Milan

Sat/Sun (3/16&17)

Amber Bowen, a friend from Wake Forest currently living in Milan, graciously offered to show us around her city. She also arranged for us to stay our first few nights in Italy at the bed and breakfast run by her pastor and his family. Since the family doesn't speak much English (the equivalent of our Italian so maybe five words!), Amber offered to spend the weekend with us in their home to act as our translator.

The bed and breakfast was a very lovely home in the suburbs of Milan.

All three sides of the house were surrounded by gardens.
During our  meal with them Sunday evening, they served us
fruit from one of the gardens - best kiwi ever!

Saturday evening after returning to the house, Amber
introduced us to Francesca's parents, who live in the
basement apartment. When her father realized that Tracy
taught the Old Testament in the United States, he quickly
proceeded to give all of us kisses on our cheeks while
excitedly talking about the Bible, or so we assume.
We definitely felt honored.

~ the gardens at the front of the house ~

After settling into the beautiful BnB on Saturday evening, Amber took us into Milan for dinner at her favorite Italian pizza place. Capo verde did not disappoint. We unanimously and easily decided it was the best pizza we have ever eaten.

While waiting for Capo verde to open, we walked the streets near the
restaurant for a bit. I snapped this photo due to the double parking. Can you
believe it? All of these vehicles are double parked! When asked how the
drivers get their vehicles out, Amber said that they simply lay on the horn
until another driver comes to move their car. I'm sure that's pleasant.

The boys loved it that they each had their own pizza. And they were
allowed to order pop, a rare treat!

Amber helped each of us decide what pizza to order. Mine had zucchini
flowers and fresh vegetables on it - very yummy. I would never have picked
zucchini flowers without Amber saying that this was a favorite at Cape verde.

Each morning, Francesca served us croissants with powdered
sugar for breakfast. Tracy and I were served cappuccinos and
the boys hot chocolate as well as juice. There were also
shortbread cookies to dip into the hot drinks. Amber told
us this is a typical Italian breakfast....the boys loved it as
it was like eating dessert for breakfast.

Notice the plate of cookies by Joel's place....we did have to limit the boys
as Francesco kept refilling the plate! 

The plan Sunday (3/17) was to head north to Lake Maggiore and see all that the area offered. However, we did not have the name of a town or an address, just the lake. Not my best planning. Lake Maggiore did not register on our GPS so after spending too much time attempting to figure out how to head north, we opted for the old-fashioned way and set off in hopes of finding some place open so as to ask for directions. About ten minutes outside of Milan we found an open coffee shop. Bonus, as Tracy was wanting a nice hot cup to go. Double bonus as we ended up meeting an Italian man that spoke German - he had lived in Stuttgart for seven years so was excited to work his magic. And the gal working also spoke some English, a skill that we found challenging to find in Italy. She directed us to Stresa, a neat little town right by the water. Two funny things at this stop were: 1. Meeting and talking with two Russians that ordered shots of hard liquor. It was 10am! Who does that?? And what kind of coffee shop serves hard liquor? Ends up that it's quite common in Italy. And 2. When you order a cup of coffee to go, you get an espresso in a little tiny cup. Tracy wondered if he should order five of them!

I think the Russians got more liquor in their shot glasses
than Tracy got coffee in his to-go cup!

The drive into Stresa ended up being very much like what I had imagined a hillside town to be. Lots of switchbacks down into the town with narrow roads that can tend to make one nervous. I love how they have mirrors posted so that you can tell whether it is safe to take the curve. I thought for sure we were on a one-way street a couple of times but would then see a car coming towards us and often at a good clip. The highlight (for the boys) of our time in Stresa was seeing four Ferraris at a stop light! We had enough time for them to jump out of the car and get a good look. It felt a little like being on a movie set seeing four of them peal off from the stoplight. Another highlight would be the ice-cream shop that we found open. Just like in Germany, not many places are open on a Sunday. Add to that a summer destination but in winter with miserable weather and we were thankful to find anything open. Italian ice-cream is very good so became a daily part of our diet that week.

Two of the four Ferraris....pretty sure I can't pick out a Ferrari in a parking lot of
them, but the boys seemed to be able to spot them from a good distance away.

The town of Stresa along the coast of Lake Maggiore - this was taken about
the halfway point of descending into the town.

The drive down had lots of cool rock walls - Tracy was loving it!

Though it was a chilly day, ice-cream is always a good idea.

We discovered that you can't order one scoop in Italy;
it starts at two or not at all...another good reason to have
it each day.

I chose this instead of ice-cream...such a sucker for anything chocolate.

I should have placed a quarter beside this cup so as to give
an accurate depiction of how small it was. Think shot glass.

I love all of the narrow passage ways in Europe. One of the
ways that Italy is different from Germany though
is that they have more color in their buildings,
especially pastels. I liked the pink bike!

We saw lots of these old boats used as planters.

After getting our fill of walking the streets of Stresa, we headed back to Milan. We were to pick up Amber by mid-afternoon for a tour of the fashion district area of the city. Then, it was back to Francesca and Francesco's for an authentic Italian meal. Below are a few shots of seeing the city with Amber. She was a great tour guide giving us an interesting overview of the city and country's history.

We parked our vehicle near Amber's apartment and rode
the subway into Milan. This was far easier than attempting
to find a spot where we wouldn't be double parked! Here
the boys are "subway surfing" and loving the challenge
of staying upright as it lurches and stops.

~ The Duomo ~
Europe's second largest church after St. Peter's

A photo to show the enormity of the doors.

I loved looking at all of the marble carvings - so much to take in!

~ David and Goliath ~

Ornately carved confessionals were all along the outer
walls as we walked through the cathedral. Notice, too, the
marble pattern of the floor - just beautiful.

This was the largest pipe organ I've ever seen! Sadly, the
entire time we were inside the cathedral, a priest was
chanting a prayer to Mary rather than to God. Over and
over and over. Amber said that most Italians worship
Mary more than Jesus.

Victor Emmanuel II was the first king of a united Italy - 1861

The world's first shopping mall - the who's who of
fashion is here. Needless to say, we didn't do anything
but window shopping.

This is inside the shopping mall as we walk toward Prada, one
of the few names that I actually recognized. And maybe only
because I could pronounce that one!

Another monument to the man credited with uniting
Italy - the Sforza Castle is in the background.

Amber took us to the Sforza Castle sharing its history with us as we walked.
We were excited that the fountains were running again in Italy as this was
not yet the case in Germany.

We finished our tour of Milan at Shockolat with the
best ice-cream ever to be consumed!

My camera was done with all of the rain we had walked through that afternoon
and decided to let me know it! So horrible photo but great memory! I asked
Amber what to order - my two scoops were dark chocolate and pistachio.
Incredible! As a result of how very good this ice-cream was, I refused to
order those two flavors the rest of the week.

We were ALL taken with this little guy! Every time we would come into
the kitchen, Daniele would give us a show to enjoy. He was adorable! The
boys told us how he would try to get into their room in the morning....
if the door wasn't completely closed, he'd find a minute when his
grandma wasn't paying attention and make a dash for their door.

We enjoyed an authentic Italian meal Sunday evening. Amber was with us
again for this evening but had work the next day so didn't stay the night. Lucia,
Francesco and Francesca's daughter, was visiting from Rome with her son,
Daniele, so that she could help with the translating after Amber had to leave.

This is a special cake that Italians enjoy at Easter - it is often in the shape
of a dove. We saw them for sale in every store we entered while in Italy. This
was served at the end of the meal along with the fresh fruit from their garden.

We may have taught this little ham a few naughty tricks as we were doing
just about anything to get him to laugh.