Milan
Trip Start
Apr 02, 2006
1
2
22
Trip End
Apr 24, 2006
Milan, Italy
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Monday, April 4th
What a LONG day of travel. The flight to London was fine, very quiet and I actually got a lot of sleep, but that uncomfortable plane sleep. But flying over London was awesome, saw what I am pretty sure was London Bridge, and the Thames river and the full city. Very cool to realize I was flying over something I had been reading about for years! Got to Heathrow Airport...and no one warned me, but that airport is the biggest rat maze I have EVER been in. Crazy... took me about 1 1/2 hours to get from terminal one to terminal 4!!
Then the flight to Milan... Had the ultimate brother team behind me. One was 3 the other was about 7... and they kicked, fought and screamed the ENTIRE 2 hour flight! Good times... My frustration with the children subsided when we flew over the Alps. I'm talking stunning views, and also when we started going in for landing in Milan and the Italian countryside came into view... Wow!
Got out of the airport and went through customs around 6:30, and then was on my way to the hotel. I was proud of myself for not getting bamboozled into a private car who was trying to convince me that the ride would cost about 65€ (The actual cab was 12€!!). The hotel is a tiny place on the 3rd floor of a building 2 stops from the Duomo (NE), and my room was one of the smallest things I have ever seen. 1 tiny twin bed, a dresser, a little TV, with a stand-up shower in the room, and a sink. It was Pam sized. But it was very clean and I kinda liked it's charm. And at only 40€ I couldn't complain too much.
I then dropped my bags, and went into town. Wanted to get in as much as I could with the daylight that was left. Figured out the subway system without too much trouble (I'm such a rock star!) and heading to the Duomo. When I first arrived in Milan I thought all the buildings were adorable, and very Italian... but nothing too special. Then I literally stepped out of the subway onto the side steps of the Duomo. What a MAGNIFICANT building!!! Truly took my breath away. It's under construction, but the giant piazza around it was still bustling. Then walked to La Scalla Opera House, to see what was playing, and if I could maybe get in. Alas, it was just a recital and I was starting to lose my steam but a ballet is playing tonight that I might try and attend.
I then just kinda wondered about, trying to comprehend the fact that I am in Italy on my own! Crazy... Found a main shopping strip (Luckily for my bank account most of the stores had closed) and had my first scoop of Gillato. Coffee flavored...Delicious!!!
Got back on the subway (saw 2 Italians almost beat each other up in a heated argument that I didn't understand a word of, but still entertaining and reminded me of NYC) and back to my neighborhood. Found a cute pizzeria near the hotel, and had my first slice of pizza in Italy!
Then I went home and CRASHED!
Tuesday, April 4th
This morning I got up early (8:15 suckas!) got dressed, checked out of the hotel, left my bag with the kind ladies at the front desk so I don't have to lug it about all day and headed over to the train station. Stacione Centrale is another massive stunning building. And it's just their TRAIN STATION!!! With a little hunting found the place to get my Euro-rail pass validated, then back downstairs to get my ticket for the overnight train to Roma tonight. Thank God for my Italian phrase book (thank you Shawn!)... Apparently my Italian is... who do you say... "not ah so goo'!" But I'm getting by... It's amazing how far a smile, some sign language and a grazie will get you.
Alright... I'm off. Going to try and see the inside of the Duomo now, and get a view at The Last Supper (I hope I get a ticket).
I'm outty... peace y'all!
UPDATE #2
So I'm at an internet cafe near the train station. Had some time before my overnight train to Rome that I thought I would update the rest of today... here goes:
I feel like I've walked every square inch of the city of Milan today (even though I know I didn't even make a dent in it!). First went way out to try and get a ticket for THE LAST SUPPER. That was a big ol' bust. They are sold out for the day... so I thought I would get a reservation for my last day in Italy since I'm flying out of Milan. Ha... that's funny, because they are sold out THE ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL!! Good times. A bit deflated, I started wondering seeing what I could find. Stumbled across a major road, and that led me to an old Military Castle turned cultural art center. The Castello Sforzesco. THis place was stunning and probably twice the size of the Duomo. I went in, and used my Wagner ID to get a student discount (Gotta work it when you can!!) to all of the museums in the center. Some interesting stuff, including a Leonardo Di Vinci exibit featuring his military invetion sketches, armor from the 14th-16th Centuries, and other various seemingly ancient artwork\tapestries. While in the museum I glanced out a window and saw the beautiful park on the back side of the property. I quickly grew tired of museum hunting, and decided to lounge with everyone out there...
Got a quick lunch and took it to the green area. It was like the 1st day of spring in NYC... Beautiful weather (Warm, but not too hot), and people were everywhere sunbathing, playing futbol (soccor), and frisbee. Such a great place to "people watch." I laid out there for about 2 hours or so... Very relaxing, despite the slight sunburn on my face.
Then it was on to the interior of The Duomo. Really impressive cathedral. So massive and opulant, but in a very gothic and dark sort of way. I went downstairs and saw the tomb of a Milan cardinal... from the 1400's!!! Kinda creepy... kinda cool.
I was starving at this point... so I went down some pseudo back alleys near the Duomo to find a sit down place to eat that wasn't too crowded. Found a darling place, with a darling old lady serving me. She knew my Italian wasn't so good, but she let me practice anyways. I had a Penne Pasta that was amazing, a 1\2 caraffe of red wine, and tiramisu. Yeah... a boy could get used to this!!!
On my travels earlier in the day I had stumbled across a little theater that was having a Mozart festival. (It's like 200 years since he died or something...) The were doing The Magic Flute... but with Marionettes! I bought a ticket, and decided to go...
Here is what I learned:
Amazing meal with a Caraffe of Wine...... 26€
Ticket to The Magic Flute with Stiff Puppetts... 10€
Sleeping through a Motzart Opera........... Priceless
Yeah... not so good. Was all I could do to keep my head from falling on the floor (I most certainly did the head twitch on SEVERAL occasions!) Ah well... at least I tried.
Now I'm off the the train station, and sleep on it. When I wake up... I'll be in Rome!!
I'm on my own Roman Holiday... Audrey Hepburn eat your heart out!
Chao Bellos.... Until the next update!!!
