Weekend in Milan, Italy 17-20/11/11

This weekend, Josh, Eric and I took a break from studying, Sagunto, and Spain altogether, and went to Milan for Thursday, Friday, Sabbath, and a part of Sunday. This trip was short, but very restful, fun, exciting, and it was definitely a bonding experience. We got our plane tickets through Ryan Air, which is known for selling it's tickets very cheap. We got ours back in the beginning of October and payed about 30 euros round-trip. Now, don't get me wrong, Ryan Air is cheap, but we quickly found out how they make their money; by nickle and diming everyone they can for everything they can, and by selling all kinds of things online and even in the aircraft. While we were buying our tickets, they tried to include luggage, hotel nights, rental cars, perfume, and many other goods, as well as trying to charge many fees including an oxygen fee. Eric, Josh, and I all joked about the oxygen fee, but out of all of us, Eric joked the most. What do they do if the plane starts going down, the oxygen masks pop down, and some haven't paid their oxygen fee? Some get oxygen in their tubes, and those who haven't paid don't. Do they come by with a clipboard with a list of who has paid? These are the kinds of jokes that were made.

Security was a breeze, and on to the plane we went. It was actually a little scary how easy security was; I didn't take off my shoes and my belt was still around my waist, and I gliding right on through. Josh forgot to take his watch off- he glided through as well. That is awesome and yet very worrisome. Nevertheless, we were through security, we had waited for about 40 minutes, and onto the plane we went. Now, it didn't hit me until the time that we were actually boarding the plane that my ticket didn't have a seat number. I wondered if the flight attendant had a list, or what. Turns out, it is free for all seating in there. We got in there, and just sat anywhere, and there you have it. Wow, never seen that before.

We flew in a 737 800 Boeing, which was comforting, but what wasn't comforting was that this plane, like all other Ryan Air jets, was stripped down to the minimum. There was no first class section, no curtains to divide any parts of the plane, and our security card was a sticker just above the tray table on the seat in front of us. I was starting to wonder how much duct tape was used in the making of this plane, because it didn't exactly look to be in the best condition functionally as well. As we took off, one thing I did notice is that the Ryan Air pilots don't mess around; we had hardly made the turn onto the runway, and the jet engines had already started cranking hard, and we already had picked up significant speed; no pause, no, slow acceleration; all at once, we went from going around the corner to getting ready to take off.

Much like the website, on the plane, they sold a lot of stuff as well. The first time they pushed the carts up the isle was for drinks- at charge. The second time the cart came down, it was food. The next time, the cart was loaded with perfume- they were actually selling perfume on the airplane! After the perfume, the flight attendant came down holding cigarettes for sale. Wait... wasn't the no smoking sign on?! Wasn't there some kind of no smoking policy on board?! Isn't that dangerous? Couldn't that start a fire and burn the plane and everyone in it to smithereens?! Wouldn't the smoke suffocate us all?! All of those thoughts started to race through my head, and I started to panic. Luckily, the no smoking sign remained on, and there was no smoke to be seen or smelled. It wasn't until the return flight that I got a better look at those cigarettes and realized that they were smokeless. Up until this point, I didn't know they made smokeless cigarettes. I guess I should have known, but I guess you learn something new every day.

We arrived in Milan around 11:00, and took a bus from the airport to the center of town. Oh yeah, that is something I should mention- there is an airport right next to our hotel, but of course we didn't fly into that one; we flew into Bergamo- a city about 50 km away from Milan. I was counting on getting to the airport, and walking to our hostel, and going to bed. Instead, we flew into Bergamo, and had to take a bus for about an hour into Milan. When we arrived at the central train station, and Eric was able to pick us up on the GPS on his phone, and we could have either taken a metro, which didn't really go anywhere that close to our hotel and have the huge potential of getting lost, or just walk. We decided to walk. It was about a 5k from the train station to the hotel, and it was about 34 degrees outside, but despite those two unhappy thoughts, we set out anyways. We found our hotel with little to no trouble. The only problem is that it was about12:30 am at this point, and we said we would be there around 11:00 pm, so I had a little fear that we would have trouble getting in.

Our hotel was called "Hotel America", and it even had an American flag in the logo. All we knew is that it was relatively cheap, and it was in a good location, so why not. When we got there, we were greeted by an Asian man who spoke almost no English or Spanish, or Italian for that matter. We had a little fun communicating, but we quickly found that he was a very kind, friendly guy. He said that we would take care of all money matters the next day, which was fine with us because we were all so tired, showed us our room and the bathrooms, gave us the key and some towels, and bid us goodnight. Now, this place is called "American Hotel", but in all reality, this was a hostel. There was one bathroom and one shower for the entire hall- and I am pretty sure for the owners as well, tiny rooms with nothing more than beds, sinks, and dressers in them, and the whole place was a floor of a building, instead of a building. I am pretty sure that our room was meant for two, but just for us, they crammed another bed in there, so we had almost no room for anything else. Who cares; 1:30am, three sleepy guys, three beds- goodnight.


