Italian Adventure Part IV: MILAN!

The final leg of our Italian Adventure was Milan - the bustling metropolis of Italy.

Our journey began in Venice, however, since we took another train. This one wasn't all roses, unfortunately, as we discovered the Venice water buses and taxis were on strike that particular day. I, for one, cannot understand why the ONE AND ONLY mode of transportation available on the Venetian islands would simply stop operating! Are you kidding me? And try getting this information out of disgruntled folks who only speak Italian and think you're a crazy American with your overstuffed suitcases and lack of multilingual skills. Grumble.

But all was not lost. Mike and I managed to get from Giudecca Island across the canal onto Venice, and from there it was all pulling and huffing and puffing and four little wheels. Our suitcases are becoming more threadbare with each trip and I'm sure after we dragged them over at least five canal bridges (which are complete with stairs, by the way, not smooth arching surfaces) and more than a mile, they might be missing a few more fibers. One of Mike's wheels was also injured in the process. Man down!

We started out all happy-go-lucky to be on our way to Milan, but ended up soaking in sweat and swearing at the water buses for not being in service the day we leave! By the time we'd scrounged up some lunch food and sidled our suitcases into storage on the train, I was fit to be tied.

Nearly 2.5 hours later, we surged in on a roll of steam to the Milan train station and snagged a taxi to the front door of our hotel. (I was secretly happy this process didn't involve a boat!) The hotel turned out to be nice enough and we freshened up then went in search of dinner. Our first sighting was the very impressive and ridiculously hard-to-miss Duomo di Milano.

This Gothic cathedral is so amazingly detailed and ornate, it's no wonder it took five centuries to finish building! It's also the fourth largest church in the world. It's inception is recorded sometime around 1386, and the final gate wasn't completed until 1965. Can you believe it? To this day, apparently, there are still blocks of marble waiting to be carved into statues. We didn't spot any, but I was flabbergasted by the level of detail displayed on this church. From far away it looks massive and lavishly adorned. Up close, you can see every minute aspect of each carving, adding up in the hundreds if not thousands.

Adjacent to the cathedral's piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Rather than paraphrasing so much of its information, here's what Wikipedia has to say:

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a covered double arcade formed of two glass-vaulted arcades at right angles intersecting in an octagon; it is prominently sited on the northern side of the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, and connects to the Piazza della Scala. Named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of united Italy, it was originally designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.

The street is covered over by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for nineteenth-century arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade, London, which was the prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels (opened 1847) and the Passazh in St Petersburg, (opened 1848) and including the Galleria Umberto in Naples (opened 1890). 

 The central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. The Milanese Galleria was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall, of which it was the direct progenitor. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls. The use of the iron structure has inspired also the Eiffel Tower, in Paris.

We ate dinner at a small cafe just off the Galleria, then wandered back into the main piazza so we could admire the cathedral a little longer. We found a cart vendor right next to the church and grabbed a couple Birra Moretti's then settled onto the stone stairs to people watch. Sometimes the nights you most enjoy are the ones that require the least amount of planning, you know?

Our second day in Milan, and the final day of our trip, involved some shopping, lunch at Burger King (we'd given up on more pasta, okay!?) and a surprisingly good time at a self-dubbed English pub we ran across. I browsed through stores like Zara, H&M and Top Shop, and we snacked on coconut and strawberry gelato one last time.

Then we meandered over to the Castello Sforzesco, a castle that used to be home to Milan's ruling family but now holds several art collections and museums. The castle was constructed in the 14th century, with a great deal of maintenance done after destructive bombings during World War II.

There was a BMX and healthy living convention going on in the grounds outside the castle, so we browsed that then found a comfy seat on a park bench to rest our feet. I'm so glad we took the time every now and then to just relish where we were, in Italy, and having the trip of a lifetime. It's good to see things, to check off all the sites on your list and get out and about. But to us, it's just as important to slow down and enjoy the small things that make a vacation so special. Like a cool breeze on a hot Italian afternoon in a park in Milan with my husband.

