Day Seventeen: Wednesday, July 6 Milano to London to SF

Day Seventeen: Wednesday, July 7 Arrividerci Italia
Milano to London to SFO to Fair OaksSlept fairly well. Woke up early for the final stages of packing. Went down for breakfast about 8:10 and it wasn't too bad. Got our stuff down with five minutes to spare and our cab was waiting.

Christine doing her final packing at the Hotel Florida in Milano.


The Last Breakfast. Our final meal in Italy at the Hotel Florida in Milano.


Milano to Linate
The cab ride to Linate cost 25 Euro but totally worth it. Checked it at BA with all three bags. No weight problems. Security was a breeze and we are currently sitting and I'm blogging as I paid the 10 Euro for the internet.
Web surfing at Linate waiting our 11:45 departure.


Turns out we miscalculated a bit. We had to go through another passport control area before we board so we were a little concerned about the time. Always go all the way to the gate before you settle down to sit and relax and wait. The plane was scheduled to leave at 11:30 but it was delayed until 11:25
Leaving on a jet plane from Linate.



The final photo and away we go. The end of a perfect trip.


Heathrow Terminal Five and Heading Home
We arrive at Heathrow and the plane parked on the tarmac so we had to take a bus to the terminal. Our plan was scheduled to leave for SFO at 1:55. London is an hour earlier that Milano. When we got in we had a little less than an hour to find the gate and get through security. Always good to remember when you are on a domestic flight from one part of Europe or another you will have to go through security screening for a second time. It was quite a walk from that screening to the gate but we made it with time to spare. If I remember correctly, we wound up not actually taking off until almost an hour after we were scheduled.

Uneventful Flight and Welcome Back to California.
The flight was scheduled for exactly ten hours and we arrived at SFO at almost exactly 5 p.m. west coast time. Time went by fairly fast. Food was quite good and watched two movies.
After we landed we made if from the plane and through customs in less than an hour and after taking the Blue Line on the Air Train we were picked up and back to our car in less that 90 minutes total.

Dinner with Our Boy in San Francisco
We took 380 then 280 and finally the bck rodes to Robert's where we met Robert and eventually Sarah for dinner.

Sarah and Robert

The Final Push to Fair Oaks
Left Daly City at about 8. Virtually no traffic. Stopped for coffee along the way. I crashed and when we hid Madison Christine was so tired I had to drive the final stretch home. We arrived almost exactly at 10 p.m. Everything we hand carried home made it through perfectly.

The end of a perfect trip.

Day Sixteen: Tuesday, July 6 Zibello to Milano

Day Sixteen: Tuesday, July 6 Zibello to Milano
Farewell Zibello and Dinner with Jennie Durant
I went out for a little run on the levee at about 7:30 as a rainstorm was brewing. it sprinked a bit but the downpour never really got going. At nine Gary and Peggy were down for breakfast. Yesterday I swore we said 9; today I swore we said 9:30. No problem except I was just climbing in the shower.

Christine and Mama Miriam after breakfast at la Buca.




Cool art done with Polaroids of a your Miriam.


The 2004 New Yorker article by Bill Buford on La Buca and mama and her pasta.


Love the sign.


A few shots of Sala Verde aka the Meat Locker.


The chaise and its nook. Gary and Peggy enjoyed it for our pre dinner gatherings.


The hallway to the bathroom.




We ate our final breakfast together and settled the final bill then packed and puttered.



Gorgeous exterior. A great spot to spend three nights at 80 Euro per night.



Packing up the clown car.

We left sometime around 11:30 and had a few missteps, but finally found the A1 and headed toward Milano.

Car Drop and Hanging Out at the Hotel Florida
We found the Central Station prettily easliy but we got going down a wrong way for a while but we eventually did find the hotel and then the Avis place at the station. Too bad the Avis rental place at the station was CLOSED. so we had to drive a few blocks over to fing another one. But we made it at got the car turned in.
Before we did the final car drop, I checked us in to the Hotel Florida near the main train station and too all the bags up to the room.



I lead Christine back to the Hotel Florida and we pretty much just spent the afternoon relaxing in the room. did not feel the need to go out and wander around. We watched the Tour de France and then an amazingly exciting Rock, Paper, Scissor Tournament form 2007 that ran on the EuroSport channel. The funny ting was that while I was on line I found our that Gary was watcing it too fro their place in Cinque Terre. I also was able to read my Facebook and got the info from Jennie that we would be in frot of a hotel near the train station at 7:30.

