Day 12 pictures

Day 12- London

We had requested Vivek, to come at his leisure and take us to any convenient sight seeing locations. Vivek came around 1030 AM. Manav was with him. We decided to go to Windsor Castle.
The drive to Windsor castle took around an hour. We had a good look at the country side on the way. There is a lake close to the car park, where ducks were in abundance. It was a great view on the Windsor lake.
The walk to the castle was just about 5 minutes. The castle was breathtaking. The surrounding areas were exceptionally clean. We paid around 15 pounds per head to enter the castle. The arrangements for ticket issues, etc., were well taken care of, in the sense that there were personnel to ask you what you wanted to see and direct you to the appropriate counters.
As in all big palaces and castles, the sight of the living rooms, drawing rooms, bedrooms etc were exceptionally huge with extremely rich looking furniture's.
There was a group of school children, being taken around, presumably with their teachers. The questions they were asking the personnel manning the castle viz How often does the queen visit the palace, when did she come last, which was the chair occupied by Prince Charles in the dining table etc., made one proudly look at the kids generation.
There is a doll room attached. where clothes worn by the royal family during various ages, with the name and address of the manufacturers were on display. Proud advertising for the manufacturers. Photographs of the royal family at various ages and occasions were very well displayed. This included the young days of Prince Charles, his school and college days, days spent with Late Princess Diana, marriage with the new princess, the children of the Prince etc., It was a splendid display.
We had a good tour outside. Here also, we saw the typical British guards. The way they move around every 20 minutes, catches the attention of one and all. We filled up a questionnaire and got 3 free passes for the next visit, which we gave to Vivek.
We exchanged our Euro for Pounds at a local bank. Had lunch at Mac, courtesy Vivek. Had a wonderful half an hour at the lake, feeding the ducks and enjoying Manav's reactions whenever he had ducks jumping at him for the feed.
We returned to the hotel at 1730. We decided to have dinner on our own, and requested Vivek not to pick us up for dinner, Saw a Euro cup soccer match on TV and went to sleep.

Day 11 - London (Last day with TCI)

According to TCI, this is the concluding day. You know what that means? Get up at 0600, have breakfast at 0700, check out at 0730. That is a day, as per the travel agents.

Well, we got up to say good bye to all our co travellers. We exchanged telephone numbers, and e mail IDs. Of course, the two of us decided to have a late breakfast.

We had breakfast at 0900, and checked out. We waited for Vivek to pick us up, which he did after making us anxiously wait till 1100. We drove down to his house, or the place where he was staying. He is on the verge of buying a house and is now staying with his friend. We had good coffee, made by Priyanka, his friend Parish's wife. They have a cute kid, also 2 yrs plus, called Trishh. We spent a couple of hours, being entertained by the continuous fights between Manav and Trishh.

Vivek took us out for lunch. Had a Masala dosa, after 12 days and enjoyed it. We then checked into Premier Inn, the hotel where Meenakshi is working. The room was excellent. We then went to his house again, had dinner there at 2300 hrs (that is their meal time), and returned to the hotel. The next few days in London was our extended holiday.

Day 10 - Paris and London

We were told bu our guide, that we had a long drive ahead of us to the Euro tunnel and then from there to London. The drive was 5 hours. Before getting into the Euro tunnel, we exhausted all our Euro coins, by purchasing snacks at one of the Auto Grilles.
We reached the Euro tunnel at 1430 hrs. Before that, we had to go through immigration, which took about 30 minutes. Our coach was to be driven into a train, and the train itself, through the tunnel to reach England. What an amazing engineering feat. The train drive was just 45 minutes. We had lunch on the train (outside the bus), and went on exploring the train from inside. We reached the other side in no time. The bus was driven out of the train, and we started driving around in England.
What surprised me though, was the efficiency of our coach driver. In England, you drive on the left hand side of the road, unlike Europe, where you drive on the right. The change over was not even noticed. And to drive through London traffic like this!
We passed through a lot of Indian (particularly Tamil( shops on the way to London. It made us feel at home. We were met by our London guide at Hyde Park.
We had a 3 hour session with the London guide. She was typically British, authoritative in whatever she said and extremely proud of herself. We were totally confined to our coach, except fro a short toilet stop and at the Buckingham Palace. The sight of the palace and guards, was exceptional, despite seeing these so often in movies. We drove through, the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, West Minister Abbey, Picadilly, Trafalgar square, Madame Tussaud's etc., The guide kept on giving anecdotes of each place in good humour. We saw an Iraqi, with a poster informing that it was now ...... days after the Iraq invasion, and justice was yet to be given. This was in Trafalgar square. We saw the Houses of Parliament, the famous Lords and Oval cricket grounds. All this done in less than 3 hours. We thanked ourselves for the decision to stay back in London with Vivek, for a few more days. I pitied the others in the group.

