Well hello there!
Long time, no read? Yeah sorry about that. We had no internet for most of our time in Milan.
Thursday we had a delicious breakfast at a popular French cafe in old town Genoa before heading to the train station. We arrived at the station 30 minutes early only to find that our train had been delayed 40 minutes. After waiting for over an hour, we realized that we might have somehow missed our train. After speaking with information we concluded that the train had switched platforms with little notice and we had indeed missed it. Too bad. We had actually paid to reserve seats on a nice train. The next train leaving was in twenty minutes and reservation free; cheap-ass-train. Welp it was was 40 minutes late. In fact, the train on the platform next to us that was also headed to Milan, scheduled 30 minutes later, left before our train did. Italian railways suck. And the Italians agree.
We finally made it to Milan and made our way down to the metro where we bought the super convenient and money saving MilanoCard. That was all sarcasm. The MilanoCard was a waste of money, but whatever. Cool paper souvenir, right?
The hostel was cool., except the internet was trash, the A/C was present but trash, and our bathroom lacked a toilet seat (which the hostel finally installed after Kaylea told the desk "I'm female, I like to sit.") We had some cool smelly roommates that walked around in their boxers and talked in their sleep. And there bread for breakfast! Actually, the internet was so jammed that Aaron had to do some dark voo-doo nerd magic to make it work for us.
For our first dinner in Milan we decided to give Italian Thai one last chance. We were not disappointed, Between the wine, the 3 appetizers, main dishes, and two deserts, we were enchanted. It would not be our last visit.
Day 52 was standard tourism and nerd seeking entertainment. For the past few weeks we've been in search of a movie theater showing Jurassic World in English. We actually found it! The Space Theater Milano had one showing in a special small theater. But that theater didn't open until two, so we decided to visit the Cathedral.
We stood in line for about 20 minutes just for tickets. While waiting, Aaron noticed and small Italian man slowing creeping his was up the line. We had been patiently waiting our turn and here was the shmuck cutting all the decent people. We would have none of it. Kaylea made her way directly in front of the man to block him, and then stopped to invite a small group of people to join us. We effectively created a blockade of bodies against this joker. As one of our compadres stated "this guy clearly doesn't understand American football." As our group inched toward the ticket counter, we noticed another old man attempting to cut right at the window. Luckily no one allowed it. Kaylea even placed herself directly in front of him, turned her back, and cut him out of the line he was trying to cheat through. Ironically, Kaylea's skirt was too scandalous for the Cathedral ( no knees showing!) and we had to go back to the hostel so she could grab something more modest.
By the time we made it back to the square, the theater was soon to open. We made a dash, bought our tickets for showing, and inhaled some pizza before it was time to take our seats. The movie was mind blowing, of course. If you haven't already, go see it. Actually, we take that back. Even if you have seen it, go see it again.
After Jurassic World, we made it into the Cathedral; Aaron was asked to remove his cap. It was the biggest one we've visited. Dark and beautiful with eerie hymns echoing off the marble pillars. It was also blazing hot so we were in and out pretty quickly. Kaylea's ankle was beginning to twinge with pain, so we went back to the hostel for some rest. We ended up hanging out there for that evening, only venturing for food.
Morning 53 was spent washing, drying and folding laundry. Nothing too interesting. We wanted to visit Da Vini's Last Supper, but apparently if you want to see it for a reasonable price, you have to get your tickets online exactly 4 months before your intended date and before all the evil tour companies by them out. So that didn;t happen. We did however, go to Bar Luce for lunch! Bar Luce is a cafe and bar in the Fondazione Prada designed by Wes Anderson. It was just as you'd expect. Over 50 different kinds of paninis and spunky decor. There was even a Steve Zissou pinball machine! After that we visited the Duomo museum and had a profound religious conversation in the darkened corners of the exhibit. We're so cultured. Th day was ended with our second visit to Su Garden, our favorite restaurant in all of Milano.
Today, day 54, was spent almost entirely at the airport in Bergamo. We weren't sure how long it would take us to get to the airport from Milano Centrales (estimated about 30 minutes by car or 2 hours by public transport), so we took a commercial bus shortly after the hostel's check out time (10 a.m.). We arrived too early to check our bags, so we ate, read a bit, reserved a rental car, and bought some contact solution. Then we were off to Palma, Majorca!
Our rental car is pretty cool. Aaron was able to regain his ability to drive with less effort that he'd originally predicted. We arrived at our hotel only to be confused. Due to Majorca's lack of train system and intricate public transportation, there aren't many hostels here. We had to settle for a standard, in-expensive hotel. Our confusion came when we stepped into the lobby. It was posh and smelled luxurious. "Is this our hotel? Did we walk into the wrong place? Surely we didn't pay for this!" The hotel lobby was so nice, there's no way dirtbag backpackers like us booked this place!
We checked in and started towards the elevators with our big backpacks. Man did we get some looks. The other hotel patrons were obviously your normal suitcase-totting, 10-day vacationers. And here were these ragged travelers, knocking the hotel down a star. When we entered the room our confusion dissipated. Yep. Here was the standard room we'd signed up for. Completely mismatched from the first too floors.
Its not bad though. It has a bathtub, so Kaylea was able to take a bath for the first time in months. The short evening has been spent making Father's Day calls, drinking wine. and writing the blog. We love traveling.
Heads up. We'll be home in 9 days. Happy Father's Day!
Long time, no read? Yeah sorry about that. We had no internet for most of our time in Milan.
