, cold weather and hunger. Next to us sat a family from Germany – mom, dad and 2 kids. The girl was same age as Ajit but quite bigger than Ajit. Around noon, we reached Jungfrau.

Jungfrau is called the TOP OF EUROPE located at 3700 Meters (11,000 FEET). At 3454 meters, this is the Europe’s highest altitude train station. There is 100% guarantee of snow and ice year round. The Great Aletsch Glacier, at 22 km the longest ice-stream in the Alps, begins on the Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe.

DAY 4 – June 17 SATURDAY – ZURICH / LEICHTENSTEIN / AUSTRIA

We got up at 4:30 AM. Got ready and left at 5:15 AM. We (DS) drove towards Zurich. It was raining on and off. Close to Zurich @ 7:30 AM, we made a stop at a gas station/Mc Donald’s. Mc Donald’s would open only at 8. So, we got some breakfast at the gas station. Around 8 AM, we reached Zurich city. Since it was a Saturday, the entire city was deserted. We took couple of picture in the Fraumunster/Grossmunster area and left for Liechtenstein. It was a straight road to Vaduz (Liechtenstein). We arrived at Vaduz around 10:30 AM. We made a stop in Vaduz city center and went into a coffee/breakfast place. DS had a coffee. We enquired about the Vaduz castle and left the coffee place. The Vaduz castle was just 2 kilometers drive from the city center.

We arrived at the Vaduz castle around 11:00AM and found it closed for renovation. We just took some snaps outside, sat around for a while and left. How unlucky!

We started driving towards Innsbruck, Austria. We spotted an Indian restaurant and stopped to see if they are open. They don’t open until noon. So, we left the place and started driving again. Austrian roads were very nice. Lots of tunnels. But traffic was very bad because of construction. I switched to driving (i mean idling) while DS and Ajit is sitting and joking around. The bumper to bumper traffic was driving us nuts. So, around 1:00 PM, we took a bathroom break at a Muslim Sandwich shop, got 3 gyros sandwiches and started driving again.

Around 4:00 PM, we arrived at Innsbruck. DS didn’t like  the Small hotel that I had booked. After arguing, we left the place and went to a bigger hotel, Hotel Innsbruck. By the time we finished checking in and arrived at the room, it was already 5:30 PM. The room was really nice and spacious. The bathroom was impeccable. The custom built shower enclosure was magnificent. We really admired it and took some pictures for our reference.

We went out for a stroll around 6:00 PM. Innsbruck river was flowing right in the middle of the city. We went to a park so Ajit can play. Because of the World cup football season, a huge screen was erected right in the city center. There were eateries spread all around. We ordered some chicken legs. Some sort of ball game was also set for kids. Ajit  went in there and enjoyed for some time. Around 8:00 PM the football match between US and Italy started. All the Austrians were cheering for Italy. DS started watching the match. Me and Ajit left for a stroll in the town. There were lot of nice restaurants spread around the Golden roof  area. The schnitzel looked very good. I got Ajit some pasta with tomato sauce. Around 10:00 PM, DS came and we were very hungry. It was beginning to drizzle too. So, we went to a fast food and grabbed a sandwich and pizza slice. After eating we went back to the hotel and slept in for the night.

DAY 5 – June 18 SUNDAY – AUSTRIA / VENICE

We got up late in the morning around 7:00 AM. DS made a (disastrous) call to India from the hotel phone. Since it was a driving day, we got ready leisurely and went down for the buffet breakfast. The breakfast was really good. Lot of varieties of bread, rolls, cheese, fruits, cakes, cold cut meat, scrambled egg etc. After the breakfast, DS went to check out of the hotel. The bill for one night stay was Euro 120. But the 30 minutes telephone call to India costed a whooping Euro 140. What a waste! After some arguments, we paid the bill and started off towards Venice @ 10:00 AM.

