Sept. 14, 2008 - Milan/Venice

Sunday, September 14, 2008

We arrived in Milan in the morning, around 8:30am. Immigration was a breeze. It is always strange to arrive in a foreign country and then set off. It seems like you should sit down for awhile and prepare yourself for what is about to come. But that's silly. So we found the bus that Rick Steves says will take us to the Central train station. Sure enough we got on a bus and arrived at the train station. And sure enough, there was the travel agency he recommends for purchasing train tickets. We bought our tickets to Venice and the tickets from Venice to Florence.

On the bus I chatted with a women from China. She worked in a factory making washing machines, mostly for the US market through a company in Ohio. She said she was looking forward to visiting the US as the US government was about allow Chinese citizens to obtain tourist visas. I was surprised that our government did not allow tourists from China. We talked about the just completed Olympic games. I told her that the Chinese had done a good job hosting the Olympics. As with many Chinese she was full of national pride. What I did not tell her, out of politeness, was that I did not appreciate the Chinese government's lack of respect for individual liberties.

Next we dropped our bags off at baggage storage and headed for the subway. OK, we have really hit the ground running. We went to the Duomo where there is a large piazza. Almost every Italian city has a Duomo. It is the main church that usually has existed for 100's of years. We had lunch in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (a well known shopping mall), took a bunch of photos, hopped back on the subway, retrieved our luggage back, and jumped on the train for Venice.

We arrived in Venice in the afternoon. We figured out how to get on a slow water bus (Vaporetto) so we could do the Rick Steves’ audio tour. His book says take #82, but there was no #82, only a #1 and #2. We figured it out (#2) and we were on our way. The boat was crowded which made it difficult to see the sights. Becky and I tried to share the audio tour which was cumbersome. And then a lady wanted us to move over for a seat and we had our luggage in her way. It was rather awkard but we did OK and she even said “grazie” .

Finally we arrived at our stop. We headed for the hotel and a bit of a rest. We had just arrived in Italy that very day and look at what we had accomplished. We were doing good! We then went to a suggested restaurant. It was wonderful, but Becky and I did not know how to order. We had a great meal but we ordered the appetizer, primo plato, and secondo plato. Way too much food. Next time we will know to order a secondo plato and either the appetizer or primo plato. It was a very friendly atmospheric place with their display of fresh fish and live lobster. We headed back to the hotel. The accommodations at Hotel Flora were very relaxing and we were done with our first day.

The Duomo in Milan A Venice canal

Dinner is served