Milan

After a couple of days of cycling and with the threat of bad weather, I convince Dave that we should check out Milan for the day.


Dave studies the tour guide on the train so that he doesn't feel bad about missing a possible day of cycling. Really, there are a few things to see in Milan!






First up is the castle. We read the history on a few information boards and this building dates way, way, way back. It is absolutely enormous and at one point was the center of Milan as the King's fort and stronghold.


Just trying to get the scale of the structure and not doing a very good job.

Look ma - no hands! Okay, so not funny. Looks Greek to me...

Parts of the castle that have fallen off or were taken down as the structure was expanded throughout the years.

Dave and I didn't do much in Milan. We just walked around and ate. I probably stood in front of this pastry cart for 10 minutes trying to decide what to get. Analysis paralysis!

Decision made!

Dave poses in front of the Duomo. (Check out last July's Bella Italia post for more info). The cathedral is enourmous and can hold up to 13,000 worshippers.

I think the lion ate the man hiding underneath the shield.

Up close and gothic.

The cathedral has 3100 different statues placed among the exterior. My favorites were the gutters. You can't just have water pouring out of any old orifice. To me, this one resembles a cartoon hound with wings.

A storm was brewing in the north (turns out it rained where we were staying so good choice for us to go to Milan!) and the dark clouds made an eerie backdrop to this lone statue.

This guy has an arrow sticking out of his chest and the cupids below him are crying in woe. Where are all the freaking happy statues?!!?!?!?

Each one of the pillars has a statue on top of it. Did I mention the 3100 different ones? I'm not afraid of heights but I will admit, the thought of working on the pillars on top of the roof makes me a little queasy.

Another spout for rain water. How would the 'burbs look if all the neighbors had these on their houses?

And finally, sweating on top of the Duomo. Unfortunately some construction was going on so we didn't get to see quite everything but it was enough. A must see for anyone in Milan.

Lake Lugano

After another lovely ride (not really as I was dropped like a stone, it wasn't pretty) we went to the little town of Lugano to wander around and shop. Since it was situated next to Lake Como, it was quite the ritzy little town. For a village with only a couple of streets, I was amazed that it had a Cartier and a Hermes shop.

To be honest, I was more amazed by the sausage shop. I think the hanging sausages are bigger than my dog!

It wouldn't be a blog without another dorky photo of me. I'm gaining all my weight back so everyone can just stop yelling at me. I'm eating fine!

It wouldn't be a quaint Italian town without old men playing big chess.

The gardens around Lake Lugano are beautiful. Perfect for ice cream and strolling.

A Dr. Seuss tree.

And while you are strolling, in case you wondered what the temperature is, you just check the thermometer located in the center of the park.

Need to know if the weather is going to change? Check the barometer! The other two sides displayed humidity and the time of day. I guess that makes it fairly easy to stand around and talk about the weather. :o)

Lake Como

Oscar and the family were kind enough to take us into Lake Como one night for pizza. Unfortunately, no George Clooney sightings were to be had.

Hopefully, you can see the scale of Nathan's calzone. Just look at the size of his head and that should help. :o)

My pizza spawns well past my place setting. You can see four glasses in front of me and the pizza just keeps going. I almost finished it.. almost...

A statue of Volta, the man who invented the battery. He is wearing a tie as Lake Como was sponsoring 'tie art'. Kind of like how Chicago sponsored the cows.

Church in the center of Lake Como. Again, enormous. The archways hide the old baptism pools. How many people were they baptizing at one time??




Group photo - My friend Dave, Nathan: a teammate of Dave's from California, Shawn and Kyle - Oscar's amazing kids. At school, Kyle speaks Italian, at home they speak English and he is taking Latin, German and French classes. Amazing!

A photo of Lake Como as the sun sets. Sorry for the poor photo quality but I forgot that I could reset my camera to night time photos. Oops!

You can take a tram up the side of the mountain. Oooohhh.. the lights are pretty..... the rest of the photos didn't turn out so well. Too busy eating my ice cream. :o)

Italy and Switzerland...more cycling

I joined a CA cycling buddy and good friend on his trip to Italy. We stayed with another friend in Switzerland just across the border. It was a new experience cycling with my passport as we would cross the border several times each ride.

Self service milk!!! This was heaven for me.

Oscar brings the milk bottles and fills us up.

One of the views from Oscar's backyard.






One of the views over Lake Lugano. We climbed up, up,up and I was SLOW.




The face I make when I try to get on a bicycle where the saddle is too high.





Not a bad view when stopping for a mechanical adjustment.






Something very cool about cycling in Italy - fountains. All the cyclists only have one water bottle on their bike because there is a public fountain in every town, village and city.




Some fountains are so big you could also wash your clothes!

Others were quite decorative. Err... that's a nice way of saying a bit scary.

And still others were decorated with statues. Water, water everywhere and each a drop to drink...

Stopping to play tourist with the beautiful view.

Oscar rests while Dave fixes a puncture. Again, not a bad view.

And finally Dave and I pose for a photo over the lake. It was his vacation that I poached so special thanks to him for inviting me along. Gosh, I think he is skinnier than me now! More photos from the non-cycling part of the vacation next.

Semi Synchronized Diving

Tucker and I get pretty amused by the swans on our walks.

I think the judges gave them a 7 out of 10.

70.3 Post Race

Race is over. I survived - now comes the fun!

Tom is nice enough to give Sarah and I hugs after we finished a good 2 hours after he did.

My reward!!!!

After a few pints, it is time to pick up the gear. Not a lot of bikes left.... didn't everyone have a few hoppy beverages after the Half Ironman like we did???

Tom is drunk. Or he just likes to sit on the ground next to his bike.

What do you eat after competing for almost 6 hours? You order the number 9. That's right. On the menu, it is the #9. We are talking pork loin, calamari, fried egg and french fries. It also came with salad but I told them to hold it because I thought it was too much. You don't see this combination every day in the States......oh yeah, and that's a weiss beer in the picture thank you very much.

In the evening, it was time for a few more liquid rewards. Michael wanted 'Euro trash' music so we hit the 18 and over clubs. Tom and I with our self portrait. If you can believe it, this was early in the evening.

It's all fun and games until it is time to go to the airport and the shuttle driver doesn't take you to the right one. Does Girona really sound like Barcelona? Needless to say I ended up taking two trains, crying and still missing my flight home. Here's a picture of my crap at the Calella train station. Note to self: NEVER, EVER, EVER travel with your bike unless it has wheels on the box or case.

My saviors when British Airways closed their counter after I missed the flight. Thank goodness for low cost airlines. Stupid shuttle driver.... oh how I love travel.....