Italy June 2002

We had a wonderful family adventure in the Spring of 2002. My mission reunion committee has organized reunions every three years for some time. Somehow when we moved to Salt Lake I was roped into this committee. Several years ago it was suggested that we plan to have the 2002 meeting in Italy, as a sort of 25 year reunion. I wasn't real keen on the idea. But also wasn't averse enough to object.

We decided that if we were to go, we would have to take the whole family, thereby compounding the cost and difficulty of the trip.

A couple of years ago we viewed the movie "Enchanted April". (If you haven't seen it you should.) Thank goodness that Lenore and I were of the same mind that our Italian vacation should be similar to that, less sightseeing, and more relaxation and immersion in the culture. We often joked that any trip to Italy for us would be an eating visit not a tourist visit.

One great help in making arrangements for the activities in Italy was that in June of 2001 the new mission president was called and he was one of "our" missionaries. He placed his assistants at our disposal to help make arrangements in loco. The reunion activities involved the weekend of 14 - 16 June. Plans for the reunion were publicized in Italy among the church members and posted on the mission website.

About six weeks prior to our departure I received an e-mail message from a long lost friend, Liliana Casiraghi, from my BYU days. She is an Italian who married a French member, Pierre Tromeur. We were in the Italian House program together during my senior year and we were a cooking/dishwashing team. She offered to let us stay with them. They live in a little town near Como called Monguzzo.

We were overjoyed at their kind offer and very glad to have such a nice base of operations for part of our stay and have some of our plans taken care of.

We were somewhat apprehensive about the rigors of air travel with almost two-year old Laney and dragging everyone all over NW Italy. But, everyone did real well. Laney even received many compliments for what was usually good behavior on the plane.

The plane ride was absolutely the worst part. Lenore and I are sure that we could design the space in airplanes to fit just as many passengers and allow them to be more comfortable. I'm sure Yeager and Rutan when they flew nonstop around the world in Voyager were more accommodated. From NYC to Milan we were on the back row of the aircraft. So my seat would only recline about 2cm. I could not get comfortable enough to sleep. Lenore had Laney sleeping on her lap. I wanted to lay my head down on top of Laney and Lenore would not have it. I was quite frustrated about it until at a certain point I just decided that was how it was going to be and then I was fine, relatively.

Pierre picked us up at Malpensa airport outside Milan. I wasn't certain I would recognize him. But, I spotted him right off. Malpensa was much the same, except no armed military on the tarmac. We saw them later in the terminal.

Pierre drove us to their home in Monguzzo in their new Fiat Multipla (two rows of three bucket seats, two sunroofs). We grew very fond of this car. We had considered renting our own car to get around. Liliana discouraged us for various reasons. After riding home with Pierre, I realized it would have been a nightmare to try to drive, park, find our way in Italy. The ride was wild enough that Laney threw up three times on the way home. I think after that first time Pierre settled down some and Laney was fine on all the other rides.

The Tromeurs live in a very nice townhome about 2000 square feet on 4 levels with underground parking and a nice yard (fairly unusual for Italians). They were so gracious. We tried to accommodate and allow them to do for us everything they planned. They fed us like kings, vacated their own bedrooms and put up with Laney vomiting in their new car as they drove us all over. Everywhere we went we were amazed at the hospitality of the Italians.

Pierre hails from Britany and he and Liliana have given their children Gaelic names: Gael (boy), Gwenaelle (girl), and Glenn (girl).

We were told that the best way to conquer jet lag is, at all costs, to stay awake the first day and hold off sleep until regular bedtime in loco. In order to accomplish this all we did once we arrived at about noon was sit in the back yard and chat. I think it would have been impossible to do anything else. Once we made it over this first hurdle we fell into a normal rhythm fairly easily.

We had planned our second day to visit Lake Como since we were so close. When we woke up that first morning in Monguzzo, Lenore said she felt impressed that we should go to Cremona, where I spent my last nine months. Our "plans", as they were, had excluded a trip to Cremona. So Pierre drove us the short distance to the train station in Merone. So we could make train connections to Cremona.

