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Published: June 19th 2017
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DAY 16 - Friday We are going home today.
Up at 5am and ready to go. The guy at the desk this morning argued with John for 15 minutes trying to get him to pay for the entire groups extra add-ons. Plus, John had another person in his room (me), that costs extra and laundry service that we never used. John was so pissed because everything was prepaid through Cook Street and Barilla. The hotel person finally figured that out and we were free to go. It was an annoying way to start our day. It's raining again today, we had planned to walk to the train station but decided to take a cab.
The train to Milan Centrale took 2 hrs, the train to Malpensa airport took 45 min, check in at the airport was completely empty and easy, the walk to our gate was super far far far with no moving walkways and we had to walk through a huge ridiculous high end, duty-free mall, which was very irritating. Travelers to Milan beware - it takes an extra half hour to walk through this mini version of a Texas shopping mall on the way to your gate. Our flight
to New York was 8 hrs, we watched a bunch of movies and ate the typical bad airplane food. The layover was 5 hrs and delayed an hour because of crazy rain. 3 1/2 hrs to Denver and we slept the whole time. When we arrived in Denver we felt totally lucky, quick train to baggage, our bags came out first, the shuttle to long term parking left right away, it was all very quick. We stopped at the grocery store for basic staples and then home.
Our cats were intensely happy to see us and a bit confused. We cleaned up a little, ate some real food, took showers and finally got to bed at 2 am.
We've been awake around 30 hours!
We can't tell if we're getting sick, we have sore throats. It's probably just exhaustion.
The trip was fun and a great experience and we had a fantastic time together! We saw some wonderful, beautiful, interesting things.
Marleah thinks it was amazing because not being a culinary student you wouldn't normally see the things we got to see. So many great food experiences! On a food note - it's easy to get swept up in
the common theory that food in Europe, especially France & Italy, is necessarily "better"; the reality is that great food is available everywhere, on every continent. Often, Italian food in Italy is simple bordering on bland; flavors are restrained and dishes are bound by tradition (much like the norms of life there in general). American cooks are at an advantage with easy access to a global pantry and fearlessness in seasoning and infusion of multiple techniques. No wrong or right, just "Viva la difference". It was great for John to see the food stuff through Marleah's unbiased eyes, she always reminds him of the simple truths in food.
Even though we had an enjoyable trip, it was hard for John to fully relax because technically he was at work and was with his students almost every day. He was happy to get to speak Italian again after 10 years since he was last in Italy. He also enjoyed the convenience of espresso at arms reach all day and getting to smoke wherever without social stigma. We have another vacation/a real vacation, just the two of us, planned for Nov/Dec! John needs it!
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