EUROPE TRI-NATION TOUR,  DAY# 4 & 5

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Dear Friends,

    Here's an update on the European Tour by Veterans of NFMC, wonderfully narrated by Cdr Manjul Mayank, received on Email from Italy... Regards Raj

DAY FOUR

1.     After a very eventful day three, today turned out to be comparably a much better day though not ideal. We are four days into the tour but punctuality is something which is still eluding us. And as a result precious tour time is being lost. But things are settling in and we are optimistic that we will be able to make maximum utilization of time and will be able to cover the planned schedule in days to come.

2.     The wake-up time today was as usual 0630 h. The veterans had a very good and comfortable sleep in the night in their cosy rooms. The breakfast time was 0800 – 0900 h and veterans and ladies were ready after a wholesome breakfast. The luggage was already brought down prior to breakfast and lined up in the lobby. Till the arrival of the bus, the members utilized the time for some photo session in the hotel lobby area. Before the arrival of the bus, on popular demand of ladies, we explored the possibility of conducting the city tour of Florence which we missed yesterday afternoon. Alas, it turned out that permission of the city officials has to be taken in advance and 350 Euro fee has to be deposited for which we had no time. So with great disappointment decision was arrived at to proceed to Pisa directly. The desire of visiting the statue of David could not be realised.

3.     Finally, after loading the luggage the members embarked and the bus headed for Leaning Tower of Pisa, another one of the seven wonders of the world. The route to Pisa was absolutely breathtaking with dozens of vineyards, nurseries and large sunflower gardens. The area north of Florence is mainly an agricultural area and hence the beauty en route.

4.     We reached Pisa at about 1115 h.  After disembarkation, the tour guide briefed us about the safety measures to be followed as the area is famous for petty thieves of African nationality. He also briefed us that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built in 1173 AD and it took 200 years to construct it. A total of five architects were changed to progress the construction of the structure and to prevent its leaning. But due to the soft soil, the leaning progressively increased with height.  Later the Centre of Gravity of the structure was strengthened and it was then declared to be a safe structure.

5.     After a 1.25 Km walk, we reached about 1145 h and the guide advised mustering back at 1300 h after visiting the monument and also some shopping by the ladies. The tower is certainly a breathtaking structure and all the members did extensive photo sessions in various poses with their spouses. The lush green gardens all around and the two Churches viz St Peters Church and Baptist Church also added to the beauty of the site.

6.     We all mustered back at 1315 h and followed the guide to the restaurant Austria di Domo for lunch with the local cuisine as the menu. Just as we settled for lunch Cdr Reddy and Mr Vikram joined us back from Rome after collecting the cash left behind. This brought all-round cheer amongst and Cdr Reddy was king enough to treat us all to beer with lunch. It was the general opinion of the ladies, especially vegetarian ladies, that the menu is getting very repetitive and that they were not enjoying it. The team leader decided to explore the possibility of some change in the menu if possible.

7.     We were done with lunch at 1450 h and started for the bus. It took a record-breaking 50 minutes to cover a distance of 1.25 Km to the bus. The reason was obvious. We reached the bus at 1540 h and started for Padova at 1545 h. Enroute Padova the view was again beautiful all along and we passed through three long tunnels, the first and the longest being over 10 Km. long. All members after having a good fill during lunch went off to well-deserved sleep for a couple of hours, the journey being of four hours.

8.     Halfway through to Padova at 1740 h we stopped at Auto Grill for a TWENTY minutes break which got extended to FIFTY minutes. We finally departed for our last leg of the bus journey at 1830 h. The Team Leader fully charged up now after a very sound nap in the front row took out his favourite karaoke speaker and treated us to a lovely Hindi number ‘Ye Nayan Dare Dare, Ye Jaam Bhare Bhare’. A ten minutes antakshri session followed. This opened the flood gates and many members displayed their talent but the pick of their day was Mrs Mukti Ghosh Madam who treated us with two very melodious numbers. ‘Raina Beet Jaye’ being one of them. By this time, we had reached our restaurant Gandhi Two for Indian cuisine dinner. The message was already conveyed in advance and before starting dinner ‘Cake Cutting Ceremony’ was held to celebrate the birthday of SOPA 2 Cmde Shyam Kaushal who turned 72 and Cdr BP Singh who turned 60 today. Thereafter we had a hearty delicious Indian dinner served with a lot of love and smile by Indian stewards. 

9.     We embarked our bus thereafter and headed for our hotel Crowne Plaza, Padova about 3 Km away. After unloading the luggage and collecting our room keys the members settled in their rooms quite happy that they won’t have to do ‘Patti Parade’ of packing again in the morning view stay at this hotel is of three days.

10.   The highlight of the day was the beer treat by Cdr Reddy, a song by team Leader and the two numbers by the very melodious Mrs Mukti Ghosh.  

11.   Just as we were getting ready to retire into our rooms came the sad news of the demise of our beloved ex-ForeignMinister Smt. Sushma Swaraj Ji. We all prayed for the departed soul to Rest In Peace. Om Shanti

DAY FIVE

1.         The accommodation at the hotel Crowne Plaza was lovely and the members had a very comfortable and relaxed good night sleep in their respective rooms. Like every other day, the hand's call was at 0630 h with instructions for all the members to finish their breakfast by 0900 h and be ready to board the bus thereafter. The members were duly ready by promulgated time. Some punctuality and responsibility seem to be slowly setting in amongst us as members have since realized that wasting time/delaying is our own loss. However today it was the driver who was 15 minutes late to get the bus resulting in we departing the hotel at 0945 h. This problem too should get sorted out by tomorrow.

