Trip to Italy

Italy is a wonderful country. We went there in May and the weather was perfect, nice & sunny. We visited Venice, Rome and Milan. We traveled by Train i.e. Trenitalia. Comfortable trains, extremely helpful Customer service staff and a great journey.

Venezia– 8.5.13 to 10-5-13

Our first stop was Venice or Venezia as the locals call it. We reached St.Lucia train station in the afternoon. The moment you come out of the station you see water everywhere. It is an amazing scene with boats and ferries. You feel like sitting and enjoying the scenic beauty. The transport to travel is by water buses i.e. Vaporettas. There are also land buses for the land areas of Mestre and Campalto.

We were staying in Antony Hotel in Campalto so had to travel by Land Bus to and fro our Hotel. Frankly it was bit far though cheap. I would recommend to stay in Venice itself may be in a smaller hotel as Venice is extremely safe. Other good option is to stay in the nearby Island Lido where many Vaporettas go and is also economical. We bought a combo Land and Water Bus ticket for EUR 25 pp. Venice is bit expensive for travelling and shopping as compared to Rome.

We went straight to our hotel by Bus no. 5 Aerobus which took 20 Mins. Our hotel was far but decent in services and had a great breakfast facility. We came back to the city and took the vaporetta no. 1 which covers the main sights in Venice. If you get a corner outside seat in the vaporetta it is an awesome experience and you can take a whole city tour in it. 

We saw the Rialto Bridge and the Rialto Market. It is a really nice place with great places to eat and shop. We went inside the inner lanes and actually got lost. There were lots of tourists like us doing the same with maps in their hands trying to find the way. We ate Gelato, Italian ice-cream on way to finding San Marks Square.

From the inner lanes we came out to San Marks square the main square of Venice. Here is the famous St. Marks Basilica, Church and the Bell Tower. The square is very pretty and full of pigeons who are really friendly and you can feed them anything from your hands. The view from the square is lovely and you can see the famous Gandolas everywhere.

Gandolas are boats which will go to the inner lanes of Venice and you can have a slow, nice ride in them. They are expensive for a ride of 35-40 mins costing 80 EUR. But you can share the ride with maximum 6 people in one Gandola. It is a onetime experience as this is the only way you can ride in the inner lanes of Venice.

After the ride we checked out shops and did some window shopping. We decided to eat in Rialto as the places looked great. We ate the yummiest spaghetti in red sauce with cheese, chicken, red wine and fruits. The view at night from Rialto Bridge is breath taking. We went back to St. Marks Square to check it at night and then caught the vaporetta back to the bus station. The bus frequencies reduce at night and we had to wait some time before ours came to go to our hotel.

Next day we had the lavish breakfast at our Hotel which was toast, egg, ham, croissant, cakes, cheese, juice, fresh fruits, yogurt and coffee/tea. After that we caught our Bus to the main city. We planned to check Murano Island for its famous glass and Burano Island famous for its lace factory today.

Journey to Murano Island was long but very pretty. After reaching there we saw all the shops selling glass items like jewellery, show pieces, key chains, etc. We searched for the glass factory but most of them are closed for tourists. On our way out from Murano going to Burano we saw one factory making the glass. Its blown first nicely and then made into different shapes. There were lots of nice places to eat. We chose one and sat outside for the great view. We ate amazing thin crust Ham Pizza. We also did some shopping of jewellery as they were really pretty though bit expensive. We caught the boat for Burano Island.

Burano is a much smaller greener island. It has lots of shops selling different clothing items with lace. We had our favorite Gelato there as the weather was really hot. Burano is also famous for its different colorful house. Each house is colored differently in green, red, yellow, orange etc. It looks very pretty if you stroll inside. In some time we headed back and caught the vaporetta for San Marks Square.

On reaching San Marks square our aim was to do some shopping before leaving the next morning for Rome. There are lots of small shops around San Marks and at the square. You need to check the prices everywhere and compare it with the quality. We found a shop little further to the square which was reasonably priced with great quality t-shirts. We bought souvenirs from a shop in the square only like famous Gandola small boat, playing cards, magnets etc. Also bought Jackets from the square. We had dinner in a slightly overpriced place inside the square. 

I loved this laid back city full of water and islands. Will surely come back to ride the vaporettas again.

