Day 14 September 14, 2006 Milan and the Rain

Buon Giorno,

OK, it finally happened. I knew that after 13 days of perfect weather, something had to give. The weather that you have been having in the states has finally hit us. We woke up this morning to find the heavens wide open, raining cats and dogs. What a miserable start to the day. I’m so glad that we changed our plans. I would have hated to walk around Turin in the rain. But its now time to tour Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world.

Gianluca  comes to get us this morning. We take the trolley  to the  first mall in the world.  I can say that we have taken just about every mode of transportation in Italy, except for horse and buggy and a scooter. We have been on a bus, plane, boat, trolley, subway, car, whew all in 14 days.

We then proceed to Fashion Row, where all the great designers and fashion houses have a shoppe: Prada  Louis Vitton  Mercedes  Salvatore Ferragamo  Gucci  Versace  Cavalli  Dolce & Gabbana , we saw them all. There were even 2 American favorites in the crowd with gourmet stores.  &   Both of them were packed to the rim. Europeans love that stuff. It was the first Burger King that we have seen in Italy, but MC’D’s are everywhere.  Oh yes, the Africans were there as well. Selling knockoffs right outside of the store’s doors. It was crazy.

I must tell you, saw is all that we did. The prices were SKY HIGH!!! And they were SKY HIGH in Euro, not American Dollars. Today 1 Euro = $1.34 American. The prices of things here are crazy. A pair of Levi’s will go for 85 Euro, that’s about $100. Earlier, I told you about the tennis shoes at Foot Locker. I love to buy shoes and clothes, but I cannot afford these prices. Whew we!!!!!!

After walking around, we have lunch at Princi’s . It is a great little spot to have a quick bite. I had the lasagna and Craig had ravioli. Both were outstanding and rather cheap. It’s amazing you can grab a great lunch for two for around 10 Euro, about $13.50 American, but you cannot afford to buy anything else.   

We then toured the famous castle here in Milan, Castello Sforzesco . With its seven centuries of history, the castle  has witnessed the glorious periods and dramatics moments of Milan. Today, the castle is home to 12 different museums, including museums of Ancient Art, Egyptian Artifacts, Musical Instruments, Furniture History and Photographic Archive. he castle itself is huge and a treat to see. 

We then take the trolley back to Luca’s so that we can go out to dinner. I know that you are not going to believe this, but we are going out for Italian Chinese Food tonight. I know, I know, but 14 straight days of pasta and pizza, we need a break. We go to the restaurant and have a great meal. We have spring rollls, wontons filled with shrimp, meat or cabbage, Chinese beer (very smooth and not bitter at all). for the main course, I decide to have Pineapple Chicken;Craig has the Sweet and Sour Chicken; Chris has the Sweet and Sour Shrimp. Its funny, but the three Italians have different varieties of soy spaghetti (Chinese spaghetti). Old habits are hard to break.

After dinner, we call it an early night to get ready for tomorrow. If the weather holds up, hopefully we can shoot over to Turin. If like to today, I think that we are going to have another day in Milan. But donàt worry anyone, there are gourmet chocolate shops here in Milan that we can get chocolate, shipped straight here from Turin daily.

Ciao, Ciao