Home Again

Several people have asked me to make a last post. First some picture explanation's, as I still can't figure out how to label them. The first church is where the Last Supper is located. The Prada and McDonalds pics are inside the mall...it is really huge, if you look at top of pic you can see the covering, which was like the inside of a church.

Leaving Cinque Terra was sad for me. We got up at 5am...and dragged our suitcases down all those steps to a totally deserted street. We could smell the pastries baking, and peek thru the doors and see people working, but the street was all cleaned up and no tourists anywhere, except us. We took a last picture heading up to the train and I know I will remember it even without the camera photo to remind me.
We were a little worried about figuring out how to get on the right train to Milan, and then finding our hotel, but we did it. I think my feet and legs were about as exhausted as they could be, but we had these reservations to see the Last Supper...so we made ourselves do it. The "painting" is in such a small little church...compared to the huge churches we had been in. They take you 25 at a time into this large room. Then you get 15 min. to admire the work. I paid for a "tour" as the 6.00E tickets they sell at the church were sold out 2 months in advance. So I paid 30E each(now you know why we got up at 5am). The extra euros bought us a "guide" telling us all about the painting. It was much bigger then I imagined...covering a huge wall...but it is very faded and deteriorating pretty rapidly. They de-ionize you (or something) before you go in. No pictures allowed so I can only show you the outside of the church.
We decided that since we were in Milan, we should at least check it out, even though we were seriously drained. I am really glad that we did. It is a huge city and it kind of felt like being in Times Square.... Italian style. It was a half hour walk from the church to the city center....Jim promised me a cab ride back. They say that whatever is in the windows in Milan, will be in the States in a year, so I took a few pictures. It was block after block of serious window shopping. Then we arrived at this mall that looked like a church on the inside. We loved seeing the Prada store, but the prices on the items in the window kept us from going inside. And most amazingly, there was a McDonalds right across the floor from it. There is also a huge cathedral in the center of Milan with a big square...it was so much more modern then the other Italian cities we had been in. While we were walking, Jim came across a display of cars...Lamborghini, Ferrari and a Maserati....on a red carpet outside some swanky hotel. The man guarding them was fascinated with Jim's little $80.00 camera and he had to stop and show him...Jim got a HUGE kick out of that. He wishes now he had traded the "look at his camera" for a sit in one of the cars. We headed back to our hotel hoping to catch a cab along the way, but no such luck. When the concierge at the hotel said the closest restaurant was 4 blocks away, Jim inquired about a cab. He said,"That is RIDICULOUS....only 4 blocks away"...so we walked because we were too embarrassed to say...."we have been walking at least 100 miles over 3 weeks to get HERE right now!!!!" This of course means we had to walk back...but we did it early and went to bed early as well. Our last supper(HA) was a wonderful pasta and huge shrimp(eyeballs included) and of course wine, and then we collapsed.
We got up at 7am our last day and spent the next 22 hours...riding trains and subways, buses and planes to get home. After we got in our very own car, we went straight for McDonalds and had a good ole American burger and fries and Jim even had a chocolate shake. Too much homemade pizza and pasta had us craving fast food...or maybe it was the airline food. Then we kept talking to each other to try and stay awake on the painful hour and half car ride home. We went straight to bed,even though it was still light out...but for us it was 5am. In the middle of the night, I got up and couldn't figure out what hotel room I was in. It took several minutes for me to realize I was in my own bedroom and I KNEW how to use the bathroom... even in the dark!!!!!

We had a wonderful trip. We met so many fascinating people and experienced many unforgettable things. But we are happy to be home and appreciate the beautiful, clean and friendly place that we are fortunate enough to live in.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I don't think I am a BLOG kind of gal, so this will probably be the last one, unless my kids bug me to do some more....hummm, where to go next?

Arrivederci Everyone!!!!