My first guest...

My friend from high school, Holly, came in to town this past weekend. I went to pick her up from the airport on Saturday morning. Luckily, I left in plenty of time because I tried to take a shortcut and got completely lost. All in all not what I'd call a very fun, cold morning. I made it to the airport by 10 am, Holly's plane was due in at 9:40, thankfully she was still in baggage claim. After dropping off the baggage at the apartamento, Holly and I spent the day at the Duomo and eating her first Italian pizza. The Duomo, the large Cathedral in Milan's center, has a roof that people can go up to and walk around. It was beautiful and very serene. The Cathedral itself is very tall and one of my professors informed me that the city will never quit working on it. This is because every year pieces of the Duomo are changed out and removed to help keep it clean from pollution and aging. Holly and I walked around for a few hours and by the time we got back to the apartment we were definitely ready for a nap...
Sunday we headed out to Bergamo with Jordain and Michele. Michele invited us over to lunch with his family and a chance for a personal tour throughout the city. Bergamo was absolutely beautiful, but cold (Holly brought the cold weather with her from the states). Bergamo, I believe, was once a Celtic settlement. Bergamo has two parts to the city, the old city is placed higher on the hills with the newer city below. The upper city served well in military defense. We walked around for several hours in the old part of the city and then headed back to Michi's house to wait for the train. Going over to lunch was really wonderful. I think it is the first time I have a real sense of what an Italian family does. I got to experience them serving food together, we had two courses along with salad and chip before the meal. We ate risotto with mushrooms and roast beef. It was very good. I am really glad I got to experience more than restaurant food and my attempts at pasta dishes. On the train ride home both Holly and I were nodding off, it takes a lot out of someone to walk around all day...and I'm just talking about me, Holly is surviving well with the time change and jet lag :) more Adventures to come this week!