It was a long drive to Venice enroute Milan. Iam not sure what time we reached the Aviano base in Venice. We stocked up on some water and headed for the Officers club for dinner. They had Mongolian BBQ as dinner special. We had to wait for almost an hour for seating to be available.  Ajit had Chicken strips and fries. We had the Mongolian BBQ. It was OK. Not that great compared to Mongolian BBQs on state side. It was expensive too. The bill came to $35. After the dinner we stopped by the park for few minutes for Ajit and went to bed @ 10:00 PM.

DAY 6 – June 19, MONDAY - VENICE

We wake up to the last day of our tour. We got ready, packed up our bags and checked out of the Navy lodge. We then headed to the Food court in the base. We all had some burritos from Taco Bell to eat for breakfast. Then we bought from Burger King sandwiches and bottled water to take with us for lunch.

I was an hour drive to the Tronchetto parking lot. Then it was the same ferry ride to San Marcos square just like our first day in Venice. We strolled along with no destination in mind. We then sat in the square and had our packed lunch. Ajit was enjoying with the pigeons.

Around 4:30 in the evening, we departed from San Marco square. We had to fill up gas and return the rental car at the airport. While driving to the airport, we missed the exit to AGIP gas station, then came back again, filled up gas and arrived at the airport at 6:15 PM. We barely made it on time. DS was returning the rental car while I exchanged the Swiss Francs to Euros. After arriving at the gate and waiting for few minutes, it was announced that the flight is delayed. We got some snack/sandwich/juice in the lounge and waited. Meanwhile DS got called from Sigonella. He was on the phone for quite some time. The flight took off after 2 hours of delay. We landed in Catania around 10:30 PM. From the airport we drove directly to sigonella thinking it would be a quick fix at work. But instead ended up spending the whole night there. Atlast we came back home at 5:30 AM on Tuesday morning.

End of our vacation.

Life in Sicily

Article written on between 2005 - 2007

Friday AUG 11, 2005

Life in Sicily is very good. Italians work no more than 6 1/2 hrs per day. No wonder the life is so stress free. They eat, chat and party all through the night. The city is so lively in the midnight. My husband is enjoying his job too. His job is lot less stressful than in US. Now, he says he will stay in Sicily for 3 or 4 years. Good!

We are still in temporary housing. We will be moving out to our permanent house by the end of this month. Can't wait to get back our furnitures, clothes etc. We had enough of living out of suitcase for almost 3 months. Ajit will start going to preschool in September.

Summer is terrible here. Its gets very hot. But it cools down in the night. So most of the weekends, we are in the beach. The beaches here are so beautiful. We are still in the settling down mode. So, we haven't gone out to the main land yet. The Sicilian weather is perfect for Ajit. He hasn't had the necessity to use Albuterol or Flovent yet.

I am now able to go to the gym after 3 years. Its an irony - when i worked for 24 hour fitness, i never had time to go exercise. But now i have all the time in the world to go use the gym. I have to talk about the Gym here. A 26 Million brand new Recreation facility was opened on Jun 19, 2005 in Sigonella. The amenities include an Indoor running track, Aerobics room, 50 Tread mills, 50 Elliptical m/c, 50 Cross training m/c, 100s of bikes, a group x biking room, 2 Aerobics room and an entire floor for Weight Training. It also has 2 rocket ball courts, a basket ball court, an indoor rock climbing facility and 3 swimming pools, 1 for ages 0-5, another for ages 6 - 12 and the third one for adults(lap pool). Each of them have water slides, diving boards etc. Just now, they started offering yoga classes - Beginner yoga and Power Yoga. Mon, Wed and Thur evenings, we have power yoga for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I went to this class and it was a killer :-(( 

Thursday AUG 3, 2006

I am pretty much settled in the new job. For most part we deal with computer hardware/software maintenance. Its new stuff for me. So, its interesting. Coming from private world, things are really really slow here esp. because its overseas US base. I start working at 7:30 and leave home at 4:00 (its fixed working hours). On top of it I take 1 hour workout during lunch :-)). One good thing is there is no traffic. Italians are late risers. So roads are deserted at 6:45 AM when I leave for work.

