"Sports Bars" in Italy

Minal says ...

Yesterday, Europe prepared to watch the Eurocup football finals. We decided to hang out in a sports bar to watch the match - and made our reservations at a bar close to our hotel ahead of time. Then, we went for lunch to a bar/restaurant frequented by international students in Rome on study-abroad programs - and watched as they prepared to air the match (see picture below). At this bar, we were perhaps mistaken for poor students and given glasses of bubbly on the house. Manish even took a few sips (I knew he would drink some day, but I didn't expect him to start in the afternoon!).





Anyway, I digress. When we arrived at our bar to watch the match, we realized that the TV was quite small and that there were at least as many women as there were men - not a ratio I had expected, given US sports bars. I started to wonder why - at first I assumed it was the sport. Maybe soccer is more enjoyable for women than American football - but that didn't seem like a plausible reason. I dismissed the matter until we chanced upon the "Friends Bar" in Florence tonight. We were on our way to dinner, and were drawn in to this bar because they were airing Wimbledon. At the bar, we had a salad, a fabulous pizza, a great cappuccino (how am I going to survive on Starbucks?) and some cake. We essentially spent the evening at the bar. Maybe more women are at sports bars in Italy because the bar is actually an enjoyable way to spend the entire evening - where you can get a good dinner and all sorts of drinks (caffeinated, alcoholic, fruity ...) at a lively place where the TV is just a small part of the landscape? It is really great that a bar here is not a place to go get a drink, eat greasy food and watch some sports, but a place to get a good healthy dinner and have the sport on on a tiny TV in the background. Maybe I would visit sports bars in the US more often if they were more Italian :)

Roma/Amor

There is a temple right by the Colosseum that used to house a statue of Venus and a statue of Rome. Amor and Roma, Goddesses with palindromic names looking over the Eternal City. A long time ago, newly weds used to come by to be blessed by these Goddesses, and even during our visit, we saw three June brides (and their grooms) in the area - although they were more focused on their photo shoots.

Speaking of love and Rome, I have realized that I have developed a definitely fondness for the city. The Riviera (both Nice in France and the Cinque Terre in Italy) was gorgeous and extremely relaxing, but Rome - Rome is alive! Rome is like Bombay or New York - there are people everywhere, and yet their presence is not suffocating. Vendors are seen selling all sorts of things on the streets - and today I finally engaged in some roadside shopping, buying a bag that Manish claims is a Lisa-sized bag. Lisa - apparently, the size of your bag leaves an impression ;)





However, the beauty of the city lies not only in its liveliness, but also in its history. Roman engineering was definitely top notch - it amazes me that the Colosseum was built almost 2000 years ago, that the Pantheon with its perfect 142 foot wide dome was completed more than 1700 years ago, and that the dome of St. Peter's was built 500 years ago and still bears the weight of the thousands of tourists who climb it everyday (I was both fearful and impressed as I climbed to the top). I love the fact that art created by famous artists is part of the city - Bernini's fountains are in piazzas in random places and of course Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is absolutely breathtaking. This is not art that is brought in from elsewhere - it's art that was created for the city, that is still in the city!

In Rome, we also found our own little slice of heaven - not by the Vatican, but closer to the Pantheon. A gelato place with 140 flavors of gelato, 14 of which are different types of chocolate! Life really doesn't get much better than this :)



Tomorrow we leave for Florence. Travelling by train in Europe has become quite routine for us now. We got to the station an hour early for our first train ride from Amsterdam to Paris, but bought our ticket a minute before the train left when we were coming to Rome from the Cinque Terre – definitely forward progress, even though we almost missed that last train!

Dal Tarka and Naan - yummy!

Minal says ...

I finally realized that I needed to eat well in order to fight off my cold. The vegetarian food in Barcelona is quite unappetizing and as I took stock, it became quite apparent that I had been living on juice over the past 2.5 days. In order to remedy the situation, I convinced Manish to have Indian food for dinner tonight. He agreed and even searched Google Local to find the closest, best recommended Indian place. Off we went, and I finally ate a full meal.

The wait staff was all from India, and I ended up speaking to them in Hindi. This got me thinking about all the random Indian people we have seen on our trip (not the Indian tourists, who are outnumbered only by the American ones). In Paris, on the Champs de Mars, right by the Eiffel Tower, there are several young Indian men selling all sorts of alcohol. As Manish took a million pictures of the Eiffel Tower, I started to eavesdrop. There was a tourist uncle who was drinking a Heineken, and asking one of the Indian alcohol sellers (in Hindi), how much a bottle of champagne sold for. The seller answered - 15-20 Euro, except for "our people" who get it for 8-10 Euro. Similarly, there are Indian alcohol sellers on Las Ramblas in Barcelona - and one of these had a conversation with me in Hindi yesterday.