We hit Italy right at the beginning of the World Cup Soccer tournament. As I was dressing, putting on a nice polo shirt that I bought at Candilora's shop (our neighbor) for $5, I thought "this looks like a soccer jersey". When I went to the ticket window at the train station the first thing the teller said was "Forza Milan" and I understood that the shirt was a near dead-ringer for the jersey of one of the soccer teams in Milan.

A lot of the trains in Italy have been around a long time. It was the older and more unluxurious trains that we took to Cremona. I think Laney liked the train rides because there were no baby car seats or restraints of any kind.

I remember Italy being hot and humid in the summer. But, it was unspeakably hot and humid when we were there. They were having a heat wave. The week before we arrived there were great rainstorms and flooding. We saw no rain while we were in Italy. I had forgotten what it was like to live in a humid zone. It had been 13 years since we lived in Washington DC. After living in Utah for years anything, even California, seems humid. I think Italy is even more humid than Washington, DC. My complexion at age 19-21 is not worth remembering. But, now my face seemed to enjoy the humidity. Although you walk around with a dewy glow all the time (it takes a little getting used to) my complexion enjoyed a clarity that I haven't seen in some time. The weather also had a marked effect on Ailsa's hair. It is quite thick and somewhat curly. She likes straightening it and it looks quite nice when she does. A flat iron in Italy would have been of no use. She walked around just one step short of dreadlocks the whole time.

On the way to Cremona when we were going from train to metro at Stazione Centrale in Milan, we poked our heads out of the station so I could show everyone the Pirelli building and the damage done by the recent plane crash. Liliana and Pierre told us that for the first few hours after the crash they had no idea what was going on and of course it was easy to imagine the worst, that it was a terrorist act like 911. Thank goodness it wasn't. From Milan to Cremona we had to change trains in a cute little town called Treviglio. The train station was probably fairly typical for a small town: two platforms, a small station building with a bar next door and a little fountain with coi fish. We bought a lemon fanta and shared it while waiting for our train and Laney entertained herself with the fish.

It took me a couple of times to get used to the train fare age groups. Quite by accident and mainly because I was very rushed buying the tickets at the electronic biglietteria I purchased 2 full fares and 2 kid fares (Laney is free). We realized once we got on the train that Ailsa needed a full fare ticket (I think the price changes at age 12). Sure enough the ticket man came around so I explained my mistake and he let me off without a fine. We didn't bother to try to gain his favor by letting him know that we had just come from Merone to Milan and I had mistakenly purchased 4 full fare tickets for that trip when I didn't need to. I imagine the fine would be at least $30 or so and the difference between full fare and kids is only about 1-2 Euros depending on the distance of the trip.

A note about the monetary system and the exchange rate. One Euro was roughly equivalent to one dollar. This was very convenient for Americans and much better than dealing with Lira that had exchanged for anywhere from 700 to 2500 to the dollar during the previous 25 years.

Most of my dreams about Italy since my mission have centered in Cremona. So in my imagination I know Cremona like the back of my hand. But dreams distort. Lenore asked me if I would recognize the train station when we got there. She wanted to anticipate it as much as possible so as to avoid having to rush off the train at the last moment. For some reason I was expecting the station to be a terminus. This is silly because only the stations in the biggest cities are termini. So of course when we arrived in Cremona we didn't realize it until we saw the station sign and had to rush off the train. It wasn't until I got out in front of the station that I started to recognize things. Later, when waiting to leave the city, the platform area started to look familiar to me.

We got on a bus headed where we wanted to go and when things weren't looking familiar I asked a man to let us know when we got to Parco Roma. The next stop was a park and he indicated we should get off. I could tell it was a park. But, nothing looked familiar. I was completely disoriented and lost. We had to walk all the way through the park to the other side before I got my bearings. It didn't help that the trees and shrubs had grown a lot in 23 years.



I showed the family where the LDS church had been. The humble storefront, onetime butcher shop that served as the seat of the little branch over which I presided. There is no branch currently in Cremona. I believe over the years it has been opened and closed again more than once.

