London Calling

Local time: Tuesday 29 September 11:56am

I apologise that I have been so neglectful of my blog since arriving in London, especially since I have done so much... including catch a cold! I believe the stress of travel must have run me down because on Sunday evening I found myself sniffing and I had to go out yesterday and buy a box of tissues. But nevertheless I have been getting out and doing things...

On Saturday morning I met Kinloch (a friend from work who moved here in April) for breakfast at a place called, aptly, The Breakfast Club. And though there was lots of memoribilia from various movies on the walls, I couldn't find anything to do with its namesake. Which I found strange. We then went walking and found Borough Markets, a huge food market which is thought to have been on the site since the Middle Ages, and has definitely been there shince the 18th Century. I bought shortbread decorated to look like owls. Kinloch dropped me off at Shakespeare's Globe, where Uncle Donald, Liz and I watched Love's Labours Lost with some friends of Uncle Donald and Liz's, and we went to a Turkish restaurant for dinner.

I met Kinloch again on Sunday and we did some window shopping (and real shopping on my part) on Regent Street. Kinloch took me to a Kiwi-themed cafe where I had an L&P and a slice of lolly cake. I don't normally eat lolly cake at home, it was jsut the novelty of being able to eat it in London. But I think normal lolly cake must be made with Eskimos and this was made just with normal marshmallows (maybe you can't get Eskimos here) so it didn't taste quite the same. We walked to Leicester Square and I bought a ticket for Avenue Q which I'm going to tonight (Ivana: that's the musical that the I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today song comes from).

Yesterday I bought tissues then went out to the Tower of London, where I had a guided tour by a Beefeater, yes that is what they are called, they are the men (and one, recently-appointed, controversial, woman) who look after the Tower of London. They date back to who-knows-when and traditionally looked after the crown jewels and other stuff kept at the TOwer. Now they do tours for visitors. Of course.

Today I am paying a visit to Marble Arch... to the UK's largest Marks and Spencers store. I have bought so much stuff I need to get an extra piece of luggage. Then the show tonight, which I am looking forward to. I'll let you know how it goes.

Pip-pip

Pyramids and Towers and Theatres and Amelie

Local time (London): Friday 25 September 10:20pm

Hi all, I've done a few things since my last post so let's see... on Wednesday I went to the Louvre, I saw many paintings but probably none that any of you are interested in so here are some you might recognise:

And this is the famous inverted pyramid at the entranceway

That was my whole day on Wednesday. Yesterday I went up the Eiffel Tower in the morning. I got the lift - after all the things I've climbed I'm a bit sick of stairs. Around the viewing platform at the top, they have the flags of most countries facing in the direction of the country, with a distance from the Eiffel Tower to that country. Turns out nothing in the world worth knowing about is further from France than New Zealand. I then went to the Palais Garnier, the theatre I had no luck with last time, and was able to go in. It was amazing and I took more photos there than I did up the tower but here's just one so you don't get bored. For lunch (a late one at about 4pm) I went back to Amelie's cafe and had a French toasted sandwich thing called a croque-monsieur. If you are ever in France please try one. It was yum.

Made it to London safe and sound today, where I am staying with great-uncle Donald and great-aunt Liz, and their step-grandson (my step-second-cousin??) Charlie. Nothing to report yet as all I've done is drink cups of tea and catch up with the family... the intelligent part of the family it seems (sorry M + D...) as there have already been about five etymology-related conversations, in which I was not a participant. Made me feel very uneducated. I'll have to come home quick and get some proper education into me.

Paris by foot, by pubs and by art

Local time: Wednesday 23 September 10:27am

Hi all, me and Paris have been busy getting acquainted with one another. After my last post on Monday I went on that free walking tour, which was very good and gave me a bit of history that I probably wouldn't otherwise have known. The guide just took us round all the main sights and monuments of Paris and gave us a bit of information about them. We didn't actually go inside anything so I've had to/will have to go back. Here's a picture of the Eiffel Tower I took while on the tour. At the end of the tour the guide told us about a pub crawl that the same company does and I thought that might be a good way to meet people so I went along. I did meet some great people, including an English guy who got very drunk very early and kept asking me how Frodo was, and another English guy who's added me on Facebook and might just show me around London when I'm there. At the end of the crawl instead of going to the last club I went with some Americans to a restaurant where we had crepes and rosé and ended up lying underneath the Eiffel Tower at 3am and getting some very strange looks from passers-by. (Yes, it was 3am on a Monday and there were people passing by the Eiffel Tower. It's Paris.)

