This is a weird stretch of time to write about because a lot of different things happened. The first notable occurrence was that, for the first time since we arrived in Milan three full months earlier, Jenna and I stayed in Milan for the entire weekend of December 6-8. It was unheard of. We went to a big exposition called "L'Artigiano in Fiera" which was a worldwide showcase of kitschy goods from about 70 countries, plus all the regions in Italy (for the record, the USA stand was small and had album-cover-posters, cowboy stuff, and road signs - that was about it).
It was crowded. Crazy crazy crowded. And at one point I looked at something before putting it back on a shelf. When I put it back on the shelf I had to kinda reach past a woman's face and she just about stared a hole in my soul - I've never been looked at so angrily, and it was in response to doing something completely normal and pedestrian. I don't understand this country and its people.
Anyway, the next week we went to a small town called Piacenza for a day and night. It's about an hour from Milan by train and seemed like it could be an interesting place to go for a short spell, so we got a decent hotel and headed out.
We arrived in early-afternoon to what could politely be described as a ghost-town. There was a market in the main square and there were more vendors than humans walking through it. This was 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and all the shops were closed and all the people were hiding somewhere, it seemed.
The town square had a touching memorial to locals lost in both world wars, which always gets me a bit emotional - seeing the same last name several times, for instance - but aside from that there wasn't a whole lot going on. We popped into a couple of stores, bought some snacks, and walked to our hotel...which was really nice. We had a huge shower, a roomy room, a printing center that didn't work so they offered to print from the front-desk, a giant bed, and TV in English. This was living.
We ventured back out in the evening to see if things were more alive, and it was a complete 180 from daytime. The sidewalks were packed, restaurants were packed, shops were overflowing with people (although there were one or two shops that were literally offering about 15 square feet of retail space - you couldn't fit more than 2-3 people in some of these places), everyone had food and was mingling - it was really impressive and fun.
So after getting focaccia, pizza, and chips (fries, as you know them), we went back to the hotel and bided our time until a phenomenal breakfast.
Then things got real weird: Now it's Sunday, and our friend Carly is arriving to Milan in about three hours. We arrived at the main rail station in Piacenza and discovered that there was a sciopero and our train would not exist. Ruh roh.
We hoped and hoped that we could get another one, and eventually it seemed as though we could, but in the meantime we went over to a little odds-and-ends store in a mini-shopping mall near the station and found THE BEST STUFF.
We found a Noot Book! It was about 1 euro. We had also been wanting playing cards but they were at least 5 euros and sometimes as much as 8 or 10 in Milan. Here we found them for 1,50. Bonus? See below.
That's right - the cards are "obviously larruping!"
Anyway, we were saved by a later train and made it back to Milan, but then we had to go directly to the airport to get Carly, which is an experience I'll save for next time. I just wanted an excuse to tell you all about the playing cards.
And it's worth noting that they also had spatulas, strainers (we bought both), lingerie, lamps, and more. It was a really fun store.
Up next: Milan a little with two Koniecznys and then Vienna!
It was crowded. Crazy crazy crowded. And at one point I looked at something before putting it back on a shelf. When I put it back on the shelf I had to kinda reach past a woman's face and she just about stared a hole in my soul - I've never been looked at so angrily, and it was in response to doing something completely normal and pedestrian. I don't understand this country and its people.
Anyway, the next week we went to a small town called Piacenza for a day and night. It's about an hour from Milan by train and seemed like it could be an interesting place to go for a short spell, so we got a decent hotel and headed out.
We arrived in early-afternoon to what could politely be described as a ghost-town. There was a market in the main square and there were more vendors than humans walking through it. This was 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and all the shops were closed and all the people were hiding somewhere, it seemed.
The town square had a touching memorial to locals lost in both world wars, which always gets me a bit emotional - seeing the same last name several times, for instance - but aside from that there wasn't a whole lot going on. We popped into a couple of stores, bought some snacks, and walked to our hotel...which was really nice. We had a huge shower, a roomy room, a printing center that didn't work so they offered to print from the front-desk, a giant bed, and TV in English. This was living.
We ventured back out in the evening to see if things were more alive, and it was a complete 180 from daytime. The sidewalks were packed, restaurants were packed, shops were overflowing with people (although there were one or two shops that were literally offering about 15 square feet of retail space - you couldn't fit more than 2-3 people in some of these places), everyone had food and was mingling - it was really impressive and fun.
So after getting focaccia, pizza, and chips (fries, as you know them), we went back to the hotel and bided our time until a phenomenal breakfast.
Then things got real weird: Now it's Sunday, and our friend Carly is arriving to Milan in about three hours. We arrived at the main rail station in Piacenza and discovered that there was a sciopero and our train would not exist. Ruh roh.
We hoped and hoped that we could get another one, and eventually it seemed as though we could, but in the meantime we went over to a little odds-and-ends store in a mini-shopping mall near the station and found THE BEST STUFF.
We found a Noot Book! It was about 1 euro. We had also been wanting playing cards but they were at least 5 euros and sometimes as much as 8 or 10 in Milan. Here we found them for 1,50. Bonus? See below.
That's right - the cards are "obviously larruping!"
Anyway, we were saved by a later train and made it back to Milan, but then we had to go directly to the airport to get Carly, which is an experience I'll save for next time. I just wanted an excuse to tell you all about the playing cards.
And it's worth noting that they also had spatulas, strainers (we bought both), lingerie, lamps, and more. It was a really fun store.
Up next: Milan a little with two Koniecznys and then Vienna!
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