We had a very nice lunch at an open-air restaurant only about 30 feet from the old church. I think this was the same restaurant that during my mission stay in Cremona was well known for a yummy gelato treat they made. It was tangerine gelato served in the shell of a tangerine skin with the top cut off and the fruit scooped out. Italy was playing Mexico in the world cup so the restaurateurs pretty much left us to our own. After our meal, we walked through the narrow carless streets to the cathedral square. We had our first of many (we probably bought more than $100 worth during the whole vacation) tastes of delicious Italian ice cream at the shop right across from the bell tower. After a couple of days I realized that they must make their coffee ice cream starting with real espresso rather than just the flavoring (as we Mormons like to imagine they do here in the U.S.) I had to change my flavor selection because I was walking around with a caffeine headache.

Other wonderful flavors of gelato that we found: chocolate (of course), nocciola (hazelnut), pistachio (one of Lenore's favorites), crema (sort of like vanilla), liqurizia (licorice-didn't try it but I'm sure it's good), creme caramel (only found this in Portofino, very tasty), and puffo (found this only in Santa Margherita), minty flavor, electric blue, once Jensen tried it, that's all she wanted.

We showed the kids the bell tower. While on my mission they had it open for tours one day so we climbed the top. It is currently under renovation so all we could do is look. It is the tallest tower of unreinforced masonry in Europe. Next door on the piazza is the Cathedral, built in the 1260's. I had forgotten how large and impressive that building is. It seems exceptionally large for a smallish town like Cremona. I'm glad it was the first one for the kids to see. Although it is not terribly well lighted inside or nearly as ornate as the one in Bergamo.

One thing I noticed in each of the Cathedrals was a marble wall plaque engraved with the lineage/line of authority of the Bishop or presiding authority for that city or cathedral. The earliest dates on most of these went back to the 300's. But they would also have people listed even earlier without dates. The information included death dates. I wondered if anyone had done the temple work for them. I took pictures of several of these. But, in the low light none of them turned out.

We had arrived in town about the time that the midday break began. Many shops were closed and so was the Cathedral. A lot of people were watching the soccer game and you could hear cheers ring through the town whenever something good would happen. During this quiet time we just wandered around the square looking at monuments to the great people of the town and those fallen in war.

We didn't bring any travelers checks because we were told that ATM's were all over the place and credit cards are widely accepted. We found this to be true. We never had any trouble finding machines, getting cash, or using credit cards. (Twice at train stations I was not able to use a credit/debit card.) One fun and convenient innovation we got to use was an automated machine for buying train tickets with a credit card or ATM card

In most cases this saved us the time of having to stand in line. the first time I used it however I only had about five minutes to buy our tickets and it was a little stressful. There were other times when I was in a hurry and waiting for an open machine and people were taking forever. It was also nice to be able to look up train schedules on the Internet. We looked up some before we left. But when we arrived in Monguzzo we found that some of the information we had wasn't correct because there's more than one outfit that runs the trains and in the north it was a different company.

We took about 600 Euros cash with us because we needed to pay for the apartment in Santa Margherita with cash. So we had to keep looking for ATMs to make sure we didn't run out of cash or dip into our rent money.

We set out looking for the Stradivarius museum that I had never visited on my mission. I asked one or two people where it was. We had trouble finding anybody who knew exactly. Eventually we got directions and walked over to the building. When we got there we found that the exhibit had moved. But, it was just around the corner. When we eventually found the exhibit, I recognized the building as one I had seen when I was a missionary. In fact I have a picture of the building and we taught a lesson to a man in an apartment building nearby. I remembered him showing us the building from his balcony. There were some really neat statues and gargoyle type figures around the top of the building as I remember it. Unfortunately they were doing some renovation and we couldn't see those figures from the street because of the scaffolding. So I will have to take out of my pictures to show the kids.

By this time it was getting late. We had to start thinking about getting back to Como. So I was kind of rushing Lenore through the museum. There was lots of neat artwork by Cremonese artists. Some of them I recognized. The Stradivarius part was at the end of the museum. As I already mentioned the weather outside was extremely hot. The museum was not air-conditioned except the Stradivarius part which was cooler, but only slightly, and humidity controlled so was slightly more humid then outside. In a way it was a little more comfortable. But only until you got used to the temperature. Then the humidity started to bother you. Most of what I remember seeing in this part of the museum were instruments made by other artists rather than Stradivarius. There were a lot of tools made and used by Stradivarius as well as designs and plans. From what I understand from reading guide books, the Stradivarius instruments held locally are on display in another part of the building, in what my actually be government offices rather than a museum.

