A day after my birthday, on the 6th of October 2023, Hema told me that I was getting a surprise gift for my birthday. I was wondering what it was, given that she just bought me a DJI Mini 4 Pro drone a week before. She then went on and said that I was going to fly an airplane the next day. I thought she was kidding. It turned out that she was not. A month prior to my birthday, she had booked a flying experience at an airport 15minutes from our flat at Camberley. I was so excited and thrilled about it. Enjoy the video below.
After 8 years in Italy, I relocated to the UK along with my wife on the 3rd of April, 2023. I can tell you that there are many things that you must do as soon as you move to the UK. In this post I will share a comprehensive guide from personal experience. I will outline each task 1-by-1, to help you navigate the process of settling in the UK.
I am going to go through these items in the order of importance.
1. Collect your BRP
Everything starts with your BRP also known as Biometric residence permit. It is given to you if apply to stay in the UK for more than 6 months and it can be used to confirm you identity and your right to use public services or benefits. You need to collect it, usually at a post office of your choosing. It should be collected within 10 days of your arrival. We arrived on the 3rd of April and the very next day we collected our BRP’s at Guildford before moving to Camberley.
The next thing to do is to inform your council of your move-in to the new address. This is also typically done within the first 10 working days of your move. Sometime your housing or real-estate agent would have informed the council of your move immediately after signing your contract. But it is your responsibility to call them up and inform them of your arrival. They will register and inform you instructions of how you should start paying your council tax. You can choose to pay the entire years council tax or opt to pay them in installments every month by direct debits from your bank account or through their online portal. The amount of tax you will be paying depends on many factors like you council tax band for your apartment and your council itself.
The next thing to do is to inform your utility provider about your move-in. Again, they may also be informed beforehand by your housing agency, but it is important that you inform them personally and set up an account with them to start paying for utilities. Our apartment was registered with British Gas previously, so we registered with them. Once registered you are free to switch to other providers. This switch is typically free. Please make sure to read your terms and conditions before switching to your provider.
4. Inform South East Water
The next time in this list is to inform your water company or provider. Also, the water company may have been given heads-up about your move, it is your responsibility to set up an account and payments methods to start paying for your usage.
💡 Typically, the charges of your utilities are fixed monthly payments based on your average usage. Initially it could be high or low depending on how the usage was in the months or years prior to your moving. But this could change based on your current usage pattern. Don't be alarmed when you see that you have to pay for example 50 GBP within the first 10 days of your move. This will be used as a credit and will be deducted based on your usage.
💡 Another point it that you will have to setup direct debits for these payments, however you don't have a bank account yet. This is not a problem; you pay using a credit or debit card and set up a direct debit later once you have a bank account.
5. Bank Account
So the next logical thing to do is open a bank account. You have plenty of options like Barclays, LLoyds, HSBC, NatWest, Santander. The process of opening a bank account is pretty much the same for every bank. All you need it to choose a bank of your choice and then download their app. You can simply follow the instructions to prove your identity and provide address proof to initiate an application. You would typically be asked for your passport, BRP and one of the bills from your utility provider. Thankfully for me, one of our utilities company immediately generated our first bill and we used that to provide proof of our address. In 5 -10 working days your account will be opened and a week or so later you will receive your debit card PIN and followed by your debit card.
6. Register with GP – NHS
Now let’s focus on health. Most western countries provide health care for free, of course from the taxes you pay. This requires you to register with a doctor or a local hospital. Here in the UK, this is your GP or General Practitioner. This GP is like your family doctor and is the main point of contact for your healthcare.
Find out your nearest GP using https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp this link. Call them up and let them know that you would like to register with them or find their website and simply follow the instructions on how to join the practice. They usually have 3 parts to this registration.
Patient Details
Health questionnaire
online access.
