Sunday, May 1, 2011

In Italy and Loving it - #3

Here I sit at the airport on the way home from Italy. What a nice week with Daughter #1. My bags are checked to the windy city, unfortunately, with all my information about the last two days of the trip. I will be brief, misspellings will be made and Daughter #1 will shake her head at the number of places we saw that I will leave out! Oh well.

Verona was nice. The downtown area is beautiful - typical of what you envision small town Italy to be. Narrow roads. Cobble stoned streets. Buildings with colorful flowers hanging off the balconies. Cafes on every corner. And,I can't forget - too many tourist. We visited the old Colosseum - converted now for concerts, plays, etc. We toured Juliet's house and posed for pictures. (I do have to say - it was not like in the movie - Letters to Juliet) After a long lunch at a restaurant tucked away down a side street, we headed to Romeo's house. It is in a famous palazzo/piazza/something. Our last stop was to Juliet's tomb. I am sure we saw a church or two during the day! After a break at the hotel, we headed out to dinner - a sushi restaurant, they remembered us from the night before! I know sushi BUT remember Daughter #1 has been in Italy for 5 weeks - tired of Italian food.

We headed out early Saturday morning for Milan. Enjoyed a train ride with reserved seats - yeah - we didn't have to fight for a seat or space for our luggage! We arrived in Milan - and I was worn out! Milan is a big city. We decided to take the Hop on Hope off bus so we could get a feel for what Milan is like. Our only stop off the bus was at the central square with the Duamo. Wow! It was amazing. The Gothic architecture is something to write home about - but - the inside does not match the majestic outside. We walked down the proper shopping streets and hopped back on the bus. Both of us fell asleep at different times - so sad - so instead of getting off the bus again to shop, we decided it was time to head home, pack and enjoy each others company on our last night together!

Daughter #1 walked me to the train station to board the bus to the airport. After several hugs she reminded me not to cry - I was a good woman on the move and didn't cry. It was a first for me.