http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Italy , Lombardy , Milan en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:37:19 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:37:19 +0000 Special Edition Milano Bike Show and All BlacksBeing so handy to Europe here and with the Milan Bike Show on in November a tempting opportunity presented itself to catch up with a Kiwi motorcycle dealer mate and to see all the latest models unveiled and the bikesMalcolm has been going for years and Irsquove always thoughthelliprdquoWow one dayhellip.rdquo and so it became a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-459337.html It was somehow ironic that we would be going to Italy of all places for a weekend of Kiwi sporting pride. And going to Milan to watch my first ever All Blacks match on a cheap Ryanair flight 16 return it seemed inevitable that I was going to bump into some fellow Kiwis that I knew.And sure enough when I got off the bus from the airport at Milan's central station I saw my old cricket mate Ja http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-453940.html Sunday 15.11.2009 Day 31More Malian bike showWell we had another fantastic day at the Malian bike show we got the train there and back but got off at the wrong stop so ended up getting a taxi the rest of the way home as it was raining.We spend more time in the MV VIP lounge where we had lunch and were given lots of Margaritas and meet the MV owner mr Castiglioni.We meet an ext Ducati rider who was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-453436.html Saturday 14.11.2009 Day 30Malian sightseeingIt was over cast and a bit cold today so we decided to take a day off from the show. We had a bit of a look around where we are staying and then looked more into buying a car. It is a lot harder than we thought it would be We were going to buy a car in Italy on Monday use it the whole time we are in Europe but getting it registered and insurance when yo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-453185.html Friday 13.11.2009 Day 29Malian Bike show day 1We had a fantastic time at the Malian Bike show today we got the bus in and women where allowed in free today there as still not a lot of women compared to men there. There were 24 stands each about the size of the Sydney motto show. The is a live moto cross track and placed to test ride bikes and learn to ride. There was sooo many ppl and so many bi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-452933.html Thursday 12.11.2009 Day 28Madrid to Malian Had a great bfast checked out of the hotel when to the airport and gave the car back without any problems. Then go on the aircraft to Milan. In Malian we were met by a driver who took us to our hotel. We checked in and then went for a walk and found a great Italian pizza place. We found a gelato place that sold wine on the way back so got some and had a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-452932.html One weekend we decided to go to Milan which I visited some ten years ago and ever since then I always wanted to go back. What we learned the hard way is that we are not the only ones who had this idea and also if you plan to go through the third longest tunnel in the world San Gotthardo 16 km long on a Saturday you better be prepared for a very long queue. So for the trip that was supp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-452640.html we got our flight to milan really early on the 3rd of september. when we arrived we went straight to the main train station to meet our host stefano. after 10 min he showed up and took us to his house wich was really central. a really cool house big living room not many furniture...really a architect's house. he showed us a couple of places to go before he went back to work. we decided to see th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-451706.html Today is Sunday in Milano. The weather finally felt like fall a couple of days ago. The family keeps telling me that October is usually FFFRRREEDDDDDO freddocold but this october has been down right hot at times. the trees have turned their beautiful colors and makes me miss the colors of the Omaha fall. Well i told you all that Halloween had arrived in Italy. well kind of. It has become a rea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-449959.html Well today has been a crazy day. After rejecting a few things from my luggage and freaking out a little bit about exceeding the weight limit I left the BB to embark on my grand Italian adventure. I somehow did manage to make it through the airport relatively hassle free. Itrsquos weird though at Stansted they donrsquot tell you your gate until like 40 minutes before you leave so you have http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-449875.html Today was my last language lesson and as a person might expect I felt like I understood a concept that had been stumping me over and over. Oh well Lydia Leeedeeeeah was a great maestra teacher and I will maybe ask for her again next time I come into Milano. I have made it my job to see the things in Milano that people talk about. I went to the chiesa church where the original Last Supper http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-448396.html ok well im here in an internet kind of center instead of the mc donalds or at the school. the school teachers are having a meeting today so there will be no class. ok just like the US. the woman who runs it is a living doll. definitely italian but argentinian born. her name still escapes me. she gave me a caffe today just because i guess. what a sweetie. her inglese is pretty darn good. she help http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-447465.html Today is rainy in Milano. Kind of humid even though my aunt holds herself and says ....freddddo.ccllld It's not really. I think some of it is that it isn't usual weather for here in the autumn. They don't use air conditioning. they like it warm. They acclimate to the warm seasons more than I think the average American does. I guess it would be better for the bank account if we weren't addicted http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-446904.html One weekend in Milan in ItalyIn late winter and early spring this year mum and dad went on two shorter trips on which they let us come along. Each of these only a weekend long so we didn't have time to see very much. But if we put these two trips together we think we have enough exciting stories to tell to make it worth writing.On the first of these trips we went to Milan and Bergamo in Italy. We http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-446732.html In the last couple of days I can feel the Italian language sounding less foreign to my ears. I can listen to the new with Ernesto and kind of follow the gist of what is being said. yesterday was a day that will probably be material to tease me with for a long time. i had lost track of the days. Almost the whole day yesterday I thought it was Sunday. I got up to go to Mass Messe and saw there wer http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-446623.html ok what a couple of days. wish i could say its been all great but its not. my uncle and aunt have been dealing with their health checkups and lti learned that they both have struggled with cancer and still worry about relapses....wow. they are not treating me like a tourist which of course is a good thing when its good but lti want to see the tourist things too. the leonardo da vinci last s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-445739.html Today is Wednesday in milano. I got up at my normal time and was out the door on time to get to my class with a few minutes to get settled and wake up my brain. In order to get to my school I walk about 15 minutes maybe a little more depending how fast or slow i go. i get to the metro stop and take the underground train that is very similar to the train we took in paris with our daughter. it was v http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-445251.html ok well this is continuing to surprise me that Northern Italy doesn't have internet and WIFI everywhere. I tried to get online yesterday at McDonalds and couldn't. Man that place was jumping with the giovani young people of Milano. Wow. My cuginos cousins were explaining to me that the young here are interested in most things American. Hmmmm ok I guess that makes sense. We as Americans a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-444623.html We have arrived in Italy finally I think as soon as we got here we both looked at each other and said yeah this is what we've been waiting for. Milan is a great cosmopolitan city with good food and an OTT Duomo check out my photos on httpwww.flickr.comphotosviolettesaunty soon for what I'm talking about.They say that Milan is up there in the fashion stakes with Paris. People l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-444461.html After a busy two weeks of eating drinking and traveling we crashed last night and slept over 8 hours very unusual for me less so for Jennie. Making a late start we toured around a small area of Milan with our friends Kristine and Mike. Unusually for us it was a slow casual stroll. We started at the Duomo more properly Santa Maria Nascente a beautiful cathedral in downtown Milan. It is th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-444106.html