Day 1 and 2: The journey over and Milan

Well, I am in Italy. Day 1: The flight. Not too bad. We flew United, which is the first time I've flown United since Continental merged with them, and it hadn't really changed. I miss the free wine that I got on Air France last year, but I survived - and was flying on a plane that let me charge my iphone and use normal ear buds which was nice. I hardly slept though, which didn't bode well for Day 2. Day 2: Milan. We arrived early this morning, and realized that we forgot to Googlemap where our hotel was. We figured out how to get to the city center from the airport via train and then hopped on a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel, Hotel Nesco, pleasantly surprised me. It's very clean, had a working elevator, and really was like a normal American hotel - but Italian. It's relatively modern, has working air conditioning, and is only a few miles from the center. I highly recommend it. After we checked in and showered, we set off on our adventure. First thing we quickly realized, however, was the weather. OMG is it hot. It's probably a couple of degrees cooler than Houston, but we were outside. I wore a dress, which was comfortable, and lamented the fact that I brought jeans. I'm going to wear the jeans tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure the sweating will continue. Lunch today was a simple pasta - a shape I've never had before with a lovely tomato-ricotta sauce. Perfecto. We then hopped aboard a Hop-on-Hop-off Bus at the Sforza Castle, which is amazingly huge. We got off a the Duomo; whatever words I use to describe it won't do it justice at all. It was amazingly beautiful and serene. Gelato #1 came then - across the street from the Duomo. I had a combination of chocolate and tirimisu and relished every bite. We then wandered to the Victor Emmanuel plaza, then the teatro, and finally hopped back on the bus to go to Santa Maria Della Grazia, a 15th century church famous for having Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" on a nearby wall. It was almost a fresco, so it couldn't be moved. It was amazing - large and just full of depth. It's hard to believe that Davinci himself painted that picture upon he wall so long ago - and it's still there. Did I mention gelato #2? It was fruitcake and dang yummy! After a bit of a walk, we grabbed a slice of pizza and headed back. I'm so tired right now that I can barely write a compete sentence. Future blog posts will be much better soon! Ciao!

Ciao!

Well, not really.  Almost.    Italy is looming, and the one thing that I'm focusing on?  Clothing to wear!  I don't want to be targeted as a tourist (and therefore become burglar-bait), but comfort is huge - especially since Rome is so freakin' hot right now.

Italians are very much aware of "la bella figura" and treat people better when they look well put together.  Unfortunately, Italians are also thin and most haven't experienced the (dis)pleasure of plus-sized shopping.

The other problem my PIC and I have is that we'll be gone for quite a while - and we're not sure about visiting laundromats while we're there.  So my solution is to pack clothes that I'd wear three times and use febreeze in between wears.  And if something gets particularly funky, I'll wash it in the sink.

So, my packing list includes: 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of jean capris, 1 pairs of black pants, 1 pair of brown pants, 1 skirt, 8 tops, 1 pair of pjs, 10 pairs of underwear (they will be washed),  2 bras, four pairs of shoes (tevas, Clark thongs, Dansko sandals, brown closed toe shoes).  I vacuum seal my clothes so that they fit better (and then I can seal off my dirty clothes for the trip back).

Miscellaneous materials: camera, maps, books, toiletries, iphone, ipad.

I swear I'm bringing more things on this trip than I did last year, but it doesn't seem all that bad.   My carry-on will be very heavy, though, since I'm bringing my camera in a camera bag.  I plan on taking nice photographs on this trip, so it's needed.

Almost there!

-Ciao!

Where's the Wanderer?

Sorry, I haven't been updating my wanderings!  I've actually been planning future wanderings instead of wandering myself.  But it's all good - sometimes the planning is almost as fun as the wandering!

I'm heavy into my Italian tour (with a 3-day Portugal layover).  I've bought some sturdy walking shoes (Clarks and Danskos), ordered some Euros, told my banks I'm leaving, bought travel-sized toiletries, some jeans and shirts, etc.  I just need a few more things (khakis, some skirts, and a second electrical converter/adapter) and I'm all set.  I'm trying to learn a bit of Italian, but it's slow because I don't have anyone to practice with.  Next week I plan to watch some movies that are set in Italian to maybe pick up on a few words/phrases.  Portuguese is even slower, but I think many also speak Spanish - and I can speak Spanish.

2 more trips are on the horizons - Poland and Turkey (or Budapest).  It's funny - I got my passport 8 years ago and it stayed relatively naked until last year, and now by the end of 2012 it'll have 8 stamps in it (England, 2 France, 2 Italy, Portugal, Poland, Turkey or Hungary).  And all of those stamps were acquired in two years!

Since this trip is an educational research/acquisition trip, I've book tons of tours and museum/historical site visits.  I can't wait to soak up the culture, history, art, and food - and share it with my students.

Ciao!