When I served in Cremona for nine months I was oblivious to the fact that this museum existed or they had instruments on display or even that Stradivarius was buried there. It wasn't until very near the end of my mission when I nearly stumbled over his grave and monument in Parco Roma. However, I was well acquainted with the violin making school because of all the students we ran into. I would have like to show one of these workshops to the kids. But, we didn't have time to seek out a student.

We made our way back over to the street in between Parco Roma and the cathedral. There was much more activity now that the soccer game was over and the midday break was over. We bought some things including a nice pair of pointy Italian shoes for Lenore.

One of the endearing and enchanting things about Cremona as I remember it was the small-town atmosphere. But, it is also a large enough city to have a cosmopolitan flair. Cremona doesn't have a very extensive bus system. There are only one or two bus lines, the center of town is compact and small enough that getting around in a car is not ideal. We missionaries hardly used the buses because it was easier to get around on bicycles. We noticed a lot of people on bicycles. I don't remember that being the case when I is there on a mission. Lenore wondered if we had set off a fad. But between the small narrow streets paved in large stones or bricks and outdoor cafes and gelaterias and the people on bicycles, central Cremona now presents itself as a very quaint and attractive city. Just as we were leaving the afternoon was starting to cool down, kids were playing with a soccer ball and a man was setting up tables and chairs in the main piazza for the anticipated evening restaurant service. We imagined an idyllic Italian evening scene transpiring within a few hours right in front of the cathedral.

One thing I noticed on the main square that was lined with a civic building, the cathedral, the baptistery, and the bell tower, was on one of the columns of the civic building there was the small stairway leading to a small balcony that I'm sure served as the platform for the delivery of many a speech or news broadcast probably even up until the not too distant past. Picture a political rally or the announcement of latest news on the progress of the war or the death of a great leader. I made sure I pointed this out to the kids so they could get a sense of how the main piazza and the cathedral and the church were such a central point of town life.

There is a webcam of this part of Cremona here.

We made our way back to the train station and waited on the platform for our train. It didn't seem late but by the time we got back to the central train station in Milan it was too late to make the connection for a train to Merone. Pierre had loaned me his cellphone. So I called him and asked what to do. We took another train that stopped at a city that was near Monguzzo and Pierre came to pick us up. by the time we got home it was about 10:00 p.m. Liliana still fed us and sent us off to bed. the train ride back was very reminiscent for me because of the late evening heat and the perfume of the flowering trees the scent of jasmine. There was a beautiful moon. It wasn't until Pierre picked us up and we got back to their home that he and Liliana were able to get a true sense of our personalities. The day before we had been so tired from the flight and the jet lag that I'm sure they were wondering if I was the same person they knew in school. I felt like I was finally able to hold a decent conversation with them and engage in some discussion.

The next day we were supposed to go to Bergamo and meet with the other missionaries about 9:00 a.m. After a busy day in Cremona and checking the train schedule, knowing that we had to travel to Milano, make a connection and then go to Bergamo, we realized we were not going to be there at 9:00 a.m. I had wanted to meet with the main group especially to see Roberto Calvagna. He was an Italian Elder who spent his first two months during my last two months in our district in Cremona. He is a really nice guy and makes his way as a graphic artist in Bergamo. As it was, with a not so early start and all the trouble we didn't make it to Bergamo until 2:00 p.m. We immediately went to the old upper city. As we got off the bus we were recognized by a group of three sister missionaries. But, they were the only ones we ran into that day. Apparently, all of the others had already done their sight-seeing and had moved on. I knew two of the Sisters from my mission and after. They were Sister Kathy Smith and Sister Ortu' (the accented final u is a dead giveaway for a Sicilian name.) I did not know the other, Sister Hardy. They showed us around a little bit. Bergamo struck me as a very nice and neat and orderly city. I'm sure the fact that it is situated in the far north and the influences of the Austrian and Swiss cultures have contributed to this. I was told, and I could see that the old city was a very tony and expensive place to live. We walked down narrow cobbled streets window shopped, bought ice-cream, and made our way to the main piazza.