Thursday we had a delicious breakfast at a popular French cafe in old town Genoa before heading to the train station. We arrived at the station 30 minutes early only to find that our train had been delayed 40 minutes. After waiting for over an hour, we realized that we might have somehow missed our train. After speaking with information we concluded that the train had switched platforms with little notice and we had indeed missed it. Too bad. We had actually paid to reserve seats on a nice train. The next train leaving was in twenty minutes and reservation free; cheap-ass-train. Welp it was was 40 minutes late. In fact, the train on the platform next to us that was also headed to Milan, scheduled 30 minutes later, left before our train did. Italian railways suck. And the Italians agree.
We finally made it to Milan and made our way down to the metro where we bought the super convenient and money saving MilanoCard. That was all sarcasm. The MilanoCard was a waste of money, but whatever. Cool paper souvenir, right?
The hostel was cool., except the internet was trash, the A/C was present but trash, and our bathroom lacked a toilet seat (which the hostel finally installed after Kaylea told the desk "I'm female, I like to sit.") We had some cool smelly roommates that walked around in their boxers and talked in their sleep. And there bread for breakfast! Actually, the internet was so jammed that Aaron had to do some dark voo-doo nerd magic to make it work for us.
For our first dinner in Milan we decided to give Italian Thai one last chance. We were not disappointed, Between the wine, the 3 appetizers, main dishes, and two deserts, we were enchanted. It would not be our last visit.
Day 52 was standard tourism and nerd seeking entertainment. For the past few weeks we've been in search of a movie theater showing Jurassic World in English. We actually found it! The Space Theater Milano had one showing in a special small theater. But that theater didn't open until two, so we decided to visit the Cathedral.
(We found Louis Vutton for you, Mom & Auntie!)
We stood in line for about 20 minutes just for tickets. While waiting, Aaron noticed and small Italian man slowing creeping his was up the line. We had been patiently waiting our turn and here was the shmuck cutting all the decent people. We would have none of it. Kaylea made her way directly in front of the man to block him, and then stopped to invite a small group of people to join us. We effectively created a blockade of bodies against this joker. As one of our compadres stated "this guy clearly doesn't understand American football." As our group inched toward the ticket counter, we noticed another old man attempting to cut right at the window. Luckily no one allowed it. Kaylea even placed herself directly in front of him, turned her back, and cut him out of the line he was trying to cheat through. Ironically, Kaylea's skirt was too scandalous for the Cathedral ( no knees showing!) and we had to go back to the hostel so she could grab something more modest.
(Aaron's fantastic photography skills at work)
By the time we made it back to the square, the theater was soon to open. We made a dash, bought our tickets for showing, and inhaled some pizza before it was time to take our seats. The movie was mind blowing, of course. If you haven't already, go see it. Actually, we take that back. Even if you have seen it, go see it again.
After Jurassic World, we made it into the Cathedral; Aaron was asked to remove his cap. It was the biggest one we've visited. Dark and beautiful with eerie hymns echoing off the marble pillars. It was also blazing hot so we were in and out pretty quickly. Kaylea's ankle was beginning to twinge with pain, so we went back to the hostel for some rest. We ended up hanging out there for that evening, only venturing for food.
Morning 53 was spent washing, drying and folding laundry. Nothing too interesting. We wanted to visit Da Vini's Last Supper, but apparently if you want to see it for a reasonable price, you have to get your tickets online exactly 4 months before your intended date and before all the evil tour companies by them out. So that didn;t happen. We did however, go to Bar Luce for lunch! Bar Luce is a cafe and bar in the Fondazione Prada designed by Wes Anderson. It was just as you'd expect. Over 50 different kinds of paninis and spunky decor. There was even a Steve Zissou pinball machine! After that we visited the Duomo museum and had a profound religious conversation in the darkened corners of the exhibit. We're so cultured. Th day was ended with our second visit to Su Garden, our favorite restaurant in all of Milano.
Today, day 54, was spent almost entirely at the airport in Bergamo. We weren't sure how long it would take us to get to the airport from Milano Centrales (estimated about 30 minutes by car or 2 hours by public transport), so we took a commercial bus shortly after the hostel's check out time (10 a.m.). We arrived too early to check our bags, so we ate, read a bit, reserved a rental car, and bought some contact solution. Then we were off to Palma, Majorca!
Our rental car is pretty cool. Aaron was able to regain his ability to drive with less effort that he'd originally predicted. We arrived at our hotel only to be confused. Due to Majorca's lack of train system and intricate public transportation, there aren't many hostels here. We had to settle for a standard, in-expensive hotel. Our confusion came when we stepped into the lobby. It was posh and smelled luxurious. "Is this our hotel? Did we walk into the wrong place? Surely we didn't pay for this!" The hotel lobby was so nice, there's no way dirtbag backpackers like us booked this place!
We checked in and started towards the elevators with our big backpacks. Man did we get some looks. The other hotel patrons were obviously your normal suitcase-totting, 10-day vacationers. And here were these ragged travelers, knocking the hotel down a star. When we entered the room our confusion dissipated. Yep. Here was the standard room we'd signed up for. Completely mismatched from the first too floors.
Its not bad though. It has a bathtub, so Kaylea was able to take a bath for the first time in months. The short evening has been spent making Father's Day calls, drinking wine. and writing the blog. We love traveling.
Heads up. We'll be home in 9 days. Happy Father's Day!
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