At the end of our meal today, we visited my favorite juice bar (yes, I've had enough orange juice to know the good places). There, we were once again served by an Indian man from India. He and I struck up a conversation in Hindi, and when I expressed my amazement at finding so many Indian people in Spain, he responded that there are as many Indians in Barcelona as there are dogs on the street in India! Of course, he followed that up by letting me know that several of these are successful businessmen.

As our time in Barcelona comes to an end, I have to admit that Barcelona reminds me a lot of Bangalore. There are old buildings alongside the new, middle class neighborhoods with clothes hung to dry on balconies, pavements with hawkers selling their wares, stores closed shut with metal shutters rather than fancy glass displays, a large number of people with dark skin, and a lot of energy in the air :) Anyway, next stop is Nice and then Cinque Terre - my guess is that we will not have Internet in those places, so no posts for the next few days :(

Pictures

By popular demand, we finally have some photos uploaded. Check out the various albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/minalandmanish or use the links in the "Pictures" section to the left.

More to come soon.

Trouble on the Train

Minal says ...

I must admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about taking the overnight train between Paris and Barcelona. The last overnight train that I had taken was in India. That was about 5 years ago - and I had a good friend traveling with me at that point who was more familiar with train etiquette than I was. This time around, not only had Manish travelled less on trains than I had, we were not even in the same compartment! Men and women are segregated into different compartments on Spanish trains (although this is apparently not the case on other European trains). So, as I always do - I planned ahead. I even brought the twisty bicycle locks with me as I knew that in India, one chains their luggage to the seats in the train to prevent theft.

Anyway, the train experience was extremely different from what I had imagined. First, the train compartment was divided into cabins, each housing 4 people. It felt quite safe. Space for the luggage was above all the beds, too high for a thief to grab without a lot of effort. Satisfied that I didn't need to chain my luggage, I focused on other things. I noticed that there was a boy in my cabin! The boy was another traveler's son - he was around 17 or 18 years old. As French trains allow mixed compartments, mother and son had been able to book beds in the same cabin. When the fourth person entered the cabin, she literally threw a fit (it was great hearing her angry French - very passionate!). She said that women need their space and that she was going to request another cabin from the attending train manager. I wondered why she was so upset, and found out the answer to that later. Next, the manager came in and requested the boy to go to a different room - another passionate argument ensued where the mother essentially said that she would not travel separately from her son. Anyway, at Lyon, another lady boarded the train and she was okay with the boy staying as long as she got one of the top beds (I ended up getting the other one).

We needed to step out of the cabin when the train manager came around to prepare the beds. Each of the beds was a stowaway bed, and when he brought them out, they were already pre-made. Linens, blankets - it was all ready! As we got ready for bed, I noticed that the lady from Lyon started stripping in the bed across from mine (if this is how French women prepare to sleep on a train, I could understand why the other woman had been so upset!). Down to her underwear, she put on a nightshirt and went to sleep.

10 hours later, we were in Barcelona. It's really hot here - especially after Amsterdam and Paris. I have a bit of a cold and Manish is a little tired too. So we are essentially going to rest a bunch in Barcelona, Nice and Cinque Terre, before hitting the crazy sightseeing in Rome next Friday.

3 Great Things About Europe

Minal says ...

While we have only been to Amsterdam and Paris so far, there are some things that I really like about the Europe I have seen:

1. The fresh food: I was pleasantly surprised to find amazing fresh orange juice and great freshly baked bread in bakeries dotting the city in Amsterdam. The trend continues in Paris - the bakeries are everywhere, there is fresh fruit displayed outside stores on several streets, and even Starbucks has fresh orange juice. Most wonderfully, though, are the crepe stands that make fresh crepes in front of you. If only Boston could have these stands - they would make great places for snacks as I burn the midnight oil :)

2. The liveliness: Yesterday was a beautiful day in Paris. In celebration, people were socializing in sidewalk cafes, sitting in the parks that seem to be everywhere, picnicking on the banks of the Seine .... there was life all around! Tonight, as we returned from the Moulin Rouge (which is admittedly close to the Red Light District), we saw many people milling around on the streets. We saw a similar trend in Amsterdam by the central station and the main social square - even though it was quite cold there.

3. The "make-it-work" attitude: The driving in Paris is great - there are no lanes, and people get where they want to get - even if they want to turn left from the rightmost side of the street. Maybe the Parisians took driving lessons from the Indians. I'm sure this is a nightmare to drive in (hence the many tiny smart cars), but it is great to watch. Another example of this attitude is the restrooms. Several restrooms that you need to pay for accommodate both genders for the stalls rather than creating a whole separate row of stalls for the few guys who need them. And sometimes they let women use the unused men's stalls: today, at the Moulin Rouge, they were directing women to use the stalls in the men's restroom when the ladies line was too long - I was told "No Looking" as I walked in :)

Alright - it's time for bed - almost 2 a.m. While this 'sleep late, wake up late' schedule has been great since the sun sets only at 10, we are getting on an overnight train tomorrow - which leaves here at 8:30 and gets to Barcelona at 8:30 Saturday morning. I definitely don't want to sleep through the stop in Barcelona :)

A Little Taste of Home

I'm not sure if this should make me more or less homesick, but just in the two cities we've been to so far, there are countless reminders of life back in the states. Here are just a few examples...