Once you complete this successfully, you should receive within 5-10 working days your NHS number by post. Keep this safely for you reference. There is also a handy NHS app to find information regarding healthcare and to book your appointments. Since it is post-COVID, the NHS service will recommend you to get vaccinated. In case, you are already vaccinated, which I was, you can inform NHS of this and they will update their vaccination records. It is simply sending your vaccination records and identity proofs to an email. you can find more information in this link
National Insurance is like social security, and you need this to qualify for certain benefits and state pension. You can find information about this at https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance. This is something your employer will also ask you so that they can link their pensions to your records. You find information on how to apply here https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number. You will see that one of the requirements for applying NI is right-to-work. And if you entered the UK using a skilled worker visa or any other type of work visa, you can find proof of right to work from here https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work.
8. Sign up HMRC
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs is the UK’s tax, payments, and customs authority. They collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support. In order to manage your taxes and avail tax benefits, if you are eligible, you need to sign up for an account with the HMRC. I don’t know if it is mandatory, but I was suggested that I do sign up for an account with them, so I did.
9. Electoral Registration
I am not going to lecture on the importance of the right to vote, but it is important that you enroll yourself to vote in the local electoral register. You can find information about it here https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register. One other benefit that I found of being registered is the positive impact on your credit score. Although I have not noticed this yet, the banks themselves recommend that you enroll in the electoral register.
10. Provisional Driving License
If you are from a country that has an exchange agreement with the UK for converting to British driving license, well and good. You can convert to a British driver’s license. You can find information about it here https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-driving-licence. If you are like me, then you have to pass the driving test and get a British driving license. The first step is to apply for a provisional driving license. You need this to take driving lessons and also for registering for the theory and practical exam for the license. You can apply your provisional driving license from here https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence
After you apply for it, you will receive a letter in some days with a prefilled application and asking you to provide a proof of identity, specifically, you may have to submit your biometric residence permit. Send it along with the application to the address mentioned in that letter. They will return back your BRP and then followed by your professional driving license after a couple of days later. Now you can start taking driving lessons or drive with an approved driving instructor.
First things first, a goodbye to the people, food, and country which has been with me for a little over 8 years. From September 2014 to April 2023, Italy has shaped me a lot. Too much has been said in my previous posts already here Plot Twist of 2023 – Manoj Manivannan and here Should I quit my job ? – Manoj Manivannan . The time has come to say bye to everyone. It was a hard moment that I knew would come eventually. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my mentor/manager Mr. Stefano Torri. I would continue to work with him albeit remotely, the thought that I would not be able to meet my colleagues at Modena made me shed a few tears. A goodbye to my kind neighbour Mirko Pesce whose help made my life in Modena little easier.
He was not only my neighbour, but also my only friend, occasional chauffeur and my translator for most occasions. @Mirko we never got a chance for that dinner. One day I hope we meet again for it.
A goodbye to my dear friends Entela (Thanks for the lunch and that easter egg chocolate), Marco and Eleonora (Thanks for hosting us for dinner and the tasty lasagne). You are welcome to our apartment when you visit the UK again. Looking forward for it.
March 16 to April 4: That was how long I took off from work to prepare ourselves mentally, physically and in so many others way for our journey. Although it was only a 2 and half hour journey, we had to pack our all our stuff and throw away those that we couldn’t fit in our allowed baggage. 4 large 32kg bags, 1 cabin bag and 2 backpacks. With that, we were all set to travel and begin the new chapter of our life.
We were headed to this 2-bedroom apartment in a calm town called Camberley which is 1 hour from Waterloo, London. Thanks to the business class tickets, we had the comfort of travelling hassle free, thanks to the relaxing lounge, and the priority access through security.
Although our flight started a late, the captain made up in speed to reach London Heathrow on time. It was our luggage that took a long time. After waiting for almost 30 minutes, we were welcomed by Hema’s maternal Uncle Prakash and my friend Ayyappan. A friendly slight and a warm welcome in a foreign land.