We checked into Hotel Ibis ( see a separate Blog on my Ibis experience). We then had dinner in an Indian restaurant. I wanted to call Vivek, to ask him to pick us up, the next day. We had no London coins, with us. It was past 2000 hrs, and there were no money changers open. We tried to use Euros, in and Indian shop to make a call. Although he would not accept Euros, the shopkeeper was kind enough to allow us to make a free call. Nice of him.
More about London in later blogs.

Day 9 - Paris

Today, was a free day for us to roam around on our own. Half the group had gone on a tour to Disney Land. We did not join and hence were on our own.

As a first step, we figured out, with great difficulty (language is a big barrier), the way to the nearest railway station, and from there to the main market area. We managed to get a map to the nearest railway station, called Mainswille. After a real leisurely breakfast, 10 of us started our own tour, with me as the leader.
We managed to follow the route on our map, for a couple of streets. We had been told that the station was a 30 minute walk and hence were careful not to lose our way. We met a school going negro boy on the way and asked him the way to the station. As he could not understand English, I showed him the map on my hand and asked him in sign language. He immediately turned around and gestured to follow him. I was under the impression that he would lead us to the end of a street and point out the way. Instead, he just kept walking. I had serious doubts, as to whether he had understood me correctly. Whenever stopped and asked, he only smiled. On the way, he waved to a few more negro boys and continued walking. I literally had to run to keep pace with him. The others, who were following were much slower than me and one can imagine their plight. I then had to stop him every few minutes for the others to catch up. Just to make sure that we were on the right way, I asked one of my colleagues to also ask passers by. Unfortunately, there were hardly anybody on the roads. All sorts of thoughts came to mind- was the boy one in a group of muggers, and were we going to get mugged- was that the sign he showed his colleagues on the way. Would he demand money for showing us the way (Anything nominal was O.K). Finally, after a full 40 minutes, I could see the station. I thanked my stars and caught hold of the boy's hands and thanked him profusely. I thought he was also going to the station. What happened next was unimaginable. He just turned around, gave a big smile and started walking back. Imagine, the poor boy had walked all the way, only to ensure that we got t right. What a shame to have so many doubts.
A few members of the group, said that the Almighty had come in the disguise of the boy to show us the way.
We boarded a train at the station (after a lot of enquiries. We learnt that when you buy 10 tickets, u get a 20% discount) and got down in a station near The Opera. We first did a lot of street shopping, and then got to admire the Opera House and all the statues and carvings there. We sat on the steps for a while, had coffee in a nearby shop and started our walk to Arc deTriumphe. We asked a cabbie for the route. He politely told us that we need to walk for at least 30 minutes. The weather was fine and out job was to walk only. Incidentally the rest of our group got lost, shopping.
We took the long walk at 1230. We walked across Champ De Elysses admiring the shops all the way. It took a long 45 minutes to reach the magnificent Arc. We of course, had our lunch on the way. We took the walk back to the station, where we got down. It took us a further 30 minutes. We shopped again and reached the station at 1530 hrs. We had been literally walking since 1030.
2 more of our group were waiting for us in the shopping arcade. The 4 of us took a train back. As we were tired, we decided to take a cab from the station to the hotel. We could not get any. We just enquired with a bus driver, who had parked his bus. He politely wrote the number of the bus we were to board and pointed the location, where it would stop to us. We waited and boarded the right bus, when it stopped, only to be told by this driver, that the bus would not go to our destination (all in sign language). He could not guide us further. We got another Negro saviour, who simply took our hands and made us sit in the same bus. He got down after a few kilometres, asked us also to get down and pointed out the way to our hotel.
Thus ended our day long adventure, in Paris. Of course, we enjoyed it.

Some good Samaritans.

Day 8 - Belgium and Paris

We departed the hotel, as usual after a good breakfast.

Our first halt was at The Atonium, in Brussels. The Atonium, is an exploded view of the Atom. By exploded, I mean exploded a billion times. They have created this huge structure out of steel. That this is an atom makes one wonder. This was a 15 minute halt, where we all took photographs. There was an exhibition, in the place the previous night and the adjoining areas, were fully littered with beer bottles/cans and junk. The city wakes up late.

