DAY FIVE – Pre Trip Day Three

The funny thing about doing this blog, is I take so much time to write it and then even longer to upload the photos…while I wait for the uploads, I facebook, return emails, watch TV…but I spend so much time in my room doing the same things I do back home…that when I finally go outside for something (food, cappuchio) I am shocked to find out…I’m NOT at home, but actually in Italy!  Sorry…seemed funny to me.

Today started out better, but still difficult to get started.  It was going to be a long day outing with much to do and see in the country side of Romania…we are currently in the Lombardia region here in Milan.  So much to do…better get cracking.

It’s Saturday, so we have new staff in the breakfast room…I guess here (and all places in and around town) you eat, and leave you plate on the table for the staff to collect.  Sorry…Chris don’t play that…so the staff at all my café shops and here at breakfast are really shocked when I bus my own plates back to the front counter and clear my table for the next guest.  They just aren’t used to polite people…they generally laugh and full heartedly say “Prego” after I say “Gratsie”…thanks Mom…you taught me well.

So being Saturday, all banks are closed, so I guess exchange will have to wait for another day.  Off to my “regular” café … BUT WAIT!  It isn’t there anymore!  They were demolishing the inside!  Drats…have to find a new place for café.

I went too my “second” hang out and learned something new…you pay one price for café if you intend to stand at the bar and drink it…you pay a higher price if you want to take your café and sit at the table outside!  So after all this time…NOW I know why the café bar guy always looked at me so strangely when I took my lower priced café and plopped myself down at a table outside.  I guess no one stopped me because I bussed my own cup and saucer…but not today…BUSTED.  So I stood and enjoyed my second café.

I took a quick walk through the Milan Centrale Stazione since today was really my last day here in Milan…forgot to get pictures of the interior.  Remember…I told you I LOVE train travel in Europe…it’s so “grand” and efficient.  May I suggest some itineraries with train travel for your next European vacation?

I was early to the bus so what did I do?  Yup…found yet ANOTHER café and enjoyed another standing cappuchio and bumped into Mauricio who was also headed in for his morning café.  We then loaded the bus with waters for the days journey and off to meet with the group.

Luisa is staying at the hotel with the group and is 6 months pregnant.  Why do I offer this information?  Well, the group was a bit startled when I met them because apparently during breakfast, Luisa slipped on a banana peel and fell to the ground pretty hard.  She was okay, but the group witnessed it and had great concern for her and the baby.  She laughed it off but was touched with everyone’s compassion.

The group was taking their time so I had to hurry them onto the bus…we had a long drive to MODENA to visit a privately owned Balsamic Vinegar distillery.  I know…you’re thinking…what an odd thing to do?  But this region is VERY FAMOUS for their Balsamic.  And it’s delicate and intricate work!

For starters…BALSAMIC derives its name from the fact that centuries ago, doctors would use this liquid for medicinal intestinal reasons or a BALM…henceforth….Balsamic.  It is typically made from grapes, but other fruits can be used.  Dark balsamic derives its color from the fruits being cooked for 48 hours straight.  White or “clear” balsamic is put through a centrifuge so it remains clear.  It is then stored in special wooden barrels for 6, 12 or 25 years before being bottled.  And the wooden barrels are kept OPEN during this entire time…something to do with the active bacteria that helps give it its taste.

I know…who knew there was so much to know about balsamic.  We were treating to a tasting of apple balsamic, a 6 year, 12 year and 25 year balsamic.  MAN … this stuff is yummy!  Balsamic is NOT just for salad!  They use it as a marinade for meats, use on tomatoes and mozzarella, cooking with vegetables…and even as an ICE CREAM TOPPING!

I have to say…I have a new appreciation for balsamic…the tastes are incredible!  Now the balsamic we have at home is “processed” with sugars and preservatives…but this stuff from MODENA is made by simply cooking the fruit for 48 hours and then an aging process for years.  And voila…Balsamic.  This excursion was both unique and enlightening.  There’s so much more to know about Balsamic, but I leave it at that.  If you want to know more…ask me in person and I’d love to share more.

Now onto lunch.  Lunch today was held at the Cavalarie Ristorante…basically the signature restaurant of the Ferrari factory!  Very high class, and incredible food!  I had the Rissoto delle parme, a steak and potatoes smothered in balsamic and a café crème brulle!  Let’s just say…I died and went to culinary heaven.

