Milan, Italy 2023 Day 4

We left Hungary, and we left hungry.

Given the dinner mishap during the previous night – we woke up hungry – and it was time to leave Hungary 🙂 The morning was a series of comical events – which oddly enough began during the night. When we came home yesterday from the daily adventure there was a notice on our bed saying the water would be turned off as of 9:00 AM. This meant all of our bathroom needs had a morning timeline – in addition to that as we settled into bed we noticed a loud ticking sound in our bathroom, and with further investigation we came to learn that there was a significant leak from the bathroom above us – and water was dripping down into the celling panel. A large water stain was apparent and growing – ack. I called the front desk and reported this – also suggesting that maybe when the water is turned off they could repair it. Also, when we woke up this morning (aside from our stomachs grumbling) I received notification that the hot air balloon ride I booked in Milan was cancelled due to weather concerns. Sigh. We decided to eat at the airport and made our way to the bus stop – at which point Obi realized his right sock was not cooperating and the minimalist look was not great for the sneakers he had because the sock slunk towards his toes every few steps – haha, so we had to keep stopping so that he could readjust, at which point we saw the bus we needed come and go. Another bus cam shortly after – but it was all a series of comical events. Looming over us were also rain clouds and so at any moment it was about to pour – luckily as soon as the bus was in motion drizzling commenced. We remained dry until it was time to transition from our gate to the plane – waiting outside in line at the steps of the plain and taking a mini shower. At the airport Obi spotted a yoghurt bar which was perfect for our nutritional needs – I ended up striking a conversation with a couple next to us who were experiencing some flight delays. As we were chatting Obi noticed the time – we were late and needed to do that airport run you see people do – with their backpacks flopping from side to side as we jogged along to our gate. The departure board said “last call” but upon seeing the gate it was clear we did not need to run. Well I guess it was a brief stint of exercise – we are eating ice-cream every day!

It was an uneventful flight – and pretty easy transition from the airport to the city center with a pre-booked bus and a few stops on the Metro M3 train. We stepped from the underground station to the magnificent view of Duomo di Milano – literally – towering overhead and hundreds of tourists in the court-square taking selfies, group pics and finding all the unique and fun ways to pose in front of the church. My favorite was a young woman who held a pizza box with the image of a man dressed in a chefs outfit giving a thumbs up and she replicated the pose while holding the box with Duomo behind her – too funny to watch! We are staying in a self-check in apartment type hotel – its a lovey living space and getting in was easy. We settled into the space and began research for dinner. I was determined to redeem ourselves. I landed on a restaurant called Propaganda Alimentare – a mostly vegetarian menu with a sustainable and farm to table approach. The only hiccup was that it was an hour and four minute walk. I naturally wanted to walk while Obi was less eager – we decided to meet there – however, given that I have no WiFi on my phone just as I was leaving Obi sneakily joined me and off we went. It was a long walk and timing was tight so the pace was quick. I think based on the state of Obi’s t-shirt (sweaty) and mood upon getting to the restaurant he regretted his decision – but he did not like the idea of me being out and about without any means of contacting him.

Needless to say I absolutely LOVED the restaurant (Obi less so)- the first thing they gave us was a paper bag with four slices of fresh homemade dense and chewy bread – I dug in. I won’t go into the details of what we ordered but I will say – we each dug into a bowl of gazpacho soup and it was – to use my father’s highest form of a compliment “Out of this world.” This Obi loved – having never tried gazpacho before – he was utterly moved by it’s flavor. It really was sublime. Our bowls were scrapped clean. So yes, this dinner was much better than the “vega” burger! Tomorrow we have reservations at a traditional Italian restaurant recommended by my brother’s girlfriend, but we noticed the dress code (arg) which says no sneakers and Obi only has sneakers. Hmm…I guess we will see what happens.

Today was not a day full of too many adventures given all the traveling we did – but we find ourselves in Italy and will surely make the best of these few days. I think we might start our day at the Mian, Google office for breakfast:)

Many of you who read the post from yesterday seemed to enjoy the “vega” burger story – so I decided to attach the photo so you could really get a sense of what I was talking about. And – one more observation which really had me laughing this morning – the more I thought about the goat cheese slab – I realized that while the menu said goat cheese – it actually looked more like a slab of camembert – or something similar!