Sister Hardy sort of took on the role of telling us about the sights. She had obviously listened well on their earlier tour. Inside the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore there was a memorial to many of the well known artists from Bergamo. One of these was Donizetti. I said the name sounded familiar and Sister Hardy offered that she thought he was a painter. After I thought some I said I was pretty sure he had written opera. She didn't like my correcting her and insisted I was wrong even though one of the memorials mentioned his "melodie". When we returned to the U.S. we checked and found that indeed he wrote opera. Probably his best known aria is, Una Furtiva Lagrima from l'Elisir d'Amore.



On the outside wall of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on the main square in the citta' alta in Bergamo, I noticed something interesting. There are several metal bars attached to the wall. My first impression was that they were some sort of reinforcement. But, I looked more closely and saw words inscribed on them. With that I realized they represented lengths of measure common in the textile trade. Upon further reflection, I surmised that the town market was probably at one time held in the little piazza in front of the church and the cloth vendors set up their booths near these standards both for their benefit and for that of their customers. I also figured that anyone at any time could refer to these measures since they were spelled out both in the textile terms as well as the metric equivalent. If anyone ever questioned the length of something they could hold it up to the "standards" on the wall of the church.

Like Cremona the main piazza in Bergamo's citta alta is surrounded by a cathedral, two churches, some shops and in this case the library rather than a Civic building. As we went across the main piazza we noticed a film crew set up and they were directing people to walk around the periphery. We could see they were filming a commercial, a television " spot. " It was for a new cute Honda automobile. They spread some seed in the Piazza to attract pigeons and the Honda would drive through them. Of course they would scatter at the last minute making a dramatic scene. Later when we were leaving the city they were filming in another area and doing the same thing, driving up and down one of those narrow streets. They had to stop us and ask us to wait while they finished their film so we wouldn't interfere with the shot. The crew was either all-German or multinational. The Production Assistant who stopped us tried to speak in English. He said it would only be five minutes. A short while later an older couple came walking down the street. The PA looked at me, nodded his head asking me to pass on the information to this new couple that they needed to stop for the filming of the commercial. I started to talk to them in Italian and had to explain a couple times. Eventually they understood. When the next family came down the street the PA looked at me again and I started to talk to them in Italian again. They looked at me and shook their heads indicating they did not understand. I asked them if they were French. When they answered yes the older first couple volunteered to explain to them. This explained why they didn't understand my Italian very well. They were French. Eventually we had a whole group of people standing there waiting for the end of this commercial so we could go down the street and none of them spoke Italian.

I didn't know that Bergamo was the birthplace of Pope John XXIII. In one of the three churches just off the main square of the citta' alta they had a lot of his jewels and papal relics including one of his crowns.

Some of the walls of the Old City still stand and the bus route still winds through one of the old porticos. We were told that in the old days the bells started tolling at 10:00 p.m. and rang a hundred times before the gates were closed. We explained to the kids about the nature of ancient city life where people lived and slept inside the walled city at night for protection and worked outside the city in the fields during the day and how important it would be to make sure you were inside the walls when the gates were closed.

Planning that night for our next day (Saturday), again we could tell that we probably wouldn't be able to get to Milan in time to meet the Missionary group at 10am so we aimed for noonish at piazza Duomo. The kids liked how you emerge from the underground Metro stop right on the piazza. We were accosted by all sorts of panhandlers. For more than year I wore one of the silly string bracelets we bought. Everyone else's fell off real quick. We bought some pigeon feed and have pictures with the family being swarmed including birds on the heads of Laney and Jensen.



We walked from the piazza in search of an ATM machine and continued on around in a circle until we entered the Galleria that feeds to the piazza from the backside through Piazza della Scala. I briefly showed them the Scala theater (Look! kids, Big Ben!) and a statue in Piazza della Scala of Leonardo da Vinci.

After proceeding through the Galleria back to Piazza Duomo I showed them around the outside of the cathedral. It is very ornate and is fronted by sets of huge doors at least 30 feet tall covered with hundreds of figurines. I would call them bas-relief except that they are even more pronounced than what I think of as bas-relief. From a distance the doors appear to be painted wood. But, closer inspection will reveal that they are made of brass or bronze. There are several spots where the patina is worn off by the touch of curious tourists. Each of these doors is a major work by itself and probably weighs tons. The building was designed by the great Leonardo and took more than 400 years to complete.

