EU Diaries – TGIF!

Friday morning. The day of the exam. The two of us are engaged in last minute revision. We should ask her this, we should carry that. 8.30 comes and I get to make the phone call. I HATE making phone calls, but I’m trying very hard to be an adult so I pack off my hate and pick up the phone.

Me: We are blah blah, do you have any news for us?

She: Yes, I have news for you. [Big pause, in which I die a million deaths}. If you come by 10.00 I can give you by 12, if you come later also no problem, I can give you by 3 in the afternoon.
Me: [Showing a thumbs up to the dude, who seems supremely unconcerned] So, we are getting our Visas today?
She:  Yes
Me: Thank you! [And then some incoherence].

I dance, the dude fights with the Internet for a ticket to Paris. I drag him away from his fight and off we go to the embassy. By this time we have figured out all the buses and all the stops. We make big plans about what to do the rest of the day. The Vatican, at walking distance from our hotel,  is at the top of the list. We run into the Swiss Embassy at 10.10. She shakes her head and says – “you are too late, come back for your Visas at 3”. Say what? We cant even hang around at the embassy because they shut for the public at 12 and getting inside after that is complicated. We give up and catch a bus and a train back to the hotel. Where I make lunch while the dude continues his flight with the Internet.

 

We leave early for the embassy. Who knows, at 3.01 she might say – you are too late come back on Monday. That would be good for her health. We reach there at 2.40 and are very proud. I go ring the bell and she says through the phone– “but I told you to come at 3, please wait outside”. Gaaaaaaaaaaah. We wait under a tree right outside. There is a woman lying on the bench opposite to ours, book in hand, soaking up the sun. It feels weird to catch a glimpse of a world not ruled by Visa issues. We stalk the dude’s watch and right at 3 go ring the bell again. We are reluctantly buzzed in.

 

Visas! We thank her very much. I have been wanting to give her chocolates since yesterday, but all that nitpicking about time has dampened my gratefulness a bit. All said and done, she went out of her way to help us out, so hear this Swiss Lady in the Swiss Embassy in Rome, you are awesome!

 

We get to the Vatican and look around. Its simply… fantastic. I don’t “get” paintings, and I certainly don’t know the story behind the scenes they depict, but I can still spend hours there and not be bored. We climb to the very top of the tower and are greeted by a great view of the city. We walk back to our hotel, to dinner and pack up.

 

Its time to say goodbye.