A smooth transition
Upon arrival we headed straight to Holiday Inn, Slough to drop off our luggage (just the 32kg ones) before going to Prakash’s home to have a tasty south Indian food. Radish and lentil stew and beet root gravy with rice and a side of potato only made the arrival experience even more pleasant. We spent the night at Holiday Inn and the next day headed to some supermarkets after having an assorted English breakfast. We bought some basic groceries like rice, wheat flour, onions, bread, eggs, milk, and few others which I am unable to recollect as I write this. Then we collected our apartment keys at the Waterford’s agency and went straight to our apartment. This 2-bedroom apartment had a large living room and an open kitchen which we really loved. The master bedroom came with these tall sliding door which opened into a large balcony facing east overlooking the London Road.
After the post of September 2022 (Why should I quit my job ?), early November came a pleasant news that bought a huge relief.
It was the approval to the request to transfer me internally to the UK office at Guildford. A request that I made in September 2022. There was a chain of approval from my immediate manager Mr. Stefano T, the HR directory Mrs. Laura M and finally the VP of Service Assurance Mr. Gerard C. I am so grateful for their decision to approve my request. Immediately I was put in touch with the HR of the UK office Ms. Zainab S. I was informed that the process would be to terminate my employment here at Italy and recruit me as a new employee at the UK office by creating a new opening. The UK office had to apply for sponsorship license and offer me a certificate of sponsorship as well. I was also put in touch with an immigration Lawyer, Ms. Stacey L from Wright Hassall. Ms Stacey requested a long list of documents from my side which included the passport, marriage certificate, my degree certificate, my marksheet, proof of English language and few others. As soon as I furnished these documents, she quickly drafted the visa application form for my review. After reviewing the documents, she put the application on hold till January 2023. The reason was that my intended transfer and joining in the UK office would be 1st of April 2023. Since applications were supposed to be submitted 3 months prior to intended date of entry to the UK, the process was paused during the month of December.
The new year came, and the application process was resumed, and application submitted. As we are currently waiting for the appointment for biometrics (aka Visa Interview), Hema and I are undertaking the most difficult task during a relocation. The hunt for an affordable flat in the vicinity of the UK branch at Guildford. At the time of writing this post, we are going through this daunting task that too remotely. With the help of Prakash, who is the maternal uncle of Hema, we are consider options in Camberley. Today, he made some time for us to go view a flat in Camberley. A spacious, 2-bedroom flat at £1300 per month. This is a flat we really liked. Not sure how this will go. Also, my colleague who lives in Bracknell currently has offered me to help out in our hunt.
If all goes well, Hema and I will be starting a new chapter in our lives. I believe UK is going to the country where we will be spending the rest of our life. I knew a change was due as soon as Hema and I got married. And it is finally happening and we got the ball rolling now. Let’s see how our life turns.
Its September 2022, with 5 years of work experience, here I am thinking if I should quit my job. How did I get here?
I have been in Italy since September 2014 and its exactly 8 years now. 3 years as a student in Piacenza and 5 years as an employee in telco-based software company in Modena. It’s been quite a journey. This last 8 years in Italy has contributed as much, if not more, as the previous 24 years of my life in Italy in shaping the kind of man I am now. From a believer to agnostic to an atheist. Interest in politics, programming, and few others. From short-tempered to not-so-short-tempered 😛.
The first year in Italy, was spent acclimating to the new place, Italian culture, food, people, system and the general way of life. My first attempt at learning the language was a huge disaster. It was in Piacenza when I was a student. The lessons were free, but the teacher did not know “Hello” in English. I thought this was not working. So, I quit. The second and third year, I met more fellow Indians, and started meeting more and more new people from around the world (who could speak English of course). Making more attempts at socializing knowing that I would eventually fail at it. Tried potlucks, pubs, clubs, and still nothing was happening. What was I even expecting to happen? Maybe new friends!? I first thought it was just because I was an introvert that everyone around me would rather socialize with someone else than me. But when I’m out my circle or in public, I still felt difficulty socializing. Or was it passive racism. Maybe a little bit in the pubs and clubs. But I can understand that. But given a situation I still have trouble telling which one is it.
