DAY THREE – Well Day One of PRE TRIP…Welcome to Milan!

The good news is…my blog is now up to date and is being written in real time.  Well, I decided to write about my adventures every night before bed.  So here goes….

WHAT A LONG DAY!  Up before my alarm…got up at 530AM…tried to go back to sleep but could only stay down until about 6AM…showered shaved and set out my clothes for what I’d need for the next three days.  Bathroom here is small and I have two toilets…one for him and one for her?  Hmmm.  The off to get my daily breakfast prepared by the hotel staff.  Have to admit, for people who don’t really eat eggs all that much…not bad…and along with my cappuccino, gipfelle (croisaint), meats and cheeses…I’m off to a good start.  Now off to find a real bank to do money exchange.

I started out earlier than the banks open so when in Milan…yup…I sat at an outside café and had yet another cappuccino.  Then it started to rain like buckets.  Oh well.  The first few banks wouldn’t do money exchanges (how weird) but my third bank was a charm…and the teller was so nice, he’s actually making me think that not all Italians are rude and mean.  After some difficulty understanding how to even enter the bank (they all have this intricate Mission Impossible series of doors, scanners and bio-metrics) I finally was able to exchange about 1/3 of what I needed.  Off to find other banks…two more failed attempts and again, lucky number 3 (or 6) accepted the opportunity to exchange about ¼ of what I needed.  I guess I’ll exchange the rest at some other point in my trip.  I have enough to get me through 6 days at least.

The rain is relentless…but it’s now time to meet my group.  Little did I know, but the first four couples all had flights that were delayed.  So I spent two hours, waiting in the rain, outside their hotels.  2 hours late, I greeted them all and met my Tour Manager for the Pre-Trip.  They were all exhausted, but insisted that I take them on a tour of the Fashion District via Metro in about 2 hours.  They all went to have power naps as I waited for the next two couples.  I had just enough time to treat myself to yet another cappuccino and then greet couples 5 and 6.  They were happy to see me and they had only an hour to prepare for our outing.

So 2pm it is and magically the sun began to shine.  Not so bad.  I have to give this group credit…they were brave enough to follow me into the stinky depths of Milan Metro to venture out to the Fashion District of the World…MONTE NAPOLEONE.

First of the…again…the architecture is stunning.  Secondly..go ahead…name a MAJOR designer…Yup…they had it.  And again, the store fronts were small and tiny…but walk past the maze of display and façade walls and WHAM, the largest store packed with fashions finest…ya know…where if you have to ask how much…you can’t afford it?  Now I’m not a big fan of fashion…I mean to mean…my fashion comes from that French store…Target (don’t forget to say it with a French accent).  So to walk in and find a pair of nice shoes priced at the reasonable rate of only 1,000EUROS….WHOA!  And those were the cheap ones!

The street was tiny and narrow and lined with all the big names…and walking down those tiny streets were Italian models or wanna be models…thinner than a sheet of paper and just as white.  Don’t those girls eat?  The group was mixed with half of them in seventh heaven and the other half (the husbands) lost in the abyss of fashion hell.  Once in awhile we came across a store that the men seemed to equally enjoy…like the one that had motorcycle helmet made with python skin…cool and creepy all at the same time.  I apologize now, but we were banned from taking pictures inside the stores, so all I can share with you are these exteriors.

After about 2 hours of fashion couture, we metro’d to the DUOMO area….to meet up with 2 other couples that won’t be joining the group until Sunday.  They got here days ago, because they own a house a few hours from here just outside of Milan and decided to come early and check up on it.  Must be nice.

Now our official DUOMO and MILAN City Tour isn’t until tomorrow, but here’s what I can show you of this architectural phenomenon.  And the Milan Galleriera is the first outdoor / covered shopping “mall” ever created…all I can say is magnificient!

We decided to grab our dinner early at an outdoor café that was WAY overpriced for what it was…so I had a small dinner of Panini, what else…cappuccino and tirimasu…now I know Italy created it, but I think America perfected the Tiramasu…didn’t like this one that much…but what do I know?  Just like my taste in fashion, maybe my palate for cuisine is also majorly askewed.

It was getting late so I had to escort my group back to the hotel…but I couldn’t find the correct Metro line, so they braved a longer Metro line ride with a switch of trains to get us back to home base.

Just as we got to the Centrale Station, it began to rain in buckets.  I’ve never seen rain drops this huge before…and I was literally drenched by the time we made it into their hotel.  The Tour Manager wasn’t my biggest fan because I was 30 minutes late getting the group back…but I think all in all the day was a major success.  Our final couple arrived, exhausted and ready for bed, so checked them in and headed back to my hotel.  Day one of Pre Trip has concluded and luckily I think they are all happy!  YAY!