Saturday, October 28, 2006

11 Aug: Off to Milan

Off to Milan we go. Lugging our luggage filled with stuff we bought over the trip, we headed towards the train station, crossing the 8 bridges. On the way, we saw this.

The tee itself is quite crass but fact that he is holding on to his granny suddenly made it quite funny indeed.

So we reached the train station with a good 20 minutes to spare. As we were quite familiar with the entire train thingy, we were quite relaxed. That was until, Shuyi dropped the bomb: she left the platinum ring I got for her 6 years ago in the hotel room. Thanks lor. With 10 mins left and 16 bridges too and fro, I was delighted with the workout I'm gonna get. Leaving the ring behind is not an option. So I started running back to get the ring. When I came back with the ring, I was just in time to see the train leaving the station from it's stationary position. Wished I'd worked out regularly.

I made Shuyi pose for this picture to remember this memorable event by. Outstanding. But like I said, the railway system is damn slack. So we simply took the train to Verona and switched train to Milan. Just delaying our plan by maybe an hour or so.

Along the same road we arrived, out of Venice we go.

Hot.

On the train we met this super high baby. He must be damn high to be smiling that much. You could be shouting at him and STILL he will give you the sweetest smile you've ever seen. So cute. Too bad I never got a picture as we were about to alight.

Milan is quite different from the other places we've been to. It is quite new with tram tracks in the road.

Slightly deserted though. After we walked by a Macdonalds that is not open on a Friday afternoon, we know something is up. It is the summer holidays and everything except some shops near the town center is open.

We reached our hotel shortly and is glad to find that it actually looked pretty classy. A bit of a surprise as it is the cheapest hotel we've booked throughout the trip. Cannot imagine that it is cheaper than that rundown 'hotel' in Rome.

A church we passed by along the way. The sculpture reminded me of Salvadore Dali's works.

The streets are filled with this type of graffiti. Who IS 'dumbo' anyway. His name is all over the place. Coincidentally, 'Dumbo' is the name of the bird who lives in Balam Road and the big eared elephant Shuyi loves so much.

After settling in, we moved out in search of open shops and food to eat. We found something we've never seen in Italy to date: a buffet. We sat down for dinner with these pesky birds. The very fact that I can get such a close up of these birds tells you that they don't give a shit. Turn your attention else where and they WILL come and eat your food.

At the cafe, an China gentleman started a conversation with me. Turned out he is an acupuncture expert making his living in Italy. He enjoys exclusivity here in Italy and enjoys a very carefree life. He said that Italians are all 'thieves' and must be abused in order to make them 'wake up their idea'. I couldn't agree more Dr Xu.

Guess his age?

After some time getting lost in Milan, we finally reached the town center. I have no idea what this place is called but it is obviously where its at.