Milan

So, sitting here on the train to Milan, I am having one of those 'I feel blessed' moments! Every now and then I get these little buzzes, where I am truly so grateful that I get to be over here doing what we are doing. We have just met the most lovely Ozzy girl on our train, who is travelling for a couple of months but is feeling homesick. Naturally I want to take her under my wings and be the nicest person she has met on holiday to cheer her up! I can relate to her homesickness, and hence the reason for my 'I feel blessed' moment...as for a change, I do not feel homesick, and wish I weren't so far away from the people I love most, but am just appreciating our decision to travel!

So Ben, sitting opposite me is attempting to beat my high scores in Bedjewelled Blitz on his phone. He will be lucky, since I have watched him play, and his pause before every move, will unlikely mean he even comes close. Not that I am bragging to you all while he is preoccupied or anything. Actually the other day, we were having competitions on Bedjewelled, and he was hassling me for being so chuffed with myself at my beating him, and I told him, that it is not often I am better than him at something and so I was allowed to gloat every once in a while. He promptly replied that there was plenty that I was better than him at, to which I questioned, 'what exactly?'. Now his response to this was 'Well...you are better at Bedjewelled, and wearing a dress'. Hmmm....is all I have to respond to that. Point proven! Gloat I shall.

I have decided that being away from my new wee niece has turned me into stalker Aunt. I have got photo's of her as my phone screensaver, I made Ben save her to our laptop desktop background, and I spend a good part of each morning looking through the pics I have of her, and just gooing. I think Dam and Lanz will be just slightly relieved that there is thousands of miles of sea between us, or they might have had a daily doorstep visitor!

We have spent the last day and a half building up the last of our tans, before we head up north to the cold, and beginning of winter. No more will I be refused from churches for my lack of clothing...gone are the days of heat, singlets, and swimming!! :-( I had even taking to swimming lengths for exercise, which I had decided was my new favourite, due to the fact that you could not feel the sweat running down your body while you did it, in comparison to running or being in the gym. Not only that, but the minute you stopped you were instantly cooling down...so good! Now, however, it will be back to long runs up the Swiss Alps...which actually doesn't sound that bad when I say it like that.

In Milan: Tonight we found heaven...or at least what any bargain hunting person on a travel budget considers heaven. After not having eaten since 8am, due to train rides, visa card dramas, and hotel check-ins, we did a quick amount of research before deciding it was time to have a quick look round Milan and hunt out somewhere for dinner. Now our Google research told us that there are bars in Milan which will give you free food with a drink purchase...'too good to be true', is exactly what we thought too. However, we were wrong. This is actually legitimate! Being Kiwi's and from a culture where nothing is for free, we did what we felt was our duty, and did not ask for a glass of tap water with a dash of lemon, but purchased an actual beer and wine. Sitting down at the table with our drinks, we were told by the waiter to go help ourselves to the food. Now don't start picturing a couple of sloppily put-together finger foods...no this was more comparable to a Christmas pot-luck dinner. They had pasta, salads, frank and beans, (which much to Ben's amusement, was my favourite), chips, quiche, pizza, fruit, dessert...and more. No we could not believe our eyes, or our good luck at this most wonderful find on a budget, and just when we were in full hunger pang mode! Being that I remember my family sharing stories at their good luck at the races one day when they found a room full of food and drinks which they assumed were free, only to be promptly kicked out, I was very polite in my tiny helping, and began to worry about Ben going up for his second, larger helping, to which he assured me he had seen others do. He was right. People literally had come in, (students I presume), bought a juice for 2 Euro, and had their full of dinner! I was cautious in my approach to a meagre second plate, but still am proud to say that I claimed enough of the bargain to make up for my expensive wine. I could only think how much my brothers and cousins up north would have got amongst this deal had they been here! This one is for you guys!!

Well...what else to do in Milan...we are possibly going to see 'The Last Supper' by Leo Da Vinci, and I will most definitely strut my stuff down the catwalk...just for Andhy Blake! Then we are on to Switzerland to herd some goats on one of the Alps...actually I think it is horses we will be herding...but close enough!