We met up with some of the other missionaries, including Elder Rupp who told me he had dinner with the Giulianos earlier in the week. They were a family in Torino that I and my companion had tracted out very early in my mission. He said they asked about me and gave me their phone number. We soon decided we would have to make arrangements to go to Turin, probably instead of Pisa.



We briefly chatted with some of the missionaries and then headed to Castello Sforzesco. The main thing we saw there was the last sculpture of Michaelangelo Buonarotti, a pieta, that he was working on when he died. Being in its unfinished state, they say it is a good study piece for artists because it reveals a metamorphosis of his concept for the sculpture.

We returned to the Duomo and met up with a bigger group of the missionaries. Inside I was once again impressed with the sheer size of the Cathedral. It is probably close to two football fields in area. The girls were quite impressed with a statue of Saint Bartholomew (here again correctly identified, much to the consternation of sister Hardy, by Lenore on account of having read and brought our guide book. Sister Hardy said it was Saint Ambrogio the patron Saint of Milan.) We were starting to bother people with our know-it-all-ness. Saint Bartholomew was martyred when he was flayed alive. The statue depicts him standing with his skin (in one piece) draped over his shoulder. The image is altogether not unlike Mr. Freddy Kruger himself.

We went down in the treasury to see some neat old papal jewels and collection of bones purported to belong to each of the original twelve apostles. I don't remember if John the Beloved was represented or not. In another part of the basement which we did not get to, is a full blown baptismal font (for immersion) that the Mormons take great delight in seeing.

We met for lunch with the other missionaries at a restaurant just off the Galleria. This lunch transpired in such a way that there really wasn't enough opportunity to visit.

While reading the guide book Lenore had gotten all interested in and excited about seeing antiquities and especially mummies, "dead things" we called them from then on, and it was the running joke amongst us.

After lunch we made our way, by metro and on foot, to a church called San Lorenzo Maggiore. On the way we walked by a bike store and I noticed in the window a Schmolke carbon handlebar. I had been wanting one of these for about 2 years. The problem is they are made in Germany and at the time were not heavily marketed in the US. I had tried e-mailing the manufacturer. But, I never got any response. Finally, I got in touch with a guy through e-Bay who was able to get them made for people. Before we left for Italy I had almost finished making arrangements to buy one. When I saw the one on display in the store, I thought, "There must have been a reason I didn't buy one of those before we came to Italy." So I went inside to see how much it was. They wanted 454 Euros! about 200 dollars more than what my contact in Germany wanted. So I said, "no thanks."



The church of San Lorenzo Maggiore has a stand of Roman columns from the 200's in front. It is a quaint little church complex from the 4th Century with interesting frescos, mosaics, and one of the few depictions of a beardless Christ. Adjoining the main church is the church of San Aquilino which houses the remains (mummy) of a 1000 year old martyr. Like most of these on display in Italy, it was mostly covered with a mask and robes. But portions of this one were visible so that you could see that there really was a dead person under everything.

We also went underground to view the excavation of the ruins of an old Roman foundation.

We had to hurry to get to the metro and take a train to the Stake center where the missionaries were meeting with the mission president. We arrived late and had to leave early. It was unfortunate because once again we didn't get to visit with the other missionaries.

Some of the information pres. Henderson shared with us:

- A plot has been purchased on the outskirts of Rome for a temple;
- The time when we served our missions (1975-1980) is referred to by the members as a "golden era". Membership increased about 100% from 5000 to 10000;
- The way growth is going in Italy there could be three stakes in the north before there is even one in Rome;
- The baptism rate since Pres. Henderson arrived has doubled over the same time last year. For the first time the ratio for baptisms has reached 1 per elder.

Pierre drove down to Milan to pick us up from this meeting and I noticed he seemed to drive more conservatively this time and Laney did not throw up. The car and traffic situation in Italy is different. For the most part cities are older and many roads were established before the advent of the automobile. Roads are narrower and parking is more scarce. Most of the vehicles are much smaller than here in the U.S. Occasionally you may see a larger car. I think I saw a Jeep Cherokee or two, a couple of Toyota SUV's and maybe even a Hummer. We made sure to point out the smallest and most unique vehicles, especially the little 3 wheeled 50cc trucks. Our favorite one though was a new Mercedes built "Smart". This was probably the smallest of the passenger cars, but very cute. It was very cube looking (except for the sloping windshield), with a wheelbase of perhaps 6-7 feet. It is just a 2 door-2 seater. I recently saw a little blurb on it in a car magazine and it has a little 80 hp 3 cylinder engine and gets up to 106 mph!