I managed to drag myself out of bed at a reasonably early time to start my day at the Musee d'Orsay. This is the museum that houses a large portion of modern art by artists that people have actually heard of. You were allowed to take pictures of the art and though I took heaps I didn't want to bombard you so I've just chosen one for the dog. (It's a Van Gogh). After visiting the Musee d'Orsay I wanted to go to the Palais Garnier, the Parisien opera house, where The Phantom of the Opera is set. You can go in and look around for a fee, but when I went yesterday it was closed so I'll have to go back tomorrow. I couldn't be bothered finding my way home ont the metro and I was very tired from my late night, so I flagged down a taxi and braved the streets of Paris in a car. On the way home we went around the Etoile 'roundabout', largely considerefd the most dangerous roundabout in the world. The Arc de Triomphe sits in the middle and there are 12 streets going out from the roundabout (hence it's name Etoile, the star). There is also space on the road for about 3 lanes but there are no road markings. Basically, I feared for my life but made it there safely and for only 8.50 euros. After a nice cup of tea at home I went back out again to a tour of Montmarte, offered by the same company as the free tour and pub crawl. Montmarte, as well as being historically a studenty area and the part of Paris that many poor artists like Picasso and Van Gogh worked, is also the place where one of my favourite movies (and the highest-grossing non-English film ever) was shot - Amelie. This friut shop featured in the film, and we also visited the cafe where Amelie worked. Didn't have time to get a drink there and I don't know if i'll have time beofre I leave Paris but we'll see. After the Montmarte tour I went to Norte Dame, which is amazing inside and out, but I was there quite late and the steps were already closed so I didn't climb it (and a good thing too, I've done more step-climbing in Europe than can be healthy for a person). I then found the famous bookshop Shakespeare and Company, an English bookshop with lot of history in the literary world. To anyone who has been inside the Devonport Vintage Bookshop it's like that but better, with low ceiling, creaky stairs and ladders to reach the top shelves. I could have got lost in there for hours but had to get home for dinner so I bought only about a zillion books and left.

Today I'm visiting the Louvre, it's already 11 so I better get going or I'll be queueing all day, or should I say 'waiting to get in', one of the Americans at the pub crawl had a huge rant about how English people use the word queue, it's not American so it shouldn't be used by anyone, just say 'line' or 'wait', blah blah blah.

Marais and Monet

Local time: Monday 21 September 10:03am

Bonjour, ca va? I'm getting along swimmingly here in Paris. Yesterday we all slept late and sent Sébastien (my cousin's son) out for pain au chocolat for breakfast. Once we had finished breakfast (right around lunchtime) we took the Metro to Le Marais, a district in Paris that is both a Jewish area, and a gay area. Interesting combination. This weekend was Les Journées du Patrimoine, or the national heritage weekend, which meant that many of the museums were free that you normally have to pay for. It also meant that everything was much busier. However as we wandered around Le Marais we found Victor Hugo's house which we were able to go into free.
We just sort of walked around the Marais seeing all the sights (Sébastien wasn't entirely pleased with this I don't think) and we ate lunch in a cafe run by a very bad tempered man... it seemed very French! We then walked to and through the Jardin des Tuileries, a large 'garden' with the Louvre at our back and the Seine on our left. At the opposite end to the Louvre there is a museum/gallery called something like the Orangerie which housed impressionist/cubist/modern paintings by the likes of Monet, Picasso, Cezanne and Modigliani. Here is a picture of Alex, Sébastien and I in front of a Monet... the white on our shoes is from the white stones in the Jardin des Tuileries.
Sébastien (and Alex and I, I must admit!) took advantage of the seats place in the middle of each room, supposedly there so you could enjoy the large paintings from them, but I'm sure the majority of people using them were just resting their legs.
And me in front of a Picasso that looks remarably like one we studied in Art History in school. So far my two days in Paris have greatly increased my desire to learn French at university. Today I'm taking myself off to a free tour of Paris offered by a compary that works on a tip basis. I'm going on the Metro and I have to change lines so wish me luck!!

