I actually don’t think I’ve slept that hard in weeks. Months maybe. Or at least it feels like it.
Going non-stop for almost a week now has my body running on pasta and hope. Knowing I had a free day to do whatever today, I let my body get the rest that it deserved. And, wow, do I feel refreshed.
I slept through breakfast, and practically into lunch. Victoria and I woke up around 11 a.m., as to not waste the entire day, and got ready.
Today we had no game plan, no course of action, and just decided to let yourselves go with the flow. And going with the flow, we did a significant amount of walking— about 9.5 miles according to my phone, which also included the walk back last night after the club. That’s more than my phone’s registering for most of the days that we’ve been here.
First thing first, Vic and I headed out to get lunch. We wandered around for quite some time deciding on a place. Eventually, we ended up at a place called 56 Rosso.
As much as I love Italian food, there’s only so much pizza and pasta you can eat in a week. I ended up instead deciding to try a veggie burger. I eat them all the time at home, so I was curious to try out an Italian veggie burger.
When you say burger, one would assume a patty on a bun with toppings (maybe lettuce and tomato) and dressing, right? That’s what I thought. I was incorrect. I had asked the waitress what came on the burger and she kind of looked at me strangely and said it came with vegetables and mayonnaise. When it came out, I understood why. The patty was plated on top of a leaf of cabbage, was crusted in sunflower seeds, topped with dried onions, with two globs of mayo on the side. No buns, nothing. I ate it with a fork. Strange.
Though the food wasn’t the best, we did sit next to a lovely couple who were from Pennsylvania. The man was originally from Pittsburgh, though he lives in Philadelphia with his wife now. What a small world.
After lunch, Vic and I grabbed some gelato and people-watched for a while. Not knowing what to do after, we walked and walked and walked. Eventually, we came across Museo Galileo.
Somehow, Vic and I managed to spend over two hours in the museum. For a museum of only two small-ish floors, the artifacts that inhabit the place are incredible. There’s so much history and science behind each. It really makes you wonder how Galileo and so many other discovered the things they did in their time periods.
We did some shopping afterward, and I picked up a few souvenirs for myself and my family. Then, more gelato and more people-watching.
Vic and I headed back to the hotel after that point, so she could change into warmer clothes (it was a bit breezy today) and we could drop off our purchases before heading to dinner. Annnnndddd, we both ended up taking a nap. Whoops.
We woke up to the sound of Allison laughing, saying she couldn’t believe we were napping, and headed to go get dinner. Vic and I found a place right down the street called Osteria All’antico Mercato. I had pasta what was basically mac and cheese, but who’s complaining.
As soon as we walked back into the room, Allison said she and Josh were headed to the American diner down the street and invited us to come. We declined… until she mentioned them having mozzarella sticks.
So Vic and I had “second dinner.” Allison cried because they actually had ranch dressing. The 1950s-themed diner was actually a great time. The food was great, though it still definitely tasted like Italian food that was trying to be American. It’s kind of like how Olive Garden is definitely American food that tries to be Italian. Not authentic at all, but enough to satisfy.
On the way back, Josh mentioned watching to head to the Irish pub across the street from the hotel. We walked into half of our group sitting at a table. I spent a few hours there sipping on a drink and laughing with new and old friends.
What a day. Tomorrow, we head off to Venice before finishing the rest of your trip in Milan.