Day 31 – Milan

We were still so tired from Expo yesterday that we took a lie in. We knew we had another two days in Milan anyway so it wasn’t like we needed to see everything today. Calvin had an exam today and so he had left before we had woken up, but had planned to meet him in town after he was finished.

The first thing we were planning to visit was the Cathedral, which now required you to pay for a ticket to visit (because of the expo). My girlfriend had remembered to bring her raincoat for her legs, but had forgotten to wear anything to cover her shoulders. My idea was that we would go to H&M and buy a top for me, as usually white t-shirts are relatively cheap. Of course I didn’t really like the cheap ones and went for a more expensive one with a better fit.

Back at the queue for the Duomo, the line was so unorganised. People didn’t know which line to enter and then an overly excited American girl had started to tell people that the line now was closed. She had attempted to block the start of it with a barrier, but whilst she was talking to people, others were climbing through the barriers and getting to the back of the line. The girl was oblivious to 9 of the 10 people that tried it and ranted to the ones that got caught. We also were an audience to a congregation of street sellers who were telling us to buy scarfs and a pashmina, especially for my girlfriend who had not yet covered up.

Following our visit we explored the large shopping mall across from it. Inside the Gucci shop for example, they sell ‘Gucci coffee’ and other high-end brands were also selling all sorts of things to get a little extra income for the business. I was tempted to try the coffee and see, but at €7 a cup, my girlfriend politely told me to drink some water instead. We went to a restaurant just outside the mall for lunch and had received the news that Calvin had both finished, and passed his exam this morning. He was coming into meet us now and so after 20 minutes of waiting for the bill, the waiter had finally given into our request and supplied us with it so we could leave.

The delay allowed us to meet Calvin almost straight away and his desire was to get pizza from this famous pizzeria. Even though I had just ate, the pizza looked and smelled amazing and it was a shame that we hadn’t waited for this. My girlfriend had also realised that she had lost her sunglasses since lunch, and after returning, we had no luck in finding them. Thankfully they were a cheap pair and my girlfriend couldn’t have cared less about them. Even so, I still slagged her about forgetting and losing things…not that I can talk.

Calvin’s Polish flatmate met us later, after we had visited a church where one of the side chapels were completely covered and decorated by human skulls. We waited at a fountain just outside a Castle, that no more looked like one. They had turrets at either end, a moat and a long wall, but inside, there were just courtyards – not really a castle as you would expect to see one. We were dipping our feet in the water and all had ventured into the centre of it to take some pictures. One by one, other people started doing this too but eventually we were told to get out of it by a street seller. Apparently we would be arrested if we were caught in the fountain. Thankfully, Calvin’s flatmate arrived and that was our queue to leave and take a stroll through the castle gardens.

The gardens were full of birds, not of the human kind, but there were also numerous couples dotted around the place. We stopped to watch a bale of turtles, and their continuous struggle to climb up the banks, and when they got to warm, go for a casual swim with the fish. Calling them a bale had started a discussion on what you call various animals and why. With the help of google, we had played a guessing game and if you have never looked it up, I suggest you look at the millions of different, and very peculiar ways to group critters.

Whilst exiting the park, 3 of us got ‘slush puppies’ because they looked very nice and cold, and we couldn’t really say no. A few minutes later however, we had found ourselves in one of the famous Ice cream stores where you actually needed a ticket to collect your ice cream once you had ordered it. They had all sorts of combinations that you could pick from and I must say, it was much better than getting just a one or two scoop normal cone. They poured chocolate into the cone and everything!

Following our overdose of ‘slushies’ and ice creams, we visited their university and they showed us around. It was very small but intimate. People just knew each other and said hello when passing by and they had just started setting up the stalls for recruiting students for the next year. Outside the university, there was an appertivo restaurant that we visited, with the intention for only having one drink. But at €4 for a drink and enough food to fill us all. We decided to have an early dinner here, as we were going to celebrate Calvin passing his exams.

Where else would be better to go than to an Irish bar. Maybe get lucky and everyone loves us and buys us drinks? Calvin knew of one, but he couldn’t actually remember where it was or how to get to it. Even google maps was causing a problem for us. Thankfully, a girl had stopped and asked us if we were lost. She was very kind and gladly directed us the right way and told us what street to take. It’s not often that people would stop and ask if you are lost.

The Irish bar was empty and so we would have to pay for everything ourselves I’m afraid. We let our Polish friend try the Guinness and the Cider and he actually really loved the cider and wanted to get one himself. Afterwards, we found another place that was busier and we got some sofa seats to sit on. After ordering drinks, I had a pack of cards in the bag and we played poker on the table. I don’t think the waiters were too happy that we were ripping up the napkins to use as poker chips but they didn’t say anything, and we tried to teach my girlfriend how to play…would take some time I feel.

Calvin had asked the girl next to us what she was drinking, as it looked very nice. They had actually kept on talking about what they were doing and Italy and so on, but the awkward thing was that it looked that she was on a first date, as they had several awkward moments of silence and now the boy that she was sitting with seemed to be quite angry at Calvin. We thought there would be a fight because the girl had taken more of an interest in us than to her date, and he really was not happy.

Without any problems or punches, we continued on to the next place that again was not very busy. We went in and the man who owned the place must have been smoking something. He was mad, making jokes and laughing at them, as well as giving off about Milan, where every word in between his slurring was a swear word. He was very nice though and told us we could have any drink we wanted, all for the same price. He made my girlfriend some special vodka drink (that actually was really nice) and had made sure that we were all comfortable.

He was sitting outside with one of his friends and what appeared to be an ex of his. When they left, we were the only ones remaining and we had to listen to how he really wanted to go to South America or live in places like Cuba. He also was married, but not really married, and had all these girlfriends…he was a complicated guy with a lot of passion. He was both funny and interesting, that was until he started getting really sad and all humour was gone. We took that as our chance to leave and letting him close up his bar, we said our goodbyes and told him that we will return this time next year, where he better be living in Cuba and not here.

As is tradition in Milan, Ireland and Poland, a night is not complete without visiting a kebab shop before heading going to bed. My girlfriend and I shared one as I’m not too keen on eating in this way, and my girlfriend would usually not be able to eat all of it, however tonight, I knew that she would have had it all if we weren’t sharing it. I insisted that she should eat it but she wouldn’t admit it.

On the walk home, I will admit that I was huffing with my girlfriend, but only because she still wouldn’t admit I was right (she did eventually the next day). We passed what seemed like two large pools with fountains that had been turned off, and underwater lights lighting up the water. The three of them decided to go swimming (although it was only about 50cm deep), and then had started chasing and splashing each other. I gladly kept dry and looked after all the clothes and phones, as well as warning them that the police had driven by, seen us and slowed down almost to a stop to see what we were doing. They must have thought that we weren’t causing harm as they drove off.

When we got back into the flat, we all went to bed straight away and I was planning to get up and finally get my haircut, only a couple of cities and a few weeks later.