At Leonardo da Vinci Airport
At 7.00 pm we landed at Leonardo da Vinci Airport, 35 km from Rome. The flight was of 2.15 but due to poor relations between India and Pakistan, instead of going from Delhi over Pakistan, the flight reached Italy crossing the Mediterranean Sea via Bombay over the Arabian Sea. It was a 7 hour flight which turned out to be about 9.30 hours.
Luggage receipt
Getting luggage at the airport is a daunting task. The same is unloaded from the cargo and slammed onto the revolving belt. People pick up their belongings from it. Nowadays all bags are the same. It is difficult to recognize them. There is a possibility of a mistake. The luggage keeps moving on the belt. People crowd and take off someone else's stuff.
When they find out that it is not theirs, they toss it around near the belt. Sushma had tied yellow ribbons in our luggage at home itself. If these were not there, it would not have been possible for us to identify our bags at the airport. Out of our six briefcases, three people had taken them down from the revolving belt and rolled them. The lock of father's briefcase was broken by the security check people. Well anyway we got our stuff.
Clouds of Smoke
As soon as we came out of the airport, we were faced with small clouds of cigarette smoke. There were hundreds of men and women standing alone or standing in groups smoking cigarettes and cigars. Smoking is prohibited in public places in India. So we were not used to this smoke. We were also surprised to see such a large number of women and men smoking cigarettes and we also found it difficult to breathe in that air.
Without Cellphone-SIM
At this time our cellphone did not have any SIM working in Italy. Although we had taken SIM from Delhi in Indonesia trip which had worked successfully in Indonesia but the SIM which Vijay had taken from Delhi in his last Korea visit did not work in Korea. So this time we had decided to get the SIM in Italy itself. Some people were selling SIMs inside the airport but they were too expensive. So we decided to get the SIM from the market instead of the airport.
Twenty eight and a half thousand rupees instead of thirty five thousand
The SIM could be postponed for a day but the currency could not be postponed as the taxi driver would have to pay in Euros as soon as he left. Like last time Indonesia trip, this time also we took US dollars from Delhi. We changed our currency from a 'money-exchanger' to the Euro.
At the airport, we received 358 Euros (approximately 28640 rupees) for 500 dollars (approximately 35000 Indian Rupees). It was a very expensive deal but there was no other way. A counter near him was getting even less euros.
no contact with taxi
By the time we came out of the airport, it was eight o'clock in the evening but it was very bright outside and it seemed that at least two hours were left for the farewell of Suryadev. Vijay booked a taxi on Uber's app on his cellphone using the airport's Wi-Fi.
The taxi was booked and she came and parked somewhere near the airport but we could not talk to her as the cellphone did not have a sim. So the taxi driver could not be contacted. Buses were also coming in large numbers but we could not talk to anyone to find out which bus we would get to our service apartment and from where!
'Google' could tell the number of the bus, but it could not choose the right bus stop from the crowd of small bus stops there. It was inconvenient to identify the bus stop, as well as the bus journey with so much luggage. We saw a queue outside the airport. People were standing in a queue to catch a taxi. We also got in the same queue.
Five thousand rupees for 32 kilometers
Many taxis were coming to a stop at the same time and continuously speeding up. That's why there was a crowd of taxis. Each taxi could only stop for a few seconds. In such a time, the citizens of Italy used to decide them by talking in their own language. We also tried talking to several taxi drivers but they didn't know English, spoke only Italian.
In the end we decided to speak only the name of the place we wanted to go. We were six people and had luggage, so we needed a bigger taxi. A taxi driver accepted to walk to that place, he also knew English. He asked for 60 euros. This was ten times the prevailing taxi rates in India.
Taxis are available in India for around Rs 20 a kilometer but it was asking us for Rs 150 per kilometer which was sitting around Rs 200 per kilometer after paying the exchange commission. Vijay had already found by searching on Google, this is the prevailing rate of taxi fare from the airport in Italy. So we decided to take a taxi. By now it was around 9.15 pm and it was completely dark.
The taxi passed through the deserted roads for a long time. In between also came areas like mountains, sea shores and forests. The taxi entered the urban area after walking in the deserted places for about thirty minutes. Even here the roads were almost empty. At about 10:15 we arrived in the area of Vatican City where we had booked the service apartment.
Vijay had messaged the owner of the service apartment on WhatsApp using the airport's Wi-Fi that we had reached the airport and would take a taxi and reach the service apartment.
