Day 1: Traveling and Brescia

My “day” started at 5:30 AM yesterday. After a flight from Dallas to LGA, I took a shuttle to JFK and sat there for three hours waiting to board my plane to Milan. If you ever have a chance, I would highly recommend flying business class. I had my own little computer thing where I got to watch Rango and No Strings Attached (Amy, if you’re reading this, don’t watch that movie; you’ll be sorely disappointed). The chair was also really fancy and reclined into a bed type thing, although I only ended up getting about an hour of sleep.

After an 8hr and 20min flight, we landed in Milan at 8 AM today. I got my passport stamped and then met up with Christine to explore. We took the train back to her apartment and then headed to Brescia to wander around. Lunch was scrumptious: a prosciutto crudo sandwich with melted mozzarella on focaccia bread. I then saw the Duomos (nuovo e vecchio), palazzio leggio, and the castello. There was some sort of fair going on at the castello with knights and other medievally garbed individuals shooting arrows and hammering hot metal. From the top there is a wonderful view of Brescia.

We climbed down from the castello and went in search of my first gelato of the trip. I had some delicious amaretto custard and Himalayan (where Mount Everest is) salt caramel gelato. A bookstore was next on the list. Not as many books as Barnes and Noble, but I’m excited about getting some books in Italian.

By this time I was thoroughly exhausted and we headed back to Manerbia. We took a short rest at the apartment and headed to dinner at the Tomato. Christine has the most wonderfully old Fiat Panda (pictures to come). It’s ancient, but it runs and it got us to the restaurant. Tomato is a pizza place that is DELICIOUS. It’s a “floating” buffet: the waitresses come around with different types of pizza and you get to pick and choose what you want. Best pizza I’ve ever had. The crust was thin but not cardboard like most pizza I’ve had before. I tried four different types: romano cheese and tomatoes, artichoke, bacon and egg, and sausage and pumpkin. The last two were my favorite (pictures below).

My first pizza in Italy did not disappoint. At the end of dinner they brought out a pizza slice that was just dough with nutella on it. Soooo good. I also got a surprise espresso shot after telling the waitress I didn't need any coffee. After adding a mountain of sugar, it was sweet enough to drink and wasn't half bad. Now I’m just relaxing for the night. Tomorrow, we’re going to the lake!