ROMA – 10.5.13 to 12.5.13

We caught our trenitalia train from St. Lucia Station for Rome the next day. The Train journey was great as usually, took us 3 hours to reach. Romes station is much bigger and crowded. We went straight to the tourist office to know about the tickets and passes and were guided outside to the bus stand. You buy all tickets in Rome from small shops called Tabachis. We bought one way ticket for 1.5 EUR pp for our Hotel.

Every place in Rome is close by. We reached our Hotel in 15 Mins in Nomentana. Our hotel was Best Western Hotel Art Noba. It looked really pretty. Rooms were small but kept really well and had all facilities. The hotel staff was also really friendly and helpful. They explained to us all the bus routes for the famous monuments and also gave us the map. 

After we changed we headed out to cover Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Piazza Spanga. We went to Piazza Venezia from our hotel as that is the central Piazza from where everything is close by. There we saw an amazing huge monument of the Unknown Soldier – Altare Della Patria. It is the great landmark monument and looked lovely.

After this we went to see the Pantheon church which was also close by. It is very pretty and huge from outside with small fountains. Inside is the church with lot of tombs and prayer area where people were sitting. From here Piazza Navona is close by but we went for Trevi Fountain which is also not far.

Trevi fountains are pretty but full of tourist. It was so crowded that it’s difficult to take a picture. We threw coins in the fountain and made our wish at the Trevi Fountains.

After this we went to Spanish Steps which is at Piazza Spanga. They are really pretty & full of flowers. There are so many steps and people were sitting everywhere and clicking pictures. At the top most is another Famous church. It’s nice to sit on the steps and look down at all the crowd, the inner lanes and the mini buses. 

After this we roamed around the lanes near by, which had all the high end brands. We also went to see the Ferrari Showroom close by. 

We roamed around bit more and went to Piazza Navona for dinner. This is undoubtedly the most beautiful and lively square in Rome. It has some beautiful fountains and lots places to eat. All around the square you ll see artist doing spray painting and making some wonderful creations which they sell for EUR 10 pp. We went to eat in the inner lanes as it’s always cheaper and less crowded. We found lots of restaurants inside calling us as the competition was high. We went to the third one and sat in a nice place outside.  Food was really delicious. Afterwards we ate Gelato and headed back to our Hotel.

Next day we planned to cover old Rome i.e. Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum and also the Vatican City. We went straight to Venezia Square and from there to the old Rome part. The best thing to do to avoid the long lines at Colosseum is to buy your ticket at the Roman Forum as they have a combined ticket of EUR 12 pp.  We ate some snacks outside the Roman Forum in the line for the tickets. There are lots of small eating stalls all over selling pizzas, sandwiches etc.

Roman Forum is vast and really old. The interior part is closed but you can see mostly all the ruins. This is where ancient Rome started. After this you go to Palatine Hill which has a great view and a good walk to reach there. On the way you can have a sip of water from the fountains all over.

The Colosseum is huge. The moment you see it from outside you are awed by it. It is no doubt a Wonder of the World. We went inside and took a whole huge round of it and clicked lots of pictures. It truly is a great monument to see.

After this we went to the Vatican City. Every place in Rome is really close by. We took Bus 81 and across the bridge we were at the Vatican City. Vatican city is really pretty and also the best place to shop. The first thing you see is the big St Angelos Castle  From there you go straight to the St. Peters Basilica. It is really pretty and full of tourist crowd. 

St. Peters Basilica, the worlds most famous Church is indeed really pretty from outside and inside. You can see the gold engravings inside. .

After this we ate lunch in a small eatery of Pizza and Bruschetta. We went ahead for our souvenir shopping. There are loads of small shops out the church selling all kinds of things.  The further you go, the cheaper they become. We bought tee shirts, plates, monuments, jackets etc.

After this we walked back to Piazza Navona as found it was really close by. We roamed around there. Saw Campo De Fiori, another Piazza which is also quite famous. We decided to have dinner at the same place in Piazza Navona.  It indeed was a memorable trip to Rome. The lanes, piazzas and monuments of this place are hard to forget.

