I’m writing this post at a weird time.

Because I’m incredibly slow at getting blog posts together, it turns out I’m writing this during the Coronavirus lockdown. And it’s weird, and depressing, trying to write about our month spent in Italy, as such terrible, sad news comes out of Italy every day.

I’m worried about our friends and family in Italy–especially since they live in the north, which has been taking the hardest hits. We’ve been in touch with them, and so far everyone is doing okay, thank goodness. But it’s a scary, strange time, and there is still a ways to go.

What’s frustrating is reading the news out of Italy, and then watching our own country’s inept response to the crisis. The same tsunami that’s beating on Italy is slowly making its way to us, and we’re still playing on the beach! April is going to be a rough month.

Anyway. This blog is supposed to be something of a diary of our time spent traveling, so I do want to try focusing on that. It’s hard, though, when I look at our pictures of piazze full of locals and tourists, and think of the same places on the news now, empty and desolate.

So, with a heavy heart, let’s jump into the time machine and head back to…

September, 2018

We wanted to slow down in Italy, and stay a while. There was a lot we wanted to see, Erika has distant family there who we wanted to visit, and with the cheaper prices than Northern Europe we were excited to be able to fully indulge in the famous food and wine. But as the trip was winding on through the months, another reason to stay longer in Italy was starting to become apparent.

My passport was full.

I would nervously watch every immigration officer, hoping they’d be kind with how much space they took up with their stamps. Africa was brutal, since many countries had a one-page visa sticker, and entry and exit stamps to boot. Europe helped a lot, since we only got stamped coming in and didn’t have to get stamps for each individual country we visited.

Still, looking at what was left, and game-planning out what countries we would visit in Asia, I was gonna run out of space. So we planned out our best options for dealing with this, and came up with two good options: get a new passport in Italy, or in Thailand. But Thailand was a ways away, and it wasn’t clear I’d have enough free space in my book to even get there. So Italy it was.

And that’s part of how Milano came to be our first and last stop in Italy–there’s an American Consulate there. So as we planned out Italy, we made it so we entered thru Milano, and we extended our planned time in country to be sure I’d get my passport in time–we gave ourselves a whole month. Poor us, whatever will we do for a month in Italy?!

Maybe Buy Coats?

Apparently, freeze our asses off!

We got to Milano and it was in the 50s–a nearly 30 degree plunge from the weather we’d been enjoying in Spain. And we have a month left in this country! This is bad!

We were definitely concerned, especially since we had a few days of camping in the north coming up.

Il Duomo

For the time being, we tried not to worry about it, and hoped the weather would hold on for us for our time in Italy. So, we put on our coats for what felt like the first time in forever, and headed out for a day of walking the city.

Our apartment was in the Porta Garibaldi neighborhood, situated around the landmark of the same name. Like any ancient city worth its salt, Milan used to be surrounded by protective walls. Being a particularly old city, Milan has had several generations of walls–from walls built by the Romans, to walls from the medieval ages, to walls from the post medieval times, when the Spanish ruled the city.

Some vestiges of these walls can still be found in the city, most prominently a number of surviving porte, which used to be the gates in the old walls. Porta Garibaldi is one of these.

We walked through Garibaldi gate, and continued a path straight south into the heart of Milan. Awaiting there is the star attraction of the old city, the cathedral–Il Duomo.

Il Duomo di Milano is a beautiful, imposing building set in the middle of a huge piazza. We didn’t go inside, because they wanted money for that, and we didn’t wanna.

Connected to the piazza is another must-see of Milan, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. You’ve seen it–the famous high-end shopping arcade. It’s great to stroll through and window shop. Milan, of course, is a city famous for its expensive, high-end fashion. We, of course, were unemployed travelers on a budget–high-end fashion was not for us.

We finished our very short walking tour of Milan by wandering west, out to the Castello Sforzesco. Filled with museums, they also wanted money to enter; we decided pictures outside would suffice.

Visit to the Consulate

Applying for a new passport at the consulate was very easy. I signed up for an appointment online. When I showed up, I already had everything ready to go, including photos–we traveled with about a dozen passport-size photos each, to make dealing with visas and such easy. Everyone was very nice, they processed it quickly, and said my new passport should be ready in about two weeks. Two weeks! I don’t think I’ve had that fast a turnaround back at home!

It was weird stepping through a doorway and, basically, entering America. There was our flag; there was our idiot president’s stupid face on the wall; there was all the very familiar design and decor that screamed ‘US Government building.’ Then, we stepped outside and just as suddenly, back in Italy again.

All in all, the whole thing took maybe 30 minutes. Bravissimo to the US Consulate of Milan!

Hitting the Road

Obviously, we didn’t do much in Milan. It was basically a chance to catch our breath before heading off for our real Italian adventures–a three-week road trip.

So we packed Franz and Helga, and made our way across town to the Europcar, to pick up our rental. For the ridiculously low rate of about $300, we got three-weeks of a Fiat 500–or, as it’s more appropriately known in Italy, a Fiat Cinquecento.

Our only worry was that the Cinquecento might be too small considering our huge backpacks. We needn’t have worried–Franz and Helga fit just fine! Andiamo, amici!

Next Time

Next time on the blog, the Great Italian Road Adventure kicks off! The four of us were comfortably snuggled into our Cinquecento, and heading north on the Autostrada to our first destination: a weekend of camping at Lake Como.

Ciao! Alla prossima!