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February 03, 2006

Milan! (I mean, Riva!)

I'm sitting in Riva, Switzerland--a tiny town just across the lake from Lugano. The town is tiny and perfect, reminding me of a smaller Karlskrona. Mandy and Greg's apartment is charming, with eclectic art on the walls and television that surprises the viewer with Italian, French, German, English, and the occasional Portuguese. The view from the main living room window (next to which my little bed is set up) is gorgeous, looking out to the steep, snow-capped mountains and over one side of the lake. The air is clear and invigorating (if a little brisk), and the people are cheerful and welcoming to strangers. I could see how living here could be very addictive, and I'm a little sad that there's really no place like it in America.

Mandy and I arrived last night on the train from Milan, where we spent two days. While we did indeed see the Duomo (which I am assured is the most important cultural sight in the city), we spent the majority of our time shopping and eating. Oh the gelato. I'm proud to report that no major shopping sprees occurred--because it was very tempting--although I did get a lovely leather bag, which can double as either a large purse or a computer bag. And, as is becoming our international-travel-routine, we both got haircuts from a gay stylist in a random, tiny salon. Mandy's hair is glorious, and mine is short. While she prances around with swinging locks, I'm not quite sure what to make of mine yet. I think it will be fine, as long as I can walk the narrow line between chic bob and mullet. The layers always get me.

Rather than chronologically list the events in Milan (shopping here, shopping there, gelato, more shopping), here are the highlights of the trip:

-- The Arno Hotel, which was chosen for its "inexpensive" accommodations. While the bathrooms weren't as clean as I'd prefer, Patrick the owner/operator was a delight and we were in a great location. The most arresting feature of the room was the persian cats prominently pictured on our bedspreads. I swear, their eyes seemed to follow us around the room, and in more of a menacing way than a cute way.
-- The gelato. Never having been to Italy (somehow I always pick the less "obvious" travel choices), I had only heard about the wonders of gelato. Now that I've experienced the delight myself, I might consider living in the grossly polluted and dirty city of Milan, just to have continuous access.
-- The blister on my pinky toe, which developed during the first day in Milan. It grew to the point where every step was agony.
-- The blister on top of the blister on my pinky toe, which developed during the second day in Milan, culminating in a point where I wasn't sure I could manage to haul myself off the train at our final stop in Riva.
-- The Osteria del Lazzaretto, the restaurant next door to the hotel. It served traditional (and fantastic) Italian fare, but was run by a family of Asians. Kind of weird, but the prices were great and the pizza and pasta was yummy.

And now, I'm in Switzerland, fourth stop on my whirlwind European adventure. This sleepy little town will provide me with some much-needed down time--even when I'm not bouncing around seeing museums and churches, the constant travel is exhausting. I found Milan to be especially tiring, because my brain was overloaded with visual stimuli. Everywhere I looked--from the storefronts to my bedspread--I felt assaulted with too much information. Having a day or two to recoup will be a lovely change, and hopefully will make my final burst of travel in Berlin next week a rousing success. Mandy and I are still debating how exactly to spend the week. We'll do a day trip to Lugano, and perhaps even a couple-day trip up to Lucern. Since I have to be in Berlin on the 9th, I'm thinking that I might end the week with a day or two in Zurich, because I have a feeling that trains/flights will be easy to manage from there.

The only potential challenge with Riva is its sporadic access to internet. While I'm not totally tied to email, I do need to keep up with things from the Big Idea angle, as well as make sure that my plans to meet up with Roya are still in place. Mandy has promised to take me over to the student building, where internet access should work (however slowly and intermittantly), so with a bit of luck, I should be able to get everything done in a semi-prompt manner. As a result, my blog postings will probably be delayed (if not held until I get back). Such is life in a small town, I guess!

Comments

Posted by: Anonymous at February 3, 2006 08:03 AM