Italia: Il Secondo Giorno: Milano

Before I go on about what I did my second day in Italy, I have discovered something interesting I would like to share with all ya'll.

Italy is part of the United Kingdom.

I was shocked too! Who knew?!

Now if you are a little skeptical, allow me to present my evidence: Remember that post a little while ago-my open letter to Bank of America? In which they told me that Barclays only exists within the U.K.?

Well, Barclay's banks are all over Milan. So if Barclays are only in the U.K. and they are also in Milan I can conclude that Italy is part of the U.K.!

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My second day in Italy, although my first full day, I walked around for about a zillion hours. 

I asked the hostel owner to show me where we were on a map of Milan, and he also showed me all sorts of points of interest, shopping areas, pretty things, and Il Duomo. 

For a good part of the day I was very anxious about taking pictures. I was crazy self-conscious about being pinpointed a tourist--if my bundled-up-ness did not make it obvious already. It took me quite some time before I was confident enough to actually pull out my camera and take pictures of all the pretty things I saw (there were many).

The first place I really stopped was Porta Venezia-This giant park with gardens, dog parks, and basically everything. It was so gorgeous there, especially since there were still brightly coloured leaves everywhere.

After this, I started walking towards Il Duomo. Now, here is where I made my first big mistake.

I walked right through the Piazza. Right. Through. Probably with a dazzled "OhmygosheverythingissoprettyAAAAAH" look on my face too.

So far, I had been doing a really good job at not talking to strangers. And avoiding all the people standing around selling umbrellas (Much like the guys in San Francisco who sell oranges and other produce on the corners, although a little more active in selling goods). So when a man stepped in my path and started asking me if I wanted to feed the pigeons, I was a bit startled. Where had he even come from?

I said "No, grazie" several times, but it didn't matter. He pulled out a handful of seeds and pigeons from all over dove in. I was pretty much shocked into place. I kept waiting for the flock to thin out so I could walk away, but before this could happen he grabbed my hand and shoved bird seed into it and within seconds I was covered in pigeons.

I was so. Freaked. Out.

I mean. I like birds and all. But I do not go around feeding them, and I certainly prefer the cute little colourful ones to pigeons. Also, if I were my germaphobic friend I am 99% sure I would have had a heart attack and just die on the spot. There were so many pigeons! And their beaks hurt when just pecking you!

After I extracted myself from this situation I speedily walked as far from Il Duomo as possible. Just as I was calming down, and feeling comfortable again, someone else stopped me to say something.

Here's the thing. For the most part, I think everyone deserves common courtesy. Which is to say that if someone engages me in a conversation I will reply, even if it is to dismiss them. I try to be polite to people, because even crazy homeless people on MUNI at 10PM on a Tuesday deserve common courtesy and politeness. I would also rather not anger or annoy someone already so unstable. Basically, unless it is a whistle, a beep, or a psst which I think is just plain rude (See the Adele quote, right), I try to reply when people talk to me. Sometimes, this is not the best course of action.

This leads up to when this man tried to hand me a leaflet, I said "No grazie" and kept walking. Then he called after me, asking if I spoke English. Now, I know I was in the clear. I could have kept walking! However, that common courtesy thing kicked in and I turned around and said yes.

He then asked if I had heard of the Church of Scientology.

I could not decide the best way to answer this. I went with "No" since I thought that if I said "yes" I would then be left to justify why I had not converted to it (I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it's much more legitimate and I don't have to justify myself to anyone, thankyouverymuch). 

He then said "Well, I have this video I can show you so you can learn, why don't you come with me"

Erm. No. Stranger danger! Nevermind that common courtesy stuff! I'm young, I have no idea what I am talking about! I told him I didn't have time, and walked quickly down the street.

At this point, I was a little fed up with people. And by "a little" I mean "a lot". I also resolved that if anyone else talked to me, I would pretend not to know English or Italian. I would just mutter a quick "No hablo inglés" and move in with life. 

I walked as far and fast as I could from the centre until I found myself on a street full of bakeries and the like. I then realised I was quite hungry.

Any normal person would have just picked a place and gone in and ordered. But as you guys know (or should, at least) I am not normal. I blame this on a combination of my dad, and growing up in "Freaksville" as some have been known to call the lovely city of San Francisco. 

I was pretty much scared out of my wits to go in and order something. You see, I couldn't remember how to say "I would like". I knew how to say "I want" but I was not about to use that! So, I kept walking and walking and racking my brain to remember what it was.

Finally, I remembered that "I would like..." is "Vorrei..."

From here, it should have been easy. Just pop into the next place and go crazy and get a Food Baby!

Erm. Haha good joke. I was still so scared that I would make a complete fool of myself that I kept walking, and walking, and walking-telling myself that I would go into the next place, and the next place.

Eventually, hunger really kicked in and I had no choice but to go into the next place I saw.

One of the best life decisions I have ever made. I ended up with some delicious foccaccia, although I was so hungry I didn't take a picture.

After walking quite far, I decided that I should loop back around, and walked up a street with canals (although they were largely dried out or otherwise quite shallow).

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That evening I went to a nearby restarant that serves both Italian and Chinese food and had pennne arrabiata for supper.

It was so delicous. Oh my goodness. Then I had some nutella gelato to top it off. Also very good, although not as good as in Florence (more on that later).

Overall, despite the encounters with strangers, the day was quite good! I did have to get to bed early though, because I was taking an early train to Venezia (hands-down my favourite city ever, sorry San Francisco).