Paris

Local time: Saturday 19 September 7:07pm

I have safely made it to France. Just in case you were worried. Said a sad goodbye to Laura and off I went. The plane ride seemed very short and I hqd my toothpaste taken off me because it was over 100 mls. Sorry if any of my typing is a bit weird, the keyboard is different in France!
Made it out of the airport okay without having to go through any passport control. I pretty much walked off the plane and out the front doors, which I was a bit disappointed about since it meant I didn't get a stamp in my passport. I didn't have to go through any customs either, like Malpensa. I suppose they don't need to pay so much attention to what you are taking in if you are travelling from another European country.
I am staying here with my cousin Alex and we have been out this afternoon/evening to go up the Arc de Triomphe and check out the lay of the land. Sorry guys I forgot my camera but seeing as Alex pretty much lives right next door to it, I'm sure at some stage I will get photos.

Ciao Milan, Ciao Paris!

Local time: Friday 18 September 5:18pm

Well I just wanted to check in since this is my last full day in Milan so my last post before I hit Paris... this morning I check the last gallery on my list off, the 'Museo Nazionale della Scienze e della Tecnica - Leonardo da Vinci'. Long name. It houses the 'working' models of Leonardo's inventions. Now when I heard that they were working models, I excpected them to be, well, working. But they just sat there stationary on their plinths, not moving or doing the job they were invented to do. It was still cool but I expected there to be things flying all over the place. More fool me.

Laura had the afternoon off again today which was nice, we went walking around Milan for the last time and briefly visited Castello Sforzesco (the castle I mentioned a few posts ago). Tonight we are going out to dinner (and I have to pack!!).

Up top is a video I took of Laura's apartment so you can all see where I've been staying :)

I'll see/blog you all when I get to Paris.

When I saw you in Verona (duh na na nah)

Local time: Thursday 17 September 2009, 7:24pm

So before I start talking about Verona, you remember how I said that yesterday we went to Laura's school? Well after that we went to a huge supermarket nearby and I took a photo of the 'tomato' aisle:
Yes that is an entire aisle of tinned and bottle tomato in various states of pulverisation. The pasta aisle was like this but on both sides. I also took a photo of the most disgusting thing I could see in the seafood section: Mmm yummy.

Today I went to Verona, in fact I pretty much got straight off the train from Verona and came here to the internet cafe. And yes I have had the song stuck in my head pretty much all day (to and non-Kiwis, Verona is a song by NZ band Elemeno P. Not about the town, about a bar in Auckland of the same name.)
I caught an early train (7.25) so I'd have a lot of time in Verona before the midday heat started (and I believe the reason it didn't rain at all while I was in Verona was because I took by umbrella. If I hadn't taken it, I'm positive it would have bucketed down). On the train I was fined five euros for not validating my ticket, which I didn't know you have to do, but apparantly you needed to put it in a stamping machine thingy before getting on the train. Who knew. Well, apparently everyone else except me and the Polish couple sitting next to me. A man told me that the maximum fine is fifty euros, so I feel like I got off easy, really. The train took just less than two hours so I arrived in Verona at 9.15 am. My plan was to find the Tourist Centre, get myself on a full-day tour and see the sights. Best-laid plans, as they say. I maintain that the tourist centre actually does not exist, although it took me until 11am to give up looking for it. Yep, that's right, 11am. It was on the map, Laura told me where it was, I even stopped and asked for directions and they confirmed it was there, but no dice. I did see an awful lot of people on organized tours led by people with badges that said 'Guide Centre Verona'. But it definitely wasn't there (maybe it's like the Verona version of Diagon Alley. Sorry if you haven't read Harry Potter, you won't get that).
So I bought myself a map that had all the sights number on it, and took myself on a tour instead. First stop, the Scaligeri Palazzo, where a statue of Dante lives: Next I went to Juliet's house, she really did exist or so Verona wishes you to believe. There is even the famous balcony, very picturesque if not for the fact that it was teeming with people. I did take a picture of the balcony but my camera has just run out of battery so I can't put it on here. This is one off the internet. All over the walls around here there are messages of love, mostly people's names in hearts (they must scrub the walls every now and then because the earliest one I could see was about '97). I didn't take this, but this is pretty much what all the walls look like.I ate lunch SITTING DOWN in a restaurant!! This is the first time I've done this in Italy because it costs significantly extra to sit as opposed to takeaway. I also used a public bathroom, which costs too.

