Prelude in Milano

Experience 5. Pizza with a floor show. 5th June

On arrival in Milan we decided that the best thing to do was have a bit of a rest....amazing how tired you get sitting on a plane for 12 & a half hours. So two hours would still give us plenty of time left in the day for exploring....so five hours later John finally stirs whilst Chez is still snoozing away. The alarm was no help at all! Not to worry, a walk and then dinner will have to do before er going back to sleep again.

Dinner at a small Pizza and Pasta place on the plaza outside Centrale station, watching the world go by..perfect. The pizza was authentic and the beer nice and cold. The floor show started half way through dinner when one of the waiters started berating a colleague for no apparent reason that we could discern. A few minutes later and the whole gang had weighed in. Nothing physical mind you, but certainly willing just the same. They took it in turns coming out to apologise for the behavior of the others before rejoining the melee. It finally settled down but by then no one was coming into the establishment. After Chez and I paid, we left them quiet and alone.

Experience 6. Duomo Dash. 6th June.

Well our Italian Grande Coach tour was to start at midday today, which left us only the morning to taste a bit more of Milan. After a hearty breaky, Italian style, and our first cappuccino for the day, italian style, (boy do the Italians know how to make a good one even without the choc sprinkles), we were out the door just after 9. Now for the fun part, finding our way by foot to the Duomo. After walking for a bit, checking if the trams were an option, then back to walking we stumbled across a gorgeous cobblestone street with designer shops and beautiful window displays, photo opportunity then back to walking. Finally, 50 minutes later we arrive at the piazza where the Duomo sits. What an awesome, gothic looking, marble stone church. We were able to go to the rooftop and wander around. So much incredible detail, statues, gargoyles, fret work, ornate spires just to name a few. Not a pigeon in sight though, they were all p*#%ed off because there were lots of spikes in all the gargoyles and statues to stop them from crapping all over this awesome architecture. After our sojourn on the roof a return dash via the underground train took us 5 minutes. Phew, just made it back in time for a refreshing drink before the next stage of our journey begins.

Worth mentioning in Milan : buy a drink in a bar/cafe and they give you a savory platter of things like olives, nuts and crisps. Buy a drink between 6pm and 8:30pm and it's happy hour in Milan when lots of other gourmet goodies are on offer with your drink for free. Just missed out on the happy hour experience as we had a drink at 5:30pm. Still got the crisps, nuts and olives though.

Next stop Stressa in Northern Italy.

Ciao, Chez & John.