MILANO – 12.5.13

En route we saw Milan also. Duomo, one of worlds most famous church is in Milan. It indeed is very pretty with a different architecture. You can spot it from far away. After that we went to the Galleria which has all the high end brands mall. We also saw the Leonardo Square and the shopping area around it which has loads of eating places. This lane ended at a fountain outside the Castle which is a picturesque sight. 

Today I had my business exercise with Mr. Kammath and Mr. Aditya Athalye. The exercise began with selecting partners and getting into pairs of two. The whole class was divided into groups and given separate areas. The area allotted to me was Deccan. Some of the class had to go Aundh. My partner was Puneet Agrawal. The basic instructions given to us to be followed were –
Not to spend any money of our own for anything like travelling, food, etc.
Earn as much money as we can without giving the details of our college. Earn on our own esteem like our first salary.
Return by 6 pm and reach India Bulls Mega Store at Senapati Bapat Marg.
As soon as we got our job we had to send a sms to Mr. Prateek Singh, our senior about our job .
I left college at 9:30 am after getting the instructions. Puneet and myself after leaving college immediately started looking for some kind of lift to reach Deccan. After some time and after some cars going by we finally got “the lift” by Mr. Mallik a Civil Engineer at Kolte Patil Developer and Construction company Pvt. Ltd. We were dropped at FC road where our journey began to the real world.
I, being not from Pune was not very familiar with roads but Puneet was, so that was a great help. Now I ran from pillar to post searching for my job. I went to many places starting of by Ims Coaching centre, Times of India, Vaishali and Roopali the restaurants, British Library, cafe coffee day, the mobile store, Oriental bank Of Commerce, Barista, etc. Now I know why breakfast was so important because i had to run from one point to another in search of my job.
The basic problem I was facing was that everywhere they were asking about my college which I could not tell. No one was willing to hire people for a single day. Everyone wanted to know why I wanted the job for a day and questions were bombarded everywhere.
While searching for the job I met Mr. Abhishek Aggarwal at FC road who over heard our conversation and got to know I wanted a job badly. So, he offered us to come to ICICI Lombard where we might get our job. Finally I got my job at icici Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. at Sohrab hall at 12:30.
ICICI Lombard is a huge general insurance company with many people working and slogging it out. I saw many people working on computers, answering calls, dealing with pestering clients, collecting data etc. Puneet and myself spoke to Mr. Aggarwal over there who then told us to meet the HR manager Jas Simrit Dhindsa. I told here I needed a job for today and on the recommendation of Mr. Abhishek she gave me the job. She also found me very confident and having good communication skills. So I was given the job of Data Calling.
My job was basically to call clients and convince them to buy general, motor or health insurance. A marketing job testing my patience and my communication skills. I was given the data of client including his name, address, phone number and car model. I was given a reliance phone through which I made the calls and I sat in their training room.
It was a good experience as I learned how to deal with people and how to convince them. I had to call people showing I am an ICICI executive selling the best insurance scheme. Some customers were rude, some genuinely interested and some had insurance from other companies. I called 120 customers from which I was able to convince 10. I told them ICICI would get back to them and gave their details to Mr Abhishek at the end.
I realised how difficult it is to actually clinch deals in the corporate world. Customers today have a huge variety to choose from and it is really difficult to convince them about your product. More over I had to be really patient with people who got rude and were least interested in buying insurance.
By the end of it I gave my feedback to Mr Abhishek who appreciated my work a lot. He thought I did a great job and added value to their company. After this I met the HR manager who also appreciated my work.
The best part of my first working experience was obviously the salary. Puneet and myself together got a cheque of Rs. 400 for our sincere efforts and genuine hard work.
We left by 5 30 for Indiabulls by taking another lift which was the only way to commute and reach the place by 6. There I got to know about how everyone else had done their business exercise. Then I again took two more lifts to reach college and that was the end to the most memorable business exercise.
Overall it was the best exposure that I have got till now in SIMS. It gave me in depth knowledge about the corporate world and how hard we have to work to earn money. It was also a new experience to work in a team and co ordinate things accordingly.
The most important things I learnt today –
The pride in earning my first salary
How difficult it is to get a job
The importance of good communication Skills
How to be persuasive with a customer
Maintain your cool with a customer
Work as a team
Be passionate in whatever you do
It was an exhilarating experience, one of my best days in SIMS, I realised my potential and my ability to reach out to people.
I also realised the value of hard work