Day 1 - Flight to Milan

After much anticipation, the day started out slowly. We said goodbye to Bill, Margaret and Joshua at the Newark airport, who were headed to California on the 11:45 am flight, and then we waited for our 6:15 pm flight. It really wasn’t that bad waiting as we had Internet to keep us entertained, but then we had to wait in the plane for another hour while they finished filling it with fuel. I had never heard of trouble fueling a plane before, but they must have done it properly as we made it to Milan without any further problems. Of course I slept and Jeanne couldn’t.

Malpensa Express at Milaon Centrale station

Next up was the train from Malpensa airport to the Milan central train station (Milano Centrale). It was the first of our many planned train trips. I tried to buy the tickets at the vending machines, but apparently American credit cards don’t work everywhere so we bought them at the counter with the same credit card. The ride on the Malpensa Express was about 45 km in about 46 minutes and the train was clean, fast and well protected by two burly guards. Three block walk from the station to our hotel.

Da Vinci's Horse

After a 4-hour “nap”, we went out to see the some of the sights of Milan. We took a ride on the Metropolitana (subway) to see San Siro (aka Stadio Giuseppe Meazza), where Milan Inter plays soccer and to also see Da Vinci’s horse. The original model was constructed full size in clay in 1493 but Da Vinci could never get enough bronze to finish the project as all available bronze was being used for cannons to fight the French. In its time, the horse was a marvel of technology as nothing of that size had ever been built before. But to make a long story short, the French won the war, Da Vinci left town and the model was destroyed by the French who used it for target practice. It was later built in bronze in 1999 and now sits outside the racetrack across from San Siro.

Risotto Milanese with grilled vegetables

We may have already hit the pinnacle for food today as both lunch and dinner were spectacular. Tortigloni alla Norma for lunch then pizza, risotto alla Milanese and bronzino (sea bass) for dinner.