10 things I did:
1. Consumed enough extra-virgin olive oil to turn the Tin Man into a yogi master.
2. Spared a beetle from a watery death in a Bellagio fountain.
3. Had a great deal of unexpected affection for and interest in Milan.
4. Shamelessly felt up gads of pretty fabrics.
5. Went for a late-night walk with the mister in a hilly, pretty, and densely wooded park; we narrowly escaped being murdered by the serial killer who's been after me all this time. Or a cat leapt from the underbrush with such a racket that I wished I had kept that rosary from Catholic primary school.
6. Went to Milan with big plans to spend some serious cash, and walked away with a €5 pair of sunnies. Srsly.
7. Had a most delightful dinner at Trattoria del Corso, a family-owned joint that serves up impressive local dishes, keeps its patrons happily charmed, and earns a huge gold star for keeping a bottle of laundry pre-wash specifically for getting olive oil out of light blue jacket lapels. (Grazie mille! It came out the next morning.)
8. Was astounded by the villas on Lake Como; nothing prepared me for their grandeur or scale.
9. Washed my hair with dish soap.
10. Missed the flight home and used some of that unspent Milan money on an airport hotel.
Beyond that, I'll let the photos do the talking (the rest live on Flickr). My furnace just clicked on, and Holland's got her cold and rainy hat on this week; musing any longer on Italy's state of permanent sunshine is near-torture. Ciao.
xxx,
j
