Italy - Final Days

Monterosso and Milan, Travel Day
We spent our last full day in Italy actually traveling by train from Monterosso to Milan in preparation for our flight home the next day. We decided to splurge for first class tickets for the three hour trip and it was well worth it. For much of the trip we had the six passenger compartment to ourselves and it was wonderful. The coast line from Monterosso to Genoa was beautiful, with splashes of colorful towns and beach umbrellas lining the waterway. It seemed any of these places would have been a wonderful place to enjoy the Ligurian Sea. As we turned from Genoa toward Milan, the countryside became farmland and small villas once again, until we reach Milan which then became an endless sea of city. As we passed row after row of apartment and housing complexes with nary a sight of lawn, we commented how much we enjoy living outside the big city and enjoy the conveniences of the large town. Sometimes it takes being away to appreciate what you have.

We arrived at our hotel via taxi from the Milan train station after searching in vain for a map of the metro (subway) or bus system, or even just a map of the city with no luck. One thing is for certain, if you are not familiar with the city, good luck. Our hotel was on the out skirts of the city near the airport and quite modern. It is one of the few hotels we stayed in that had a pool, so of course we had to take a quick dip to cool off, even if it was in dark skies threatening a thunderstorm. We saw many families with children in the pool and were the only adults just swimming around not playing with kids. We did get a few strange looks, but I am sure no one will remember who we are after we are gone. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant before heading back to our room to back our bags in anticipation of finally heading home. It has been a memorable trip, but all great things must come to an end, and we are ready to reunite with our family once again.

Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Seattle and HOME
The Story of the 50 Euros
Before we left Monterosso, we decided to grab just a bit of cash as we had expended all we had. We thought 50 Euros would get us through to the airport the next morning, putting our dinner the next night on our credit card if necessary. After dinner in Monterosso, we stopped to buy a couple of beers to enjoy in our room the last night (6 Euros, 44 Euros left), bought a set of postcard pictures of the Cinque Terre (2 Euros, 42 Euros left) and bought two Cinque Terre stickers for our water bottles on the way out of town the next morning (2 Euros each, 38 Euros left). We thought we could take either a city bus or the metro to our hotel near the Linate airport from the Milan train station – WRONG. There is no public transit in this direction, only busses heading to the airport but not our hotel.

So, we hailed a cab (after checking the estimated price first) and thirty minutes and 16 Euros later arrived at our hotel. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and left 4 Euros for a tip (18 Euros remaining). Since the taxi ride from downtown Milan was several miles in distance and only 16 Euros, we figured 18 Euros was plenty for a 4 km ride to the airport from our hotel, with a little cash left over. How wrong we were (again!) The ride to the airport was exactly 18 Euros, which is all we had (minus 21 cents at the bottom of my change purse). We scrounged through our bags rounding up the fair needed, which left us with no cash for buying breakfast. (Sorry dude, no tip for you, not at that outrageous price). We were stunned at the cost of the ride to the airport and probably should have checked out the price the evening before. We could have taken the hotel shuttle for free, but it was leaving an hour after we wanted to leave for the airport. Hind sight is 20/20.

We checked in at the airport and went in search of an ATM to get just enough cash to get us through Milan and Madrid. This turned out to be some sort of sadistic scavenger hunt leading us down dead end after dead end, never finding an ATM outside the security area. We took our chances that we would find an ATM after the security check point, but this was not to be. Apparently the Italians must feel there is some threat to obtaining cash after security. I felt like we were on some bizarre episode of Seinfeld with the money Nazi: “No cash for you!” We managed to buy a meager breakfast using our Visa card prior to boarding our plane: a cappuccino, glass of orange juice and a croissant for only 4.50 euros each (about $7.00 each). This, however, left us with no way to buy snacks in Madrid before our marathon flight to Chicago. Thankfully, Iberia feeds its captors on the plane, and by the time they did, we were both so hungry we would have eaten porcupine balls.

After landing in Chicago and passing through customs (our Tuscan salami was confiscated), we fueled up on fat (McDonald’s) and caffeine (Starbuck’s) and sat in a sort of stupor waiting out our 6 hour lay over before our flight to Seattle. (A lack of sleep and food spikes may have something to do with our state of stupor). We have been up almost 24 hours now and still have another 8 ½ before landing in Seattle, and another 3 to drive home. It has been a great trip, but we are thankful to be back in the United States of America, and looking forward to being home in Washington.

Epilogue: We have since reunited with our girls and are happy to be back to the routine of life in the states. The first morning back we all headed off to Stuffy’s for an American breakfast complete with strong coffee, eggs, bacon and hash browns. It was a wonderful breakfast, as much for the company as for the food. Italy 2009 is officially one for the books.

Dad and Maagie waiting for Stuffy's breakfast

Mom and Lanna happily reunited