I went to visit Juliet's grave (or Guilietta as they say in Italin), and there is heaps of grafitti around that too, see: And even all over her grave, which you can't really see in this picture but believe me it's there. A picture of the city walls (which unlike in most Italian cities, are still standing). And the Roman Amphitheatre, which happened to be closed to the public at the time that I turned up. Now that doesn't really sound like I did much, but I spent the whole day just wandering, it really is a very beautiful city (compared with Milan!), exactly the kind of thing you would imagine when you think Italian city. Tiny little streets with buildings five stories high, a whole row of restaurants all with people outside trying to get you to go in. Crumbling ruins right next to flash apartments.
Actually, 'Via Shakesepeare', where the Tomba di Giulietta is, is not a picturesque Veronian (?) street at all. It's actually filled with those concrete-block apartments you see anywhere. Ha.

I don't know if these are all over or just in Italy, but Adidas and Vespa have teamed up to make Vespa sneakers. Cool huh? Yeah, except when I went in the shop to get some they said they only come in men's sizes. And they don't even cater for men with small feet, starting at a 40 (2 sizes larger than mine, and I don't exactly have small feet). So now I'm starting an international crusade to find Adidas Vespa sneakers in a 38. If you see any, let me know.

The rains came down and the floods came up...

Local time: Wednesday 16 September 7:15pm

You remember how a few posts ago I mentioned that it rained? Well since then it has been raining on and off (more on than off).

I bought an umbrella. It's the only thing that's saved me from getting completely soaked (more than the few times I already have). It seems that some people profit from this rain: pretty much from the moment it started, there have been street sellers on every corner trying to sell you an umbrella. These people are often right in your face, telling you you need to buy one. Most of them are black, but very very black like I haven't really seen before.

So that was the rains coming down. This is the floods coming up: It appears that in Milan there's very poor drainage on the roads, meaning which even the slightest dip in the pavement (and there are many on the uneven roads of Milan) causes a HUGE puddle to appear, some of them over your ankle. I've accidentally stepped in a few, getting very wet feet.

So walking has become very fun recently and requiring much concentration.

Yesterday I explained my saga about buying a ticket to see the Last Supper, and I went back yesterday afternoon to actually see it.
Different people would say different things about seeing the Last Supper. Most would say it was amazing, beautiful, awe-inspiring. To me it was just sad. The 'fresco' method of painting, which would have been normal for this type of painting, involved painting onto wet plaster so the painting was technically part of the wall. Leonardo, however, chose to use a different method where he painted onto the dry wall instead. This meant that the painting deteriorated very rapidly. The painting had begun to flake less than 20 years after it was begun. So you can imagine what it might look like now, 511 years after its completion. Actually you don't have to imagine, because here is a pretty acurate depiction: Sad, right?

Today I pretty much did nothing. Laura finished uni early, so she took me to her school to show me around. Pretty fancy for a uni I must say. Then we went to a hairdressers and she got her haircut, which I bought her as her birthday present. (Her birthday is just over a month after I leave Milan). That's pretty much it for today.

Tomorrow I am taking a trip to Verona. Unfortunately it's just me... no star-crossed lovers here.

G

Oh by the way Mum can you tell Minga I saw a dog today who was just like Smudge! Seems like even on the other side of the world the Smudge clan has roamed...

Rain, not-so-bargainy bargains, and the ballet

Local time: Tuesday 15 September 9:25am

Yep I'm blogging early this morning! That's because I've been out since 7.45 this morning to go to Santa Maria della Grazie, an old convent from the 13th Century and the home to Leonardo's Last Supper. Because of the rapidly deteriorating state of the mural, you must book to see it, and only 25 people are allowed in ever 15 minutes. Normally tickets for the Last Supper book out at least two weeks in advance, but I found out last week that due to a fault in the booking system, tickets were not available for pre-booking and you just had to turn up at 8am and hope for the best. Arrived at 8.15 because I got lost in the Metro station trying to switch trains, and I was one of the last people to get a ticket - I'm going at 3.15 today. Very excited!!