On the down side, there is no flex time or work from home etc. Moreover all Internet based Emails/Messengers are disabled at work place :-(

Ajit is in home school. I didn't put him in the DOD school since he is learning better in home school. Next year when he starts Kindergarten, I will put him in school.

Tuesday NOV 7, 2006

I was little busy (believe me)with re-organization and training. The mgmt moved me to the Engineering group with 5 Italians. Before, i was put with 10 US Military people. Work hasn't changed much, but the work environment has changed drastically. Working with Italians is lot more fun.

Diwali went off well. We had 4 single Indians over at our place - one doctor in her 60s working in the US base, another Guajarati girl doing her post doc, 1 Telegu guy and 1 Tamil guy who have internet store here. All of them have their family in US/India. So, we celebrated diwali/ramzaan with the singles. It was very boring for ajit though. He kept complaining that I should invite people with kids so he will have company too. At least he had some fun with sparklers.

Sunday NOV 10, 2006

Education has become a money making racket in India. School fees are atrocious. Come 12th std, the kids and their parents r so stressed. The entire future is determined by those 2 exams - public exam and entrance exam. I still hate the idea of public exams. For that matter, i would always miss US education system. Until 5th grade, the syllabus is easy and kids r not burdened with home works. From 6th grade on, the syllabus gets tough. College entrance is determined by so many factors - 12th std GPA, entrance exam score(u can write as many times), Boy/Girl Scout participation, Leadership qualities, Hours of Social work, and few other achievements. 12th std GPA is not solely based on final exams. It would be something like 20% for home work, 20% for project, 25% for half yearly test, 25% for final exam and so on. So, even if we fall sick for something, we can always catch up in another. The most important thing is that education is free until college because the public schools are under the government. There are private schools too. One good thing about private schools is that they have uniforms.

Wednesday NOV 22, 2006

Its festival season here. From now on until after new year, work load will be lot less. One Military personnel working with us just returned back after being deployed in Iraq for 6 months. Our dept gave a warm welcome to her and made her tell her experience in Iraq. For first time in my life, i met someone who has been to a war.

Wednesday DEC 13, 2006

We had a Christmas potluck/party y'day at work. I made chicken korma and plain rice. African Americans and Italians are really crazy about Indian food. So, it was a big hit. Couple of guys even packed the leftover curry for home and gave me the clean washed dish :-)) Of course, I had to make it lot less spicier so they all can handle it. One other Philipino had cooked beef w/spinach. Other than that, everyone else got ready made food. The truth is my co-workers are so lazy to cook. Nobody really bothers to take an effort and cook something. Everybody buys stuff like cold cut meat and cheese, chips and dip, chicken wings, potato salad, pasta salad etc.

After the potluck lunch, they had the gift exchange game. Everyone participating will bring a wrapped gift. All the gifts will be put in the center. Then names will be read out in random. The first person picks any gift from the center. He then opens it and displays to everyone. The 2nd person now have the option to either pick a gift from the center or steal the gift that the first person has opened. So it goes. It turned out very funny. One guy had wrapped up toilet tissues in a gift box. Another had bought a dozen socks. The timely comments by bunch of guys made the game even more hilarious. Most of the companies have this game during X-mas. In my previous job, it wasn't this funny. The IT people had a serious outlook there.

