Some days are boring, some good and some extremely exhilarating. So much so that you have to pick amongst your plans and do away with some of them simply because you do not have time to go over everything as you wanted. Somewhat similar happened with me this weekend when I was invited by five of my colleagues/friends to visit them this particular weekend itself!!!!! Since it was impossible for me to commit to all of them, I stuck with the one I committed myself at first – Rainer. One more reason why I chose Rainer was that I was invited by my friend Manfred too, who incidentally lives a stone’s throw away from Rainer’s house. Hence I was, in a way, able to kill two birds with one stone.
On Saturday morning after having my breakfast, I drove around 180 kms to pay Manfred a visit. I reached Wiesmoor(a small city in north Germany) at around 11’O clock. Surprisingly Manfred and his family were waiting to have breakfast together with me even though I had asked them not to wait. I felt quite embarrassed for letting them starving for so long. Anyhow, after more than a satisfying second-round breakfast, we drove some 100 kms to meet another colleague of mine. After meeting him we came back and strolled across river ‘Ems’ for quite a while. Manfred then showed me all the serenity, beauty, and calmness, East Frisian part of Germany has to offer. At around 8 pm we went back to his house and enjoyed grilling while it was drizzling outside. The delicious dinner was a multi-coursed meal and went on till 11pm. After that we watched some TV and then eventually hit the sack at around 1’O clock in the morning. Next day after a wonderful breakfast, I bid goodbye and went on to meet Rainer. Here also I had a great time. Later in the afternoon I started my return journey with some unforgettable sweet memories.

I hate Italy. Oh… sorry. I forgot you don’t know that I am again in Italy. Perhaps that also explains why I am writing after such a long gap (internet is certainly not in Italy’s top-most concerns). Anyhow, if I tell you about the misadventures I went through today, you will certainly accede to my viewpoints about Italy too.
It started today quite early in the morning. The hotel breakfast service was not available for some reason. So without coffee or breakfast we went to work hoping to get something from the vending machine. Not a bad idea but it turned out to be a little costly affair. The display on the vending machine stated that it had no change. Not bothering about return change, we inserted money and pressed respective buttons to get our product. Nothing wrong until now nor am I worried about those few cents the machine didn’t return. What surprised me although is that instead of showing the left amount still in the vending machine for the next user so that he/she may use that leftover credit, it devoured that within a minute if no button is pressed and shows zero credit. Nice Italian job. Anyway, I waited for the lunch but since we were quite busy we thought of forgoing lunch for a superb dinner in one of the finest restaurants in town. So I waited desperately for dinnertime. At exactly 8:30 pm we were sitting outside a good restaurant. The table was set with cutlery wrapped in a nice silk serviette. We went through the menu and were ready to order but nobody came to take our order for almost half an hour. We decided not to wait anymore and instead drove out for another restaurant. That was also not so good an idea for not only were most of the restaurants closed for reason only God knows better, the ones that were open had waiting times of almost thirty minutes. We even drove to the next city to find something but in vain. Eventually my hunger surpassed my threshold and I decided to go back to that restaurant from where we left in the first place. My colleague decided otherwise and went to sleep without having anything the whole day. I proceeded to the restaurant. The waitress apologized for ignoring us and quickly noted down my choice. The manager came as well and apologized with a promise of charging only 50% of the total amount. I was surprised at their gesture and hospitability. But this opinion was supposed to change soon. When I finished and asked for the bill, I noticed that they are charging the indicated price (plus 3,5 euros for cutlery!!!). When I reminded him of his promise of waving off 50% he grimaced and said that he meant that if I had to wait for another half hour, he would charge half the price. I did not argue, cleared the bill, and swore that I would rather die of hunger than visit this restaurant. Incidentally, the scarmozza cheese pizza that I ordered didn’t taste as well in spite of being so hungry. It was not my day after all. Anyway, I know this bitterness will fade soon enough but this incident is going to haunt me every time I am in Italy.

This is the German translation for the film: Kaho naa... pyaar hai. Yesterday while I was surfing the TV channel I saw this film being aired – in German language with German captions during the songs. Its not the first time that a Hindi film has been broadcast here in Germany but it’s the frequency with which it’s gaining popularity that leaves me perplexed. More so even with the fact that whenever I ask any of my colleagues about their opinion about Indian movies, they just find it too clichéd and hackneyed with all that dancing and singing around the trees. Then the question arises: who watches these films for them to be increasingly popular in Europe so much so that in some video stores you even have a Bollywood section!! Probably the older generation or women folk. Nonetheless, a good news for Bollywood.
But due to the amazing victory of Germany over Argentina in the WC, I think this film had only few takers. Given the enthusiasm and exuberance of Germans I doubt if anybody watched this film without being interrupted by their near and dear ones to join the celebrations. I, on the other hand, am not so great a football fan and therefore watched the movie in my hotel room until I felt asleep.