As promised, a couple of photos from when Laura and I went up to the roof of the Duomo on Sunday afternoon. It was much nicer than the last time I went up since it wasn't right at midday!!
And this is a photo just for Anna (has she gone yet? Was that today?). These cars are everywhere... Honda Pandas. You should get one I think.
Okay so this is the story of what I did yesterday: I went out at about midday to find a couple of outlet shops I'd heard about... apparantly they held all the famous brands: Prada, Gucci, D&G etc but at 50 - 80% off the normal retail price. Which is still much more than 100 euros a pice but I thought I'd go along and try and hunt myself out a bargain. Well the first thing I thought as I stepped out the front door was that it was cold. And compared with the opressive heat of the past week, that was quite a nice surprise. Until it started raining. And clearly, in Milan, when it rains, it pours! I arrived at the first shop, Il Salvagente absolutely soaking and feeling distinctly like I'd taken a swim in all my clothes. (The shop was about half an hours walk from home base, so I would have taken the metro but it seemed such a nice day for walking!) And the place was closed. That's right folks, I'd forgotton that on Monday mornings shopkeepers sleep in and shops don't open till three in the afternoon. The other place, Vestistock, was on the way to the nearest metro station so I went there for a quick look, and though it was open it was just the stuff that no one else wants and still at about 10 times the price I'd normally pay for clothes. I decided to go home, dry off and try again for Il Salvagente. There was a heap of choice, but have you ever been to Savemart? Well it's like that, you just need to trawl through everything and hope you'll come across something half decent. By that stage I wasn't really in that kind of mood. But I did manage to pick up some super cheap shoes from a little market stall on the way home. So that made me feel better about the whole thing.

This is me dressed up for the ballet. And no, I definitely wasn't overdressed! Everyone was 'dressed to the nines', and I'd actually read somewhere that 'gentlemen are requested to wear a shirt and tie' or something to that effect.
The ballet was amazing, the only thing was I kept wanting to jump up on stage and force-feed the lead ballerina. Ugly-skinny. Eugh.
I was sitting in the third row back in the stalls (in Italy the 'Platea') as all of the good box seats were gone by the time I got my ticket, but it was a good one with a very good view, and although I couldn't see the actual orchestra in the pit, I could see the conducter close-up (he must have been standing on a very high podium). It was 96.80 euros, just over NZ$200, but absolutely worth for the chance to see the La Scala ballet.

I'll let you know how the Last Supper is.

Galleries, Castles and Parties

Local time: Sunday 13 September 4:10pm


Okay so this is what I did since my last post:

On Friday I spent the whole day doing what I said I would in my last post: First of all Pinocateca Ambrosiana, the gallery which houses the 'Codex Altantis', otherwise known as Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. It seemed as if in every room there was a man in a suit and a namebadge, eyeballing you to make sure you didn't steal anything. After that I went to Via Torina and bought some shoes which I am wearing now, and discovered that in Italy I am a Large, which made me depressed so I didn't buy any clothes. I went home for lunch then got the Metro a couple of stops to the Castello Sforzano. The castle is the ancient stronghold of Milan, which now houses 10 museums. I didn't see all 10 but saw three that looked interesting: The Museum of Ancient Arts, which had over 2000 examples of ancient art and architecture, one of the sculptures being Michelangelo's unfinished 'Rodanini Pieta', which was cool for me because I studied this in school, and yes you were allowed to take pictures: Also the Museum of Decorative Arts which was pretty much like walking through someone's lounge every 500 years or so, from the 1200's to the 2000's, and the Museum of Musical Instruments, where I took pictures of some ancient oboes. When I told this to Laura and Karo they both thought this was extremely funny. I guess I sounded like a geek. Friday was also Karo's last day before she moved to Holland forever, so there was a bit of a gathering at the house which took us into the wee hours of the morning. Here is Laura, Karo, and their Kiwi friend Mike. Yesterday Laura was out all day helping Karo cart her stuff acroos countires (it was cheaper to buy an extra airfair for Laura and have her take another suitcase for Karo, than to ship any of Karo's stuff). So I laid low with the house to myself until afternoon shopping started (all the shops are closed between about 12.30 and 3 for everyone to go home for lunch and a sleep) and I went out and did some shopping.