Alas I graduate at the end of 3rd year of my 2-year program. And in 3 months I land a job at Empirix Italy SRL. A US headquartered, telco-based software company in Modena. So, I relocated to Modena. I missed no one since I had no friends. I embarked on a journey all by myself. Why? When I was in Piacenza, there was Sriram and when I was in India I lived with my parents. I was really excited and terrified. I am proud that I was brave enough to find out what was going to happen next in my life.
Anyway, in the year 2014, soon after moving to Modena, I did make one Italian friend. But it was only my neighbor who lived next door and we happened to meet climbing stairs. If it was the case that we were on different floors, I still would be here without even a single friend. Such is the culture here at least in apartments. You never know who lives next door.
I was hungry to learn data analytics, coding and more. I started going out, mostly alone, but language was always a barrier. I was way behind my peers/batch in communicating. The second attempt at language was in Modena, sponsored by the company, but it was not mandatory that I finish the course. The company was just kind enough to take it upon themself and finance me through it. The lessons were taught by this old gentleman who loved to talk more philosophy with me than teach Italian. And I was not the best student either. Lessons 2 days a week and still I would not complete the practice questions. Procrastinating it for some reason. Eventually, after couple of months, I did quit. But it did help me to an extent that I could now manage basic conversations. I know just enough to get in and out of trouble 😀. Maybe I should have spent more time and put in more efforts to learning the language. I don’t know what I was thinking or what plans I had about my future back then. I think I was living in the moment too much and had the least amount of responsibility ever in my life. It was a peaceful and serene phase of my life, no doubt. I swear things would have been even different for me now had I learnt the language properly, at least on the social front.
Things started going haywire when 2020 came. The dawn of the COVID. Tourist visa that Hema got soon after our marriage was a colossal waste. I got stuck in India for almost 6 months. Then end of 2020 then the 1st wave settled down I moved back to Italy to initiate the process for Family Reunion visa for Hema. And just went I thought things couldn’t get any harder, I hurt my elbow hard. Seeing that it going to take more than I anticipated, I again traveled to India in 2021 to make sure to bring Hema with me. But the corona virus had other plans. 2nd wave hit us so hard. Hema and I lost several family members. Things didn’t stop there for me. My stay permit was about to expire. I took my chances and booked a charted flight amidst of the global lockdown. Chennai to Amritsar to Milan. One of the craziest and stressful journeys ever in my life. That’s a whole other story maybe for another post.
Finished the final documentation required for Hema and travel to India again on 19 January 2022, hoping there wouldn’t be another COVID wave and even if there was one, I traveled back to Italy with Hema. Now it’s been almost 5 months that Hema and I and living by ourselves. I’m enjoying every moment with here. The occasional travel, never ending conversations, stupid jokes, silly fights, and the list goes on.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the promise I made Hema in 2019, that I would always try and do my best to support her in every possible way. It’s been a couple of months since she finished her professional course (CIMA). I am so proud of her and so happy. I know she has her own dreams and wishes about building a strong career. I am worried what will be next for her. I want to make sure she gets the best possible opportunities. This means that where we are right now in life is not maximizing the opportunities for her. And given the fact that I (and now also Hema) have no active social life or any friends and unable to support her career, feel that I need to relocate.
This is a huge endeavor. Either my company agrees and helps me to transfer within the company or its disagrees and I find myself another job in a country where we can both flourish. Right now, it seems UK and Ireland are the best options.
It’s hard to think life is not a race. But here I am, trying to push faster to settle down in a more comfortable living standard where we can both prosper. Why am I wanting to risk quitting this job in order to relocate? Is it the lack of social life and friends or my duty to support my wife? or maybe both.
