Uscita (exit)

11:03 Friday morning with a 45 min delay. Sitting in Malpensa airport.
Its not too bad with a brilliant view of the Alps.. But at thus point
I'm really ready to be home. I miss my girls, I miss by wife, I miss
my bed and toilets you dont have to study for a few minutes to figure
out how to flush ( every one is slightly different here.)

Hopefully we'll make up some time on the flight since this could
potentially make me miss my flight in Atlanta.
Arivedierci italia. I'm heading home.

Ciao Varenna

One last look at the mountains that hang over Lake Como.

Lunch in Varenna

Spaghetti pomodoro basilico

Lunch with a view

Enjoying lunch in Varenna with a view of Lake Como.

Slickest scooter ever

Scooter travel is very popular in Milan. There are different types, I
saw one that had two wheels up front and one in the rear like a
reverse tricycle. But this BMW scooter takes the Baddest Scooter prize!

I Puffi

So apparently the Smurfs are still popular over here. Except they are
called I Puffi.

Metro Concerto

There are plenty of opportunities to drop some spare change on the
metro (which in euros, change is as much as 2€ or about $3 per coin).

Whether its a beggar shouting out their current life situation... How
they are sleeping behind the train station and trying to get a doctor
to see their young child (complete with well-worn photo of said
child). Or in the case if this morning an unlikely quartet of 2
violins and 2 accordians broke out into Minuet in D. Sound recording
to follow.

Sitting beside John Locke

I'm sitting on the train to Milan beside what appears to be John Locke
from Lost. Shhh he's sleeping.

Ciao Venizia

Just pulling away from Venice. What a beautiful city.

We hiked to San Marcos. Shopped for souvenirs and enjoyed a huge,
thick slice of pan pizza.

As it got late, we looked at thetrain schedule and realized we needed
to huff it to get to the 6:50 train back to Milan. So we pulled
another Pisa. Unfortunately we arrived trainside as it was pulling away.

We got in the Biglietti line to make a reservation for the 7:30. The
line wasn't terribly long but they were so slow that by 7:05 we knew
we could be in trouble.

While we waited we spoke with two friendly older women from Australia
who were taking a 6-week "holiday." One first broke the ice by asking
us where we were from. I thought surely the American accent was one of
the most distinguishable. We chatted about Sydney being the first to
black out for lights out hour, traveling, and the Wiggles. They were
so pleasant that the time just flew by and before we knew it, we were
third in line and it was 7 minutes until the train left.

We quickly made our reservation with mere minutes to dash out to the
platform and jump on the train.

I would like to return to Venice again someday.

<sent from my iphone>

Train travel

There are two types of trains in Italy. Those that require a
reservation (as much as 15€ for high speed) and those that do not.
But the difference in quality between the two is stark. The former
being much cleaner and more comfortable, with a dedicated bar cart for
eating and drinking. The latter, of which I am sitting on right now is
much more akin to public transportation. Dirty, worn, and no frills.
As we were heading to Florence this morning, in a high speed train
that cost a 15€ reservation fee, I was saying how if we had trains
back home it would be a great way to travel. Now, having travelled
most of a 4-hour trip from Pisa to Milan, I'm not so sure.

<sent from my iphone>

A slice of Pisa

We did it. We had an extremely narrow window of opportunity to visit
the leaning tower of Pisa and still catch the last train back to
Milano. The guidebook had said it was a 40 minute walk from the train
station. We did it in 25. We took about 10 photos then we booked it
back to the train station. I'm going to feel it on my legs tomorrow
but I'm glad we were able to make the stop.

<sent from my iphone>

Birth of Venus

Another bad photo that had to be snapped quickly before the museum
staff shouted at me. Birth of Venus by Botticelli at the Ufizzi. This
proves I was there.

Authentic Florentine Cuisine

Stopped in at a dive of a cafe and enjoyed this amazing gnocci.

Signor David

Snapped off an illegal photo of David this morning so thats why it is
so blurry/off center. Thanks to National Culture week entry was free.

Enjoying an outdoor lunch before ufizzi later today.

All Aboard

Sitting on the 7 am to Roma with a stop at Firenze.

Day 2

We are up early this morning at 5 am to begin the journey down to
Florence. After a late night game of Canasta, sleep was cut to only 4
hours, thanks in part to daylight savings time. Yes as if losing 5
hours coming over wasn't bad enough we lost another last night. Then I
lost another to Matthew snoring.

<sent from my iphone>

A cup of coffee

Apparently a cup of coffee in Italy means a tiny shot of espresso.
These people aren't messing around with this stuff.

Day in Milan

After landing a little early. We took the Malpensa Express into Milan.
Here we checked into the hotel around 10am. Then we took off to
explore the city. Saw the Duomo. Climbed the seemingly neverending
flight of spiraled stairs to the roof of the duomo. Ate some Italiano
fast food at Spiazzo. Explored some more...

Just woke up from a siesta. Now on to more exploring before sunset.
17:15.

Snow covered Alps

This photo doesn't do it justice. But we just flew over the Alps and
it is a beautiful scene.

Breakfast!!

Getting close!

The Eastern Glow

6:30 AM Italy time and the sun is peeking over the horizon.

Dinner is served

Mmmmm. Airplane food. Sorry for the sideways photo.

Safety warning

Sitting on the plane waiting to take off. The security recording just
said "some of our seats may be used as flotation devices." some!? They
aren't saying which?!? Thats just something you have to find out the
hard way.

Next stop...Malpensa.

<sent from my iphone>

Italy...here we come!

I'm sitting in New York's JFK waiting for the flight to Malpensa. The
flight up here from RDU was smooth and short (under 1 hour).

Quick flight to a long wait. We take off in about 3 hours.