Now onto the Ferrari Factory!  This required an additional drive of 45 minutes to the city or MARENELLO.  Unfortunately, I’m not that impressed with cars or Ferrari or whomever else might be in the region…nonetheless…the visit was really special.  We saw cars that dated back to the 1920’s and learned much about the history of Ferrari and his cars.  Again…this blog will show only a few of them, the rest I’ll post on facebook.  Really cool stuff.  The entire time, I kept thinking…”Man, Brandon would LOVE this!”  Guess I’m coming back to Milano someday!

After the tour and all, one of our tour group leaders (my main client) decided to “test drive” a Ferrari right then and there.  Yup…they do that.  You pick what car you want to drive and how long you want to drive it, and away you go.  They also have a video camera installed in the back to record your entire test drive!  Very cool.  The only problem with this is that, it took so long, the rest of the group became bored and cranky…and we lost out on any additional shopping time in Milan…a few of the women of the group were basically pissed off.  Oh oh…here we go….

Now I will not get into specifics, but basically, here is a cryptic version of what happened next.  I’m sure many of you reading this blog are jealous or envious of the opportunity I have been given to be part of this travel experience.  However, I have been dreading this trip, ever since its inception.  For those of you who know me well…you know why.  So basically, on our 2.5 hour drive back to Milan and the hotel…I had my FIRST how shall we say…first full reason to explain my existence on this trip.  And man was it a doozie!  Let’s just put it this way…even our tour guide Luisa and drive Mauricio felt bad for me…basically…I had guests who were unhappy with the length of time spent on the bus and wants our entire remaining 10 day itinerary revised…BEFORE TOMORROW!  Well…that’s my job right?  So I am resigned to re-design the remainder of the trip on the fly…tonight.  After I blog of course!  Hmmm…tonight sounds like a good night to participate in Milan’s finest alcohols!

Anywho…we got back to the hotel and our guests said a fond farewell to Luisa and Mauricio.  I’m really going to miss these two.  It is kind of hard to explain…in three very short days, we became a team.  They graciously shared their “space” with me…you know…able to do things passengers and guests would never be part of…the “work force stuff”….the behind the scenes stuff…seriously…the three of us made a great team.  Mauricio was responsible for getting us there and back.  Luisa is incredibly knowledgeable, educated, articulate, speaks 5 languages, and an invaluable wealth of information…and I took care of each of our guests personal needs and desires, working in tandem with Luisa and Mauricio to accommodate and provide.  I’m going to miss those two.

Thankfully, our bound allowed me the benefit of having Mauricio drive me to my hotel to drop me off 18 feet from the entrance door, which was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED, because I had to carry 60 bottles of water up to my room!  We don’t just lose Mauricio…we lose the bus too!  Tomorrow we will have a NEW tour manager (Helga) a new bus driver (name unknown at this time) and a new bus!

DAY FOUR – Pre Trip Day Two

Today is our first full official day of the tour…pre-trip tour.  For some reason, I think I should have drank alcohol last night because I woke up feeling like I did drink all night!  Rough start to a very busy day.  Water…I should be drinking water. 

Add to that...when I finally did manage to get out of bed and into the shower...there was NO HOT WATER!  So now I'm really not in a good mood....cold shower?!?  Give me a break!  Just to be fair, as soon as I was ready to step out, the water did eventually warm up...ARGH!

When I finally got out the front door around 745 AM (yeah late start for me)…I had my hotel breakfast and cappuccino.  Tried to exchange more USD but again, two banks later…no one wants to change cash…so strange for a bank NOT to deal in cash…interesting society challenge.

Enroute to meet the group, I of course stopped for yet another cappuccino…but here’s the scary part…I barely walked through the door and my friendly café bar server looked at me with a smile on his face and said “Bon Giorno…Cuppucho?”  (That's Italian slang for cappuccino) OH MY GOD…I’m a “regular!”  He had my drink made and sitting on the counter before I could even get the change to pay for it.  We had a good laugh.  But this is making me really like Italy and forget the past of bad experiences.

