It's Been a While Interwebs - Milan 2.0

I realize I haven't posted in a LONG time.

And that isn't to say that nothing has been happening that's worthy of writing down, sharing, remembering, etc. Because much has happened.

Home <3

I do want to offer some awesome highlights though: Wouter spent a month in the states (wonderful), Andrej and his mom came to visit us for about a week, went to my first Jimmy Buffett concert, my doctor read my latest bloodwork and for the first time in 2 years everything is completely normal (!), my thyroid is functioning great, so we decided to take care of the dizziness issue (got x rays of my neck) and found that I have a reverse curvature and a slightly rotated vertebrae so he gave me a fancy smancy new pillow. I got to see Sarah and Scott for a decent amount of time (Scott could have been there longer, that would have been nice) and spent some time with a few friends. But yeah, that was my summer in a nutshell!

However, the time from Bologna last Spring would all be very retrospective now, so instead I will just pick up on this 1st of September, my first full day back in Italy.

Alps, never get old

I left Budd Lake on Saturday around 6 pm. Luckily, I wasn't as upset to be leaving as I was last Fall. To be honest, I was nervous that that was going to happen. Especially since I was returning to Italy but to Milan, to a family I didn't know, a bit earlier than originally intended. (Quick update, I am spending a week with a family in Milan running a "fun" English camp for between 8-10 children). I learned from last year. I learned that preparation is key.  Mom and I went out to find me some pumpkin spice supplies and I found both Pumpkin spice chai tea and pumpkin coffee. As an added flavor I also got apple cider tea. Anyway, my flight was better than expected. They gave us BBQ chicken which was slightly better than the "meatballs" in July. My screen mostly worked so I watched two movies (they played on loop so you had to time it right): The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Face of Love. Both a bit different than expected. The first was really interesting and had that European film feel. Plus Jude Law. <3 The second was a bit of a mind game. It was half creepy and half beautiful. Kind of like a romance thriller... does that exist?

Anyway, I slept maybe an hour and landed safely in Copenhagen around 6 am local time. I have to tell you, that pilot made the smoothest landing I have ever experienced (aside from the one I slept through after Miami). I got through customs to my new gate and had about an hour to wait for the next flight. I boarded and had a short 1.5 hour hop over to Milan. Now on the way I started realizing all the issues I was about to face. My Italian phone had no money on it. I had to somehow contact Licia so I could meet her (the mom of my host family). I tried to turn on my Italian phone and it was dead. I forgot the charger cord at home (confirmed when my dad found the cord right where I asked him to check...woops). I had to figure out which of several buses I had to take to Viale Teodorico while carrying two heavy bags and a backpack. Needless to say, I had to keep calm and try not to panic. When I landed, I grabbed my bags and started the trek to the buses. I bought a ticket and asked several of the fast talking Italian bus workers which I needed to take. By the third one, I understood that I had to get on one bus and at the first stop get off and that the Viale was a parallel road to where I would be dropped. The first stop was at the airport still but then I was unsure if I needed to switch actual buses. Luckily, I stayed on and got off at the first actual stop which was a parallel road. Here is the issue though, without a working phone, I couldn't tell Licia that (thank God there was "wifi" on the bus and in the airport because at least I was able to spottily tell her what was going on).

Once I exited the bus with my large bags, I had no more wifi so I headed towards the Viale (I checked a map before getting off) and once there started heading towards where I saw a bus stop sign. Then someone in a car honks and yells "Heather!" as they pull to the side. Thank goodness! I literally was out of ideas after planning to walk to the bus stop. I said a quick hello to Licia and her daughter Fabiana and loaded my bags. We arrived at their house and took my stuff up to their apartment where I met her husband and son, got a tour of the house, and chatted with her about general information and details. We ate a typical italian lunch and then the family headed off to see friends for a few hours while I headed to the shower, still sweaty, exhausted, and with a few rope-like burns from one of my bags. After that I couldn't help but nap for an hour or two. When they got home I watched the end of the AC Milan game with the boys, we ate dinner, and I stayed up until about 11 in order to force myself to sleep a good nights sleep. With my fancy new pillow under my head, I slept like a baby until 7 am when I got up to close the blinds that I forgot to close and slept for another 2.5 hours.

This morning, although still a tiny bit tired and a slow to adjust stomach, I ate a bagel (from NJ) and worked on figuring out exactly what I am going to do with the kids this afternoon.

And that about wraps up my last few days of adventure.