Jensen was fascinated with the graffiti she saw, especially what she saw while approaching the Milano Centrale station on the train. There was one picture that we wanted to get a photo of. But, we missed the chance. It was a very good rendering of police chief Wiggum from the Simpsons.

For Sunday, we had to pack up everything so we could leave directly from church to go the train station. We attended the Muggio Ward with the Tromeurs. This was in one of the few church-built buildings in Italy, in the Monza area. Unfortunately, the grounds were very unkempt. From remarks Pierre made, it sounds like the members expect the FM group to perform all of the groundskeeping duties. They may not be on the same program as us.

As happens in many cases, Pierre was the Stake Clerk, the High Priest group leader in his Ward and taught the lesson in Priesthood meeting. Liliana was the Ward Relief Society President and taught the Gospel Doctrine lesson. I was very impressed with one of the young women who spoke English quite well and played the piano in Primary and Sacrament. Also she had heard that the missionaries had a contact who was deaf so she learned sign language to help them teach her. Now she signs in Sacrament meeting for the hearing impaired.

A week or two before we went to Italy I toyed with the idea of offering to sing in Liliana's Sacrament meeting. But I dismissed the idea as selfish and egocentric. Shortly after arriving however, Liliana "asked" me if I would sing. She actually had already volunteered me. We decided to have the whole family sing "I Need Thee Every Hour" in two parts. As it worked out we were a little pressed for time, so we sang for the opening hymn. A little strange. But, it worked out OK. We left right after the sacrament in the Multipla for Stazione Centrale.

This was the worst part of the whole trip. We were going to miss the missionary/member open house in the afternoon. But, we needed to get to Santa Margherita to check in to the apartment. It was a very hot muggy day. We were still dressed in our church clothes. We ended up waiting at the station probably for 30 minutes waiting to know for sure which platform our train would be leaving from. Since we were loaded down with all our stuff, I didn't want to make a mistake and have to schlepp our bags from one platform to another.

This might be a good place to make a remark about public service announcements in train stations in Italy. Several times we could hear an announcement and the kids would ask me, "What did he say?" I think even to the Italians these are mostly unintelligible. I think the only thing I've ever understood in an announcement was "sta in partenza sul binario...blah, blah...anziche binario...blah, blah..." or "will depart from platform...(unintelligible)...rather than platform...(unintelligible)." Usually all you can understand is that some train headed for somewhere is leaving on a different platform than was originally planned. Which isn't good if it is your train.

The train station was very crowded and I was anxious, hot, and trying to keep an eye on our luggage. Jensen wanted a drink and I tried to get her to buy it herself without my language help. Finally, Pierre felt sorry for her and helped her out. I don't think any of the family tried to talk to an Italian the entire vacation without my help. They finally announced our platform and we boarded. Liliana had packed us a nice lunch to eat on the train with yummy meats and cheeses and some of my favorite Sicilian red orange juice. I was sweating profusely and felt we were a little country bumkin-ish scarfing our lunch with all our bags in our crowded rail car. I later learned that a lot of the other people in the car were also tourists. So I didn't feel like such a crass American.

When we arrived in Genova and had to switch trains I wasn't sure which train we needed and thus again didn't know which platform we needed. So I left everyone and the bags and went into the station to find out. By the end of the vacation I had again gotten used to how the schedules and everything worked. But, at this time I wasn't very good at it. I looked at the big board and at the paper schedules, and finally I went to the ticket window and asked. Any number of trains may go right by your destination without stopping. And it's also possible to catch a later train that will actually arrive earlier. I wanted to leave as soon as possible and make sure we arrived in town on time. The man at the window told me the next train we could take was leaving in 5 minutes. So I hurried back to the family and we ran lugging all our bags about 200 yards to the correct platform. We got there just in time and got all our bags on the train and then I remembered that I needed to "validate" our tickets. So Lenore blocked the door and the nice conductor waited while I got the ticket stamped in the little device right on the platform.

