Ciao!
Before I even start blogging about Italy, I have to mention that the Italians LOVE Finn! They are always pinching his cheeks and calling him "big boss." It's perhaps been the best part about Italy for me - I can't get enough!
Sunday, May 5th - next stop MILANO! From Lyon, we took a morning train to Geneva, Switzerland. In Geneva, we changed trains and headed to Milan, across the Swiss/Italian border and through the alps. The scenery was as breathtaking as you would imagine it to be!
Jay would be working for the week at PoliMi (Polytechnique de Milano). The University was kind enough to put us up in a hotel for the week at Hote NH Machievelli. In Milan, Jay took the train into the University each morning and spent the day there, while the kids and I worked on school and explored the city! But, first, let me rewind and start with our GREAT ITALIAN ADVENTURE getting to Milan from Lyon ;)
It all started when a train in front of us derailed and suddenly our train halted to a complete stop. Soon, they made an announcement (all in Italian) explaining the situation. I think I caught the words "bus" and "broken." So, we asked some people near us who spoke Italian and English what was happening. They explained that our train had to go back to the previous station in Varzo, since we couldn't continue on the tracks forward. Then, we would need to get on a bus (that supposedly the Italian trains were sending). This "said" bus would then be taking us to a train station in Domodossola where we would find a train to take us to Milan.
Oh, and, did I mention this was all happening on a Sunday (already limited workers and hours), and on a day when several of the trains and busses were striking. No one really knew when we would get the busses to come get us in Varzo. To add to the mystery, the station in Varzo was closed and locked (no where to even sleep inside if needed and no employees from the train around to ask for help). Someone did mention we could try and spend the night in the town and try again in the morning, but there was only one VERY small hotel in the town and no taxis or Ubers to call and take us elsewhere.
In the end, we ended up trusting the system (what other choice did we have?). We found a nice piece of asphalt to sit on and played cards on top of one of our suitcases. About an hour and half later, some busses started to arrive in Varzo. It took four large passenger busses, with storage space underneath, to get everyone from the train station on to Domodossola.
When the busses finally arrived, they didn't pull up to the train station to get us; that would be too obvious and easy. Instead, they stopped at the top of the street, up a hill, to the right of the train station. It was a mad dash when they arrived, as the sea of abandoned passengers started running up to the busses while towing and carrying all their luggage. We weren't fast enough for the first two busses, but we made it on bus number three.
Once we arrived in Domodossola, we found a train, that we thought was going to Milan, but it was still very unclear. There were no signs on the tracks explaining what train was going where. Again, we followed the crowd, and I asked around and learned that, yes, the train we found was Milan bound. The only thing was it didn't leave for another "hour or so" (literally what the train employee told me).
Finally around 8:15pm the train pulled out of the station at Domodossola...It was a local train, so it made EVERY stop on the way to Milan. We FINALLY arrived in Milan at 10:30pm. What a LONG day! Oh, and none of us had eaten anything since the train change in Geneva at 11:30am, so we were starving and so thirsty!
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| Kids, time to wake up - we're going to Italy today! |
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| Last views of France from the train |
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| Quick bite to eat at the train station in Geneva |
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| Beautiful scenery around Lake Leman as we departed Geneva |
Here's where the REAL FUN began:
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| The sea of passengers - all left to our own devices in Varzo |
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| Goodbye train and any sign of train employees |
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| The "town" of Varzo |
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| Finally the busses arrive to rescue us |
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| How many "desperate" passengers can you fit on one bus? |
Finally, the train heads to Milan!
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| It was a long, but beautiful ride to Milan past Italian lakes dotted with villages |
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| Finally, checked into the hotel and |
May 6th - Milan day 1
School, Gelato, Castle and Parco Sempione
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| Our classroom |
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| First Gelato in Italy |
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| Entering the Castle Sforzesco |
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| Inside the castle grounds |
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| Monkeying around at the park |
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| Had fun watching turtles sun bathe with the castle in the background |
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| "All aboard" little kid train ride in the middle of the park |
May 7th - Milan day 2
School, RAIN, Galleria Vitorrio Emanuele II, The Duomo, RAIN
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| Beautiful ceiling at Galeria Vitorrio |
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| High end shops all around - Parada, Dior, LV, etc... |
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| Check out the man who photo bombed the kids - haha |
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| Il Duomo - It goes back several blocks and is much bigger than it looks here |
May 8th - Milan day 3
Guided bike tour through the city!