2.     After departing Mr Vikram did a comprehensive briefing on today’s programme. He gave high hopes to a desperate complaint of most lady members to do something about the repetitive lunch by assuring that he is making efforts to provide some changes in menu and exploring the possibility of South Indian Menu. This brought cheers on the faces of most of the members and we hoped with fingers crossed that his efforts succeed. What happened we will discuss at lunchtime.

3.     We headed straight to Tronchetto Island in Venice which was 45 minutes’ drive away. The state of Venice consists of 118 islands in the Adriatic Sea. It has two railway stations. We reached Venice Toll Plaza at 1030 h and after two minutes of formalities we headed to parking slot in Tronchetto Island. Tronchetto Island is a huge parking slot for all vehicles as from here on it is only water taxis and ferries for transportation. After disembarking the bus, we headed straight to ferry point. The full group embarked the chartered ferry at 1050 h and cast off at 1103 H for San Marco Island, the main island of Venice and frequented most by the tourists.

4.     We arrived at the jetty at San Marco Island at 1135 h and headed straight San Marco Square following the flag of our tour guide Sunny. The square was full of hustle and bustle of tourist activity and being tourist was heavily crowded.  At the square Sunny briefed us about the Island including St Basilica Church, Lighthouse, Clock Tower and the erstwhile King’s Palace which is a museum now. Apart from this, the place has a lot of eating joints in the open square with live music playing. The tourists were thoroughly enjoying the romantic city to the fullest true to its image.

5.     After some INDEX walk around the Island, we visited the Vecchia Murano Glass Blowing Factory where the owner gave us a briefing and live demonstration of artefacts being prepared of glass. The skill and expertise of the expert craftsman were indeed worth applauding considering the ease and speed he was handling red hot glass. The members also did some shopping in the showroom. We returned to the square at 1305 h and the guide gave us time till 1350 h for members to do independent romancing in the romantic city. The members grabbed the opportunity with both hands and did what the city expects the tourists to do.

6.     We mustered back at 1350 promptly and headed for lunch at Ristorante Trovatore, about 200 metres from the main square. Well, after settling the members were very anxious what the lunch menu is going to be. But alas came to the Italiano dish from the galley and the faces of all the members dropped. The efforts of Mr Vikram and team did not succeed in changing the menu at this late stage. However, the menu was different and turned out to be very tasty and much better than the previous days. After a hearty lunch, we exited the restaurant at 1505 h and headed straight to the Gandola jetties. Due to heavy rush, we had a waiting time of 15 minutes which the members happily utilized in photo session alongside the scenic beauty of the Adriatic Sea. The atmosphere amongst the members was abuzz with the excitement of the dream of sailing in the narrow lanes of Venice in a Gandola was going to become a reality. The much-awaited Gandola ride fructified at 1600 h for 45 minutes. The final experience of Gandola ride was as exciting and real as was the dream all along. The forty-five minutes ride in the by lanes of Venice passed like a dream. After a very extensive photo session, very reluctantly the members got out of the Gandola and headed to the main square for another one hour of romancing in the city of romance.

7.     At 1750 h we mustered again at the main square entrance and headed to the ferry jetty for the return trip to the bus. Just at this moment Cdr BP Singh complained of high fever and shivering. Surg Cdr Patra prescribed some Indian medicines but the same was not available in the Island. Cdr Rawat then did some enquiry with local shopkeepers and found the location of a pharmacy. However, the attendant there refused to entertain saying the prescription needs to be by an Italian doctor. Cdr Rawat then left Cdr BP Singh there to rest and headed alone to some other pharmacy with the prescription. The next shopkeeper needed some convincing before agreeing to give some medicines equivalent to the prescription after referring the computer. Finally, both arrived at the jetty at 1825 h.

 8.    We arrived the Tronchetto Parking lot at 1855 h and after a group photograph we embarked the bus and headed for Restoranto Indiano Maharani in Mestre Town for Indian dinner. Mr Vikram briefed of tomorrow’s programme enroute.Cdr BP Singh continued to be unwell and the two doctors looked after him.

9.     The dinner at Maharani was very tasty and very Indian and all the members thoroughly enjoyed. It also was Mrs Swarn Lata Madams birthday today and her grandson rang up Mrs Rupali, the CEO of Traveledge to organize a small celebration on his behalf and as it was announced by Mrs Rupali it brought tears in the eyes of Mrs Swarn Lata Madam. A very touching moment indeed. The dinner was followed by a cake-cutting ceremony along with a happy birthday song by all.

10.   We left the restaurant after dinner at 2045h  and returned to the hotel for a good night sleep with a wish that Cdr BP Singh recovers by the morning after medication and is fit to undertake the long journey to Zurich.

11.   The highlight of the day was the look on the faces of members when Italian menu was served during lunch contrary to the expectations of a South Indian Menu and the love and affection displayed by the grandson of Mrs Swarn Lata Madam and her reaction to this fine gesture. It was indeed a very emotional moment. She personally took efforts to distribute cake to many members and we all wished her a very long and healthy life in the years to come.