Web log on some recent travels

Last two months have been very hectic and most of it was spent travelling. It was mostly in Europe spanning Germany, Italy and Greece. I think the euro has made the continent very expensive indeed. They I can see will have a very hard time competing with the new emerging economy. From a manufacturing standpoint most of the proporous nations in Europe are not ready to face the harsh reality of China. Also from a knowledge based economy perspective they will have to compete harder with likes of India. However my trips did reveal the underlying strengths which is more than ubundantly portrayed in the monuments. I alway enjoy such sojourns and our recent vacation was a very typical example of this. This time we decided (Me, Bandana and Victoria together with our friends Ruby and Sanjay) to have a vacation in Italy. This was between April 16th and 30th. We from Boston ended up in New York to board the Alitalia flight to Rome on the 16th. I must say Alitalia has to be the absolute worst airlines in the world. Despite repeated requests not to have us completely seperated, a reasonable request considering our 6 year old daughter they managed to have us spread out all over the plane. Good natured people made compromises once we were on board and so we could manage our seating. The overall attitute of the flight crew was extremely rude and inconsiderate. It was actually a nightmare, they delivered the food with harsh stares, no questions were answered infact they refused to give me a second drink of water. Later this flght attendant comes in and rudely offers me a glass and manages to pour most of the water on me, then leaves without even an apology. Anyhow, we reach Rome and get a cab to our Hotel which is close to the Central rail station called the Termini. Cab made sence since we were four adults and a child. The hotel was spartan though functional. As usual the AC was not effective, however April is I guess an ideal time to go as the temperatures were very mild, in the upper tens and twenties, so opening the window was enough. We were tired and so decided to sleep in for a few hours. Our plane had arrived at 11.30 am and so by the time we had registered in the Hotel it was 1.00 pm. We ordered some food and slept for a few hours. In the evening we decided to go out for a walk, and then on the recommendation of the consierge at the Hotel we went out for some dinner. It was 120 euros for the four of us, considering the food it was on the expensive side. [to be completed]