I also wanted to see the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Piazza della Scala, near Milan's La Scala Theatre.

 

We grabbed a quick dinner that night, intent on getting to the pub as soon as possible! It'd been a little frustrating that we could never find a "bar bar" to grab a drink during our Italian excursion. All you could ever get was a cafe, which involved being seated and waited on, not ordering a quick cocktail at the counter or standing around bar tables inside. So we were thrilled to find a pubby atmosphere to watch the World Cup England v USA football (aka soccer) game. We were definitely outnumbered by the English, but there were certainly some USA supporters joining us as well. We loaded up on whisky doubles and coke and made friends with several Americans packed in next to us. It wasn't 15 minutes before that grubby little pub, filled elbow to elbow, was hot, sweaty and humid. But we didn't care - everyone was having a good time and cheering their country on! There's just something awesome about being able to chant "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-AAAAAAA!"

The game ended in a tie, a bit lackluster for us Americans who always want a winner and a loser, dang it! But we had a great time and it was a good experience for our last night. Even if it did take two showers to get all the sweat off.

And that, my friends, is the end of our Italian Adventure! We flew out the next afternoon, after a shrimp fettuccine lunch at a local wine bar. It was a bit odd to being going "home" to Scotland, we weren't exactly thrilled to leave Italy and arrive in cold and windy Aberdeen. But we knew that this trip only brought us closer to being truly home in Texas, and that all of this will be fond memories in the near future.

Only one more trip to go before our grand return to the States... the beaches in Malaga, Spain will be calling our name on July 8!

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” 

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Italian Adventure Part III: VENICE!

(Should you just be joining us, I'm still recapping our four-part Italian Adventure taken two weeks ago: Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan. You can read about Rome here, and Florence here. Looking for Venice? Please continue... Milan shall follow soon!)

It's hard to fathom a city built on water until, well, you see a city built on water.

Which is exactly what we stumbled out onto when we finally managed to kerplunk our suitcases out of the Venice train station.

There was no ramp to help those who tend to pack a gregarious 50 lbs. into their baggage lug the monster out onto the sidewalk. Just onlookers to smirk and be glad that's not their suitcase. Thus I was sweating and a bit tired after having wrestled luggage onto a train, off a train, down the stairs and, eventually, into a very tight spot on a "water bus." (But more on that in a jiff.)

Venezia, as the Italians say, is truly a unique specimen. Especially because there are very few cars, which you only realize after you've been riding to and from on a boat for 24 hours and it finally occurs to you there's no excess of brake lights or the sounds of exhaust pipes puttering about. Just pedestrians and waterways and walkways. And gurgling boats criscrossing each other around the canals along invisible, intertwining "lanes."

St. Mark's Basilica dominates the Venetian skyline.

Beautiful as it all was, Venice was probably the most difficult city to manuever on our Italian Adventure. We had to cram our suitcases down into the seating area of a little water bus, which involved hoisting the darn things down more stairs into the lower part of the boat where passenger seats and the teeniest tiniest luggage storage were. Do this a few times and see if you're not rolling in sweat when it's all over! But after we chucked our luggage at the hotel, and were able to travel lightweight, it was a lot more bearable.

A water bus pulling up to a floating station.

Sans baggage and ready to explore!

Husband riding on a water bus.

We chose a hotel on a separate island called Giudecca, just across the grand canal of Venice. It was small and hidden on the backside of a large set of buildings, and down a narrow alley. Which was actually a street with a name and everything. Only we seriously thought it was just an alley because we rolled past it back and forth several times after disembarking the boat in search of the place. Just goes to show you that space counts here!

For our stay in Venezia, we wanted to experience the culture and life on the water more than sightseeing and landmarks. So we hit a couple highlights and left the rest to chance. The afternoon we arrived, we headed over to St. Mark's Basilica for a quick look inside. Yet another impressive Italian church! To set it apart from the several we'd seen during our trip already, here's a little history nugget: it was built sometime around 1094 and is a powerful example of Byzantine architecture. Lots of gilding, gold and such. Just lovely.