Jennie and Guido, Great Food, and Conversation
At the appointed time we walked to it. I thought I knew where it was but didn't. Praise the Lord we found it anyway. We got there right at 7:30 and almost immediately I saw Jennie and friend Guido.
They helped us figure out what route to take on the Metro as they were on a scooter. We took Line 3 (yellow) to Porta Romana where the restaurant was.The Metro costs one euro wach and was totally easy to negotiate. Christine and I had ridden it back in 2003 on out way to see Divinci's Last Supper.
After we emerged from the metro station we found them within minutes and we walked directly to the nearby restaurant Giulio Pane e O'jo, Osteria Romana. Pretty appropriate since we were at the Porto Romana.
We were led down and alley into a back room and sat down to a grand meal. We started with bruschetta, then Christine had carbonara and I had pasta with meat. We later split a veal saltimbocca with the meat rolled up into cigars. Interesting. For dessert we had three different versions of panna cotta. Ours was cappucino. They had creme caramel and a panna cotta with blueberries.

My spaghetti with sausage.


Christine's spaghetti carbonara.


Rolled Veal Saltimbocca with roast potatoes for Secundo.


Panne cotta cappucino


Creme caramel


Panne cotta with blueberries


Jennie and friend Guido who works in advertising in Milano



We just had a lovely evening sharing what has been going on in our lives for the past 15 years or so and getting to know each other better. What a perfect way to end our trip. I look forward to their visit to California later this month.

Group shot at Giulio Pane e O'jo!

Day Fifteen: Monday, July 5 Zibello to Sabionetta to Mantova

Day Fifteen: Monday, July 5 Zibello to Sabionetta to Mantova
In the middle of the night we were awakened by a grand thunder and lightening storm. It boomed. It flashed. It poured. Quite the show. Although it was pretty muffled in the room. The bathroom had the best show.

The Road to Roccabianca
At about seven I got up and worked on my workshop stuff then at eight I took off in the other direction on my bike. I went out about a half an hour and made it all the way to Roccabianca. Oh what a beautiful morning. It felt great to get out on the bike. I made it back at almost exactly 9 though we did not go for breakfast until 9:30. Another fresh apricot! Yogurt and a great cappuccino.

Arrival in Roccabianco on the public roads.






Beautiful Roccabianco tower.





Typical signage in Italia.










Left turn off the levee to La Buca.




Morning capuccino at La Buca.



Internet Quest in Mantova
At about 11 we headed toward a small walled town, Sabionetta, that Lucca had mentioned and then we planned to go to Mantova to find internet. We pretty much just drove through Sabionetta and then on to Mantova. We actually found an Internet point only to find that a hotel nearby had free leakage so we just sat there and checked out all our stuff.





Hadn’t missed much really. Mostly I needed directions to the Hotel Florida in Milan. I think I have it all figured out and we plan to leave pretty early tomorrow so it should come together pretty well I am hoping.





We found a great Pizza place in the centro and Christine and I shared a Calzone and a proscuitto and melon plate. Delicious.






We headed back and the big thrill was that we actually drove on the levee into Zibello and just made that left turn off the levee down to our place. I think we were back some time after 4.

Last Dinner at La Buca
We gathered in our room and tried a 2007 Poggio Antico Rosso–it may have been my favorite then we headed over to La Bucca around 8.
















I was very excited when I heard that they would make Torta Fritta for us along with two orders of Cullatello. Does Culatello live up to all the hype? Or are we just romanced by the incredible story of how Cullatello brought us here? All I will say is that it does seem to be sweeter, less salty and more lean than Proscuitto di Parma. And will I long to have some again and return to Zibello? Absolutely
Next we had six different pastas. We had one with ragu, one with peas, one with pumpkin, and one with culatello. My favorite and the consensus favorite was the one with peas. Next was the one with ragu. Third fav was the one with the culatello. Last was the one with the zucca which eas actually my favorite.







We had a great time trying to understand Mama Miriam to learn how to make Torta Fritta. We also had a great time chatting with Lucca. WE learned that the stands of trees are probably farmed for paper production, that the rooms were originally supposed to be an apartment of some sort, and that grappa is still nasty. Gary broke out his Genepi Bianca and Lucca broke out some of that Grappa we had seen on the wall near the breakfast room. Whew!



We were all stuffed and decided we had no room of any of the desserts and were all safely in our rooms before eleven. A fine final night in Zibello