Italy

I thought of several titles for the blog, EURO shock, awesome cathedrals, shopper’s paradise, or if it’s Tuesday it must be Florence but I decided it should just be Italy.  We arrived Friday afternoon after taking the 2:15 AM train from Eskisehir to Istanbul, then a plane to Bergamo, not quite 3 hours and a bus, about an hour, to Milan.  It really wasn’t that bad.  We actually got some sleep on the train.  So far, this is Tuesday early evening we have seen Milan, Verona, Venice, and Florence.  The train system in Italy is truly remarkable, not cheap but for the convenience, worth the cost.  I couldn’t begin to blog about all we’ve seen.  Mostly we have walked and walked and eaten a lot of gelato.  An interesting note to our Turkish friends is that in every city we have been in there has been a Turkish café with doners ( a Turkish version of a burrito to you Tucson readers).  No, we didn’t eat in any of the cafes, when in Italy you eat Italian.  The pasta is awesome and they have these mini sweet waffles that are really really good.  That’s another reason why we have to walk.

Italians have been very nice and helpful but nothing compared to the friendliness and helpfulness of the people in Turkey.  I know we are in a unique spot in Turkey and I appreciate it more and more.

Neither of us are shoppers but for those of you who are, the shops are amazing.  I recently blogged about the women who dress well in Eskisehir but the women in Milan are into fashion in a big way.  It was like a fashion show on the street.  There are still women who wear furs, I saw a shop in Florence this afternoon who was making fur coats.

We have been very lucky with the weather.  Saturday in Milan was cold and some rain but we were on a bus most of the day.  Then when we went South we left the the rain behind and actually had some sunshine.  Didn’t even wear coats during our walk this afternoon in Florence.  Each city we’ve visited has had incredible duomos or churches.  Obviously we have barely scratched the surface of each city we’ve been in but this was meant as an exploratory visit so we’ve done what we planned.

 

We’re staying in Florence tonight and tomorrow go back to Bergamo and take in the small towns on Lake Como.  Then back to Eskisehir and return to school next Monday.