Milano, Italy

- Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Tuesday I had to get up extra early so Caroline could give me a ride to the train station to catch my train to Milano. Unfortunately I my alarm didn’t go off so I jumped out of bed and scurried around to make it out of the house on time. I had decided to leave two of my smaller bags with Caroline to take back to Paris with her so I would only be traveling with my backpack. The backpack is not a normal size thing but rather huge especially when crammed to the brim - it was quite a haul to the train station - Caroline, me and the HUGE black backpack crammed onto her motorcycle built for one - roughly 45minute drive - haha.

We made it though and I caught my train without any problems. Unfortunately the train had to stop several times for mechanical issues I think which made up about 45 minutes late getting to the station. I missed my next train but so did half the other people on the first train so the whole group of us went wandering around trying to figure out where to go and who could help us. In the process I met Sary, a nice girl my own age from Finland. Sari was also traveling alone for the first time and was just finishing up her trip before heading back home to finish her last semester in school. She said I was one of only two girls she had seen traveling alone.

After waiting around a bit, I finally got a train into Milano, Italy. The last leg of the trip was the longest, roughly four hours which wasn’t too bad but still a bit long to be sitting in a cabin of six on a warm stuffy train. In Milan (Milano is the European spelling) I made it off the train smoothly and out of the station. Wandered around a bit before finding my hotel - I asked several people for help but was determined not to have to take a taxi. The Hotel Demo, turned out to be relatively close to the train station and quite nice. The owner, Nicolas, an older “grandfatherly” type figure, greeted me warmly and gave me the key to my room. The single room was small but perfect for one person with clean hardwood floors, a twine bed, outside window and nice bathroom complete with shower, toilet, sink and place to wash your private parts (because God forbid you wash them in the shower).

After arranging all my things - basically spreading them out on the desk and bed - I asked Nicolas for a dinner recommendation and he sent me to Pane e Tulipani. The pizzeria restorant turned out to be a very nice place for my first meal in Milan. All the servers were quick and pleasant with several being of Asian origin. Before I had even ordered I was served bread, breadsticks, foccaccia and a glass of house wine. For gthe starter I ordered a vegetarian anti-pasta which turned out to be all grilled veggies - eggplant, bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and a bruscetta in the middle - very good. For the main meal my server had suggested the tuna because it was “fresh”. I have to say it was one of the best fish dishes I have ever eaten - the meat was perfect and flaky and the sauce was olive-oil based, light but very good. For dessert I ordered the chocolate cake which turned out to be several layers of various chocolate mousse type layers - rich ane yummy. While eating dessert I noticed the table in front of me watching me and my server came up and said how beautiful I was, “compliments of my friend over here” he said, indicating one of the guys sitting at the table. Eventually I went up and introduced myself and was invited to finish my dessert with them (three guys and a woman - probably late 30’s early 40’s). Two of them knew a bit of English and I found that my Spanish translated well enough so all had a pleasant Italian-English-Spanish conversation. They wanted to know where I was from, what I thought about President Bush, what I did (polo) and where I was planning on going next (told me they could make reservations in Rome for me if I needed). The guys turned out to be Italian police - two worked for DARE and the other with financial management type record keeping. After the meal two of the guys walked me to my hotel, saying the path near the train station was unsafe at night.

- Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Woke up around 7:30 and dressed, put on make-up, etc. and ate at the hotel breakfast buffet - decent - had cereal, juice, bread rolls, croissants, pastries and hot drinks. After breakfast I headed to the train station to make a reservation for Saturday to Rome. Then I caught the metro to Duomo. Milano is the business district of Italy, so there are many business people in town along with tourists wandering around, eating and sight-seeing. For my first full day in Milan I saw quite a bit including the Duomo Cathedral, the Piazza del Duomo, the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery - famous arched structure that houses expensive shops, cafes, and restaurants - the Sforzesco Castle, Sempione Park, Piazza Cadorna, Museum Poldi Pezzolo and other buildings and sights along the way.

In the early morning I stopped and got a snack in the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery at a fancy Italian restaurant - three mini pastries-cakes and a water. Bought several postcards and a shawl to cover my legs because I couldn’t go into the Cathedral with my knees showing. For a late lunch I stopped at a small hidden creperie where I joined a nice man by the name of Stefano. Stefano was on a business trip from Florence for a couple days. He had two small children back home with his wife and was a brand manager for his company that sold thread to the fashion designers and shops around Milano (huge brand names - big money contracts). After lunch I visited the Poldi Pezzolo Museum before heading back to the metro station.

Back in my hotel room I cleaned up and rested before getting ready for dinner. Around 8:30pm the guys from the night before picked me up in their car and we headed out for dinner. They wanted to go back to the same restaurant but when I expressed disappointment they decided on another restaurant instead. The meal - to say the least - was amazing - and huge. They definitely set out to impress, not only with the quality of Italian food, but with the amount. Even for me - a food lover - it was overwhelming at how many dishes and courses were served. Just when I thought the main meal had come out, another dish would appear with still more interesting Italian things to try. I tried most of them, a few had some meat, although almost all of the plates were vegetarian which was wonderful. Tomatoes, cheese and olive oil were plentiful although each dish had its own unique taste. One of my favorites was one of the pasta dishes. The sauce was made up of tomatoes, olive oil and basil but the pasta itself was the most interesting for me - wide thick chunks almost like cubes of cheese or small fries is the best way to describe the shape, size and texture. I had the best time - the restaurant was perfect - loud, fun and energetic - the servers were friendly and quick, the food was amazing and best of all, the group I was with was a ton of fun - laughing, telling stories and arguing in Italian with one-another. During the meal it began raining outside complete with thunder and lightening. Thankfully the guys had driven the car so they were able to drop me off at my hotel for the night without me getting to wet.

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