After that, we meandered around for a little bit and happened upon the Hard Rock - score! It was nestled on the perfect Venetian street corner of Gondola Town and Chic Italian Buildings. Okay, so I made those names up, but it really was the most ideal spot to be. From our cocktail table on the Hard Rock's first floor, we sipped on a couple drinks while watching the tourists claim their gondolas and shove out into the water for a tour around the canals. It was so perfect, in fact, that we drained our cups and walked over to partake after a quick trip to the ATM. Except we didn't even make it to the ATM since I realized with a groan that I'd switched purses at the hotel earlier, and didn't have any of my credit or bank cards.

So we had to grudgingly hike back to Giudecca island (which involves a good bit of walking and two boat rides) to pick up our credit cards then discovered that none of the ATM machines were still open. We ended up eating dinner at an outdoor cafe on our side of town and watched the sunset. After a glass of wine, I'd gotten over most of my grumpiness and was able to enjoy our pasta and grilled vegetables.

Our view from dinner.

The water in the canals had risen some as the day worn on, and several waves managed to slop over the edge of the sidewalk, drenching the feet of diners on its edge. I can totally see how Venice can easily flood during high tide! The ground floors of most buildings don't contain anything too important in order to accomodate the floods that are a part of daily life when in season.

You can see the old water lines from when the canals run high.

Our second day in Venice involved some scheduled beach time, which I was more than ready for, so we hopped on a water bus to Lido island and hoofed it to their free public beach. Which apparently observes toplessness at will, 'cause we may have seen a few! Other than that, though, it was a wonderfully uneventful relaxing day at the ocean. We even managed to gather up a couple handfuls of shells to bring back as a memento and now have displayed in an old glass pickle jar.

Since we'd only had drinks at the Hard Rock the night before, we decided to head back there for a nice dinner. And boy, did we eat it up! We ordered nachos for an appetizer - the first taste of anything close to authentic Tex Mex!! It was soooo good, with real sour cream and guacamole and everything. The restaurant also served a "fresh catch of the day," meaning whatever was freshest and most abundant at the local Venice fish market in the morning was cooked up and served by the chef that night. And it was delicious.

After eating more food than I should have possibly been able to fit in my stomach dinner, we drifted over to the gondola station just outside the eatery's front doors to hitch a ride 'round the canals. Except that it's 100 euros for a 45 minute float! Lucky us, three other fellow Americans walked up eyeing the expensive price tag so we all decided to split. Which comes in handy when you're wanting pictures of yourself on the gondola! It was so neat to see Venice from water level - we spotted the building used to film the opening scene in The Italian Job, Marco Polo's house, the Venice courthouse and beautiful Italian buildings fit for a postcard.

Pushing off...

Rialto Bridge, one of four spanning the Grand Canal in Venice. This one is the oldest, completed in 1591.

I loved the scenery!

 Marco Polo's house.

The Venice courthouse.

It was the husband's highlight of the trip.

Watch your step!

There's just something so surreal about standing on a bridge overlooking a water canal in Venice, watching the sunset while someone's guitar music floats out of their open window. Which is exactly what we did to close our stay on the island.

Some things are, indeed, better in person. Don't you agree?

Kilt for Hire!

Today's highlight was our first (and probably only) trip to the kilt shop to get Mike fitted up for a friend's wedding we'll be attending here in Aberdeen in July.

There's lots of interesting things to look at, especially since we're not used to seeing so much tartan in one place.

Lots of interesting things...

I had to write a story on kilts and trews (trousers) earlier this year for a local bridal magazine, which was very educational! I learned that the man purse is known as the sporran, usually made from seal skin. And I also learned they don't take kindly to you calling it a man purse.

