Espresso Italiano

Tuesday afternoon, at O'Hare, we unexpectedly run into Meredith and Joe!  We rush at each other, screaming like teenagers!  They're on their way to Milan, too, but on a different airline. We can't linger to chat—we hope to see them again at the airport in Milan — but Zach and I have to say hello to another old friend in a hurry, because our SAS flight is already boarding for Stockholm.  And we find him!

Michael has been waiting for us since Zach first befriended him at O'Hare in 1995.

Minutes later, we're up in the air.  I move my watch ahead seven hours.  Can't sleep. A brief walk around the luxury shops in the Stockholm airport, and then on to Milan.

We have one afternoon, one evening in Milano!  Never did see Meredith and Joe here. Bleary-eyed with jet lag, from the window of the bus we see street names:  Via Benedetto Spinoza, Via Stradivari, Via Pergolesi.  We walk from our tiny hotel room toward the Duomo.  Along the way, we stop for just a wee sip of espresso and we're back to life!

The Public Gardens! Oh, the water fountains!

Lots of rental bikes here, lots of people using them!

And then, as we get closer and closer to the Duomo... the people! The architecture.  Oh, look — La Scala!  They're in Giappone tonight, doing Rigoletto in Tokyo!

I waited on a bench here. La Scala's on the left. Note yellow trolley!

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the gorgeous tunnel of money — Prado just up ahead

Tiles in the floor in the Galleria

And then, there it is!  The Duomo!

We went inside and I lit a candle. No photos inside. 

While I was taking a picture of a mime alongside the Duomo

Zach got into a conversation with a guy from Senegal

Oh, how charming!  I joined in. For a couple of minutes it was delightful — we spoke of the beauty of West Africa, of Senegal, of Nigeria, of Wolof and Ibo. And then, as we moved to walk on, the guy pulled out some "friendship" bracelets. Before we knew it, he was tying one on Zach's wrist. Immediately one of the guy's buddies appeared and was tying one on my wrist. Before a high-pressure third guy came up it became clear:  This was not just a friendly little chat, it was a sales trick, and we'd fallen for the scam. 

Serious jet lag keeping us both awake. Tomorrow we're off on the early train to Lyon!