The group was slowly gathering in the lobby of their hotel and we met our new home for the next few days…the “Coach” and driver, Mauricio.  Luisa is our Tour Manager who has all the knowledge and makes me look really good as a host.  First stop…city tour of Milan. 

Small cobble stone streets, narrow passages between ancient buildings no taller than 5 stories (and no elevators for the inhabitants)…we ventured through the city of Milano.  First stop was the Castle Sforza which served as Milan’s triumphant prestige as the official city center, governing body and housed Leonardo Da Vinci as one of many tenants of past.  In one end and out the other to see Napoleon’s Arch…seriously there are no words to describe the beauty, magnificence and structural excellence of these buildings.  The only way to give them justice is to imagine yourself tossed back in time to the 1400’s.  Awesome.

Next a brief visit to Saint Maria delle Grazie where the “Last Supper” is preserved.  Sadly, I was unable to secure tickets to see this work of art due to my late booking and difficulty in getting spots for a “group” let alone individuals.  They are tickets at a premium.  Did you know that Da Vinci painted this on a wall in the church that measures 12 feet high and 27 feet wide?  It was also painted using his fingers…and not a paint brush.  The result was a stunning masterpiece that gave the illusion of 3D…too bad I didn’t get to see it for myself…but I was within 20 yards of it!

More city sites learning the history and prestige Milano had in Europe in the days…and continues today…and then the Duomo and Galleria.  Now this is where my day takes a horrible turn.  We (Mauricio, Luisa and I) decided that while Luisa takes the group through the Duomo, Galleria and offers the group a few hours of leisure time for lunch…that I should go with the coach and Mauricio to find a local store so I could buy water for the group…yah…they were already disappointed I hadn’t supplied the coach with water.  Mauricio offered to have me “buy” his water, but I’ve been scorched before in Italy when it came to bartering and money…so I told him I’d just go buy my own.  So the group went with Luisa and I went with the coach.  This started out wonderfully.  As an “official” tour director, we drove the coach more like a sports car then a safe tour bus…zooming through the crowded streets and driving with the race-car-like precision of our driver.  Add to that, we drove past the city center and entered the “real” Milan where the everyday person lives…that was really cool…seeing the stuff tourists never see…real human existence in a metropolitan city.  But we were driving a bit far and I noticed we past several grocery stores.  Hmmm….something isn’t right.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Mauricio speaks no English.  Italian only.  Great.  I tried to ask where we were going, and all he did was make a call….2 minutes long and hang up.  He then tried to tell me that we were driving to his “factory” (the bus headquarters) where they would have water to stock the bus with.  Sure…why not!  We ended up driving about 40 minutes out of town…so I got to see more of Milan than my guests did.

  The buses storage yard was in a broken down part of the outer city…and I started to get an uneasy feeling in my stomach…something wasn’t right…and now thoughts of Mafia hits were running through my mind.  When we entered the secured gate, a man was waiting with water that we transferred to our bus.  84 bottles for now.  I saw the receipt and it came to 22 Euros and change.  That’s about $28.  Okay…for 84 bottles…I’m cool with that.  But then it happened.  The WHOLE REASON I HATE ITALY was now reconfirming my waning disapproval of the country.  The other guy in the bus terminal now wanted to charge me 1 Euro for each bottle!  That’s 84 Euros or $100!  Again…this man didn’t speak good English either and I thought for sure someone was going to shoot me in the head and bury my body under a new construction site.  CRAP!  We argued for a few minutes…I told them forget it, I’ll just get my own later that day.  And then…Mauricio came to my rescue.  Basically, he defended me, grabbed me and pushed me into the bus and took off, ignoring the demands of the mobster I assume was his boss.  When we got in the bus, he told me in broken English…just pay whats on the receipt.  It was a silent drive for a few blocks, and I joked with him, “Man I could use a cigarette”…instantly, he looked relieved…he cracked open the window and offered me an Italian cigarette and he started smoking one as well.  He asked me in sign language basically to take a seat in the tour conductors seat…you know…the seat that is in the entrance way of the bus, where normally the tour guide would sit…separated from the group and on the same level as the driver, below the passenger section?  HOW COOL WAS THAT.  So now I’m cruising through Milan, back to the group, smoking an Italian cigarette and watching the city unfold in front of those gigantic bus windows.  This is the life.  I was worried about the smell of smoke in the bus, but he said…No Worries.  When we got back to the Duomo, he opened both doors, cranked the air and sprayed air freshner throughout the bus…problem solved.  Then has asked if I wanted a coffee?  He should know better. 