The long-awaited summer trip to Belgium after 2 years of waiting to unite in Europe, Hema and I traveled to Brussels. We got to know Brussels in and out because of our 5D-4N trip. We left no stones (places) un-turned, except a couple of boring museums. 😜 Since we had plenty of time, we made the most out of our trip. We explored the city across its length and breadth, from the Grand Place in the center, to the iconic Atomium. We visited the Parlamentarium of EU, the Guinness record holding Delirium Cafe, Churches, museums and more.
Day 1
After long and careful planning which included our flights to and from Belgium, our accommodation in Airbnb and the list of all places one must visit in Brussels, on the 22nd of August 2020, we left our apartment in Modena, to catch the 15:50 flight from Bologna Guglielmo Marconi International Airport. Me, being overly cautious about timing, and partly also because of the fear of missing the flight, I hurried myself and Hema to reach the airport way before the usual 1-hour precedence.
And to our dissatisfaction the boarding started after a delay of 40 minutes. It was not a big deal after all we were chatting, giggling, and having fun as always during the wait. Anyway, we boarded the flight and spent 11/2 hours before we reached Brussels Charleroi International Airport.
From there, we quickly took a shuttle bus to reach the city center. Then a 15 min walk, we arrived at our room, which was little far from the center, but a good one, nevertheless. It was cute tiny room in the attic with a study desk and a soft bed along with a vertical swivel window overlooking the suburban part of the city. Immediately after refreshing, we headed straight to the city center. Boy, oh boy, it was a long walk, longer than I anticipated.
The first thing we try was the famous Belgian waffles and along with fries, enjoying a beautiful view from the center of Grote Markt (Grand Place). The historic buildings with their golden highlights and bright focus lights were a delight to watch while we much away our waffles and fries.
Day 2
This was one of the most exciting part of the trip. After getting a day pass, which was about 8 Euros, that included the buses, trams, and the metros, we headed off towards Heysel Park. It took us 20 minutes on a metro to get there. It was that far from the city center. But once we were there, this amazing structure made of steel and alminium stood there magestically. It was the Atomium. Built as a temporrary structure to host the World Expo from 17 April to 19 October 1958. It was the first major world’s fair registered under the Bureau International des Expositions after World War II.
As it kept attracting more and more tourists, they never demolished and over the years it became an iconic symbol of Belgium itself. The structure, if you notice, is like a ferrite molecule and the iron atoms are the shiny spheres at the corners. Hema and I went straight to the top-most sphere to get a panoramic view of the Brussels city. It also had a small restaurant/cafe inside it. After a quick beer and desert, we moved on the individual spheres one by one. All of them seems like a museum except the temporary exhibit, which was psychedelic light show which took our breath away.
After spending maybe around 1 hour looking at all the artifacts from the time the Atomium was build and some interesting exhibits of art, we moved to the next attraction in our list. We got down from the Atomium and grabbed ourselves some Belgium Fries and relaxed near the Atomium’s exit before we moved to Mini-Europe. Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in Bruparck, at the foot of the Atomium, in Brussels, Belgium. Mini-Europe has reproductions of monuments in the European Union and other countries within the continent of Europe on display, at a scale of 1:25. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented
To name a few, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower of Paris, City Hall of Stockholm, Acropolis of Athens and much more. It’s a must see attraction when you are visiting Belgium.
From there, we went to the city center in search of the oldest shopping mall of Belgium, Galeries Royales Saint Hubert. We were confused with the way google maps for pointing directions. As we were walking towards it, it said that we had reached our destination, but we couldn’t believe it. It didn’t look like a shopping mall nor were anyone shopping there. So, we decided to go old school and ask people for directions.
