Deja vu a Milano

I promised a post about my weekend in Milan so here it is!

Last weekend I didn't have class on Friday as it was a holiday in Bologna. Maybe for the patron saint San Petronio? I think that is what it was. Anyway, I grabbed a train and arrived in Milan around 1 pm. Then I decided to try and find this bagel place Ellen told me about that is a chain from Philadelphia. After wandering around for probably two hours, and not knowing exactly where the bagel place was, I finally found it. I ordered a NY Pastrami and Swiss (which cost like 8 euro) to go, and walked back towards the Duomo. I found a bench and tried the bagel. It was ok. I was slightly disappointed but I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up so high. After all it was a Philly chain, not a NJ/NY chain. Man do I miss good bagels.

Then I texted Elisabetta and let her know that I was in Milan. She said I could come to the house, so I grabbed the metro red line towards Sesto and got off at the familiar stop. I had no trouble finding my way to the house. I passed the new graffiti in the metro tunnel, walked past the aperitvo bar that became "our" spot when I taught there, stopped in the pasticceria  to buy some pastries for the family, walked by the creepy yet lovable bar where we took our breaks and got our free wifi, and wound up at the green door of the apartment building. I buzzed the button and made my way up the two flights to my temporary home where I was greeted by Elisabetta warmly. It felt like I had never left. She and I spent about half an hour chatting before headed across the street to pick up the kids from school. I saw some familiar faces such as Filippo and Leonardo and their parents as well as meeting a few other people. Then Anita and Francesco came out and I was so excited to see them. Anita has grown up so much and has new glasses and is soo tall! Francesco has also grown a bunch and he was speaking way more, both in English and Italian, than the last time. I can't remember the exact details but I know we headed back to the house, Francesco went into the garden to play and Anita and Elisabetta and I all hung out in the house. Anita is learning guitar and she played some for me. She is so good! Then the three of us went to the office to see the new blue walls (they were painting) and to see Andrea. It was wonderful to see him again as well. Dinner was delicious as usual and after staying up for a while reading Peter Pan in Italian with Anita, we headed to sleep. I slept in the bed I slept in two years ago and it felt so normal.

Campari Museum

Francesco's Soccer Game

The next morning we got up around 8/8:30 so that we could have breakfast before heading to the new Campari museum with Anita, Francesco, Filippo, Leo, Elisabetta, and their grandmother. The museum was so modern and cool. Although the tour was in Italian, I was able to understand a decent amount and visually a lot of it is self explanatory (plus all the signs were also in English which helped). At the end we were given samples of non-alcoholic sodas from the new company Campari has acquired which were super tasty. Then we headed to Filippo's house for lunch. It was so lovely to spend time with that family again as well. Oddly familiar and different all at the same time. Then Francesco, Elisabetta, and I headed off to his soccer game. They won and he scored two goals. I was so proud of him. :) I now understand my parents' frustrations with soccer parents. They just yell "tira" (shoot) and "vai" (go) ALL THE TIME. It is quite annoying.

That night we had another wonderful meal and then watched Back to the Future in Italian with English subtitles. It was so strange with the different voices but generally I understood most of it! The next day the family took me to Bergamo. This beautiful, old city on a hill. We took a gondola to the top, visited a museum/house, and walked back down. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

 The city was so beautiful. Old cobblestone streets with flags hanging everywhere. Narrow alleys with hidden vines. Literally such a cool place to live. When we headed back to Sesto we had lunch with the grandparents and then I headed out to catch my train back to Bologna. It was super refreshing to spend time with the family. I was sad to leave. It felt like I should have been catching a flight or something when I returned to Bologna, because that is how things went last time. Anyway, I am so greatful that the Biffi/Viccari family is in my life.