Vacation Review-Day Three: SACILE

My third day in Italy was spent taking a well-deserved break. Laura had the genuis forethought to build in a day to take it easy. Of course, had I wanted to get back out there, it was completely up to me, but I was kind of happy for the light day. It was fun to see the cute little town near her and nice to not be rushed by train schedules and exhausted by ridiculous amounts of walking.

We got up and had breakfast (capuchino and brioche) at a local cafe while we planned our trip to Florence the next day.



It was here that I encountered the "hole in the floor" toilet facilities.




Not a fan. I haven't peed like that since walking home drunk in college. Thank the babyjesus I didn't have to poop.

We walked around a farmer's market, and I got some olives and spices as well as a cheap sundress and an obnoxious ballerina/bellydancer costume for Audrey (sadly, they didn't have one in Mina's size).





We got our train tickets to Florence, and mine for Rome later in the week, and headed off to the miliary base, where Laura's husband works, to check email and get those tax free cigarettes I mentioned yesterday.

The view walking away from the downtown area.


Next we drove out to a local vineyard to taste and purchase yummy and CHEAP wines.











Baby grapes!


Inside:






I got three bottles of fantastic wine for 18 euro! I even got one free bottle, but I had to drink it before I left Italy as I was only allowed to take three home with me.

We went to lunch after the vineyard to a local place Laura and her husband like to go. We were not only the only Americans in the place, but the only women. The whole place was filled local blue collar-type workers, and every last one of them turned around to stare at us when we walked in.

Remember this is a tiny little "nowhere" town, not near the base. It's not a touristy area. I think the guys in there were just dumbfounded as to why we would choose to eat at this particular place.

I had the best lunch ever! Gnocchi with cream sauce, spinach and ham. Holy shit, was it good. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life...except that I would weigh 400 pounds in approximately two weeks.

A couple of guys sat down next to us. One of which Laura and I dubbed the 'working man's Fabio'. He kept trying to get us to drink some of his wine, but we politely refused. I'm pretty sure he bore a hole right through the top of my dress with his eyes, but whatever. He actually ended up buying our lunch! We didn't exchange but a few words of broken English (though my cousin is pretty fluent in Italian), and this guy bought our meal for us.

So, I got a free bottle of wine and a free lunch all in the span of 2 hours. Not bad.

My one regret is that I didn't get a picture of our benefactor. I'm still kicking myself over that.

We made it home and had a wonderful time just sitting on Laura's front porch talking and eating dinner.

A few shots of their home:






Their street:


and just a pretty flower that grows in front of their house:


After dinner, we went out for gelato. I had raspberry and dark chocolate. I can hardly look at this picture without wanting to lick the monitor. It was THAT good.


I will end this post with a lovely example of local flavor:




Tomorrow: Florence!

Vacation Review-Day Two: VENICE

Venice. Loved it. It ranks a very close second to Rome for me.

When we got there, we were starving, so we got some pizza (and wine) for lunch. Now, sometimes when I get pizza at home, I ask for it without cheese. I get puzzled expressions, disgusted glances and the occasional death threat.

This place had "marinara" pizza right there on the menu. I was stoked, and it was DEE-licious. Plenty of garlic and basil on a cracker thin, crispy crust. The house wine wasn't too bad either.
























There were pigeons EVERYWHERE. Not just in Venice, but here is where I saw people letting the nasty little flying rats perch on them for pictures. I don't mean to sound like a priss, but that's fucking nasty.







We had only taken the train in for the day, so we didn't hit any museums or indoor sites. Next time I go, I'd like at least a couple of days in Venice to be able to see more.

I love that the Venice itself is a work of art. I love the way the businesses fit themselves into the landscape as opposed to fitting the landscape to suit their needs. Also, to continue to inhabit a sinking piece of property takes balls...or maybe it's just the stubborn nature of its citizens.

The day after Venice, Laura (my cousin) and I decided to have a "lazy" day. We had breakfast, went to a farmer's market and I got to visit a military base where I got to send a quick email and buy some tax free cigarettes ($3.50 a pack! USD).

Next stop: Florence.

Vacation Review-Day One: MILAN

`After a flight from Ohare to JFK, a 5 hour layover, and a plane that was 45 minutes late:


I finally made it to Malpensa Airport in Milan.


As soon as I got off my flight, I changed my dollars into euros and got a ticket for the shuttle bus into Milan's Stazione Centrale.


Everyone who told me that our dollar is weak wasn't joking. I was a little bummed at how little euro I got in the exchange rate.


The ride into the city reminded me a bit of the freeways in Chicago, except that every sign was in Italian. The bus had air conditioning which I would soon learn was a luxury in most of Italy.



I got off the bus at Stazione Centrale and found the baggage storage so I could explore the city for the day.

