AC Milan and the Geesinks!
Foremost: Many thanks again to the Geesinks of Zeist! Friends of my family for many years, they put me up for a few nights, took me sailing, fed me: it was a wonderful few days in the middle of Holland! So, if any Geesink should happen to stumble upon this, Thank you again, and you and yours will always be welcome in my home!
I made it to Italy! It was a long, long train ride, but I’m here. (You can go from Amsterdam Centraal to Milano Centrale, with only one change in Basel, but it’s a long trip.) I’m in a metro station cafe in Milan right now. I’m only here for about 18 more hours, before I head to Rome tomorrow afternoon. Milan seems a great city if you want to shop, but being male and poor it doesn’t work for me. And it doesn’t have the massive sense of history that I think Rome will. But, I’m here, so I figured I would stop for a night and check it out. I wandered through Duomo and the P.ta Venezia earlier, both are pretty much just shopping now. There’s some history there but it’s not particularly respected. This city looks kind of like a cross between Paris and Grafton Street. The buildings are old-ish (though a slightly different style of ornamentation) and low, but it’s very much a giant shopping district, or at least what I’ve seen so far. I’m going to head out to the San Siro when I’m done here, since it’s very close to my hostel. I may even check out the tour in the morning, before I leave. I did try the gelato: exceptional. And I picked up a gift for a friend (the last time he was in Europe he brought me back a Real Madrid jersey, so I found him an AC Milan shirt; it’s a knock-off, but he had more money than I do).
So, to dinner and the stadium? Sounds like a plan. I also, of course, need to find a cafe and sit there for a while, as I am wont to do.
Ciao!