Milan

The city of Milan is about a 50 minute bus ride from the airport. The trip into the city looks very much like any American city. And from the looks of the vegetation, the climate is a bit cooler than Atlanta. The weather when we arrived was about 70 degrees, partly cloudy and windy.

We took the airport shuttle bus to the central train station. Thanks to Rick Steves we quickly found the TI (tourist information) where we picked up a one day Metro pass and a city map. From there, we walked to our hotel which was about 1\2 mile away. Conveniently, there is a Metro stop right outside our hotel.

We had not made plans for this afternoon, assuming we would miss our connection in Paris. One possibility, however, was to try and see DiVinci's Last Supper. Reservations are required, but sometimes you can get in if someone doesn't show. We took the Metro an easy 7 stops, but no luck. We overheard the ticket agent say you could get reservations for early June!!
I LOVE Italian men! They flirt with you, with their eyes no matter how old you are. When I lamented to our ticket agent that we were leaving in the morning, he looked very compassionate and suggested we return at 8 AM when they often have no shows.

We found a nice local restaurant for dinner. We got a table outside. Fortunately, it had an awning, because it started to hail as soon as we sat down. The storm was short-lived. The food was inexpensive and good. The hits were the complementary bruchetta and the sparkling white table wine (1 carafe for 4 Euros). But Bob says his favorite part of Milan so far is the gelati we got on the walk back to our hotel.

So it's up early tomorrow for a quick breakfast then off to see Leo (we hope). Following that, we plan to see the Duomo (cathedral) and the attached museum before heading to the Cinque Terre by train in the early afternoon.

Glad to have you along for the trip. Thanks to those who have posted.

Barb