We then had a long, long drive to Paris. We eventually reached the outskirts at 1330 hrs, where we parked for lunch in an Auto Grille. We sat out and had our usual lunch, this time with some pickles and ended with a lot of fruits.

As we entered Paris, we saw a burning car n the middle of the street. Perhaps an accident. There was no hue and cry. Our tour guide, was informing the key places to us, before a local guide joined us at the Opera House.

She showed us around, with some explanations, here and there. The guide had a very good sense of humour. She showed us the various carvings/statues of the old music wizards in the Opera (All sitting in the coach). She showed us the famous Ritz, where Princess Diana stayed with her boy friend, who was the owner of the Hotel. We parked the coach for a 15 minute photo shoot at the Concorde square. The place where thousands were guillotined made us wonder, how cruel rulers could be. The guide kept telling us about the latest French president and his model girl friend turned wife and their living habits. It seems he is nicknamed "Tring Tring", as he loves to have money around him always.

We then drove around Champs de Elysees and gaped at the various latest showrooms. The Arc de Triomphe, resembled the India gate, and has also been made as a mark of respect to the dead soldiers. A good looking sight.

We saw the famous Louvre museum (seated in the coach). When referring to the paintings in the Louvre, the guide did make it a point to mention that "The Last Supper " painting was not in The Louvre, as mentioned by Dan Browne, and that The Da Vinci code was only apiece of fiction.
The pride some people have in their religion is amazing!

The last point of halt was the Eiffel Tower. We had a good 90 minutes halt here. The tower is just imposing to say the least. The scenario, with gardens all round and the beautiful Siene running across, is a sight to relish. This, according to me Ia a place, where one can spend entire evenings gaping around. We went to Level 1 only and had a few snaps, besides having a good view around. We came down, after 40 minutes, and strolled around the place merrily. We then had a cup of white coffee, while sitting and admiring the visitors from all countries.

The next was dinner t 1030 hrs (good food) before retiring to bed at a new hotel. The next day was off (on our own). The feeling that we could get up late, was very refreshing.

Day 7 - Germany and Belgium

Before I start writing about the day, I must inform that I had started enjoying the continental breakfast. Cereals of all types with big helping of milk and chocolate were getting tastier by the day.

We departed at 0830 hrs, for a cruise on river Rhine. We reached the cruise point at 1030. Had to wait for about 30 minutes, before boarding the cruise. Enjoyed window shopping in some small shops, which were also selling cuckoo clocks. Those who had second thoughts after Black Forest could make a buy. We did buy a set of coffee mugs for Madhu here.
The cruise was excellent. We had a good view of old castles and huge churches, as we passed. The vineyards, for which Europe is so famous, were great to see. We had a cup of coffee, as we relaxed during the one hour cruise.

Our next halt was Cologne (Koln). This was a 2 hour drive from the cruise point. We halted here for lunch.
The church is huge and imposing. The Gothic architecture on view, is a real sight. We had a good half an hour in the church. The glass work, is to be seen to be believed. We heard that this city was bombed thrice during the world war. However, nothing happened to the Divine church.

We had lunch at McDonald's. The only toilet in the vicinity is in Mac. I feel that Mac may be earning more revenue from the toilet, than the food, as they charge 50 cents for each usage.
We were commenting on the price of the Cheese burger, when a colleague gave a nice piece of information.

It is said that the economy of a city is based "on the price of the Mcburger"

. No wonder, Mac is yet to open in Chennai, even though they have outlets at all other importanct cities in India. The Chennaites, are probably more purse conscious.

We then drove to Brussels the capital of Belgium (and the European Union. The tall buildings in Brussels had more of a resemblance to Singapore, than other European cities. The comparison has to stop here, as the place is quite dirty (for a European city). We visited the Grand Palace, which is the market square. This is of course, full of traditional European buildings. There are quite a few home made chocolate shops here. We had finished our purchase quota at Switzerland.
Belgium has quite a few beggars. They just sit on the pavement, with huge dogs by their side. There are also beggars, sitting by the side of statues, dressed and made up like the person in the statue. Not a very good sight.
We then proceeded to see the Mannekin Pis statue. Ever heard of this? The guide's version is

"When Belgium was ruled by the French, there was great resentment amongst the Belgians. There was little they could do about this, as they were getting beaten from all fronts. This little boy - Mannekin - it seems, used to stand on the balcony of his house and vent his feelings, by peeing on the French soldiers, marching by. Once Belgium got on their own, they erected a statue of the boy peeing"

. Amazing isn't it! Now, this little boy is one of the star attractions here.

