Milano

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Buon Giorno!
So, after a long week up in the Alps James and I were ready for some rest and relaxation, not to mention a hot shower which we were way overdue for. We were able to write an email to my second cousin Susan from Pianta Monda using an ancient computer which literally took 2 hours. No exaggeration, one email, 3 sentences, 2 frustrating hours. The computer and the rest of the electricity (only in the main house) ran from a single solar panel. When there was no sun, there was sometimes no power until the sun came back out. Anyways, unable to know if she got the email, we headed to Milan hopeful we would have a response from Susan and some directions to her place.
We got to Milan, finally found a café with wireless internet and made our way to Susan and Gabriel’s flat. We were warmly greeted with a meal of freshly made bread and a plateful of delicious cheeses and a sleepy Catherine that wasn’t too sure about the smelly strangers in her house. That night we slept like babies in the nice warm, dry house.
The following day we took it easy and caught up on our emails and blogging. Milan was quite a shock to us, a huge busy industrial city after a week in solitude and quietness. After our day of rest we borrowed Susan and Gabriel’s bikes for the day and toured around the city. James was having a blast zooming in and out of the cars and people all over the place, while I had a bit of a hard time maneuvering the busy streets. You have to be a really aggressive driver in this city to get anywhere. It took me a little while, but I eventually got the hang of it and was able to keep up. We rode the bikes to the center of the city to Sempione Park, visited a large castle Sforzesco, and walked through the Duomo which is a huge, intricately sculpted limestone cathedral. We also walked through the main shopping center with all the designer shops which was not very impressive to us. Successfully navigating our way around the city center and finding our way back to the flat gave us a great sense of accomplishment for the day. That night we both had a gastronomic first cardoons au gratin, prepared wonderfully by Susan, cardoons taste of artichoke and cooked in a creamy cheesy sauce they were a delight.
After another day of bike riding this time outside of the city, we ended up the night preparing our staple coconut curry for diner; Filled with veggies, quinoa and unfortunately a little sand, because we neglected to rinse the grains. The rest of our days were spent making faces at Catherine and enjoying her smiling reactions, hanging our drying clothes all over the flat, eating delicious diners whipped up by Susan and sharing in intriguing conversation with them both. Sad to leave the comfy and cozy flat but ready to get out of bustling, hazy Milan we hopped a train to Florence.

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