A bit later today me and Laura are going up the Duomo again so I'll take some fantastic pictures for you :)

Ciao

Soup, La Scala, and Duomo (again)

Local time: Friday 11 September 10:20am

Hi guys, sorry I haven't blogged for a few days. Have been doing some interesting things though:

After my last post, I went to the supermarket and bought some pumpkin, and I made a big pot of pumkin soup for me and Laura. It was super yum and yes Mum, I'll make it when I get home :). Here's a picture of the last of the soup: That was all I did on Tuesday. On Wednesday I went to La Scala, which is the grandest theatre and opera house in Milan, and you were able to look both at the theatre's musuem (mostly paintings of past opera stars and items belonging to them and the musicians) and go inside one of the boxes to look at the theatre. Now I'm not sure how well the description is going to communicate just how amazing it is inside, but here goes. The whole inside of the theatre appears to be round. The stalls are flat, and at a guess I'd say have around the same number of seats as the Town Hall but it could be bigger. Then instead of having a circle or balcony, the walls are just covered with row upon row of boxes, each fitting 4, 6 or 8 people. If that description didn't work, just look it up online. I forgot to take a picture of the outside so here is one off the internet: Seeing the theatre made me want to go and see something at it, which I wasn't planning on doing. So oyesterday I went and booking my ticket to go and see the ballet Sogno di una notte di mezza estate, or in English, A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm going on Monday night and I'm very excited!

Also yesterday I went back to Duomo (with tights on so I could go inside). It was amazing inside, words won't do it justice. Google it. I did morbidly enjoy a sculpture of 'Bartholemew Flayed', where the said Bartholemew has his skin draped around his shoulders like a scarf.
Sorry Mum, I know you'll be going 'Ew' right now.
I also climbed the steps of the Duomo to the roof. 250 steps and it was boiling hot, but definitely worth it for the view (I could have taken the lift for 3 euros more, but where's the sense of achievement in that?) Because I went around midday, it was extremely hot up there so I didn't stay long, I'd like to go back a bit later in the day sometime next week. Here are a couple of pictures, you can see that it was hot because look how shiny I am. Sorry I'm not smiling, Anna will be mad. I don't know how to rotate this, so just turn your head to the side.

Today I've got a full schedule, I'm seeing three of the museums I want to see while here, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Pinacoteca di Brera and Castello Sforzano. I'm also hitting the 'shopping' street Via Torina to try pick up some better shoes than the ones I brought...

Ciao

Itchy bites, "sorry", and Lake Maggiore

Local time: Tuesday 8 September 12:03pm

Buongiorno belli,

After my last post me and Laura went out for a walk to Duomo and the surrounding area. We discovered when we got to Duomo that we wouldn't be allowed in since we weren't wearing long pants. But the walk was still nice and Laura got a picture of me in front of the Duomo. Yep I'm there, right in the middle dressed in blue. We walked through the Galleria (a superexpensive shopping mall... we're talking Prada, Gucci, and just about every other designer you can think of all in one place) to a what I think must have been Piazza di Scala because Teatro la Scala was right there, and a massive sculpture of da Vinci.
Now kiddliwinks here's a piece of information you should know if you ever come here: in Milan, it seems, mosquitos bite during the day. The itchy bites I got were about 4 cm in diameter. And extremely itchy. I was going to take a picture otherwise you mightn't have believed me but I forgot. So if you don't believe me, too bad but it's the truth!! Huge.

Instead of a picture of itchy bites how about a picture of the dinner I made that night: There you go. After dinner that nigth Laura's friend Mike, a Kiwi studying at the same school as Laura, came over along with his girlfriend who was visiting, and we went out for drinks at a bar nearby. Yesterday Laura had the day off uni so we hopped on a train and went to Lake Maggiore, one of "the lakes" near Milan. The end of Lake Maggiore actually crosses into Switzerland, and Laura said that the area is very similar to Switzerland. I've never been there so I don't know, but it was very different to Miland and very beautiful. Here is Laura in front of Isola Bella, one of the main islands three islands in the lake. Collectively the islands are called to Boromee islands, but don't quote me on the spelling there. We took a ferry over to Isola Bella and walked around a tiny portion of the island, it turned out you had to pay 12 euros to get to the pretty gardens you see behind Laura's head, but we were happy with the area we saw. Pictures below: We then caught the ferry back to Stresa (the town on the lake that you get the train from) and had gelato while we waited for the train. Now here's something I didn't know about Italy. I kept wondering why I was always given a receipt, even if I just bought a can of drink. Laura explained that in Italy, by law you must carry your receipt 50 metres from the store to prove you didn't steal it. Interesting huh..