This particular shop has three different categories of kilts - Standard, Premium and Pride. From what I understand the Standard and Premium are more clan tartans and the Pride of Scotland kilts are more generalized. Mike chose the Hunting Pride pattern, mostly dark grey with a little yellow.

He paired it with a black vest and jacket with gold buttons, which'll match the dark black sporran he'll be, er, sportin'.

I can't reveal the whole look just yet, but here's a sneak peek to give you an idea!

Isn't he handsome?

He was pretty excited to have a reason to wear a kilt, a must when you've lived in Scotland for a year! I like the "Braveheart-esque" look, as I call it.

I'm also particularly happy about the sporran and getting to stash a flask of whisky in there. You never know when you might get thirsty.

And yes, modern day kilt-wearers keep their underwear on. Just in case you were wondering.

Frosted Glass & Movies

Today has been a relaxing, don't-have-to-do-anything kind of day.

Which is perfect, because I happen to like those days every now and then.

I woke up this morning, made myself a hearty breakfast of bacon, egg whites and some toast then plopped myself on the couch with pillows and blankets for a couple movies.

I'm normally not much of a chick flick fan, but I don't mind having them on from time to time while I'm doing stuff around the house. So I watched Jennifer Lopez's new film, The Backup Plan, which was cute and fairly tolerable. Then I watched Dear John - figured one more sappy love story couldn't hurt. After that, I was still meandering around working on laundry and projects so I put on She's Out of My League, a comedic venture with dorky actor Jay Baruchel (he's had roles in Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder and voice-starred in How to Train Your Dragon) and Alice Eve (the Irish nanny in Sex & The City 2).

A little pilates later - I'm trying to work out a seriously painful knot in my left shoulder blade that's been inhibiting my movement the last two days, ugh! - and I broke out the supplies for a frosted glass project that I found here on Centsational Girl's blog. It's a handy way to reuse those cute but often neglected pickle and pepper jars.

I started out with this:

And some of these:

Then stuck my chosen letters on a glass pitcher I'd bought at Asda for £1:

Next I taped off a square around the letters (you could spray paint the whole thing if you wanted, I'll show you that option farther down) and used paper towels to protect the rest of the glass from any wayward paint:

And voila! The end result:

 

I still had a couple jars left and plenty of letters:

I made a little flower vase out of the tall red pepper jar, using the word "bloom":

And I had some shells we'd picked up on Lido beach in Italy, and wanted a special place to put them:

So I put "seashore" on this nice big pickle jar:

Cool, huh? It works best with the fluffy letters, since they're easier to peel off. I put only two spray paint coats on each project, waiting five minutes in between each. It keeps it smooth and gives you a better matte finish. Just lightly press the letters on to be sure the paint doesn't drizzle down behind the stickers, but that the stickers aren't stuck on so tight you can't peel them off! Made that mistake and had to toss the jar out. I got impatient and tried to pry them off too early and they took half the frosted paint with 'em.

There are other great projects to do with the frosted effect - like your plain ole coffee jar, candle holders and sugar and flour containers. Glass beware!

Now Mike is home after a day of work and golf (hard life, right?), and we've got the World Cup on. England v Algeria. Can't believe the US tied their game today against Slovenia, 2-2! They need a serious win to get some more points on the board, and soon. GO USA!

For now, I'm leaving the glassware be and heading to the kitchen to cook some dinner. Feel like keeping it simple tonight, so I'm tossing a batch of lean beef with some spices and Worcestshire sauce then grilling them in little patties with  low-fat cream of mushroom soup on top. To keep it even easier, I'll add grilled onions, zucchini and eggplant. It may not be Italian pasta but it's delicious and nutritious. (Which reminds me, I still need to blog on Venice & Milan... so many pictures you folks haven't seen yet!)

"He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Greetings from the Coliseum

Mike and I recorded this lil video on my birthday as we toured the Coliseum in Rome. It's so neat to have these video snippets to look back on, since you're able to really get a feel for things rather than just looking at a picture.

Several more videos of our Italian trip to come, plus my blog updates on Venice and Milan!