In the morning, we got up, went to breakfast, showered, and headed out to see Italy. For breakfast, the Asian man's wife took us into the office of the hotel where there were just two tiny tables, and about four chairs, and set them up for us. She served us a fried egg, bread crackers with cheese, a pastry, a small bowl of fruit, and tea. Anywhere else, I wouldn't call this breakfast, but I was hungry; it was food; I didn't complain. After we ate, we showered, and headed out.

Our very first stop was the Duomo. It was very spectacular on the outside, and even more spectacular inside. On the outside, everything had very intricate detailing, and for something so huge, it was all quite breathtaking. The outside was big, but I think the thing that really captured me about the inside was how big it was. The roof must have been 150-200 feet up, and it was very spacious in there. Of course there were gorgeous arches, artwork, and other fancy things, and that added to it. It was dark in there, giving it a really Medieval feeling to it. Out of everything there, the thing that interested me the most was the confession booths, and I am not even quite sure why. There were people walking in and out of them periodically, and the fathers dressed in robes would come out every once in a while as well. I have only seen confessions in movies, so maybe it was just seeing it in real life that made it so intriguing.There was a no photo rule inside the Duomo, but no one seemed to care, because there were not only photos going off everywhere, but flashes as well. Despite peer pressure, we, possibly foolishly, refrained from taking pictures.

After the Duomo, we walked around a while, and found ourselves in a restaurant for lunch. This place was very nice, and granted we were on the lower end of the dress scale, but we just made the best of it, and sat down. As we were ordering, many people with suits and other business attire came and sat down around us, then we really felt out of place. On top of that, the food was really expensive, so we didn't want to do desert, appetizer, etc. and come out with a 100 euro bill, so we all just got one entree, which of course made us feel even tackier. Despite our misfortunes with class and style, the food was absolutely amazing! Josh and I got a spaghetti dish with oil and pepper, and Eric got noki. It was as if my taste buds have been dead for 20 years, and they were awakening for the first time at this meal. It was unreal how good it tasted; it didn't taste anything like any spaghetti I had ever tasted, it was fresh, and seasoned differently- perfectly. Our bill came out to about 40 euros for three entrees- no desert, no beverages, no nothing. Oh well, it was worth the experience.

Earlier that day, Eric looked up the number one rated gelato shop in Milan, so after lunch, instead of paying another 10 euros or more for desert at the restaurant, we walked to it. It was a good 3-4k walk there, and it was tiring, but it gave us a chance to view parts of Milan we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Milan doesn't have very many touristy things in comparison with Rome or Paris, but what makes Milan, along with many other cities in Europe so special is simply the beauty found in the streets; the cobble stone roads, the flowers hanging from the balconies, the tiny cars, the scooters, the scarfs and berets; all of it gives Milan, and much of Europe a certain charm. We got more good shots on the way to the gelato shop than we could have even imagined. When we finally arrived at the shop, it wasn't what I expected; it was simple. I figured if it was the number one rated, it would be a huge deal with all kinds of commercial qualities to it. Instead, it was a simple mom and pop shop with really friendly people, cheap prices, and of course, amazing gelato. I got mango, and prickly pair cactus flavors. It's funny, the word mango doesn't change much around the world- just an observation. The prickly pair cactus was called Ricci d' India, or something to that effect. When I got my gelato, I might as well have been eating a mango, or a cactus; it was that realistic, and that tasty. It was as if someone took a mango, cut it up, put it in the blender, made a puree, and cooled it down a little bit- same thing with the cactus. It was unlike any gelato I have ever had before, which I am debating about whether to call gelato now that I have had the real thing. It was well worth the 7k walk or so, which I never though a 7k walk would be worth gelato.

After we wandered back from gelato, we stopped by a grocery store to buy dinner; nutella, bananas, clementines, bread, and water. It wasn't the healthiest combination ever, but it was a really small grocery store and that is the only combination that didn't require some type of cooking preparation. We headed back, ate dinner in our hotel/hostel room, played on the internet for a while, and went to bed.