Today Laura is at uni so I'm just having a cillaxy day, managed to find my way to an internet cafe, but words failed me once I got there and I had to ask 'parlo iglese?'. Shame on me!!

I'm looking up a recipe for pumpkin soup now, I might make some for tea tonight. Will probably hit the Duomo and La Scala tomorrow for touras.

Oh and the reason the title of this post is "sorry", is because when I bump into people, by habit I say "sorry". I must remember "mi dispice!"

xx Grace

Ciao belli, benvenuto a Milano

Local time: Sunday 6 September 2:25pm

Hi all,

Landed in Milan late last night and screamed like a little girl with pigtails when I saw Laura.

Oh wait first up, here's the promised picture of my Japanese hotel room:Okay cool that's done now.

So here is why Malpensa is different from every other airport in the world:You see the metal thing that is touching everyone's kneees? That's the baggage collection conveyer belt. Yep so instead of standing a couple of metres away from the baggage thingy so that everyone can see it and easily collect their bags, if you are first to the baggage collection you go and stand right in front of it. Which means that if you are not in the front row (like me, because I didn't know the rules...) you have to:

a) find a tiny sliver between two people by which you can see about 3cm of the bags as they go by

b) be very quick to identify your bag - no mean feat if you have a plain black suitcase like mine

c) be even quicker the actually grab your bag off the conveyer belt, for fear of having to push everyone out of your way. Again difficult if, like me, your bag weighs 27kgs.

So be warned, anyone who might want to fly into Malpensa!!!

Everything was very easy to find, despite the lack of language. Bus into town cost 7.50 euros and stopped at Centrale Stazione, where Laura met me. Since then I have slept, and gone to the supermarket. A few more photos:My shopping. Essentials only!! The supermarket seemed really crazy, it seemed like there were two sections for everything. Two seperate places to get bread, milk, etc. Laura had to help me heaps (thanks babe)

I'll be cooking all my own meals while staying at the Laura/Karo (her flatmate) residense. So I bought mince and seperated it into easy, one-meal portions to freeze. Aren't you proud of me Mum?Eating what flet like my first 'official' Milano meal: a lunch of crusty bread and cheese.

Ciao!

Konichiwa..

Hi all--

Here　I am in the great country of Japan (shame Ivana...) typing on an extremely　hard to use keyboard... here let me show you...

But　at least they provide you with instructions...　The trip here was mostly　uneventful other than that I was sitting behind one of those people who finds it necessary to spend the whole trip with their seat reclined all the way. Eventually I had to tap him on the shoulder and ask him to put his seat up, which he did (thank goodness, or I would have gone mad). Does anyone know what is the accepted number of times you are allowed to call a flight attendant to ask for stuff? I called him twice, once for a cup of tea and once for water. Could have done with more tea though, I find it somehow helps combat that awful dry-nose feeling you get once you hit about 4 hours.

Since it was an overnight stopover, I had a night in a hotel paid for. Lovely room but nothing to steal! All the shampoo etc are in bigger bottles so you feel bad stealing them. There were pyjamas but I'm afraid that if I steal that they might charge me for it. I forgot to take a pictue of my room, I'll take one later and put it up next time I post. But I did take a picture of this sign on my bedside table: Just what kind of massage service are we talking about here, hotel nikko narita??

I thought breakfast was going to be included (will have to send a forceful email to my travel agent...) but it cost me only Y1000 which is about $15.56, and for that you get full buffet breakfast (wish I'd taken a photo of my breakfast). So I'm all full up now.

Last night when I was in the lift I met a really nice Irish girl called Lisa who was also in transit. Went to her room and talked for an hour or so. She was going home to Dublin after two and a half months in Australia. She's gonna facebook me.

Yay! I can have faith in my friend-making abilities.

Catching a shuttle to to the airport in half an hour, so I better log off soon. Just one more picture (and a question) before I go.

Riddle me this, Kiddliwinks. Why, in an aircraft where smoking is absolutely, completely banned at all times, is there an ashtray in the bathroom?