We left Vienna early and started our long drive. With a detour to go over a mountain path in Slovenia and a stop near the Austrian border to see an old bunker, our drive took most of the day.
We had a left-over schnitzel lunch at a beautiful lake-side park called Worthensee.
We entered Italy! Add another country to my list. It was fun to notice differences in the architecture and country side. Even though all of these countries are so close together and they have similarities in climate or culture, there are still noticeable differences in the buildings and the people. I love it and I wish I were more familiar with all of them.
Italy's countryside is full of churches, like everywhere else, but they are no longer the spires and gray stone like in the northern countries. The Italian churches are more square with red tile roofs and brown stones or plaster. It's just like the kinds of things you see in paintings in Italian restaurants.
Our first experience with Italy was getting gas in Verona. If you don't recognize the name of that city you need to read more Shakespeare.
The ride into the city of Milan is not so pretty from the freeway. There are just a lot of walls and ugly buildings in the way of seeing anything. But we were happy to arrive in Milan and the downtown part of the city is very beautiful.
We came to Milan because a friend of the family lives there and wanted to have us for dinner. Paulo was an exchange student when he was a teenager and my dad had started college. It had been 30 years since they've seen each other but Paulo has kept good contact with the family.
He had a hotel reservation ready for us so we were able to check in easily and freshen up very comfortably as we waited for Paulo to come pick us up. I got a room all to myself- which really just means I had my own bathroom cuz that's all that matters. Not having to schedule showers is so nice.
Paulo didn't live very far away, still just right in the center of town. He and his wife were very fun to talk to and they made an exceptional dinner. We started eating around 8 pm. We had bread with olives, pickles and mini onions for the antipasti. Then they cooked the pasta and served it with a sauce from her mother with eggplant. It was SO good! They brought out a sausage and cheese that came from a mountain region near by. The sausage was very hot. I took my taste bite with a bit of pasta. I believe the sausage was called Caciotta.
After we had eaten our fill of pasta Paulo went back to the kitchen and took out a large chunk of roasted veal. I had to laugh to myself when my dad realized that the pasta wasn't the main course. His face was classic. I had already eaten enough food to be satisfied until breakfast but I knew I'd be eating more anyway.
Paulo cut the veal into slices and laid them in a casserole dish. Then he laid out the prepared potatoes around the meat and put it in the oven. Have you ever had a meal cooked for you as you go from course to course? Cuz it's pretty fun. It smells delicious and it is the best way to have long and lively conversations because it takes so long and there are breaks.
When the veal came out Paulo poured a sauce over the whole dish and then served us. I was worried about being able to eat it all...until I tasted it. It. Blew. My. Mind.
His sauce was simply juice from the meat with nutmeg. I had never thought of nutmeg with meat but now I can't imagine meat without it. It was that good. If I had a second stomach I would have had second helpings. Thank you Paulo for changing my life. Around 11pm we finished dinner and decided to take the dog for a walk and get ice cream. Can you just imagine how good a gelato is in Italy? I had mint and chocolate.
So, we had the longest most delicious dinner I have ever experienced and stayed the night in a hotel in MILAN. Fantastic new experiences.
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