Day 6 - Germany

We entered Germany today, but before that had stop over at the Rhine Falls, which is in Switzerland. We reached here at 1030, after leaving the hotel at 0830.

The Falls, by themselves, are not very big (even though, the biggest in Europe). What has to be really admired, is the upkeep of the place, the surrounding gardens and the clean white water jostling down. A combination of all these, makes the falls, really awesome. There are also boats, which take you almost to the foot of the falls. A similar Indian Caravan restaurant, was parked here also and we had another cup of wonderful Indian Masala Tea here.

From Rhine, in Switzerland, we proceeded to the Black Forest in Germany (A part of the Black Forest ia also in Switzerland). On the way, we were informed that all the trees in the Black Forest were planted by the concerned departments, to have a uniform greenery in the forests. To imagine such uniform planting for several hundred square kilometres is mind boggling. The weather was extremely cold and windy. In fact, this was the only place, where I felt a bit uncomfortable during the entire tour (Just a bit though).
There is a huge lake here. We sat there and had our brealunch (the carry away breakfast eaten during lurch time in short) and some good Indian snacks.
We also had a demo of the manufacture of a Cuckoo clock (Cuckoo clocks are all made here). We have one at home, given to us by our daughter, Anu to remember her visit to this place. The minute hand of that had broken and I managed to take one of the same size, while viewing the demo.

We next proceeded to Heidelberg. Heidelberg has the world's best printing presses. Besides, there is a big, nice castle and the river Neckar flowing here. This is a good picnic spot. We had a stroll over here in the shopping malls. There are shops, selling Pav Bhajis and the Haldiram snacks. Got to know that the Indian population (especially bachelors) is sizable thanks to the software industry, especially SAP. We spent some time on the banks of river Neckar. Again, a very neat and clean place.
We then proceeded for dinner and night comfort. I was disappointed to learn that a few of my friends, who were in Bosch had come to meet me and left word at the reception. Spoke to them, before calling it a day.

Day 5 - Switzerland (Titlis)

In short, we had a great day today. First of all, we woke at leisure, got up at 0730, had breakfast and left for Mt.Titlis at 0930.
Mt.Titlis, is 3020 metres above sea level. The approach to the Mount, is by cable car upto a place called Stand, by a lift from Stand and finally by a revolving car to Titlis. The journey was indeed very pleasant. We had been cautioned that it would be very cold and that it would be advisable to carry heavy woolens and a pair of gloves. We chose to ignore the advice (no point in investing on heavy woolens and gloves, both of which were extremely expensive).

We reached the summit at 1130. The guide explained the place to us. This is simple. The First floor is the Revolving car station, the second has a few shops, the third has a souvenir and photography shop, the fourth is the mount.

We rushed to the Mount. What a sight it was. Fully ice clad mountains all around was a treat to the eye. We had a good long walk in the ice mountains first to get acclimatised. The temperature, they said was -3 degrees Celcius. We did not feel any biting cold. I feel that once you are in ice, you do not feel too cold. I had a similar experience in Manali.

There s another open cable car ride, further up (we decided not to go). We had a lot of fun, for about an hour, We started throwing ice balls at each other, and amongst other tourists. Most of the tourists, noticeably were from India. It was really a nice feeling that India generates so many tourists in Europe. We found an ice man, made by somebody and pretended that it was made by us. I also tried climbing up the mount and sliding down in ice. I would have climbed about 6 feet. What efforts. We held flags in our hands, a symbol of conquering the Alps.

While the place is a must see for any tourist, my mind could not help draw a comparison with Manali. In Manali the ice was more wettish and slippery. That is probably why there is an insistence of wearing rubber boors in Manali. The area in Manali was to me whiter and the ice more snowish. I personally felt, with due apologies to Titlis, that Manalis is a better tourist spot. If only the Indians can promote tourism better, Manali would be a bigger and better attraction.

We spent some time in a coffee shop, had good coffee and then another 30 minutes in the ice, before going down. At the first floor, we also have some very attractive ice caves.

When we got down from the cable car station, we were greeted by a nice Indian restaurant, on a caravan selling hot Masala tea. It was wonderful.

Day 4 - Switzerland (Lucerne)

We had a long journey ahead of us, when we started day 4 at 0900 hrs.