5. American food chains or american-themed restaurants -- It's hard to go too far without running into a Burger King or McDonalds. No, we didn't eat at these, but we did have lunch at a Starbucks (though it was in the Louvre... and overpriced). If it's not a recognizable chain, then it's a place named something like Cafe Americain. I also had a "hot dog" from a crepe stand on the Champs-Elysees (yes, I know that's wrong, but don't worry, I've had my share of crepes as well). It's actually been surprising difficult to find restaurants serving the cuisine of that country. To be fair, I've never seen a place in the U.S. named "American Restaurant."

4. Rainier cherries -- Really! Now that hit really close to home (err, former home).

3. Ford Focus police cars -- It was a little surprising to see any american cars zipping around the small European streets, but seeing a Focus (attempt to) drive through Paris traffic with its siren and lights on was quite amusing. Okay, I've never seen the police in the U.S. use a Ford Focus, but you get the idea.

2. Statue of Liberty -- I thought I had heard about this before, but it's still a bit weird to see. This one isn't green (yet), and it's quite a bit smaller, but at least it's in France. For those of you who preferred to sleep through american history (like me), the French gifted us our version.

1. Americans everywhere -- This is more true in Paris than Amsterdam, but you can't walk one block without hearing that horrible american accent that sticks out like a sore thumb (note: normally, I have no problem with the way americans talk, but it does sound out of place over here). I suppose this is why most merchants speak pretty good English, which has made it easier to get along than I expected (especially since my french is not at all coming back to me).

Anyway, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about american culture, but I didn't expect to find so much of it out here. Perhaps it's just a result of good old capitalism in that if something is successful enough in one place, someone's bound to try it elsewhere.

-Manish

Beware of Bicycles

Of all the things Amsterdam is known for, I didn't expect this to be one of the more memorable ones. Wandering around the city, one can't help but notice that the number of cyclists often outnumber motor vehicles (and sometimes even pedestrians). It's also fairly easy to be walking on what seems to be a sidewalk, then nearly trounced by a swarm of bikers, warned only by the friendly sounding bell equipped on most bikes. Luckily, we avoided becoming bicycle road kill, though we did see a near collission amongst a pair of riders. Perhaps they need traffic lights for them as well. It is refreshing to see so many different types of transportation being used effectively. However, it does make life interesting for a pedestrian crossing the street, having to look out for about 3 different speeds and sizes of traffic.

-Manish

And they're off...

Today our European adventure kicks off. We had a crazy few weeks leading up to this day, mostly involving the move out to Boston. One of our packer/mover people even commented on the fairly ridiculous number of clothes that I had (mostly t-shirts, of course). Anyway, we were lucky enough to also spend a fair amount of time with many of our good friends amongst the madness. Not so fortunate was the March weather here in June, but perhaps that's to discourage the influx of people to the pacific northwest. Well, the weather gods will have to try harder than that on me, because I still welcome the "crappy" weather and if we ever make our way back, I expect to be skiing in mid-June, and then playing baseball the following day.

Okay, enough looking back for the moment (there will be plenty of time for that later). Next stop, Amsterdam. Hmm, that's about all I know about that, thanks to broad gap in planning skills and initiative between Minal and myself. So, I don't have a great idea of what to expect, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

Stay tuned for future posts that are hopefully a bit more exciting, maybe even with pictures (isn't technology great).

Oh yeah... Go Celtics!

-Manish

Destination #4: Kirkland

Minal says ...

Both Manish and I quit our jobs around a month ago and are quite enjoying unemployment. In the past few weeks, we visited Philadelphia for my sister's graduation, then traveled to Hawaii - first for a family vacation in Kauai and then for a wedding in Oahu. Philadelphia was cold and rainy (hmm... seems like we took the Seattle weather there), but it was great seeing Hena receive her diploma. Kauai was fantastic - in between lazing by the pool and swimming in the sea, we kayaked a bit and zip-lined (is that the verb?) for the first time. In Oahu, we got to celebrate with Sandra and Wally at their wedding - and catch up with several friends. 

Fast-forward 2 weeks. We've been quite busy planning a move across the country to Boston - and today we hope everything will come together (the truck is being loaded with all our stuff as I type this). While our house is in a state of total chaos, we are staying at the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland (which I highly recommend). As we live out of a suitcase, it almost seems as if we have started our European adventure right here in Seattle :) Tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam. More from across the Atlantic in the next few days!