Saturday DEC 16, 2006

Coming Saturday, the base has exclusive x-mas program for kids. At 9:30 AM, all kids have a 1 mile fun run with Santa and his elves. Not a race and no prizes. Every kid gets a t-shirt and some snacks. From 10:00 to 11:00, they have breakfast with Santa. After that they have a visit to Santa's workshop where there will be children's activities, crafts, gift making and cookie decorating. And also a picture session with Santa. Adults are not allowed. So, Ajit will have a good time. I will be bored though :-((

Thursday FEB 22, 2007

Y'day we had a mass evacuation drill. There is an active volcano, Mt Etna, just 20 miles from our city. It has been erupting lightly for the past 6 months(but it is very harmless). The last time it erupted and wiped out the entire city was in 1693. In case it erupts furiously, the 6000 Americans will have to be airlifted to Virginia, USA. So, they did a practice drill. All Italians were made to go home. All Americans(only around 1000 people) were then herded into the air terminal, fill out lot of paperwork and made to stay there whole day. Of course, we were given "sapadu potlam" :-) and spent the day just chit-chatting.

Wednesday MAR 7, 2007

Life here in Italy is more comparable to India. Italy is not that clean. Bad economy, Procrastination, Corrupt political system, bad law and order are part of Italy. Americans are some of the most courteous people on the earth. Italians, like most Europeans, have no concept of personal space or courtesy. But to make it up for all the above, they have strong family values. Family/friends come first, work is secondary. There is depth in any kind of relationship. Dating/girlfriends are ok from age 18 onwards. But living together before marriage is still a rarity because of lack of financial stability. Single parents, broken families are not that common. Divorce is low compared to rest of Europe. Since they are Catholics, divorce takes about 3 years. So, in the fear of getting divorced, people avoid getting married. Moreover they can't have kids out off wedlock. That’s why Italy has the lowest birth rate in entire Europe. But they are so loving and affectionate with kids. Its perfectly normal for strangers to lift our kids, hug/caress them and kiss them. I still remember the first time Ajit had this experience, he was shouting at me - "mommy, kidnapper....help". It was so funny. Italian parents have the same love and affection towards their kids like us. They live with parents until they get married. My co-workers are all over 35. But none of them are married(but have girl friends) and they all live with their parents. Italy is still a male dominated society. I think its because of my submissive attitude(an offspring of Indian education system) that my team gladly accepted me:-)

Lot of Americans love Italy because of the freedom. They end up settling down here. Every part of Italy has a little America settlement town just like we have little India or little Italy in US.

Cost of living is more compared to US or India, but cheaper compared to rest of Europe. Clothing, furniture, Automobiles, Electronics, restaurants, traveling are very expensive. Meat in general is expensive. Seafood is way too expensive (and we live in an Island). I've literally stopped eating fish. My mind is always converting the Euros to dollars and rupees. I can't wait to go to India and have only fish. Fresh produce, pizza and sandwiches are the only cheap stuff here. Indu, now I realize the value of certain things that I took it for granted in US. To me, though Euro is strong, dollar has more buying power.

Ciao from Sicily

Article written on: Tuesday JUNE 14, 2005

Internet is probably the only thing thats still working in Sicily. You might be wondering why iam starting off  with such a negative note. Wait until you hear the entire story. Its going to be a really really long story(you know, iam jobless now). So read it in your leisure.

Our flight trip from San Diego to London went good without any incidents. We arrived in London on Jun 10th @ 7:30 AM. Since we had to take a train and a bus to our friend's house in London, we put the luggage in the Locker room (Cloak room) and arrived at our friend's place in London around 10:00AM. We went around London for the next couple of days. Things were still fine.

Our flight from London to Rome thro' Alitalia airlines was on June 13 @ 12:30 PM. And we had our connecting flight from Rome to Catania through Lufthansa at 5:30PM. We arrived at Heathrow, London at 10:30 AM for our flight to Rome. We checked in 3 luggages and just hand carried a pullman and a laptop with us. Shankar had put a file with all his official paperworks/tourist passports of him and ajit/unused credit cards in our duffle bag while leaving the luggage in the cloak room. We forgot to take the file and put it back in our hand carriage. The time was already 1:00PM and the Alitalia flight didn't seem to board the passengers. Around 1:30 they announced that the flight is cancelled due to technical difficulties. All the passengers were asked to collect the checked in baggages from the baggage carousal, and then go through the immigration and customs. This was stupidity to the core. Why go through immigration when we never left the airport? Well, we had to do it whatever they say, right? Anyway, we asked for our stroller which was a gate check in before heading out to the baggage claim area. The Alitalia crew spend some 15 minutes and then responded to us saying the stroller has been sent down the baggage carousal.