After about an hour, the ladies in the group started chanting bhajans. This went on for about an hour, followed by Antakshari. We ere then shown a movie (forget the name, but it was a good comedy and the Hindi version of "It's a mad, mad, mad world). We entered the Swiss border at 1300 hrs. There was no check at the Swiss entry post.
After crossing the check post, we stopped at an Auto Grill. The restaurant brought back memories of our grandson Ashwin. This was the place where we had lunch at Singapore, before Ashwin was born. Name of the restaurant ??? MARCHE. We had our breakfast carried over lunch at The Marche, along with a big bowl of French fries. Unlike at Singapore, we were not given cards here( which would later be billed, consumption based) before food.
From Marche, we took off to Lucerne. We could see the transformation into Switzerland, by the mountains and extra greenery. We saw a huge lake, just before entering Lucerne. Lucerne, itself is a small tourist town.
Here we set off to see the statue of the lion made of a single rock. The lion was weeping with a spear through its heart. The statue was definitely well made. I told the group that you could see many more statues made in a single stone, including a whole temple in Chennai, at Mahabalipuram. The statue and the park in which it is made has been commemorated to the 118 soldiers, who died during the World war. The lion, depicits its sympathy for the soldiers.

We had an hour's free time at the Lucerne lake. The place is surrounded by chocolate and souvenir sellers. We hopped into a Swiss watch shop and shot back immediately, on seeing the prices. We decided to buy some Swiss chocolates. We were more encouraged, when we saw that out Rupees were fetching us more Swiss francs, than the Euro offer at Florence. We did buy some chocolates and a small time piece. The chocolates, were expensive, but as carry backs in memory of our Swiss visit we did not mind. Savi bought a Stolle here for use in Switzerland and then to be given to Madhu.

Lucerne has a good lake, with a lot of Swans floating around.

We then proceeded to Engelberg, for dinner and checked into our hotels by 2000 hrs. The dinner was excellent.

Day 3 - Florence and Venice

Now off to Day 3.
Had a pretty decent breakfast (I have started enjoying the breakfast now, especially the butter, milk and chocolate) and left the hotel at 0800 and reached Florence at 1100 hrs.
We had a walking tour of Florence, meaning that we parked the coach on one side, walked through the squares and fountains and boarded the bus again after an hour. It was a good walk, with excellent weather.
We first saw the Duo mo, one of the oldest churches. All churches and buildings are of the Gothic architecture. What is to be admired is the way these are preserved. The Duo mo was an excellent view, both because of the height and the narrowness of the road, which had all money changers. On seeing money changers, we thought of changing some more of our Rupees to Euros, only to find that this was 50% more expensive. Anyway we decided against the change, until absolutely required.
Next we saw the Baptistery. a fountain where people were throwing coins and asking for wishes. We decided that it was not worth throwing Euros for wishes too. The fountain itself was very pleasing. We had coffee and ice creams here in one of the coffee shops/ In Europe you cannot use the toilets for free, and it is better to have a coffee for 1 Euro(and get to use the toilet free), rather than use the toilet for 50 cents.
We then saw the open air statue museum, called the Piazza Della signorina. Some of Michael Angelo's works were also on view. The statues, all in the open presented a great sight. What we wondered was the reason for all statues, (or at least most) were of semi clad (or nude) men only. In India, it is the other way around. Reasons anybody?
We then had a walk across the Verchio Bridge along River Arno. It was a fairly good walk and we boarded our waiting coach.

Next was Venice, after a 3 hour drive, with a halt for the usual lunch (on our own). W reached Venice at 1630 hrs. We had to take a private boat to reach the island. Venice, in fact consist of 27 islands. To me the view was amazing. I was itching to get into a Gondola, until I was told that it costs 12 Euro, for a Half hour ride.
We spent an hour admiring the water roads and the Gondolas. The buildings on the banks were all turned to star hotels. Wish I could come back and explore the place better.
The Mark's square, with a lot of happenings, is a good relaxation point. Lot of pigeons wait to be fed here. There are ice cream parlours and coffee shops all along, tempting the taste buds. We did share an ice cream.
We also had a visit to the Murano glass show room. The glass works were amazing. The prices, were even more amazing.

Had a very good Indian dinner (Pastas, were also in the menu. They were very tasty too) and checked into our Hotel at the usual 2100 hrs.

We attempted our first call to India from here. Savi chose her sister Kalyani for the first call. Unfortunately, she was away and Savi had to be content talking to her Athimbar.

