The transitions from one city to another have consistently stood out on my trip…both because of the circumstances surrounding them (illness, unexpected detours, time changes, etc.) and because each place and my accommodations there have been so different from one another. The trek from Prague to Milan was no different. Milan was chosen as the final destination primarily because my dear friend Nikole and her now-fiance (!) Toto live there and hosted me. Since I arrived on a Friday afternoon, Nikole was still at work and so our plan was for me to meet up with her there.

Nikole is training for management at a high-end Italian luxury department store, La Rinascente. The store itself is right next to Milan's Duomo (huge, beautiful church), and my plan was to arrive via bus from the airport around 4:30 PM. Well, my flight was delayed due to an Italian air-traffic controller strike so I didn't even make it to the airport until 5 PM. I couldn't access the WiFi in the airport or figure out how to use the pay phone with my credit card, and I was still nursing a pounding headache and sour stomach from the night before, so I made a quick decision to jump in a cab, worried that Nikole would get off work before I could contact her and leave. 

The cab from Malpensa airport to the Duomo was horrifically expensive and took about 45 minutes…so in retrospect, bad decision. At this point in my trip though, I was really just rolling with the punches. It's the only way! Nikole found me dazedly ascending the escalator inside La Rinascente, taking in floor after floor of expensive shoes, clothes, purses, cosmetics, home decor and gourmet food. I was in my travel attire, which was very…functional (read: I looked like a hobo), and with no makeup and the good ol' hangover, I can only imagine how I looked.

However, it was Friday night and Nikole had plans for us- Heineken was unveiling an exclusive product at Rinascente, "The Sub", and we were attending the launch party on the terrace of the top floor. I stashed my bags and decided to do nothing about my appearance, despite the fact that we were surrounded by sophisticated, fashionable Italians. I just hoped people would think that I was going for the "effortless" look with my leggings and boots and army jacket, and my mess of a bun. I don't really know if I remember how to get dressed up anyway, it's been so long now.

We started the night by checking out "The Sub" and indulging in some free beer. "The Sub" is essentially a capsule-shaped mini-keg intended for home use, that keeps your Heineken cold and ready to drink. In my opinion, it is a slightly ridiculous product, because you have to plug it in and it only holds a small amount of beer, so really why wouldn't you just use the fridge? Plus it's something like 300 Euro and can only be refilled with Heineken. Still, rich people will buy anything if you create enough buzz, and they certainly created some buzz with this event.

We had settled in on the terrace to wait for the event to officially begin, and there was already a good turnout (invitation only, of course). Suddenly the lights dimmed and an eery green washed over the terrace, as futuristic electronic intro music blared. The crowd parted as dancers dressed as robots made a dramatic entrance, jerking and gyrating towards the stage. They lined up together, and after an impressive, cliffhanging pause, the beat dropped and "THE SUB" was revealed to the crowd. After a few more minutes of breakdancing to dubstep onstage, the dancers cleared out and DJ Satornino ("Little Saturn"), who is the bassist of a well-known Italian band, made his way onstage to get the party started.

It was such an interesting, strange, hilarious situation to find myself in, and we had a great time. Everything was free, from beer to mojitos to delicious hors d'oeuvres and we indulged in all of it. After hours of drinking, eating and dancing, we stumbled back to Nikole's and passed out.

Our indulging continued the following day…it's what Italy is about, after all. We started the day with cappuccinos and went straight from the cafe to a pizza place nearby, where each of us ordered our own pizza, as is customary in Italy (and AWESOME). I ordered a pizza with spicy salami and tomatoes called Diavolina, which means "little devil", which incidentally would be my DJ name if I had one. I don't think I need to tell you that the pizza was heavenly and I ate nearly all of it. 

After we recovered from our food comas, we had coffee again. LOL. This was followed by a few hours of exploring Milan (The Duomo, a castle, the fancy shopping area), and then of course it was time for Aperitivo. In Italy, around happy hour, if you order drinks at a bar or restaurant, Aperitivo is included for free-it's usually olives, chips and some type of bruschetta or panini. We had this accompanied by what's called "Spritz", which is champagne and Aperol (an Italian orange liqueur).

Nikole loves and appreciates food more than most - she even has a Masters in Gastronomy, which is the study of food and drink. She's also an excellent cook, and has a great food blog. So, being Nikole, she wanted to cook dinner for us. We picked up a plethora of appetizers (bread, gorgonzola, olive tapenade, olives, stuffed tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes), wine (red and sparkling white) and the makings for risotto a la Milanese. 

We had planned to go out, but somewhere along the way we got drunk (probably due to the two bottles of wine followed by gin, followed by vodka). We ended up sitting at Nikole's kitchen table talking, telling stories, reminiscing and laughing for hours. Really, it was the perfect ending to my trip. Of course, I paid the price for mixing my drinks the next morning (WHEN WILL I LEARN?), and again boarded my flight with a miserable hangover. 

Another unexpected twist was discovered the morning I left Milan…I was vaguely wondering how it was possible for me to leave MIlan Sunday evening and then arrive in San Francisco Monday afternoon, but I didn't explore that concern until it was too late. I unknowingly booked a 12 hour layover at JFK. Oops? Again…roll with the punches, even if it's your past self that threw them. Especially if it's your fault, actually…I was too tired to really care after my 8 hour flight, so I booked a room at the airport Hilton and called it a day.