By the end of our wandering it was somehow evening. We still needed to make our way to Lake Como, but obviously we should put that off to get a taste of Milan evening life. We sought out a great apperitivo place with a good vibe but none of them seemed as fun and delicious as our spot last night. Good Times Lounge round 2 it was, for the most apperitivos anyone has ever consumed in one sitting with a few pre-train cocktails.
What happened next should be preluded with a lesson we had during our 3 hours as TEFL students, which compared 3 types of travelers in an analogy about teaching styles. Traveler A plans every detail of their trip- they maps routes, schedule transportation, lodging, museum visits, reserve researched restaurants etc. Traveler B plans general guidelines, maybe booking or transportation, and has rough ideas about what they want to do, but is flexible with plan changes and willing to do things spur of the moment. Traveler C plans nothing, they show up where they want to be with no preparations and free as a bird open to any suggestion or chance encounter. On our first day of TEFL class we were asked to identify ourselves as one of the 3 travelers, and conclude pros and cons of each traveling style (a lesson that we must admit we found to be pretty stupid at the time, but in retrospect was the most unreal forshadowing and a discussion we often recall). Both Kelly and Jenny found themselves somewhere between traveler A and B, concluding that traveler C was a total nutter putting themselves in stressful, and even risky situations and missing out on good things due to lack of research. It is safe to say that as our plans have changed and our organization has dwindled over the past 3 months, that we are both officially that unplanned nutter. The traveler C in us was ever apparent during the next few hours of our lives. We hopped on a bus to the train station, which apparently didn't go there, we should have taken the tram. A Milano woman clued in on the fact we were lost (maybe due to our dazzed expressions or huge backpacks?) and she pointed to a nearby Subway entrance - which successfully got us to the train station. We hopped a train to Lago de Como, arriving there just after 10pm. Right, we should probably look at the directions to the hostel and catch a bus or walk there as usual. We had thought ahead and had the directions pulled up on Jen's phone....but clearly not thought quite enough ahead to glance over them. We discover that the hostel we reserved that morning is...a 55 minute bus ride from the Como train station. Cue the rain, literally. We learn that the last bus left at 8:30pm. It is currently 10:17pm. Our inner traveler C has totally screwed us and after being approached by a drunk dude who had just finished peeing in the street it seemed like things couldn't get much worse. Sidenote, Kelly has been ridiculing Jenny for her ridiculous marathon outfit of long leggings tucked into her gym shoes all day, Jenny gets on a bus to ask the driver if his route goes anywhere near Menaggio when Kelly wins the ultimate victory. A guy yells from the back of the bus "excuse me! Are you going to the national jogging convention?" If Jen was in any other mood she would have been hysterically laughing but the stress of the moment made her just stare blankly at the (German?) guy instead. A nice waiter at a nearby pizzeria took pity on our soaked selves and called a cab for us...which was going to cost 80€. If it weren't for the fading memory of our incredibly fun cocktail and apperitivo dinner we would definitely both have burst into tears. We do NOT spend the equivalent of $112 on transportation, especially when missing the free bus was self inflicted and avoidable. Holy shit, what are we going to do. We stood outside the cab and weighed our options...realizing that there weren't any, so we got in and braced our wallets.
Our cab driver was one crazy dude who seemed to have all the Lake Como gossip and no filter. He told us that the Heinz family (think ketchup) lived in Clooney's house before he did, and he used to be their driver. He didn't have a whole lot to say about the Heinz fam but had plenty to say about their secretary...mainly that her face was a tragedy...so terrible..like something out of a carnival. To add insult to injury he said you would be terrified if you came across her even in the dark. Something about his lack of filter and total rudeness made him hilarious. At least our huge lump of money was going to a cab ride and comedy show. He said George Clooney's gf was an absolute idiot and known for it. Apparently she can't speak English and the Cloon can't speak Italian...but when you look like that who needs the ability to communicate?
We made it to our hostel, momentarily seriously miserable as we walked up the steep long ramp from the road in the pouring rain with light wallets after our major Traveler C mishap. Once we were dry and whispering in our dark hostel dorm full of sleeping people we realized what an amazing day we had in Milan. Milan in a day, a learning experience, and waking up in a new place for new adventures. We don't have a complaint in the world :) except that we haven't seen all of it yet. Right before Jenny fell asleep she started cracking up about the jogging convention inquiry. The guy didn't have much of a sense of humor so maybe her was serious? Kelly's vote is Jen got totally clowned...either way, she won't be rocking the tucked in legging gym shoe combo anytime soon.
Italia loves Italia...and so do we!
Romantic park self portrait
no castle is complete without a waterfall
Gothic cathedral
Cathedral of Milan
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