On Sabbath, we decided to take the day of rest thing literally. We got up around 9, went to breakfast; exact same breakfast as the morning before (I am not complaining), stayed in the room until about noon, ate the remainder of our bread, nutella and fruit, and set out. Since we had already seen the city the day before, today, we decided to go see some of the parks. We wandered north from our hostel through the rich part of town to the first park. On the way, we saw a Ferrari, turned the corner and saw an Aston Martin, and besides those, countless top of the line Audis, BMWs, and other expensive makes. We got to the park, and it was small, but it was very peaceful; perhaps the most peaceful park I have ever been in. There were trees everywhere with fall colors and falling leaves, there was a gorgeous fountain, dogs playing together, acres and acres of green grass, and benches. We sat down, and just enjoyed for about a half hour. Josh looked at nothing else but those dogs, so I am pretty sure I know what he was thinking about the whole time, and I would like to make a shout out to Princess in Calimesa CA who can't read because she is a dog, and let her know her boy here in Italy is thinking of her. After a good long while at the park, we walked to the second park. That park was much bigger, but it didn't have the same charm as the first one, maybe because there were more people, or maybe it didn't have the dogs playing together. I don't know.

Actually, maybe it was because I had to pee really bad, so I didn't get to enjoy it quite the same. That is my one argument with Europe, there are no public bathrooms anywhere! For goodness sakes, in America, what do you do when you need to go? You go to a gas station, a Del Taco, or a Target, right? Here, for the most part, there are only small shops on the streets, parks, and apartment buildings- none of which have restrooms. About half of the restaurants have restrooms, but of course you have to be a paying customer to use them. In that park, I was seriously considering finding a bush- really really considering it. I decided to wait. From the park, we walked through a castle to get back to town. Literally, the exit to the park is through the castle, so we got a tour we hadn't even bargained for or expected.

For dinner, we went to a pizza place. The pizza was different, good, but different. Not excellent, but definitely not bad. The prices were more reasonable, so we could actually eat to satisfy our stomachs, not just our mouths. 

Just as we were heading back, Eric had the idea to go get gelato again, just because it was our last night in Italy for a while. Of course Josh and I didn't object, so we found a gelato shop, and went in. Now, this whole weekend, I don't think the temperature ever reached above 40 degrees, and at the point we entered the gelato shop, it must have been 34, but somehow that didn't phase our decision to grab gelato. I got Pistachio, Teramisu, and some other flavor I can't pronounce that was essentially vanilla with chocolate stuff mixed in. I wasn't crazy about the pistachio, or the fancy named vanilla and chocolate, but I was crazy about the Teramisu. It actually had little pieces of Teramisu in it, and besides that, it was rich, and absolutely delicious. I guess that is the difference between gelato in Italy and the rest of the world; in Italy, the gelato tastes exactly like what the flavor is- mango for example, prickly pair, pistachio, or Tiramisu. In the states, the gelato I have had is still very good, but when I get mango, for instance, it doesn't exactly taste like mango- it still tastes great, just not exactly like mango. Also, most of Italy's prices for gelato are much more reasonable than anywhere else. 2 euros for a small, 2.50 for medium, and 3.50 for a large, or something to that effect. On top of that, they pile on about twice the amount you payed for. In Spain, you pay 2.50 for a small, and you get a small; in Italy, you pay 2.00 for a small, and get about the equivalent to a large in Spain.

We went to bed around 8:00 pm last night, because we had to get up at 2:00 am this morning to be in Bergamo for our flight at 6:35. We arranged everything with our Asian friend at the hostel last night, so this morning, we got up, got dressed, packed up, left the key at the front desk, and hit the streets once again for a 5k walk in 33 degree whether at 3:00 in the morning. On our walk, we walked on a street named Giovanni Battitsta Pergolesi Street. If that name means absolutely nothing to you, no sweat; I am actually kind of proud of myself for remembering that name from the good ole' days of high school. Our senior year, we sang a work composed by G.B. Pergolesi entitled the Magnificat. I asked Eric and Josh if they remembered that name, and I wasn't surprised when they told me they didn't.

Everything went really smoothly; we boarded the bus, road to Bergamo, and in the Airport, we met everyone else who had gone to Milan for the weekend. All in all, there was probably 12-15 of us who went to Milan this weekend, but no group ever met up with another because Milan  is much bigger than we expected, and since no one here has phones used for anything else besides emergencies, it just didn't happen. We swapped stories, told about everything we did, and just about then it was time to get on the plane.

