Epilogue – Euro 2008

My first trip across Europe was fulfilling to say the very least, and these days when I find myself back in my country in perfect bliss amongst family and old friends, my restless mind chooses to enquire the reasons why I had a great time travelling across Europe. It doesn’t take me too long to figure it out. Wherever I went, I experienced the sights and sounds of places not through the senses of a detached tourist, but rather through the understanding of an insider. Friends, in Paris, in Athens made sure I felt at home and that made all the difference. Their exuberance when describing their countries, their cultures, their cuisines….helped one understand and appreciate what one saw a whole lot better.
My dear friends, I could travel around the world and see the most marvellous sights, but without you they would just remain pictures on a digital camera.
You turn them into memories.

The day we conquered Paros

The 6th of June 2008, a description of this day in my life deserves a separate post. Most days we wake up and go through the motions of life without wondering what the day would bring, without wondering about the new experiences that would befall us. Some days are great and some days not so. And on rare occasions you get a perfect day, the 6th of June was one such day.

We didn’t have a plan, the plan was not to have one. And yet the day involved experiences that could have been planned, but the joy lay in the day’s events unfolding itself without a guiding action, each moment as good as the previous. I won’t delve into details, but the day involved a car and five individuals, each one willing to travel down the unknown road armed with nothing but a good spirit, great camaraderie and an infectious enthusiasm to explore. We drove all around the island…. there were beaches, there were coves, there was a traditional Greek church, there was a small bar on top of a cliff, there was a sunset at the port, there was a Sicilian house…..and there was us.

“I feel like a child”, said one. It couldn’t be truer. The trouble with adulthood is responsibility, courses of action demanded by our environment, and the worries that ride with it. If for a short time span we are able to disconnect and enjoy life for what it is we become children….and childhood is sweet.

Greece

Jun 2, the four of us at the Milan airport, where 4, Pappu and I found ourselves cursing Guanxi for the umpteenth time for missing out on the Greek leg of this trip. Number 4 began his obsession with Sparta the minute he heard the air hostess greet us in Greek, the next one week we would be travelling with an Indian mistaking himself for a Spartan from the era of Leonidas, a case of dual identity one could say.

We landed in Alexander’s country fairly late in the afternoon… the weather and the people showed a lot of promise. In some time we met up with our friend Xara at Kifisia who took us to the first authentic Greek restaurant I’d ever been to. It didn’t take us long to decide to have a souvlaki and upon running a quick cost-benefit analysis in our heads, it took us even lesser time to figure that the souvlaki would figure predominantly in our diets for the next 7 days. We met Aliki later in the day , who took us to a pleasant café where we had our first taste of Raki. No. 4 did get a little carried away and played holi with it, toppling it all over Aliki’s bag. We did beat him up later. That the Greeks are a very hospitable people became evident that very night itself, when Aliki’s mum laid out beds in the living room for us to crash. In the wee hours of the next morning, with a charming smile Mrs. Velliou made us some Greek coffee and we were off to Paros. The next 5 days would be a journey through tranquillity.

All we did at Paros can be summed in the following steps
• Wake up late
• Have a light breakfast
• Head to a beach, each day a different one
• Swim
• Return in the evening and take a shower
• Head into town for some great food
• Hit the clubs
• Hit the sack just before sunrise

When I look at these bullet points I know it does no justice to Paros or to the time we spent there. But that is the truth, we did nothing more and nothing less. And maybe there lies the beauty of the time we spent at Paros and the state of mind all of us were in, it is next to impossible to describe in words.

Milan

The flight to Milan was uneventful, compared to the one to Paris where we stood for a while in a queue to board the flight, only to be told by the flight attendant checking our tickets that the flight we were about to board was headed to Amsterdam and not Paris. Our landing at Milan was not completely uneventful though. We arrived quite late and it being a Saturday night, it was only expected that our chances of getting the right direction to our hotel would be fairly diminished. Hence, the drunkards that very gladly did give us directions, had us hopping onto a bus which took us to a very shady part of town. The minute we stepped of the bus, we knew we were in unsafe territory. There were crooks and pimps hanging by the corner, waiting for the unsuspecting tourist to land their way. The four of us looked like a prize catch for them. I could see it in their eyes. However before any of them could move in for the kill, we hailed the first taxi we saw, threw in our luggage and made our way to Lorenteggio. A bottle of Champagne was popped around 3 in the morning in our hotel, celebrating our safe arrival. Champagne done and with nothing better left to do, the three of us ganged up on Number 4 and gave him a beating he’d probably left long behind in his childhood.
We walked around Milan the next day, the highlight in tourist attractions being the Duomo di Milano, the second largest Gothic cathedral in the world. However the better part of the day was spent lazily at a road side café, where we enjoyed our beers and watched happy women shopping and their not-so-happy men tagging along. A long while later Number 4 began crying for ice-cream, so we bought him his ice-cream (a few blows that he didn’t bargain for came for free) and headed back to Lorenteggio. Milan was short and sweet.

Paris

The previous day had been spent cycling around Cambridge and punting along the River Cam. Through all the study group discussions that had occurred over the past 2 months a subject which arose constantly between brainstorming sessions and between the 4 of us (No. 4, Pappu, Guanxi and me) was the Euro trip. The time was finally here, Cambridge was the trailer.
We landed in Charles de Gaulle late at night. Number 4 wasted no time in flipping things, this time he inserted his tube ticket in the wrong slot and the machine displayed no inclination to return it. 2 hours and a few rides on the tube later, we found ourselves in the beautiful flat of Agnes overlooking a busy junction at Voltaire. We had our first view of the Eiffel tower in the distance from her balcony, its revolving beacon indicating a presence that was not completely lifeless……..we would see it burst into life the next night. Considering it was late in the night, and not wishing to trouble Terry and Agnes, we had resigned ourselves to having a quiet night and begin taking in the sights of Paris from the next morning. But to our pleasant surprise, our wonderful hosts and friends (as they would prove to be in the next 2 days) took us to the streets of Paris within the hour which saw us visiting more than a few bars, including my first visit to a gay bar, albeit an almost empty one. The 2 week Euro party kicked off that night!
The next day, 30 May 2008, started at 5 am for me. I got into bed then. More than a few hours later, we set off to see Paris in all her grandeur, the sun supporting our endeavour. The Notre Dame, the river Seine and the Eiffel tower greeted us in the warm sunlight and the running stream of information provided by Agnes helped us understand the history of the city better. The day progressed, we picked Agnes’ son Sousou from school and proceeded to the centrepompidou. At a nice restaurant at the topmost floor, I had my first taste of foie gras and I must say I did enjoy it. After a round of free hugs with some random strangers we moved to the Louvre and then to the gardens around the Champs-Elysées. We had run out of daylight by then, but the most spectacular sight of Paris still awaited us. Soon we were on a cab headed towards the Eiffel tower. As we were driving, I could see the tower rising in the distance well lit, however all of a sudden an array of flashing lights started sparkling like diamonds all over the structure. The Eiffel tower, she glittered!
The next day, we woke up late, had a nice brunch at a pleasant café and before we realised we were bidding adieu to our friends Agnes and Terry. By late noon we were on a bus headed to Beauvais, to catch our next flight to Milan.