To our surprise we found out that we were actually in the shopping mall and just didn’t realize it. The lack of crowd and prominent name board was the reason we missed it. The mall has jewellery stores, luxury boutiques, Belgium Chocolate makers’ showrooms, cafes & restaurants and more. We barely spent 15 minutes in the gallery and we took a bus from there to Place Poelaert. It was almost 7.30 ish when we reached Place Poelaert which housed a giant wheel called ‘The View’. Fitting to its name, the giant wheel gave the people boarding it a view of the Brussels skyline. The city filled with lights was a delight to watch from the spacious pod of the giant wheel.
After spending some time around the wheel, it headed towards our airbnb room. It was too late and only couple of buses left for the day, and yet while returning through the city center we could feel the city alive and people still enjoying the night life.
Day 3
The most informative day that I ever had was this day. Today Hema and I went to the Parlamentarium in Brussels. This building houses the EU’s parliament. There is also a museum in the vicinity or campus if you will. The entry to these places were completely free. But you need a reservation. I can’t remember his name, but there was this German guy who also did not have a reservation, who was kind enough to help us with the reservation. It took him maybe 10 minutes to enter all our information and get a reservation ticket generated.
After passing through strict security, we were all given a device and use-and-throw earphones. This device would be the personal tour guide. So, this device guided us to walk through the building and get around different places, and as we did, it kept filling us with the history and information of what it is that we were looking at. Quite an interesting and smart way to manage the visitors. As you see in the picture above, I’m standing in front of a picture of the Hemicycle. The Hemicycle, which is what it is called because of its hemi-spherical construction, is where the parliament sessions take place.
People are seated not by country but by their political orientation. Elected representatives of each EU member countries were seated from left to right based on the typical left-wing—right-wing. Then we moved on the museum with lots of historical background about the Europe, the politics of world wars and the origins of the European Union. These were in the form of live interactive models which engages the visitors and makes it much more exciting.
Though it was interesting, it was too much for half-a-day and we were getting hungry by the minute. It was well past 2 hours after noon, so we got out of there and found ourselves a Hawaiian restaurant pretty close to the Parlamentarium. It was called the Hawaiian Poke Bowl. Hema took a customized veggie bowl with tofu garnished with chili-flakes and mayonnaise whereas I took a
chicken bowl with extra nachos and onions. I really loved the meal. It was so satisfying and filling. Unfortunately, Hema did not share the same feeling. I think she really hated the sea-weed type/plant thingy that felt a bit chewy.
Next, we headed towards the comic art museum or at least that’s where we thought were going. We, instead, ended up going to the Marc Sleen comic strip museum thinking it was the comic art museum. Not to our surprise, there wasn’t much happening there. Nevertheless, we did spend about 30 minutes there looking at his comic strips and some art works. Very close to the comic strip museum was the Notre Dame Du Sablon cathedral. We took a quick look inside and came back. I wasn’t much impressed by the architecture because, hey, I have seen the Milan’s majestic cathedral, and this was nothing compared to it. Maybe it would have been impressed if I got to know the history behind.
From there we walked to the city center in search of Delirium Café. The one and only café for holding the Guinness world record for having the most variety of beers in the world. They have about 2004 varieties of beers. As a humble beer enthusiast, I tried their best selling Bar-Meter which has 10 of their best served in small beer glasses on a long wooden plank.
I only hoped Hema could have given company to me. But we did have a nice chat about random things as always. Anyway, after I was a little buzzed, we came back to our room and spend some more time in a cafe at the corner of a junction. You can see the view from that café in the picture below.
Day 4
When Hema and I were planning our Belgium trip, Day 4 was supposed to be Antwerp. We even decided to make a visit to the zoo. But after 3 days of exploring, we were tried and did not want to spend more again on train, accommodation + the efforts to find accommodation. So, we decide that we will explore more in Brussels. That lead us to visit the science museum under the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science in Brussels. We reached the museum at around 11. The entrance and the building looked unusually boring, and I thought we would end up wasting this day.
