Milan

So today I caught the train to Milan, and it was lovely and they served us chocolate on the train and then I got here and all was well.

LOL JUST KIDDING! I WISH! Getting to Milan today was an absolute nightmare. Last night I get an email from the American company that sold me my train tickets saying that there had been a landslide in southern Switzerland, and that it all slid right onto the tracks that my train would be taking. Say what?! A landslide? Actually it was a massive rockslide. Anyhow! I had Chris call the company back in the US to get more info and the general advice given was....go to the station, and get on the train, and eventually we will get you to Milan. So I did, and they got me there. Instead of a non stop train from Lucerne to Milan, this is what I had to do: Catch train in Lucerne, ride to some tiny village. Get off train and onto shuttle bus, ride it for a while (past the rockslide, which I'll post pictures of once I'm home again), ride to some tiny village. Get back onto a train for a while, get off train, transfer to another train, finally get to Milan.

All complaining aside, Switzerland is so gorgeous. I have no words to explain go pretty it is. The Alps are so tall it's amazing. The train would go along at the base and then go up through them on super high bridges and it was just amazing. Lots of times you couldn't even see the tops of the mountains because they were so high that they were surrounded by clouds. Really breathtaking. At one point I saw this herd of wild white goats drinking from a crystal blue stream and I was like, is this real?!?! Lots of cute little cottages with cute little gardens just sort of perched up in the mountains. Amazing.

One of our many train stops

Milan is a completely different story from Lucerne. Everything is fast and sort of dirty. All of the hostels had reviews online that included phrases like "bed bugs", "broken locks on the doors", and "super loud at night", so I decided to go the AirBnB route. Chris and I had a lot of success renting out our second bedroom for SXSW, so I was excited to try it as the guest this time. The apartment was off a major bus line, so I finally found the bus and headed out. A few minutes later I was there. Guys, this place is so cute! It's on the third floor, but the apartment itself has two floors. The second floor is a cute little nook with a bed and a bathroom, and it's all for me! It costs the same amount as the gross hostels, so I think I've found a great deal.

Bedroom nook

So now I have to admit something embarrassing. I had to google how to flush the toilet. I had no clue, and my host had headed out. There was a lever on the wall and that was it. So finally, google told me how to flush it. I have also now seen my very first bidet, an event that I feel deserves some documentation.

After getting over my excitement at Italian bathrooms, I headed back out into Milan to go see this giant church. I took the bus to the subway, rode that for a few stops and ta-da! There it was! The Duomo di Milano. This church is the fourth largest church in the world, it was started in the 1300s, and it took SIX centuries to complete. It's really gorgeous. I sat in the plaza for a while admiring it, and admiring this amazing piece of pizza I had bought from a bakery. You can go inside for free, so I checked it out. It's very dark inside and has lots of pretty things to look at, including a couple of glass coffins with the remains of some church guys, if that's your thing. It wasn't mine, so I moved on.

Milan is oppressively hot, so I did what any good American would do and got gelato. A scoop each of tiramisu and coffee in a cone. I walked around, enjoying that for a while and then decided to come back to the apartment. Tomorrow I am meeting up with some of the other tutors and taking the train into San Remo, and then work officially begins. For now, CIAO!

Some euros and my very serious house key