Milano, Pt. 2

Yesterday was quite amazing to say the least. I'm increasingly aware that, unless I spent about 20% of my waking hours in Europe at a computer, I'm going to have to leave a lot out, so I'll just hit the high points. I was invited to lunch--for all our loyal readers, it was the very same lunch I truncated my post yesterday to attend--at my couch surfing host's brothers condo north of Milano. It turns out that my host, Daniele, chose to host me in no small part because my CS profile says I was born in Wisconsin! His sister-in-law is from Wisconsin, and actually spent two years in Appleton when she was a kid! So my presence at lunch was a surprise for her, and one for which she was clearly quite grateful. She moved to Milano with her husband about a year ago, and, living north of the city relative isolation and speaking only the most basic Italian, she is understandably a bit lonely. So we shared a delicious lunch of pasta with pesto, bread, mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil, and delicious wine! I had both a Bonarda and a Barbera...that were frizzante! Even though we sell a sparkling shiraz at The Wine Thief, I had never tried it, so these were my first sparkling red wines. I have to say, I really enjoyed them. After that, one of my host's friends from his job offered to show me around the city. We went to the Duomo, two parks (Simpiore and Venezia...I think), and the Castle Sforza, built by the great merchant family of the same name during the renaissance. Later on, we went to meet up with Daniele and some of his friends for a drink and some food. He wanted to introduce me to the Milano Apertivo, where you pay for a drink and endulge in a huge smorgasboard of food for free after the purchase of a drink. Sadly, it was all gone when I arrived, but I had what was I think the best barfood I've ever eaten: brie, prosciutto and tomato on an olive and basil foccacia and only five euros!....mmmmm. Also, the mojito was fantastic, and the setting and company were even better. The bar was called The Art Factory, with a lot of modern art (my art history terminology is woefully unexacting) and mirrors everywhere. Also, it was a beautiful night so many people were outside, and we frequently stepped out for a cigarette or a cigarillo. I met a lot of Daniele's friends from university, as well as some of his friends from his link with the exchange program Erasmus (a link that Im still not quite sure what exactly it is...). I met a young woman named Helene from Belgium who is working on her PhD in medieval studies! Although she focuses on medieval literature and public readings as opposed to straight up history, we had a long and, well, for us anyways, fascinating conversation...that would bore most people to deat. Still, it was fun. I also met a girl named Perrine from Avignon who is going to be published in Science! I could hardly believe it, but she helped with research on some article about yogurt...so she gets her name in Science. Damn. Then, shortly after midnight, we got in a car and drove to the university where Daniele and his friends had studied, and where many of the Erasmus students were currently studying. We had some rum and coke in the bottle, and then there was a huge bucket of sangria from which everyone helped themselves. It was great. I met a friendly Italian guy named Marco with whom I drunkenly ranted about how the US had blown it against Brazil in the Confederations Cup, and an aspiring environmental engineer from Milano named Anna with whom I comiserated about America's dismal environmental legislation and the urgent need for attention to climate change. Finally, as the party was winding down...well sort of, a bunch of people jumped in the car and went to this club on the southside of Milano called Karma. My host, however, was rather tired, so he took someone home on his motorbike, and then just came to pick me up at the club before I went it. It was probably for the best though, as the cover was 15 euros, and in Italia, you dont go out to the clubs until about 2, and you don't come back until 5....I was not exactly in the mood to drink and dance until dawn and then try to navigate my way back to Daniele's apartment drunk and exhausted by myself.
Still, all in all, a great night.