Day 2 - Rome Vatican and PTSA

We received our wake up calls at 0630. Had our bath, got ready to check out and proceed to the lobby by 0730 for breakfast. We checked out (made it a point to get back our passports. This was the only hotel, which insisted on collecting passports to give rooms).
The first spread of Continental breakfast was certainly not mouth watering. The lay out had cream buns, bread, croissants, cornflake along with tea, chocolate and coffee. Of course, butter cheese and jam were available. We had a hearty breakfast. I had a good helping of cornflakes, with chocolate chips. We carefully pocketed some cream buns and croissants (remember, lunch was on our own).
All of us did assemble and depart at 0830. The hotel was way out of the city and it took more than an hour to reach the city. We were reminded that we were from Chennai, and the typical Arcot road traffic was reproduced in Rome. Vehicles were moving at a real snail pace. A guide was organised to meet us, and he or she, kept calling our tour guide, who was keeping on reassuring that we would be by the Colosseum in 15 minute. Finally the arranged guide, told our guide that he or she could not wait. Police personnel were keeping on chasing away vehicles at all entry points to the stadium, where chariot racing used to take place. We never got to know why.
Finally our guide took the Onus on himself to show us around. We had a good view of the Colosseum (could not get down as vehicles were not allowed to park on that day). We wondered how cruel people could be when we learnt that the Colosseum was used to pitch the slaves against the lions.
We managed to park near the Trevi fountain at 1300 hrs.It was really amazing. The backdrop and the architecture were indeed great. A wish here, will bring you back to Rome. Our guide was clear that we could not spend more than 10 minutes here. A wish here, they say will bring you back to Rome.
Then we proceeded to The Vatican. Our guide informed that due to the traffic jam earlier, we had lost time and hence will only drive around Vatican. After my strong objections, the guide did halt for 15 minutes at the Vatican. While I knew that the Vatican is the smallest country in the world, I was certainly not prepared to see the Vatican consisting of just 3 buildings. They were certainly a good sight.
I recollected pages from "Angels and Demons" when I saw the places where the Pope elects were assasinated and decided to read the novel again to understand the Vatican better.We heard that the police in the Vatican were Swiss guards and the Church wanted the best protection for the Vatican.
We then had a real long drive to PISA. Halted at 1600 hrs for lunch at one if the Auto Grills. We had the breakfast hideaways for lunch. Had a cup of coffee (Cappuccino) out there.

We reached PISA at 1930. Had to take a long walk from the vehicle park to the monument. While the leaning tower looked great, it was not really breathtaking. This was probably because, we had seen so many pictures of the leaning tower and seeing it live, was less than great. We did enjoy a very good 30 minute, viewing the Bell tower, church and the leaning tower. We learnt that the tower has been reinforced, to avoid any mishaps for another 30 years.

Had dinner (nothing great) and checked into our hotel by 2130 hrs. The next day would be wake up at 0615 and depart at 0800 to Florence.

Day 1- Rome

When in Rome, be a Roman. This was what first struck me, when I landed in Rome (ROMA) airport at 1400 hrs on 2nd June. I do not know, why Rome was chosen for this proverb (am I right?). Why not, "When in India, be an Indian"?

We had to wait for our guide, who was to meet us at 1700 hrs. We were exploring the airport and had the first experience of how important oral communication is. No one spoke English here. We had a tour of the restaurants at the airport (There were very few). We had the company of another tour party, who had travelled with us for an hour, before they got picked up by their guide.

After an hour, we opened our first packet of Savouries, which were given to us by our Engineer, Natarajan, for killing time during travel. We got to know of its real utility, as the tour proceeded. Besides savouries, we had some mouth watering Avakkai pickles too.

After some time, we decided to have a cup of coffee. We could not distinguish between Expresso, Cappuccino, Latte and all other coffees exhibited. Finally we pointed out to a person having the type of coffee we had in mind and had the same. We were to learn later that this was to be called "White Coffee", or "Coffee Latte".

The guide met us at 1700 hrs and asked us to either wait in the airport till 1900, when the others in the group will join, or sit in the coach. We chose to load our baggage in the coach and stroll around. There was nothing to see, other than vehicles moving in and out. We did see some Hotel coaches and bus stops for these coaches, with timings.

One thing of interest was the number of smokers in Rome (We were to see this in all other places, as well). I had decided not to smoke during this tour, and did manage to stick to this, with a single exception, in London.

The others in the tour party arrived, and after all baggage was loaded we left at 2000hrs. Our first halt was an Indian restaurant for dinner. We all had a real good meal and got driven to our Hotel at 213o hrs, where we checked in.

For day 2, the guide announced in the bus, that we would have our Wake up calls at 0630, breakfast at 0730 and check out and depart at 0830.
So much for day 1.