We all ended up with gastro.
Just when my dad was getting better and able to get out of bed my mom
was bed ridden. Then I got it the next day, mine was more like a nauseous
hangover so I wasn’t as bad; but we did however lose a full week of our trip.
We had one we left together before my parents and I parted
ways so this week has been super busy.
My dad booked train tickets and off we went on a six hour
train ride to Milan. We literally had
24 hours to enjoy Milan before we has to hope onto a train to our next
destination.
When we arrived in Milan I was not impressed. “Great,” I
thought, “it’s just another city. It’s nothing spectacular.” However we were there for my dad, he really
wanted to go for the architecture so Milan was for him. Boy, was I taken by surprise!!!
Milan is incredible!!! The buildings themselves are a sight
to see. They are so ornate with big
statues of muscled men that seem to be holding up the window ledges above them
on their shoulders. There are big and small carvings over windows, doors and
archways. All buildings (including apartment buildings) seemed to have an open
gallery with a garden. Everywhere we
turned and looked there was something to see.
We went and saw the original painting of The Last Supper by
Leonardo Da Vinci…pretty cool! Then we walked
in (what we think) was once the moat around Sforesco Castle. I can’t give you much information here as the
castle was closed so we didn’t get to tour it and get the history but I can
tell you it is massive!!!
From there we kept walking and ended up in the shopping
district!!! Wow!!! I am a budget girl but wow I wanted to spend money here, I
didn’t care on what but I just wanted to spend it. I almost walked away with brand new Cavalli
sunnies that were on sale but I break my sunnies all the time and just couldn’t
wrap my brain around spending the money on them, my dad even offered to buy
them for me but I couldn’t. My dad
however had no problem welcoming his shopping bug with open arms and spending
heaps of money on hats and scarves!!! Both my mom and I walked out with empty
hands but not my dad oh no he was having a blast buying hats for every
occasion!
Now I knew nothing about Milan before we went so what our
saw next just made us speechless…all my dad could say was “FUCK”. The church,
San Bernardino alle Ossa, is something words cannot describe. Its huge, beautiful and like nothing else I
have ever seen before. It is made from
marble with the ornateness that is Milan but 100 times more. There are statues and sculptures on and in
the walls, the roof looks like a white dripped sandcastle yet so delicate
almost like a doily; and right at the top of each point is a statue of a pope
or saint. Every single one being a different person…it took our breath away. We went in, but it doesn’t compare to the
outside.
Next we went to Il Duomo, the famous domed plaza which is
incredible. Its covered yet outside, its got stores and cafes down each
walkway. Paintings underneath the domed
ceiling along with huge sculptures on each corner of the buildings in the center
and ornate designs running along the buildings.
We went to this awesome lounge bar on the second floor that
had a patio overlooking the piazza and San Bernardino. €33 for 3 drinks lol, but my dad didn’t seem
to mind, he was buzzing with the ci e from the city.
Milan has a vibe, it’s like it is just buzzing with
excitement, even later on when it quits down it still has an excitement about
it that seemed to be filling us with immense happiness.
By the time we got back to our hotel we had been trekking
the city for 6 hours (by foot) and wanted to be up early enough to do the roof
top walk at San Bernadino before catching the train the next morning. The roof top walk was amazing. Just my dad
and I went my mom was really tired.
It was supposed to open at 9am but Italian but Italian time
works different than normal time so they were still setting up when we got
there. We paid more money so we could
take the elevator up which was a good choice, there is no way my vertigo
would’ve aloud me to make it all the way to the top as I felt the height as
soon as we got off onto the roof, but my light headedness and stumbling feet
were worth the view up there.
The ornateness of the church from up there was mind
blowing. There were sculptures around
the towers and between those statues were statues inside openings. Over every archway was a satue or carving but
every single one was different. I really
don’t know how to explain it as I am horrible with descriptions…but
wow…seriously…wow, wow, wow! We even went up to the very top which included me
walking up a set of stairs and my vertigo wanting to come out even more and
torture me…but like I said…so worth it.
We were lucky we made it to our train on time as the local
trains and subways were on strike so there was heaps of traffic, and the next
day the cabs were going on strike so luck was on our side. The 3 our train ride seemed longer than our 6
our train ride to Milan but that’s because this train there was mo place to buy
a snack and second class meant a stuffy cabin with six people.
