Not so fast!

Well, my last post we were leaving. As it turns out, we were unable to get on our original scheduled flight. There were only 7 spots & 22 people flying on passes. As it turns out, there were 4 other women who were also unable to fly; a woman and her two nieces & a lady who hD cone over for the weekend with her friend who was on the flight crew over & back,& thought also in October there would be no problem! Ha! The lady with her nieces had stayed the night before at a Hilton Garden Inn nearby & knew they had a free shuttle. A call was made & luckily they had 3 rooms. It was near a small lovely town with a castle called Somma Lombardo where we attempted to walk in the rain for dinner. Only 700 meters the desk clerk said...WRONG. more like almost a mile. Turns out on Halloween & Sunday to boot, both restaurants were booked up. Took an over-priced taxi back & ate at the hotel. The good thing was Barbara & I met 3 lovely women & one teenager and enjoyed a dinner with them.Thanks ladies for the help & company!

sabato ultimo giorno

Today is our last day. Did you know that Milan used to be part of Austria? We are both so tired, we walked around looking for some shops near the hotel, found none that interested us & came back to the hotel. Repacked our suitcases for our trip home.I considered going to the top of the Duomo, you can see the Alps & all over. Top of the Duomo being way up high between the spires. However, common sense came over me & I discarded the idea. The car will pick us up at 6 am tomorrow so that extra hour of sleep from "falling back" won't help us much. We have not been able to find a decent Internet Cafe that allows Barbara to use her USB reader to upload photos so the last ones will be loaded after we get home. I will be adding some post script comments & hints for traveling in Italy too, after we get back. We have had a grand time & we hope sharing our experiences has brought you enjoyment too!
By the way, we still have 7 days worth of travel on our Eurail passes which are good until October 2011. You know what that means! We would never let anything like that go to waste!
Ciao!

Friday

Well, duh forgot to mention yesterday we also cruised the galleria de Vitorrio Emmanuel, a glass domed shopping mall built in 1867. Shops like Prada, YSL, Gucci; oh sure we shopped til we dropped...not. Also forgot to tell how when we checked in at the Madison Hotel, the desk clerk asked if my name is Italian; si, I replied. Italiano di Calabria? OMG must be Italian drum signals! Turns out he has friends by the same name who are from there; told him if they are cousins tell them to come visit!
Friends & family of Barbara will appreciate that today we went to Cimitero Monumentale, a cemetery! But not just any cemetery. It is a cemetery of 245,000 square meters (about 60 acres), 20,000 sq. meters of which are gardens. The cemetery consists of bronze & marble sculptures everywhere and is more like an art garden than cemetery. Hopefully pictures will be posted tonight or tomorrow. Went to Peck (http://www.peck.it/) & bought stuff to bring home. Tomorrow is our last day! We were going to go to Lake Como but my congestion & cough is getting me down, so guess we won't stop in to see George.
3 things I've looked for but not found meatballs, garlic bread, a single rich man my age. Surprisingly hard to find-crushed red peppers. Every time I ask for it I get ground black pepper!!No one in Italy seems to eat the stuff, crazy!!

Milano

Here we are in Milano. Last night as we were walking to a restaurant we encountered an extraterrestrial experience. Suddenly a ray of light shown & angels were singing...it was a Mexican Restaurant!! We stopped in our tracks & went in; while it was not Tex-Mex, it was Mexican & we wolfed it down. Tonight we made it to the other restaurant.
Today we rode the subway & saw the magnificent Duomo, plaza, La Scala & Peck. How I wish I had an extra $500 to buy 2 tickets to see "Carmen" at La Scala tomorrow night. But we did see the magnificent theater & museum. I plan to return to Peck before we leave to buy some items to bring home. Barbara thinks Milan is just like any other big city, I really like it do we differ there. We have lots more pictures to post when we get to an Internet Cafe that allows uploads. Buonanotte!

Wednesday

Well, of course our last morning the sun comes out! I didn't mean yesterday that I don't like Venice. There are many nice things here. I like the way each "neighborhood" has it's own campo, like a courtyard really with shops & restaurants. Once we got our internal compasses going we found our way pretty well. I think Carnivale might be fun here, all the beautiful masks etc. Despite the cold, yesterday afternoon we had to go out in Barbara's quest to find the best gelatto. She has tried gelatto in every city. Yesterday there was one close by that Rick Steve's had recommended. I asked if it was truely better than the others she said she didn't know because she got a different flavor each time!
We are now waiting for the water taxi to take us to the train and our last city, Milan, where the weather says the sun is shining and the high will be 56. Ciao

Venice part 2

ok, I think the Travel  or Discovery Channel should pick us up as a new TV show. Traveling for Baby Boomers or something like that. Maybe if I post it they will come... (ha)
It is 50 degrees today, thankfully not raining and no wind blowing; I wound up buying a knit hat to stay warm. They say it is below freezing in Paris and London. Forecast says 56 in Milan tomorrow.
We were NOT awakened by sirens this morning as we were yesterday; we found out later that the sirens mean flooding, seems Venice floods 100 times a year on average and yesterday was one of those days. You will see when we can get to a computer that will allow us to post pictures.  I guess most of you know there are no cars, motorcylces or bicycles in Venice because of all the bridges(and canals). I cannot figure out what people do when they are old or disabled.  Everyone seems to have a dog that they walk. Those dogs, I guess, will never know what grass looks or feels like because there is none. We walked all over this morning and I guess I've seen all of Venice I need to. Beautiful glass of course and lace but it's expensive and just ok for me.
Note: you read online and other places tipping is not expected in Italy. That is because so many restaurants charge a "cover" charge per person. Last night we ate a place that charged a cover charge AND 10% service fee!!!! Highway robbery!
We have agreeed we felt we were most in Italy when we were in Calabria because the people there have not been tarnished  and made indifferent by masses of tourists. I hope to go back there again!

Vencenzia

It was a dark and stormy night, they could hear their footsteps echo as they walked through the pavestone tunnel ;-) ok,ok.
But when we arrived yesterday it had started raining 20 minutes prior our driver said.  When we went to dinner last night, to a close restaurant, the desk clerk said so we "didn't get lost", we walked through a dark area over a bridge and through 2 tunnels. Wound up at a lively and warm restaurant where a large group of French men and woman were dining.  As we walked through the dark,we did kind of wonder tho'.  
In all the cities, to alleviate stress, we have had cars pick us up at the stations and take us to our hotels. Until yesterday, we sometimes wondered why we had done that but believe me, having someone pick you up at the Venice train station and take you to your hotel was worth it!!!
Today things were more lively but a cold front has come in and it is 56 degrees and raining (I hear it was  35 degrees in Milan :-(( We walked around all morning, managing to circle the warren of mazes a couple of times. San Marco square was flooded and apparently several cruise ships had come in, it was VERY crowded. On top of my stuffed up nose and cough, it did not make for a pleasant stroll. If the rain clears up perhaps it will be better tomorrow.
We are in a lovely hotel, I know this won't sound like it looks but the walls in our room are covered in a royal blue with gold brocade, it's like being in a little jewelry box. When we checked in the desk clerk, who is a cross between looking like John Malkovich with a Christopher Walken voice and a flair for the dramatic, asked if my name was Italian. I acknowledged it was to which he replied " Ah! You have the blood of Italy flowing in your veins!" He then explained our room normally would have been in the annex, but they had placed us in the main building at no extra charge. Grazie!
We have free Internet here but no way to load pictures yet so it will be a few days. Ciao per ora!