To my surprise, this was by far one of the most amazing museums that I have ever been to. There are 10 permanent and 1 temporary exhibitions. The ‘Gallery of Humankind’ has an elaborate collection of artifacts and exhibits showcasing the journey of humankind. From Sahelanthropus to Homo sapiens, from embryo to adult, one could explore the human evolution and body. The ‘Living Planet’ represents more than 850 specimens displayed on 2,000m2 (from the giraffe to the koala and the aphid), 3D models that we can touch, visual media, audio interviews and interactive, recreational and educational animations. In the ‘Dinosaur Gallery’ we saw how the Olorotitan died, learn how fossils are formed and challenge a virtual Pachycephalosaurus.
In the ‘Gallery of Evolution’ we travel through billions of years of the Earth’s history, stopping off at six key moments in the evolution of life on earth: the Cambrian explosion, the proliferation of aquatic life during the Devonian era, the conquest of land during the Carboniferous period, the swarming seas of the Jurassic era, the appearance of mammals in the Eocene period, and the impact of humans in the present day. The ‘BiodiverCITY’ is a gallery with specimens, photos, films and interactive installations help to explain what biodiversity in the city entails. In the ‘250 Years of Natural Sciences’ are the fantastic results of memorable scientific expeditions, unusual excavations, moving events and remarkable specimens that trace the evolution of this museum. The list goes on.
Hema and I spent almost about 5 hours in the museum and yet we felt it was insufficient. I would recommend anyone going to this museum to spend 1 whole day. After biding adieu to this amazing museum, we were so tired, we wanted to go back to our Airbnb. But then, I had this sudden craving for Indian food.
And found the closed and the most popular Indian restaurant in the vicinity. It was a south Indian joint called Ganesh Restaurant. This restaurant actually had a Tamil proprietor whom we couldn’t meet that day. Nevertheless, we had a proper south Indian food, Dosa with different chutneys and a plate of chicken tikka sided by a glass of beer and lemonade.
A satisfying day overall. The bed in our Airbnb was calling us telepathically. So, we obliged. Before we called it a day, Hema and I did a preparation with our stuffs so that its easier to check out the next day.
Day 5
We had an afternoon flight, but we had to checkout from our Airbnb at 10AM. So left our room with our luggage and went to straight to the airport. It was an overcast day with light drizzles on and off. We had Belgian fries for one last time before we leave. There was busy food cart selling just that. We munched off our fries and got to the terminal and spent a good couple of hours chatting about random stuff.
We reached Bologna at around 7.30PM and took a bus and reached Modena at 8.30PM. With aching feet and slowly inched towards our home and before we knew it, we were on our beds. This summer trip was truly amazing. Hema and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A little tricky when compared to strumming or single string picking, the double picking does sound beautiful though. Listen to this track recorded during one of my practice sessions. Funny thing was that I kept missing a note here and there because I suddenly became conscious of the camera.
‘Barre your soul’ on Ukulele: Credits to Yousician for the background metronome and notes
After around 2 months of Ukulele practice this is where I am. Wish I could sing along the song as I play. Although I got this ukulele two year ago, I never got to practice on a regular basis. So here goes nothing.
Billy Boy on Ukulele: Credits to Yousician for the background metronome and notes
It’s been a couple of days since I completed my introductory course on guided meditations. To be honest, it has not been completely ‘life changing’, but definitely paradigm shifting. After the recent experience that lead to the understanding of the self and the consequential illusion that it generates to convince us (again, who?!) of it’s existence, here I am catching a glimpse of the meaning of consciousness.
The dictionary typically defines it as the quality of awareness (perceptive) and responsive of one’s surroundings. This definition is definitely not helping. The author of the sessions says that consciousness is the prior condition of everything: feelings, emotions, thoughts, vision, sounds, pressure, temperature and so on. In other words, it is the canvas on which everything else appears. Even the self, which is only but another thought, appears on this canvas. The fact that we are noticing a thought, or a feeling is like it is at the center of the canvas/consciousness. Like an object in your visual field. This canvas is so fluid that things appear, disappear, and re-appear with no control whatsoever.
