Getting Our Socks Off In Italy

In the "better late than never" category we are finally posting the last post...one year later!

We celebrated our last night in Milan at Da Bruno, again! They were so touched that we would spend our last night with them that they didn't even let us choose our dinner off the regular menu...they cooked up up special for us. After a perfect dinner, we walked one last time around the Piazza del Duomo. They were setting up for a big concert and we stole a few peeks at the displays and of course snapped a picture of "The Boys"! One more gelato at Grom and it's back to the Hotel Star.

When we arrive in the lobby the clerk discusses our departure in the morning, that we can get breakfast a little early, there's a train stike tomorrow, wasn't the weather nice today, did we want any coffee...wait! What was that about a train strike? Certainly it won't affect the Malpensa Express...it might affect the Malpensa? At first there is a little panic, but then I think...hmmm...not our fault, we can't go home, there isn't a train to the airport, who could blame us for just staying in Italy...after all no train right?

Sadly, despite a little wishful thinking on one of our parts....the train is running fine and we are on our way back to Stockton.

"You and I have memories

Longer than the road

That stretches out ahead

Two of us...we're on our way home"

Wednesday 15, October: After our morning S & H we headed for the Central Train station...cheese and prosciutto on our minds. We dealt with a rather cranky, non-english speaking gentleman at the bigletteria, but managed to get a ticket for a train to our sister city, Parma, that left in 3 minutes...not a bad thing except the train station is under consturction and not easy to access. We made it before the train left, but all the seats appeared to be reserved seats (and our ticket was not); Jim did not rest easy until our ticket had been punched...without any fines! The last time we went to Parma we went on a Tuesday and the (entire) town was closed. This time we went on Wednesday...market day, oh, boy market day!! If you want to see Jim's face twitch just make the sound of small plastic horses!! They are everywhere! He even "accidentally" stepped on one! And he used to think it was just the Vespas here that made him crazy! We finally located the cheese store and with the help of a really nice cheese man sent some home....not the whole 40kg wheel (you figure out how many pounds that is!!) but a really big chunk! The price per kg has caused Jim to put the cheese in the safe...so don't expect a taste! We managed to find an Italian book I had been looking for in every book store in Italy. I had originally seen it at the Uffizi Gallery book store, of all places, and not been able to find since- "Prosciutto e Uovo Verde" (Green Eggs and Ham). I also bought the cups to make espresso marrachino (Uncle Jim has created a monster!!). Visited the city's visitor center "The Parma Point". Jim told them he was the mayor of Stockton and they said they thought he was the mayor of Vernazza! Grabbed some bread and headed back to Milan.

Thursday 16, October: After a really good episode of S & H (we almost missed the breakfast cutoff!), the post office can be avoided no longer. A little last minute shopping to fill up the extra large box. And fill it I have! We have reservations for dinner at Da Bruno. I thought the guy was going to cry when we said we wanted to have our last dinner at his restaurant. After a dry run on how to reach the Malpensa Express Train to the airport we went back to the castle. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta Rondanini in the museo di arte antica (museum of ancient art). (Jimmy the thrifty got in for free since it was after 4:30...what a bargain!) Michelangelo was working on it four days before he died. Since it is an unfinished work they really don't care much about it and it is one of the few pieces of his that you can get really close to. You can get right up next to it close enough to take a picture , which I did, even though it wasn't allowed. After they chased us and our illegal photographic equipment out of the museum, we headed back to finish packing and prepare for "The Departure" and our dinner at Da Bruno. Stay tuned for the details of the flight...and if you know us there will be a story!!