Walking out of the train station.





First, I found the Metro and took it to the Duomo.


Breathtaking.


A friend told me that when she went, she audibly gasped when she walked up out of the Metro, and I now understand why.

Because it is high season, there were so many people everywhere and so many people ready to take your money.

The birdseed sellers pissed me off. I was so hot and tired, I really didn't feel like being harassed in and around my personal space.

It was Sunday, so there was a service going on. I felt kind of disrespectful taking pictures while people were getting their jesus on even though no one else seemed to have a problem with it.

The floor was cool too.

I asked around for Jesus' email address, but no one wanted to give it to me.

After checking out the inside, I walked around the corner to get a view from the roof. Everywhere I turned, there was another picture to take.

Gargoyles!

It was SO hot, but I didn't care. This was so amazing to see up close.

I was wandering around, checking out the shops at the "mall"...

when I heard a screeching sound and saw a large flaming gay man approaching me with his arms out.

How did I know he was gay? Well, he mentioned it in the first 5 seconds of our conversation. That and he was also from Barcelona and a hermaphrodite who was taking hormones, and would be getting surgery to complete his "womanhood" in two years.


First.Five.Seconds.


He wanted to see my tattoos. He asked me if I was from Australia. He wanted to know if he freaked me out. He wanted to read my palm.


He talked so fast and so loud, I was having trouble understanding what the hell was going on.


He wanted to walk around the corner to tell me my fortune, and before I knew it we were sitting on a bench in the hot sun and he was giving me a "special deal" for the reading.



Uh huh.



I was too weak from hunger, sweat and being in a completely foreign country to walk away from what was surely a con.


I kept a close hold on my bag and figured that even though he was full of shit, at least it was going to make for good blog fodder.


After spewing (literally. He spit a look when he spoke) a bunch of vague visions, he took me by the hand and wanted to show me the "gay park". At that point, I knew better than to go anywhere with him and told him I was going to go have lunch now--alone.



I had a salad and fruit at a self serve lunch place, then some gelato (strawberry).


I was starting to really feel the jet lag, and it was almost time for my train so I made my way back to the train station and found a place to sit down and drink a beer and smoke a cigarette in peace.


Let me just say this: While you cannot smoke indoors in Italy, you can pretty much smoke anywhere else, and most everywhere has an outdoor seating area. No one gives you dirty looks either like they seem to here in the states. It was kind of nice except that I smoked way too much while I was over there.

Milan was cool; maybe a little too fast-paced for me. Everyone was in a hurry, and it was Sunday. I can't imagine what it's like there on a work day.

I found my train and tried my hardest not to fall asleep (per my cousin's advice) so that I could sleep a full night when I got to their house.


It took a while to make it to them, and I had to change trains. It was all pretty clear cut and, even though everything was in Italian, I'd been in enough train stations to figure out where I needed to be.


I didn't get to my cousin and her husband until 10pm, but she only lives about 10 minutes from the train station.


I'm sure I looked (and smelled) like the train had dragged me there. I got a quick shower and went straight to bed where I slept like I've never slept before.


I basically woke up in the same positon I had passed out in 12 hours earlier, and this is the view out of her guest bedroom:




After that, I was good to go. Once I had a solid sleep behind me, the time difference (they are seven hours ahead) didn't really bother me.

We decided to go to Venice for the day, but those pictures will be in the next post.

I'm Home!

And more tired than I ever thought possible. I probably should have spent the night at my parent's house in the suburbs, but I really wanted to get home to my own bed.

I haven't watched (American) television in a week. What did I miss?

The flight home today was almost eleven hours. By the time I got off the plane and through customs I was ready to chew up a cigarette whole.

I'm better now.

I have 4 million pictures and lots of fun stories to tell...after a hot bath and a short coma.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

And.....GO!

I'm leaving for my parents' house in a minute, and will fly out early tomorrow morning.

I feel kinda' icky. It's the nerves. I wish I could just relax and go with the flow, but my body refuses to calm the fuck down. I couldn't sleep the other night, but made up for it last night by crashing at 9pm.

I'm going to try and find a computer while I'm over there, mostly to keep in touch with Jim. Don't know yet if I'll be able to call home.

I downloaded a few podcasts and new music to listen to on the plane.

I'm packed, and I really hope I don't forget anything important.

See ya' later!

Karma

I was stopped at a red light today.

I was second in line.

The cross street we were waiting at is a one way.

I noticed a woman off to the right, half on her street/half turned onto our street.

Our light turned green.

She tried to beat us to through the intersection, ended up swinging way wide and cutting off the driver in front of me.

The person in front of me tapped his horn to acknowledge her shitty driving.

Crazy lady driver gave him the finger...

before she realized it was a cop.