If time is a consequence of this fluid canvas, shuffling and juggling around objects appearing on it, then it should be possible to lose track of time and be stuck in some sort of limbo. Unless the passage the time is an appearance in consciousness itself, in which case, there cannot be a state of limbo where you lose track of time.
Waking up at 4AM to catch the 6:20AM train from Modena to Milano was an overkill. But it was a much-needed head start considering the fact that Hema had to do her make-up routine after her shower.
As usual I was quick to get ready and started annoying Hema as it was getting late. I remember she was pissed off that I kept calling out the time every minute and how that reminded her of her dad.
I guess it’s an (Indian) guy thing. We wanted to leave at least 15 minutes earlier than our plan, so that we wouldn’t have to run to the train station. But we ended up leaving the house at the threshold wherein we had to do a fast-paced walk to reach the station on time. Anyway, we reached the station on time.
We only had to wait 3-4 minutes on the platform before our train arrived. Thanks to online booking, we didn’t have to waste a couple of minutes on validating the tickets. As we didn’t have any breakfast in the morning, other than a glass of water before leaving the house, we were already feeling hungry. Hema keeps telling me that I cannot tolerate hunger. That’s mostly true. But she was prepared for it. A pack of multigrain cookies in her backpack saved us from eating each other. 😁
Happily, munching on our cookies, our journey began. 2 hours 15 minutes of chatting politics, science, and gazing at the scenery, we spent our time talking nonsense as usual. Excited and planning our day, we recited our plan for the day. Milan Cathedral was the first one on the itinerary. A clear sky would be an absolute delight for a view from the top. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Milan was scattered thunderstorms 😢.
However, we were lucky to find out upon reaching the cathedral that it was not that bad. And surprisingly the square of the Duomo was not as crowded as we anticipated. Mostly because we were so early to reach there. Anyway, after taking a couple of pictures we headed straight to the rooftop of the cathedral. Below, are some beautiful clicks from the view.
The return stairwell from the roof led straight into the cathedral and we enjoyed the amazing interiors of the cathedral walking around. We also went to the archelogical area and meseum of Duomo.
The next item on the itinerary was lunch, a proper Italian restaurant. We found a decent restaurant near the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The oldest active shopping gallery.
I ordered tagliatelle with chicken and mushrooms and Hema ordered a platter of focaccia. Though it was too much quantity, it looked beautiful, nevertheless. Several slices of focaccia topped with mozzarella, pesto plus yellow and red cherry tomatoes were so colorful that Hema’s decided not to finish it off 😜. With oil and pesto dripping Hema’s fingers, she ate as much as she could and got the remaining food packed. We finally finished off our meal with a cafe. In about an hour, we were done. It was almost 2PM. With a full tummy, we moved on towards the Castello Sforzesco. The sky was cloudy, and we knew then it was going to rain.
So, no pictures from during that time. 😢
We did walk around Milano, going every which way we could. At one point we were so tired we couldn’t walk further. We had to stop and rest for a while. Our calf and thigh muscles were aching really bad. Somehow, we gathered all the energy we could and headed towards the station to return home. We finally made it home at around 9.45PM and the Focaccia that we packed was a life saver. We didn’t have to cook at that time. We slept off at 11PM and woke up after around 10 hours. Every muscle in our body was exhausted. We were really concerned about our trip again to Milano. Because the weekend was not over yet for us.
The plan was to go watch the Tamil movie Vikram which was screening at the Arcobaleno Film Center. Sunday came and we did the whole routine again, but only this was it was the 7.30AM train. The theatre was filled with Tamil community. Keralites, Sri Lankan Tamils and more. It is always surprising for me to see so many Tamils at outside India. It was one time before, many years ago, that I experience such an event for a screening of another Tamil movie.