He dug inside a cabinet and produced materials needed for two cafés.  In the mid section of the bus was a small café machine, much like our Keurig Coffee makers back home that use “pods” to make coffee.  He poured us two cafés (basically two espressos) with one sugar in what looked like a plastic shot glass.  We stood silent, appreciative of each others kindness and shared a drink of café.  Hmmm…he’s making it hard for me to NOT like Italy!  He tried really hard to communicate with me, but it was all for naught.  I was still pissed about being smoked and abused by mobster man and all I could think about was actually giving Mauricio a bigger tip for helping me out.  So I ended up paying 40 Euro for the water…he was insistent that I take some change, but I said “No, gratci”…we smiled and I went off to find the group.

Now I didn’t get to attend the Duomo tour, because I was too busy being cheated out of my tour money, so I don’t have much details to offer other than WOW!  All I know is it is one of the architectural wonders of the world…and it’s easy to see why.  Breathtaking, serene, unnaturally large, and detailed to the finest grit of sand.  Next door is the Galleria which is the world’s first covered outdoor shopping area…for those craving history…the Duomo’s construction started in 1386 and the Galleria started construction in 1865.

I only had 30 minutes to run in and run out…definitely not enough time to really see it, but trust me…what I did see was so impressive…I may have to come back to Milan again…maybe.

I rushed to meet the group and all were on time!  Actually impressive.  We boarded the bus and headed in a southernly route out of town to the rolling agricultural region known as Lomardia, where we stopped at this family owned winery for a tour, tasting and apperitiff’s (cheese, bread and meats).  Being the big drinker I am (sarcasm), I chose not to participate in the tour or tasting and contented myself with the incredibly beautiful view of the valley of farmlands.

Add an unpredicted picture perfect day (weather report predicted thunder storms all day) and a lightly warmed breeze touched by the sun, and I was happy as a clam enjoying the serenity of the landscape.  I joined the group to perform my tour director duties of tending to everyone’s needs at the tasting and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.  After about 2 hours, we boarded the bus again and headed back to the hotel.

As an added bonus, we offered a bit of Los Angeles to our Milan experience…TRAFFIC!  This was okay however, because the bus is comfortable and the front half of the bus decided to sleep, while the party animals confiscated the back half of the bus.  I ended up, right smack dab in the middle.

The best part of the day was when one of our guests shouted… “This was the best day ever!”  Seriously…a great thing to hear after my first official day…and yes…I thank the wine for inducing such a reaction…maybe I should serve wine on the bus as a daily bonus?

This really was the end of my day.  I bid farewell to the group who were already planning where they were going to have dinner as I headed back to my humble house of rest.  Perhaps I will give McDonalds of Milan a try?  Hey…when in Rome…

By the way...it's about 730PM and it is still fully daylight outside.  It doesn't even start to get dark until after 930PM...kinda strange.  It's going to take me a while to upload images and such, so this will be the end of today's blog....goodnight my brave and loyal readers!

By the way...McDonalds is the same here in Milan as it is in Los Angeles...

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!

DAY TWO – Zurich to Milan by train.

Well…you can tell I’m new to blogging…I’m writing far too much so let’s see if today I can par it down.  Day started with an amazing breakfast spread again set out by Daniela.  Jenny came over to say goodbye before I left…I won’t be back to Hombrechtikon for another 2 weeks.  Then off to the train station we went…Daniela, Werner and me.

I have to say…there are four things I LOVE about Germany and Switzerland: family, food, scenery/architecture and TRAINS!  I LOVE EUROPES TRAIN SYSTEM!  So excitement was abound as I boarded my train heading for Milan.  The scenery was amazing…green everywhere and winding through mountains, crossing waterfalls and streams, coasting along lake shoresides and meandering through rolling hills of green.  It’s fun to watch, because in these parts, a family will plant a tree on the top of a small rolling hill in honor of their first born son.  There are a lot of single trees planted throughout the rolling hills.  And there is so much pride here…everyone flies the Swiss flag along with the flag of their community.  It’s amazing.  And the buildings…old, maintained and almost transports you back in time.

