Milan Expenses
Trip Start
Feb 07, 2008
1
29
35
Trip End
May 03, 2008
Milan,
Italy
Friday, March 28, 2008
We were so surprised and thankful we we arrived to find the weather practically perfect! The sun was such a welcome feeling - it had been raining and overcast for quite some time in Florence - we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. First things first though, we didn't have a place to stay so we scoured our tour book's map for inspiration and after a few full hostels we found a small, vacant room with an even smaller bed. The "hotel" ( I am only calling it that because that is what they were calling it) was on the third floor of a building not too far from the train station and because we were running out of options we figured it was only for a night and neither one of us cared too much, we just wanted some place to sleep and brush our teeth
the "key"
. So a little bit about our room: like I said one small bed, a sink and mirror but the rest of the bathroom was down the hall, an armoir (why? I have no idea), a desk (again, why?), and a window (thank goodness because it was so pretty outside. The door was a sliding door like one you find on older homes' walk in closets - you push in the middle and it folds up like an accordion. We also had a key but I really think it was just for show, pretty much a stick of metal on a large key chain. I really don't know why they even bothered to give us one. Only having a day in the city, and wanting to be outside as much as possible considering the weather, we walked over to the Duomo. I didn't really have any desire to go inside - by this point I am sorry to say there are only so many church interiors I can take - but the outside was so beautiful and the entrance was free so in we went...am I glad I did! The church was more beautiful inside - the exterior was a close second though - and the architecture was wonderful too, massive arches, a gorgeous apse, and the sun was low enough in the sky that the colors of the stained glass was showing up - vividly - on the pillar capitals. We walked around for a while, probably because it was just that big, and then began to get hungry. Once we were outside we called Yumie - she moved to Milan the week before - to see if she was able to meet us for dinner, she was
the "room"
. So we walked through the gallery of the mall right next to the Duomo - full of all the designer store fronts - and about 20 minutes later we met her by one of the metro stops. She expressed interest in one of the restaurants nearby and asked if we would mind eating there. As long as they served food it was fine by us! So we walked around the corner and down a few blocks and the menu looked good, a little pricey (I was apparently in the mood for risotto because it was the only thing under 10 Euros), but Yumie really wanted to try it so we went inside and were promptly seated. Having already decided what I was having browsing the menu didn't take too long. The waiter asked if we would like a bottle of wine and we thought why not? As he poured the wine for Chris to taste - she being the one who asked for it - she noticed it said "Brunello" on the label but didn't think much of it, in her words "it all happened so fast!". So after she accepted the bottle and we all had our glasses full she told us that "by the way" this was Brunello we were drinking and she "[didn't] know for sure about this bottle but the bottles she [had priced] in the stores [ran] about 75 Euros"...WHAT?! I don't even like wine that much!...so she was very sorry she didn't say anything earlier but she didn't know how to go about telling the waiter that we didn't want to expensive bottle of good wine and that a nice CHEAP table wine would be just fine...I don't think they served "table wine". So we lifted our glasses and made a toast - "to dinner, may it be wonderful; to the wine, may it be worth it; and to my debit card, may it please work!" Our dinner was good - not outstanding - but memorable (I think due to the wine), the wine was exceptional (thank god), and my card did just fine! :) We noticed that we were the only table with a Brunello so while we probably should have been thinking - those damn waiters taking advantage of us American girls - all that was going through our heads was - those waiters didn't give anyone else this bottle of wine, sucks for them
Giardino Pubblico
! The dinner was a great/memorable experience in more ways than one. We said goodnight to Yumie and returned to our hotel to check our bank accounts - I forgot to mention the bottle turned out to only be 50 Euros, still - and watch some episodes of the Office before falling asleep.The next day it was beautiful again so we walked to to the Public Gardens we had discovered the previous day and bought some magazines and some snacks and sat by the dog area - we both miss our canines a lot :) - to people watch, dog watch, and soak up the sun. It was a very relaxing afternoon and the park was a welcome sight as Florence isn't too keen on keeping trees around (there are a few parks here and there but none with as much room/grass as this). Around 2:30 we walked back to the train station and grabbed some pizza before boarding the train bound for Venice.