Our next stop for 3 days was in a little fishing village on
the west coast called Monterosso al Mare in Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre are five fishing villages that
can only be accessed by train or a walking trail. The town seemed so quaint after being in
ornate Milan but it was so pretty. All
the buildings are different colours and they line the little streets that have
cafes,restaurants and shops. Every
little alley way leads to a hidden restaurant or shop.
It was a mission for us to get there. When we got off the train we ended up pretty
much right on the beach and an unpaved road…which mean…the tunnel to get to the
part of town we needed to get to could on be accessed by foot and going up
around and down. I don’t think the
wheels on my dad’s suitcase were too happy has he banged it around but they
survived and so did we celebrating with a nice drink after we checked in.
Dinner was so yummy… I had pasta baked in a red wine sauce…yum
yum. I loved it so much I told the
server (in my broken Italian) that I wanted the recipe. Well…after we were done our delicious meals
she came over and said the chef was ready for me in the kitchen!!! Can you believe
that! I was so not expecting that to
happen. I go onto the kitchen with a
chef who doesn’t speak English and I had to get the recipe in Italian …what I didn’t
understand I asked my dad but I understood most of it :). Then my mom and I went
to the local bar where we met the owner and chatted with him all night.
The next day we planned to take the hiking trail over to
Vernazza (the next town). After almost
an hour my mum said she couldn’t any further.
It was pretty intense…see it tricks you.
It starts with a nice path that goes around the rocks over the water –
of course teasing my vertigo. Then you
get into the bills where you just climb up and up me getting slower and slower
as my vertigo gets worse and worse and my mums arthritis killing her knees…plus
it was a hot day. The sun was shining
and people were at the beach…it was a beautiful day. We turned around and went back and then a
couple hours later we took the train to the next town which only took 5 minutes…way
easier.
Vernazza is smaller than Monterosso. It has one main street that goes down to the
water, though there is no beach. It is
not like Monterosso where every little street you turn down has a hidden
treasure, in fact they were small and claustrophobic like and you didn’t even
feel like you were outside and they were dark with the buildings rising 4-5
stories high…and the stairs…OMG…we had to climb so many. We walked all the way
to the top where the castle is where we then climbed the tower steps and got a
360° view of the town. I’m telling you, Italy
likes to play with my vertigo, the climb up and down the tower was not fun; or
jp and down the town steps…my poor head lol.
The next day was our last day. We sat on the patio and had drinks and then
went to CIAK and had the freshest tastiest mussels in the world…enjoying the
sunshine and a few bottles of wine out in the courtyard where the restaurant’s
patio is. Had some more drinks and then
went to the bar. Man, did I regret all those drinks the next day.
Our train ride was only 3 hours but it was an open ticket
and basically a train people take to work so we weren’t overly comfortable and
we had to transfer…and I had a horrible case of wine flu…ughh I felt horrible…damn
wine lol.
Our last stop together was Florence. We were pretty stoked as we had heard so many
great things about it but it just doesn’t seem to have the same buzz as
Milan. However I was pretty stressed out
as I am living here for the next month.
Remember the TEFL course I was supposed to take in Thailand
in January that got cancelled and I had to stay in BC…well I am taking it in
Florence (and yes this one is legitimate).
I had my first class today.
Honestly, it is going to be such an intense course and I got extremely overwhelmed
on class today…so much so I got some anxiety. My famous words came to my head “ what the
fuck did I get myself into!”. But, this is something I have wanted to do for
the past couple of years and I knew it was gonna be tough, I just hope I can do
it. Plus I am overwhelmed with being
here on my own. I mean, I know I have
traveled the world on my own but think about it… in Cali I met Ryan, in Aus I met
Dan and in BC I had Isam. This is the
first time in a long time I have been on my own…plus, my flat mate backed out
so I have the place to myself. “You are
lucky to be on hour own.” My landlady said but to be honest I wanted to run
into my mums arms and go home with her…I know, I know, I’m a huge suck.
So now here I am on my own little apartment typing away to
you guys with Italian anime on tv…man do I miss English tv. I must go though, I need to cook up some sustenance
so I can study and do homework.
Oh great… HOMEWORK!
-My
Beautiful Life -
No comments:
Post a Comment