Silence on the streets
At this time it was half past one in our clocks because the clocks were showing Indian time. According to Italian time we landed in front of building number 7/133 in Via Gregoria at 10.15 pm. There was no man to be seen on the streets. Only the lights of the fast cars and buses were passing rapidly near us. We were very surprised that this city falls asleep so quickly. In India, till this time only villages are able to sleep, even small towns remain awake till this time. Whom to ask if we have landed at the right place! The taxi driver dropped us on the side of the road and left.
Meeting Miss Angela
On the balcony of the second floor of the apartment in front of which we landed, some Negro-looking young men and women were sitting and talking. We tried to talk to them but they could not understand us. Just then a very small car came and stopped near us. It was India's Nano car.
A tall woman of about 50 years got out of the car. She signaled to us from a distance and told us that I had come. Vijay told that this is the landlady whose service apartment we have booked. The lady came near us, shook hands with us, said welcome and apologized for being two minutes late. Our apartment was on the fourth floor. The apartment mistress assisted us with the lifting of the luggage, although we kept refusing to do so to Miss Angela. There was a very small lift inside which could hardly accommodate four people at once.
Miss Angela was, by the way, an Italian woman of fair-skinned tall and full-bodied. Her body was like that of American women and the look of her face was Indian. There was a smile and confidence on his face. She knew only Italian language but knew two or four words of English through which she could communicate with foreign guests. He told us about his house and the facilities available in it.
It was a luxurious flat with three dormitories, equipped with modern amenities like kitchen, bathroom, dining room etc. After showing the house, Angela took our passports scanned and asked for 20 Euro (1600 Indian Rupees) Municipal Tax of Vatican City and 87.5 Euro (7000 Indian Rupees) for electricity and water for the house for four days. Vijay had already paid the rent of the house online.
Instructions and Flying-Kiss
Miss Angela gave us two sets of keys to the service apartment. Each of them had a key which was found on the main door of the building. While leaving, he instructed Madhu and Bhanu not to hang their bags behind their sides. Hang it on the shoulder and keep it towards the stomach and never lie down more than ten o'clock in the night. Any accident can happen.
After this, looking at all of us, she threw a flying kiss and left, wishing us all the best for our stay in Italy. Seeing the happiness on his face while leaving, it was easy to guess that he was very happy to see us as his guest.
He had earned a lot of money from his guests. For staying for four nights, we had given about 65 thousand rupees for rent and about 1600 rupees for electricity and water. About 7000 rupees of municipality tax was different.
Pocket empty
We got 358 Euros from the airport for 500 dollars i.e. 35 thousand Indian Rupees. Of which 60 Euro was taken by the taxi driver and 107.50 Euro was taken by Miss Angela. Now we had only 190.5 euros left in our pockets. We felt as if our pockets were empty. Not even a day had passed in Rome yet.
Poori and Pachkoota
As soon as Miss Angela left, we opened our luggage and first took out the food and ate it. Madhu and Bhanu had prepared puris and kair-kumti-sangri vegetables for tonight in Noida itself, which do not spoil for many days. So that you do not have to cook food as soon as you reach Italy. By the time we slept, it was twelve o'clock in the night by the giant clock near the main entrance of the house.
Biological Watch
It was only about an hour and a half after I slept that my eyes opened. I got up and saw the time, it was half past midnight on the wall clock. I was surprised when I woke up at this time, but when I calculated the Indian time, it made sense. It was five o'clock in India at this time. Although the body had only slept for two hours, it had automatically woken up at its usual time.
This 'biological watch' It is also strange, the time can be changed according to the other country in a clock tied in the hand, but that kind of adjustment cannot be done in one's own body. There, only the magic of nature works. The body was used to living in India, even though it had moved to Rome, but its biological watch was still running according to the clocks of India. I retired from the toilet and went to sleep again. I saw that Madhu has also woken up. He has a habit of getting up earlier than me every day.
Musical Hooters
I had just caught my eye that a loud sound coming from the road broke my sleep again. It was a mixed sound of a musical siren and a hooter. I guessed that this melodious musical sound was coming from a nearby chapel or church. Maybe coming from St. Peter's Church in the Vatican.
That too was only one kilometer away from this place. Then a thought came to mind that probably in Italy police cars would have played this type of hooter. It is possible that there is a fire somewhere and the fire fighting vehicle is playing such a hooter! The next day when we heard this type of hooter again on the road, it came to know that in Italy this type of hooter plays ambulance.
I liked its sound. Hearing this did not spoil the mind, whereas in India, the hooters of ambulance vehicles fill the ears of the listener with horror. Even the patient lying inside the ambulance gets frightened by that sound. In the midst of this voice, he feels his illness manifold.