This Will Be The End

I'm home, and I was also home for my last post but I wanted to pretend I was still in Italy.  My journey home consisted of three extraordinarily long days.

Samira and I spent Monday in Milan.  I re-visited the Duomo, this time including the roof.  I struggled to take pictures I hadn't already taken last year, but I did get a few good ones.  It was also a fitting way to end my 15-month relationship with my Lonely Planet: Italy, since the cover photo is of the roof.  I finally succeeded in buying some clothing in fashion-crazy Milan, although it was at H&M so I'm not sure how much that really counts.

Milan gets a lot of crap as the worst city in Italy.  I loved it the first time, partly because it was a beautiful sunny day, my first in Europe after 3 weeks in Prague, and I do think the center is worth visiting.  But aside from that, the canal district is nice, but the rest of the city is so industrial and un-Italian looking.  We tried to go out a bit on Monday night but no one was on the street after 10 pm.  It's the only village, town, or city in the country where that is ever the case.

Tuesday began in Milan, but I spent 4 hours in the Dublin airport and was in New York by dinner time.  I passed 3 alcohol sample stations in the Dublin airport (Bailey's, Jameson, and another one).  I got to see the same group of good people I saw on my way to Italy in June, which made for a great last night of travels.  Unfortunately I forgot my ID because I never needed it in Italy, but a taxi and quick subway ride resurrected the night.

My JFK-San Fran flight was delayed 3 hours, which would have been extremely frustrating had an Italian family coincidentally sat next to me at the gate.  I struck up a conversation and ended up bonding with one final Italian family.  I spoke to the parents in Italian, but the daughter spoke almost fluent English so I helped her practice the language for a while.  But that turned out not to be the best idea because this came out of her mouth...

"I want to travel to China, but my mom doesn't want to.  She won't go there because she hates the people.  She says that when they talk she gets a headache."

My smile quickly disappeared as I subtly/frantically looked around to see if anyone else was staring.  I don't think she was used to speaking English in a place where other people could understand.  Also, anti-Chinese sentiments are strong in Italy.  Europe is generally a more openly racist place than the US, and Chinese shops around the country (but especially in the south) offer discount clothes and goods, and a lot of people don't like that. 

But aside from that comment, I really enjoyed speaking with her parents and watching their adorable 4 year-old son say funny things in Italian (which made me pretty nostalgic for camp).  It was a pretty fitting end to the summer, and I think a good last story for the blog.

Thank you to all those who read a post or two, or all of them, knowing that you're reading has motivated me to keep this going for another summer!