We collected our baggages, waited another 30 minutes for the stroller, complained to all available Alitalia crew and still no sign of the stroller. We just gave up on it and headed to reschedule our flight to Rome. Unfortunately, Lufthansa doesn't fly from London to Rome. If not, we would have gladly switched to Lufthansa. Our bad luck, we had to go back to Alitalia. They had a flight from London to Rome at 4:30PM. The Alitalia even promised us a connecting flight from Rome to Catania if we could get a no objection stamp from Lufthansa. Shankar now ran to Lufthansa and got the no objection, comes back to Alitalia. Guess what they say now - "Iam very sorry, i made a mistake, there are no seats available in the Rome-Catania flight". Good Lord! Ok, back to Lufthansa asking to put us in their flight from Rome to Catania.

When we got reticked on both flights, it was already 3:30PM. We again checked in all the baggages for the 2nd time and complained about the stroller.This time the Alitalia crew took some effort, started looking for it, and brought it back for us.

In the midst of all things, ajit was also whining and complaining that he is hungry, want to go pee and yada yada yada....Well, there was literally no time for lunch. We rushed to our Rome flight. We gave the stroller at the Gate and made sure that we will get it back in Rome. After boarding, the flight was delayed by another 45 minutes. We atlast reached Rome at 8:45 PM. Our connecting flight to Catania was at 9:45 PM. We asked for the stroller at the gate. The same 'i don't care attitude' from the Alitalia crew-the stroller has been checked into Catania flight. Ok, by now we realized there is no point in arguing with them and start running to catch the next flight. Rome airport is really really big. Ajit refused to walk faster and we coudn't carry him and run. So, we put him the luggage cart (much against a big warning saying kids should not be put in the cart) and started to run. We arrived at the Air One Airlines(operated in alliance with Lufthansa) at 9:15. There is no Crew at the gate. Lufthansa had refused to give us a boarding pass in London for the Rome- Catania flight saying they can only be issued at the Rome airport(our point of origin). Atlast Airone airlines crew show up at 9:30 at the gate. Shankar goes to her and askes for boarding pass and she says he has to go upstairs to the Lufthansa counter and get it. He runs upstairs, and they say they stop issuing boarding pass 30 hour before the flight. After some coaxing, he finally made them issue the boarding pass and we luckily made it to the flight to Catania.

We landed in Catania at 11:00PM on June 13th. By now Ajit had fallen asleep. We went to collect our checked in baggage. Alas, one of our baggage never arrived. Only now we realized, the lost baggage has Shankar/Ajit's tourist passport and other important stuff along with all of my/ajit's clothings. We gave a complaint to the airlines and proceeded to our accomodation. Believe me, by now Shankar had had enough, and he was ready to catch the next flight and return back to US.

It has been 24 hours since we landed in Catania and still still haven't gotten our luggage. Literally no one in the Airport authority/airlines in catania seem to speak English. So, we were not able to do much.

Shankar connected his Voice Over IP Phone and tested it by placing a call to US. We had spoken only for few minutes when the broadband router blew up. The renters did assure us that all of the 110v appliances can be used in the apartment. Shankar gets the electrician to check the connection, and sure enough it was 130 volts. For a person who loves electronics, nothing seems to work in Italy. Now, we have to wait until we get a calling card.

As if there aren't enough problems, Shankar got called tonite to go back to work since the equipment he is supposed to be working on, failed. He left around midnight and doesn't know when he will be back.

On the positive note, the italian people who offered us the accomodation are really nice and very helpful. They infact ran out in the midnight and got us some food y'day. They have called the airport upteen times to ask about the lost baggage.

Anyway, me and Ajit seem to be enjoying the idle time.