On our journey we stopped in several towns including Lugano and Como before reaching Milan…and then right on time I made it to Milan.  Now I’ve been to Italy before (Rome, Venice) and I have to admit…I’m not a big fan.  I found the people rude and the country dirty.  I promised myself to have more of an open mind this time and allow the best of Italy to come through.  Well…I guess not on this trip.

First things first…my hotel was across the street from the train station, so that was a big plus…especially since it was raining and alas…I have no rainy weather clothing!  I really couldn’t afford to stay at the same hotel as my group, so I booked a smaller hotel around the corner called…are you ready?  THE NEW YORK HOTEL.  Nice, small, quaint, conveniently located around the corner from my group…really all I need.

Now to exchange money…I GOT SMOKED!  Once again, I was spanked by the Italians…The exchange rate is down to 1.18…but of course I had to pay something in the neighborhood of 1.60!  TOTALLY SUCKS, but I really had no choice since the banks are all closed for the evening.

Then my power adapters didn’t seem to work in the hotel…so out I went in search of a power adapter for my laptop…I got some directions from the very helpful two man crew at my hotel and off I went.

Once again, my opinion of Italy as being dirty is strongly confirmed.  The Metro here is dirty, but worse than that, since it was raining, it was filled with the homeless who chose to use it as their main place for urination…and to top it off, they stand by the machines, trying to purchase your tickets for you and keeping your change…totally awkward.  I ended up finding a ticket booth manned by a real person and avoided the beggars.  And off I went to Buenos Aires Street…home of every show imaginable.  Basically take the largest mall in the world and just put it down along 10 major city blocks.  And of course I had to have my first taste of Milan Gelato!  Caffe flavor, in a cup, with a biscotti…took about 10 minutes to order because…oh yeah…they don’t speak English here.  So for all of you who told me, “Don’t worry…they all speak English there,” …thanks for nothing.  WRONG.  Although it was raining, it’s tropical rain seeing as they are in a Mediterranean climate area…so rain, but warm.  It really was nice and I chose not to buy an umbrella from the street sellers and just take my chances.  Nike, Swatch, Swarovski, Polo…you name it…this street has it.  I found my electronics store and after some delay finally found the right adapter…and now I was headed by to the hotel.

The odd thing about the stores here is…the front part you can see from the street window makes the store look so small, like they only sell one item…but once you enter the front door and head behind a maze of walls, it leads you into this enormous shopping area…as big as any shopping mall major chain store…all hidden and masked from the view from the street.  Kinda odd…but kinda cool.

It took me 4 metro stops to get here so I decided to walk back and just explore Milan.  Again…people were for the most part rude, the streets are dirty and smelly and I must admit, for the first time I really felt isolated and alone.  But you all know me…I just threw myself into it and ended up being lost in the beauty of the architecture and enjoying my favorite pastime…PEOPLE WATCHING.  And let me tell you…Italians are fun people to watch…lots of expression as they talk…very laid back about their work environment…very confident, strong personalities…and me….lost amongst of all that.  Along my way I went to a local grocery store and bought what I hope is shaving cream and disposable blades.  Had my first cappuccino in an Italian “bar”…and I have to say…although I’m enjoying my European coffee experience…I miss my Starbucks!  Here the cup sizes are SO SMALL…one cappuccino, I can down in three sips (or less).  I know when I get home…the first place I’m going is Starbucks!  I learned the geography and navigation around a pretty large chunk of Milan in preparation for my group’s arrival tomorrow.  At least I won’t look like an idiot and totally lost…I can get them to almost anything they ask for with very little outside assistance.

The rest of the evening was spent on line, deciding to do this blog, sending out eNewsletters, and chatting to y’all on facebook.  The only English TV is on the BBC News…so I watched news all night long…all while prepping my paperwork and expectations of receiving my group in Milan.  The group and trip are split into two sections…the PRE TRIP which is three nights in Milan and surrounding area…and for that I have only 14 group members.  The second half or MAIN TRIP has 24 group members and lasts for 10 days.  Time for lights out…just shy of midnight….goodnight Milan…

Ciao!