I’m having a good time planning for my Verona, Venezia, Padova, Milano trip…
I really need to crack open my ol’ Italian textbook! So I can speak la bella lingua …and get what I need while there.
I picked up my euros, only 24 hours after placing the order! I also picked up Lonely Planet’s Milan guide at the library.
It turns out that two months isn’t enough advance notice to view Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper for 15 minutes… oh well, I’m not an official Art Historian anymore, I don’t have to see it. I don’t have much time in Milan anyway. I hope to arrive a bit before time for an aperitivo which Lonely Planet says the Milanese have heightened to “an art form.” I also learned that the high-end shops, like Gucci, Prada, and Versace are in a single area, (an area close to the Duomo at that). The equivalent of Rome’s Via dei Condotti in Milan is called Quadrilatero d’Oro. Plus, usually you see the outside of the city’s highly decorative Duomo, but the guide offered an interior shot, which seems just as impressive! And I will actually see the exterior since years and years of facade restoration is now complete. I can’t wait to be in my beautiful, awe-inspiring Italia.
I discovered a restaurant out of my Rick Steves’ Venice book. I’m excited about it because it doesn’t serve seafood, but is still, somehow, considered traditional. I actually don’t like seafood… I was a pretty picky eater as a kid, which I have outgrown to a large extent. For example, my love of Italy has gotten me over hating melted gooey cheese. During study abroad, I had a rule that I wasn’t gonna turn anything down offered to me, and I didn’t. On my 26th birthday I tried eel sushi and seaweed! …but I still haven’t gotten over my dislike of seafood and its fishy taste. I have tried a bite of seabass which I think is a more meaty fish. I want to like seafood, especially if I live in Italy one day, it’s surrounded by water on three sides! Anyway, the place is called “Enoteca e Trattoria la Bitta.” When people journal their trips to Venice and mention it, they always have fabulous things to say about it. Their small menu changes with what’s good at the local market. Cash only. Dinner only. Reservations only.
Speaking of reservations, I haven’t heard back from the (perfect) hotel I wanted to stay at in Verona. I suppose I’ll go send the request again…