This trip went smoothly; to smoothly. It never goes this smoothly; never. Something was bound to happen, but what? We were on our plane ride home, and all of the obstacles were in the past; Josh got by security with the last name on his ticket spelled Toppenburg, instead of Toppenberg, compliments of Mr. Eric Mathis, with no problems at all, we survived the cold, didn't have any trouble with the buses or the planes, didn't get into any kind of trouble with security anywhere we went, were all finally able to draw from an ATM after almost running dry, didn't secomb to those pesky salesmen in the square trying to give away charms, even putting one in Josh's pocket when Josh refused, and last but not least, we didn't kill each other after spending so much time together. What else could possibly go wrong on this trip? On the plane, everyone was asleep from our group; everyone. I woke up first, and had a major need for a restroom, so I got up and did my business. When I came back to my seat, I looked up to the front of the plane where every stewardess and steward of the plane, and a doctor who happened to be sitting in the front row, gathered around looking worried and panicked. It appeared as if someone was on the floor; they had collapsed or something. Josh asked me a couple seconds later where Eric was. I looked to where he was sitting, and only his jacket was in his seat, and I had just come back from the lavatory in the rear of the plane and he wasn't there, so of course that only left one place; the front of the plane where all of the stewardesses, stewards, and the doctor were gathered around. We looked around, and Eric was the only one out of his seat, so before we even were able to see him, we put together based on the evidence that he was the one on the ground collapsed. Before I continue I would like to inform all of the worrying parents reading this that ERIC IS ABSOLUTELY 100% FINE NOW. REPEAT: 100% FINE. A few seconds later, we saw him with an oxygen mask on sitting in the front seat talking with the doctor on board. Amazing, the one who was making the most jokes about the oxygen fee on Ryan Air is the one who actually needed it. Good thing our jokes about them only giving oxygen to the ones who payed for it in advance were just jokes. They gave him sugar water, and talked with him some more. He spent the rest of the flight in the front seat. When our plane landed, an ambulance pulled up to the plane with the lights and sirens blaring. Josh and I looked at each other and we were both thinking the exact same thing, "This day is going to be much more than we thought."

Everyone else from our group was asleep through all of this, so most of them don't even know now that this happened, and Eric agrees that it is probably best this way. When we landed, the rest of our group left; it was just Josh and I trying to figure out if Eric was actually in the ambulance, if he wasn't, where they had taken him,  if he was okay, etc. The Valencia Airport reminds me a lot of the Walla Walla Airport because of its size. There is one main building; that's it. When we got to the building, a man said they would bring Eric out in just one second. A half an hour later Josh and I were still waiting in the baggage claim/customs/exit for Eric. Finally, they brought him out, and he seemed okay. He told us that his blood sugar was low, and that is why he collapsed. It made sense; we hadn't eaten since about 6:00 the night before, walked a good 7k since then, got next to no sleep last night, and were all hungry since we woke up at 2:00am, and it was now closer to 10:00 am. Josh had some leftover nutella in his backpack, and I had a plastic knife in my bag, so we gave him the knife and the nutella and told him to have at it. Eric collapsed, but another concern was how close were Josh and I to collapsing? We were subject to the exact same conditions Eric was, and the only advantage we have over Eric is that we have a little bit more meat on our bones. We got on the metro, got to the train station, and found something to eat. The problem is that the walking was not over; we still had a good 2-3 mi walk from the train station to the school- all uphill.

As we were boarding the metro, I guess the lack of food was impeding my thought process. Josh was ahead of me, and he didn't know where to put his ticket to make the gates open, so I, being behind him, put mine where in needs to go, and opened the gate. What I should have done in the first place was just show Josh where to put it, and let him go first. Even after I opened the gate with my ticket, the logical thing to do would be to let Josh go through, have him hand me his ticket, and I would go through next. Instead, I don't know if I just ran out of patience, if I wasn't thinking straight, or what happened, but when I opened the gate with my ticket, I told Josh rather loudly and rather rudely, "This one is mine", and tried to weave my way around him and get through the gate. By the time I got around Josh, and got through the gate, the gate had closed; on me. I was stuck; the gate had closed on my backpack, and I was stuck in the gate and couldn't move. I am sure we looked like tourists before this happened, but after, not only was I totally embarrassed, and even more impatient, but I am sure that everyone there, including the workers giving me a somewhat ridiculous look knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are not from here. The walk home was uneventful until about the last hundred yards or so. We were on the home stretch- the street the school was on, and the heavens started all crying at once. I have never seen rain like it before in my life, and here I was in a t-shirt, backpack, jeans, sneakers, and luckily I had my raincoat out- but that almost didn't do any good. By the time I reached the school, all I knew is that I needed to change my clothes and take a shower, even though I just took a shower, so to speak.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip, but I am very glad to be back. This next week, on Wednesday night, we are going to a futbol game between Valencia and I don't remember the opposing team, and on Thursday, we get the day off, and are all celebrating Thanksgiving together. Looks like a great week ahead, and now all that is left is some preparations homework wise. Got to run,
 Hasta la proxima vez...