Milan is way more interesting than I thought, and I really loved learning about the history and seeing the mix of old and new throughout the city.
Bonus, we met a very nice lady on the tour, Debbie, who was from Santa Barbara. She happens to have a second home in Steamboat that she never uses. We exchanged info and I'm hoping for a new connection for a rental there! We had so much fun chatting on the bike tour with Debbie, we even went out to coffee after the tour ended and continued hanging out.
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| Getting our biking legs ready |
Bosco Verticale - this is one of two apartment buildings that has over 800 trees 5,000 shrubs covering its facade. When the trees grow too big, they come in and change them out via a crane on top of the building. It was really impressive! People do live here, but for a price. It's very "posh," as our guide described it.
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| Circle of swings |
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| three tall towers at city life |
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| Field of wildflowers |
Next area we visited was Parco Sempione and another gate to the city
Last stop on the bike tour was the Monumental Cemetery of Milan. An impressive place with famous tombs and beautiful grounds:
May 9th - Milan day 4
Lake Como! We took the train from Milan to Bellano and then hiked back to Varenna. It was beautiful, hot, and totally worth it!
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| The train route |
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| Entering Milano Centrale - it's HUGE |
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| 20 minutes outside of Milan and you're in the mountains |
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| Fresh off the train in Bellano |
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| Starting the hike |
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| Ready to walk! |
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| Looking down at Bellano and over Lake Como |
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| The trail |
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| Stunning views of the lake and mountains |
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| I'm sooooo hot... |
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| Snow capped mountains to the north |
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| Como |
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| Shrines along the trail |
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| Past a cemetery |
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| The trail - lots of cobbles! |
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| Passed this church along the way |
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| My hiking buddy - Maggie was up ahead on her airpods |
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| We love hiking so much, we're going to do a jig! |
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| Passing by ancient stone buildings |
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| Almost back at the lake |
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| Pictures can't capture how pretty it is here! |
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| Our final destination - the town of Varenna |
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| Down, down, down... |
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| Time to find Gelato at the lake! |
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| Holy crowds!! We could barely walk |
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| Success! Gelato never tasted so good! |
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| View of lake from steps where we enjoyed our gelato |
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Time to head back to the train station
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I must have been too tired to get any more pictures of us on the way home - but we got on a PACKED train back to Milan from Varenna. It was hot and crowded with people filling every seat and standing in every square inch of available space. Many passengers had large luggage with them, and everyone seemed pretty miserable. Luckily, the kids and I snagged a seat right away.
As the train headed to Milan, it would occasionally stop in the middle of nowhere, and we would just sit for up to thirty minutes. Evidently, totally normal for the Italian trains. As someone told us, "The Italian trains drive when they feel like it!" We finally made it back to Mialno Centrale around 6pm, just in time to book it back to the hotel and quickly shower/change before going out to dinner with Jay's Milan coworkers, Pierre Luigi and Francesco.
We had a great dinner at a local place - Jay to the Veal Osso Bucco, and I had Ravioli that was filled with fresh pears! Francesco gave Finn some really good cheek pinches at the end of the night!
May 10th - Milan day 5
GINA ARRIVES-The day we had all been waiting for had finally come! The train Gina was on from the airport went right by Jay's work, so he was able to hop on the train and ride with her into Milano Centrale. Once Gina dropped her bags at the hotel, we were off to see as much of Milan as we could squeeze into the few evening hours we had left.
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| Reunited!! |
First stop, Galleria Vitorrio Emanuele II and Il Dumo
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| Leonardo Davinci |
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| Galleria Vittorio |
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| It's good luck to spin with your heel in the bull's testicles... |
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| ...Of course I had to do it! |
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| Selfie in front of Il Duomo |
Next, we metroed over to Naviglio - The neighborhood famous for its canals and Aperitivo. While getting on the metro, I accidentally flat tired Finn, and his shoe fell off in the gap between the platform and the train. A lady on the metro shouted, "Mama Mia!" I quickly recovered the shoe (luckily it wasn't a big enough gap to fall down far), and squeezed on the train.
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