Rasa - Flavour of LifeMilan - Union
Rasamilan - Union in the flavour of life...what a nice name for this journey from Rasa to Milan.
Had a remarkable journey the other day ( 30th March 2009) ..started early in the morning from Rasa, a little mountain village near Locarno in the Swiss Alps..don't know how it got this name.. don't suppose it comes from the Sanskrit Rasa which means the flavour of life..
Rasa was all mist and snow during the three days I had been there conducting an intensive residential Dhrupad workshop, yet bad weather in the mountains can be spectacular and aweinspiring. The snow was melting with the approach of spring, but there was lots of it still to go. The view from the cable car as we descended to the little station of Verdasio in the valley was breathtaking ,with the stream below full of swirling green water from the melting snow.
Below in the valley in Bellinzona it was already spring with the trees sprouting their first leaves and the first dandelions appearing between pavement stones.
Had more than an hour there so treated myself to cutlets with Roesti -the Swiss staple with grated potatoes, cheese and onions, and a coffee. It was not quite the best Roesti I have tasted, but was good for the price. The service was wonderful and in French. The bill was 17 Swiss francs. I wanted to give 18.50 but suddenly couln't remember what that is in French so said 'S'il vous plait, prenez vingt francs' The waitress was delighted with the 3 franc tip and complimented me on my excellent French :)). 
The stylish train of the Italian railways took me past the Lago Majore, the beautiful lake on the Swiss Italian border to Milano. The only thing that this train had in common with trains back home in India was an intermittent overpowering stink of indeterminate origin. On the way the Italian customs were very friendly and insisted on opening my instrument case..I was too distracted to take a picture.
My two fellow passengers seemed very raw men "from Sicily" -they said...could have easily appeared as gun toting extras with Marlon Brando. On the other side was a very stylish old Italian woman wearing pearls, with a huge stylish crocodile leather bag with gold plated embellishments and a huge handle that protruded out into every picture I took from the window. She seemed very distracted and annoyed with my picture taking and gave me icy looks :). I guess she realised I was as much interested in her as in the view outside and also sneaked a few shots of her :)). She was unbelievably stylish, icy and aloof..when the Sicilians came in she said something curtly to them which sent them running to sit next to me instead of her!!!
When the train finally reached Milano I walked out into an amazing Roman nightmare of eagles, winged beasts and stern looking helmeted antiquarian images..all terribly oversized in the midst of huge rows of pillars and gigantic halls..I dragged my tanpura and bag for half an hour through this impossibly impractical station called Milano Centrale trying to find the information counter and then just gave up. The gigantic columned halls reminded me of pictures of the now demolished Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
I went out and asked a group of Carabineri ( Italian Police) 'when was this built' .."1931" ..That confirmed my feeling ... I said .."oh so it was built by Mussolini"...yes said one of them and added "Great Man!!" I burst out laughing thinking this was Italian humour and then realised he was dead serious..but being a policeman I guess he didn't have the kind of options with me that a Neo Fascist in Berlusconi's Italy would have had :).
Boarding the bus to get to the airport I caught sight of what must be a very rare species in Europe.. a porter with a trolley trying to get a group of Korean tourists into entrusting him with their wheeled!! luggage..he had no success but tourists must be his main customers. From his demeanour and appearance he could have been from one of the post war Neo Realist Italian classics.. like Bicycle Thieves. It warmed my heart to see him outside Mussolini's Monsterpiece.
I reached the airport to see a group of Irish soccer? fans doing a boistrous imitation of Pavarotti to the amusement of all the Italians. People were filming and clicking away furiously and I gladly joined.
There was more in store for me at the airport. Ryanair ( recommended strictly as the last option) wanted to charge me 40 Euros more for my instrument but would accept only credit or debit card. A final rush to find a coin operated internet booth to generate a virtual credit card from my bank account completed the experiences of the evening. I wanted one more souvenir from Milan for my blog ... the incredible assortment of stylish Italian bracelets and other accessories on the hands of the girl at the check in counter ... but was not quick and sneaky enough with my mobile camera and she took back her hands and refused to be photographed when I requested her!!!
Below in the valley in Bellinzona it was already spring with the trees sprouting their first leaves and the first dandelions appearing between pavement stones.
Had more than an hour there so treated myself to cutlets with Roesti -the Swiss staple with grated potatoes, cheese and onions, and a coffee. It was not quite the best Roesti I have tasted, but was good for the price. The service was wonderful and in French. The bill was 17 Swiss francs. I wanted to give 18.50 but suddenly couln't remember what that is in French so said 'S'il vous plait, prenez vingt francs' The waitress was delighted with the 3 franc tip and complimented me on my excellent French :)). 
The stylish train of the Italian railways took me past the Lago Majore, the beautiful lake on the Swiss Italian border to Milano. The only thing that this train had in common with trains back home in India was an intermittent overpowering stink of indeterminate origin. On the way the Italian customs were very friendly and insisted on opening my instrument case..I was too distracted to take a picture.
My two fellow passengers seemed very raw men "from Sicily" -they said...could have easily appeared as gun toting extras with Marlon Brando. On the other side was a very stylish old Italian woman wearing pearls, with a huge stylish crocodile leather bag with gold plated embellishments and a huge handle that protruded out into every picture I took from the window. She seemed very distracted and annoyed with my picture taking and gave me icy looks :). I guess she realised I was as much interested in her as in the view outside and also sneaked a few shots of her :)). She was unbelievably stylish, icy and aloof..when the Sicilians came in she said something curtly to them which sent them running to sit next to me instead of her!!!
When the train finally reached Milano I walked out into an amazing Roman nightmare of eagles, winged beasts and stern looking helmeted antiquarian images..all terribly oversized in the midst of huge rows of pillars and gigantic halls..I dragged my tanpura and bag for half an hour through this impossibly impractical station called Milano Centrale trying to find the information counter and then just gave up. The gigantic columned halls reminded me of pictures of the now demolished Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
I went out and asked a group of Carabineri ( Italian Police) 'when was this built' .."1931" ..That confirmed my feeling ... I said .."oh so it was built by Mussolini"...yes said one of them and added "Great Man!!" I burst out laughing thinking this was Italian humour and then realised he was dead serious..but being a policeman I guess he didn't have the kind of options with me that a Neo Fascist in Berlusconi's Italy would have had :).
Boarding the bus to get to the airport I caught sight of what must be a very rare species in Europe.. a porter with a trolley trying to get a group of Korean tourists into entrusting him with their wheeled!! luggage..he had no success but tourists must be his main customers. From his demeanour and appearance he could have been from one of the post war Neo Realist Italian classics.. like Bicycle Thieves. It warmed my heart to see him outside Mussolini's Monsterpiece.
I reached the airport to see a group of Irish soccer? fans doing a boistrous imitation of Pavarotti to the amusement of all the Italians. People were filming and clicking away furiously and I gladly joined.
There was more in store for me at the airport. Ryanair ( recommended strictly as the last option) wanted to charge me 40 Euros more for my instrument but would accept only credit or debit card. A final rush to find a coin operated internet booth to generate a virtual credit card from my bank account completed the experiences of the evening. I wanted one more souvenir from Milan for my blog ... the incredible assortment of stylish Italian bracelets and other accessories on the hands of the girl at the check in counter ... but was not quick and sneaky enough with my mobile camera and she took back her hands and refused to be photographed when I requested her!!!
