I.

We departed from our much-loved Agroturismo today, leaving behind our generous hosts Chiara and Paolo, the big gentle dog Mischa and her companion, little deaf Dodo, a yard full of half-feral housecats, three hectares of grapes and hazelnut trees, two-hour breakfasts and three-hour dinners. Here are a few photos:

II.

After the driving the autostrata, paying $9/gallon for gas, and ordering hastily-consumed but excellent cappuccino at roadside rest stops, the next authentic Italian travel experience is trying to purchase train reservations. We found the ticket office in Milano Centrale, pulled a number and with a sinking feeling realized that it would be more an an hour (likely two) before our number would come up. The vast ticket office was like a snowed-in airport at Christmas – a refugee camp for travelers, the whole room governed by a stern and unforgiving letter board declaring the next ticket/service window. Except, this was a normal thursday afternoon. Isn’t there a kiosk, a website, any automated way to do this? (The answer is no). The American Me cried, “This system is unacceptible. Find someone to complain to and they will fix this!” but Traveler Me pointed out that 1) it’s not my country/system to fix, 2) I’m in Milano which is the efficient Italian city and still no one thinks this should be any other way, and 3) resistence is futile. However, we are both problem-solvers by nature and by training, AND, more importantly, B can be super charming. (Seriously, I can attest to the fact that ther
e’s no resisting his powers when he focuses them on you.) So while I held our place in the line, he wandered to far-flung customer service counters, smiling and wielding that Midwestern charm…and in the end, his tactics produced our train reservations faster than all my rule-abiding patience.

III.

We rounded out the evening in Milano with a visit with an old college friend. We walked to see the Duomo, then dined at a fancy hotel bar amongst the Milanese Glitterati. It couldn’t have been more different from where we woke up, amongst the vineyards and barn cats.