Preparing for the trip- My flight to Milan. (Milano)
I started learning the basics of Italian as the language spoken in
the area is Italian online. It was rather a tough task as I have to devote
considerable time for it, but by the end of August I could understand it in
bits and pieces. As my date to departure were closer, Ms. Elisa the host informed me to
reserve the bus tickets from the airport to Arona. My nervousness increased as the
days came closer, and the programme schedule has reached me well ahead of
schedule. As the schedule contained no room for moving out for sightseeing of
important places in Italy such as Venice or Pisa, I was bit disappointed, but I
found I can make it to Rome on weekend as the organisers made it clear that there are no classes on the said days.
My flight to Amsterdam was operated by Jet Airways (Carrier and
crew) and further it was operated by KLM. Fortunate that I got an aisle seat in the last
before row of the plane to Amsterdam. In a long flight of 8 hours and 50 minutes, an aisle
seat is good as you can move freely out without disturbing the next person
seated. The flight taken of at 2 am on 28 August, which was a memorable day for
me as it is my first visit to Europe. My wrist watch show me IST, whereas after
landing at Amsterdam Schipol Airport, mobile phone automatically updated the
time to Netherlands time.
The first task was to find out the boarding gate for the next flight
to (Milan) Linate, but I soon realised that I had to undergo security check and
then move to passport control. While following the crowd to the security check
I was really astonished the see diversity of language spoken around me and the
ethnic diversities of people from different points. Amsterdam is a very
important connecting point to America, Canada and other places in Europe. Finally I reached the security point while
following the crowd and listening to the meta lingua in the air (I still can’t
make it out).
The security women asked me to keep all stuff in the tray and move.
I was little hesitant to keep the coins and some currency notes, I had to keep
in the tray as the security officer( woman of around 50’s gracefully asked me
what I am going to do with the coins an notes. Later I realised that there
should not be even a paper in your pocket while body undergoes an x ray of seconds in a transparent cylindrical shape automovable (fiber glass) machine.
Then I am asked to stand for physical check up, but every thing ended very
quickly.
Since I had enough time, I wanted to explore the airport. It is built
on one terminal concept as there is in one terminal every facility
incorporated. But, the airport is quite huge.
As my eyes were making a quick survey of the beautifully decorated shops
around, luxury and elegance were seen visibly every side. Difficult to remember
the kind of shops, but some of them were of souvenir items, flower shops, bars
and restos, and so on. 
Finally reached the Passport control area, again a long cue ahead.
The area demarcated for non EU citizens, were different, hence I moved to that
side. A young girl (maybe in her late 20’s) checked my passport and asked me
where I am going and for what purpose. After stamping passport, I moved to the
gates. The gates looked like beyond reach as the distance to my gate was
immensely far and my body started showing the sign of stress. To verify the,
departure gate checked the screen. This time the news was more shocking. The
departure gate changed and I have to find out the new one and asked the
security officer whom I found nearby. He directed me to the specific area and
finally I reached my place before time.