A few thoughts about our trip to date and Milan specifically. This is all text and mostly personal reflection, so be warned if you're here for the pictures, move on now.
- First it's fun to be back in Italy, with its lack order and poupori of rules.
- As I've said, the further south you go in Italy the more chaotic it becomes. I'm glad we started in the north.
- I would return to Milan. It's a city of towns. Each town is unique and has a culture of it's own - it would be fun to explore more.
- I'd spend more time in parks, bars, and cafe's. Less in museums (not that we spent a ton).
- Like all big city's it has bad stuff (graffiti, sketchy areas, homelessness/begging) as well as good (museums, restaurants, parks). Being an aware traveler helps, being an experienced (even if out of practice) traveler is invaluable.
- Milan is more ordered than Rome but still, from an American perspective, chaotic.
- We have a short train trip out to Pavia. I'm glad we started with a small journey and got to the station early. We did wait a long time (45 minutes) but it was great to have some time to get my "station Italian language and culture" back in order.
- I love traveling by train despite the hassle of getting on and off. Sure beats driving. Even the relatively ordered Northern Italy makes New York City traffic look tame.
- We both adjusted to the time quickly. I'm thinking in part this is because I no longer have a day job - my body isn't tied to a schedule. It was nice.
- My restaurant and travel rules need some adaptation. We found average small restaurants and the best (see previous post) was a large and trendy looking place close to the Duomo.
- Taxi's can be your friend but walking is fun (we averaged 8 miles a day while in Milan).
- I'd forgotten much. Cultural habits, Italian words, protocols (yes they exist, like asking permission to enter a store - "permisso?"). But it's coming back. Not that I'm by any means an expert in Italian culture.
- My ability to observe and parrot/mimic things is as always invaluable (it's how I got through college and it's how I get around here).
Well longer than I thought, but we are close to Pavia now so I'm going to stop writing. More reflective posts to come but we'll get back to pictures for now. OK one picture on the train to Pavia.
♡♡
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