Socks Packing Socks....

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!!

Socks Sit For Last Supper.....

Saturday 11, October: Bought another sciarpa before leaving Varenna...a girl can never have too many sciarpe...Jim was cursing the train schedule that left us time to shop one more time in the five available stores!! Arrived in Milan...it's warmer and that's nice, but way more people than tiny Varenna...many more stores though (sorry Jim!). Went for a walk and located a restaurant where we ate when we were here in 2000. Looks like it is no longer run by the same people, but the food is still good. Spent most of the day trying to get away from the crowds...it's people Jim just can't stand!



Sunday 12, October: Went and made a reservation at Da Bruno. It's a restaurant owned by a man from Volterra (thank you Rick Steves), it's just too much of a coincidence so we are going to celebrate our one month anniversary there tomorrow. To escape the crowds we did like the rest of the Milanese...we went to the Castello Sforza and it's beautiful, huge, surrounding park. On the way Jim said we should pick up a picnic lunch at the bakery suggested by Rick Steves that is near the castle entrance...a couple hours later after talking to two grumpy giornali guys and one very kind little old lady walking her dog...we got some bread at different bakery (thanks a lot Rick Steves!) and went to the castle. It was beautiful. We sat under the trees (like the rest of the Italians) and listened to the concert going on in another part of the grounds. It was so peaceful and reminded us of our visit to the Borghese Park in Rome (it seems so long ago!!). We returned to our hotel...TV is back and we watched two episodes of "Amici"(Friends) and an episode of "Colombo" (still Colombo). Jim went to bed dreaming of Starchini & Hutchollo....

Monday 13, October: It has been a true Luna di Miele...one month and they said it wouldn't last (mostly Jim): The day start with...yes, Starchini & Hutchollo....the post office can't be far away! We went on a walk along the Golden Triangle of shopping, every high end, name brand, "oh my gosh can that really be the price", store you have ever heard of is in this area. Lucky for Jim, Milan...is chiuso (closed) on the Monday morning. He seemed to have misplaced the free map by the afternoon. We went to dinner at Da Bruno. They treated us so special and when dinner was over and we were finally able to communicate to the waiter why we had chosen this restaurant for our dinner, the owner came over and brought us a glass of prosecco for a toast, sat down and over a plate of cantucci (I have so missed the cantucci) talked about Volterra with us. He was born in Volterra (his family owns and runs the big alabaster store at the entrance to town) and lived there until he was 26. His job was to bring the alabaster into Milan. One day he had lunch at Da Bruno, and then bought the restaurant. Walked home under a full moon and to complete the evening we found the Grom gelateria of Milan (yum, Pam!!)

Tuesday 14, October: Yes, Starchini & Hutchollo again. We went shopping where we could actually say the prices. Totally irrated the man at the local Cafè over some espresso cups. And then put on our walking shoes for some culture. We went to the Ultima Cena (the Last Supper). We saw it when we were here last time, but it is much more popular now (since Da Vinci Code). The author Dan Brown believes that the painting portrays Jesus sitting next to his wife, Mary and that their bodies form the feminine "V". Jim believes that they are a couple who have been married for a month and a day and are trying to get away from each other.

Socks Take A Five Hour Tour....

Tuesday 7, October: We took in some outdoor culture today. Went to visit Villa Monastero. The villa itself is closed except for the weekends (ok...we missed that) but the gardens are beautiful. All of the plants and trees have signs with their names, scientific and common, printed on them...very educational. Jim wanted to pick some of the pompelmo rosso and make some gelato...sorry Pam no stracciatella trees!

When we were finished we walked up to the Hotel Eremo Gaudis. It is built into the mountain and you have to take a funicular up to the hotel and restaurant. To finish the day we called Chef Moreno from Il Caminetto and he drove down the mountain and took us back to his restaurant in Gittana, a fifteen minute ride up a VERY winding, one lane road. It was a wonderful meal. We were the only people in the restaurant so it was like having our own private chef (just like George!). I had missoltini he had made himself from an old family recipe. it was a fun evening of talking, discussions of food, family and world politics. He gave me his email address so I can practice my Italian (he doesn't know what he got himslef into there!).

Wednesday 6, October: We awoke to clouds and a few sprinkles but decided to take the slow boat to China...I mean Como. We boarded the battello in Varenna and took it down the western leg of Lake Como to the town of Como. The battello stops in ten small towns along the way and takes about 2 1/2 hours...one way. We planned on shopping in Como (some sweet ladies from Cork that we've seen a couple of times mentioned a big market) and locating some traditional Neopolitan pizza. The view from the battello was amazing. It looks like there are a hundred tiny little towns all stuck here and there in the mountains and along the lake. It looks like a Disneyland ride with all the miniture hamlets and here and there... a castle. Arrived in Como to discover the market is on the weekend (ok...we missed that). We did however find the pizza....Jim has a nose for that kind of thing! Took the ride back and then went to our room to warm up. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel where we are staying...tonight so did Chef Moreno and his family and the owners of the restaurant across the way!

Thursday 9, October: It seems the 5 hours in the open air battello has given me a cold so we headed to the farmacia for medication. They gift wrap the drugs for you here...isn't that sweet....when you don't feel good you get a gift. Jim can criuse Alaska and Lake Como in the rain in short sleeve shirts...I can't! We took the autotraghetto to Menaggio for the afternoon...however it is closed on the Thursday (yes...the whole town). There is a beautiful promenade along the lake and at the end....miniature golf of course! The "mini gol" looked hard. There is no carpet for friction to slow down the ball and (Karyn will understand this!) an elevated tee..like in the pros! We eventually found a bar that was open and had lunch. Cruised back to Varenna (only 29 minutes across the lake!) and relaxed on the deck.

Friday 10, October: Back to the farmacia...more drugs, different drugs. When to the lake edge and collected some lake glass (Chris and Pam) and then went back to do some laundry...things are looking less pink these days. And then just relaxed and enjoyed the view.