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Other entries in Milan

Ciao, Italia

After a whirlwind tour of this amazing stiff toed, boot shaped country, we arrived in Milan to wait out our remanining hours before boarding a train to Barcelona, Spain. We again arrived without reservations in a hotel so were again caught in traffic while looking for lodging. but this is how we likes to do it. we wanted a place near the central rail station we would later depart from so we located that and then parked to walk in search. after inquiring in a few places, we discovered that the grand opening of a new area of the town had created such a stir in the atmosphere that many of the hotels were booked full. when we dug deeper into this developing controversy, we found out that the area was no more than a park of some sort thus causing my dad and i to look at each other and shrug our shoulders seeming to agree that it seems simple pleasures abound here in italy.

after only a week here, we were both exhausted from everything we had done and also from the hectic pace of the nation. firstly, the Italians are some of the most well-dressed people ive ever seen. everyone seems to invest their savings in clothing (which reminds me of the Argentines who did the same thing except there, they did it even though no one could afford it), and perhaps supressing the rage that this creates is a reason for why everyone seems to be more uptight and in such a hurry all the time. both of us were ready to be out of the hustle and hassle of navigating the streets in the cities and on the road. the blaring of horns is a constant nuisance and if youre driving too slow, you will be notified of this error prompty. plus the exchanges we had with our random sample of italians led us to the impression that they were curt, impatient, and intolerant of we bumbling tourists. one such example of this behavior was when dad and i were riding a trolly car with tickets we had purchased earlier in the day. when a ticket taker came along, we handed him the tickets we had and instantly his face grew long and became shadowed with gloom. he spoke no english but with my small understanding of italian, i came to know that our tickets had expired (they are good for one hour of use after being stamped) and thus we were violating the rules of the Milan Public Transportation Services. he demanded our passports even as we tried to explain through mediators that we were stupid tourists unawares of the rules in the foreign city. he paid them no mind and snatched our documents and hurried off the train. we had no choice but to follow and then he started asking for 34 euros from each of us. i would have prefered him to write us a ticket like he did for another violater but unfortunately, he had some brains in his head because by giving me a ticket, he would have only given me more toilet paper. i continued to protest playing dumb and trying to get him to forget it but he was very set on doing his job, (damn do-gooder) and eventually, we had to shell out half of the fine so in the end, i suppose he was somewhat of a nice guy for only charging for one person. i just cant imagine an american pub. trans officer going to so much trouble if a Chinese man had accidentally stamped his ticket. that also may be because im cynical and think most americans would be too lazy.

Milan was a bit chilly since its a far north city and Europe has yet to warm up for summer. it was definitely pants weather and i was wearing my only pair very thin. i havent dont laundry since Vietnam and my dad has been suffering for it. but with the schedule we've been keeping, there is no time and i dont really care. maybe ill clean in spain.

on a last note, it was incredible and very surprising but i found many Hispanics in Italy. on numerous occasions i overheard spanish being spoken in all parts of the country. it was actually quite convenient because i could communicate more easily and find out information in situations i wouldnt have been able to do normally. i asked a few people where they were from and the usual answer was somewhere in South America. just strange to me, but good for them. ciao!

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