Once we got on this train and settled in I felt quite a bit more relaxed. We still had a ton of bags all over the car. But, all we had to do was get off at the right place. This car had more of a commuter "feel" to it and the Italians were very accommodating. Now it was later in the afternoon, we were riding along the coast and It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The windows were down. The breezes cooled us off and we could consistently catch scenic glimpses of the beach and the water.



Santa Margherita is a beautiful little town. It was once quite a favorite resort town of the beautiful people. We feel luck played a big part in our finding this neat little town. We wanted some time in Italy to just relax. Some of our best vacation time is spent at the beach in San Clemente, California. So we wanted a place on the coast. But, we also wanted to be close to Genova, and thus Milan and any city we might want to visit. So, we figured the Eastern Ligurian coast. There aren't a lot of sandy beaches in this area so we had to be careful. Using the internet we looked at some hotels in various places. But, the idea of an apartment or a villa seemed better to suit our needs. My friend Liliana had a friend who recommended the Hotel Due Mari in Sestri Levante. I talked on the phone and e-mailed them several times. They were even finishing construction/preparation of some apartment style rooms. The guy with whom I was to make reservations was supposed to call me back twice and never did. Fortunately, I took that as an omen and kept looking even though the vacation was fast approaching.

One property I keep seeing advertised on various sites on the internet was "Villino Matilde" in Santa Margherita Ligure. (Another picture here.) Facilities-wise it seemed to be what we were looking for, in our price range (I think it was about 800 - 900 Euros per week), and available. There are some major resort towns on the Ligurian coast. We didn't mind being close. But, figured we probably didn't want to be right in one of these. One of the best and most well-known resorts on the Italian Riviera and perhaps in all of Italy is Portofino. Santa Margherita is about 3 miles from Portofino.

A webcam of SML port can be found here.

I called the people who rent out this apartment and spoke with a very nice and personable young woman who confirmed there were sandy beaches in the vicinity. However, she told me she wasn't planning on renting the apartment in June because of some construction going on right next door. I talked it over with Lenore and called Christina back with the idea that we would ask for a discount because of the construction. She offered to rent it to us for 600 Euros for the week. We thought that was great.

To be honest, the pictures of this place on the internet are not terribly flattering, they portray it even as perhaps dumpy looking. In reality, the place is very quaint and cute. It is only about 600-700 total square feet on two levels, with a kitchen, family room, 2 bedrooms and a 3/4 bath. We found it very endearing and big enough for our needs. We could actually live in it if we had to. We found out that Christina works at, and her family owns, the hotel that is opposite the construction going on next door, the Nuova Riviera. Not the most ritzy. But, a very popular and nice hotel mentioned in most of the travel guides.

Most of our vacation really was near idyllic. We have never done a vacation like this (a lot of sight-seeing). We figured we wouldn't like it and we wouldn't be good at it. We were happily surprised to find that we could do it and enjoy it. The kids were really great (other than asking for gelato at every turn) and Laney was stellar.

Sunday night, our first night in Santa Margherita, Laney woke up screaming at half past midnight and literally just screamed for about a half hour. After only a couple of minutes the kids came into our room and were very concerned. We did everything we could think of, tried to console, poked and prodded. We couldn't tell if she was in pain or had a bad dream or what. I was starting to wonder who had been buried under the house or who had been murdered there. The hospital was only about 100 yards away and the kids started pleading with us to take her there. But, I guess I was too timid to do that. (At the time it seemed more appropriate to take her the extra 200 yards further to the Cathedral for exorcism.) I gave Laney a blessing and after a short while she settled down and went back to sleep. In the morning she was fine. We were all relieved that she was all right and made jokes about our "possessed" baby. She was fine except that occasionally she would get a demonic look on her face and sing, "la la la la la la" like the dog in the movie Little Rickey.

Lenore applied some of her psychology training to the episode and feels that the activities of that day had been just too much for Laney and had over loaded her senses.

In Europe there are private beaches and public beaches. For the most part the private beaches have nice imported sand, cabanas, chaises, and cost about 10 Euros per day per person. The public beaches are usually less nice but not quite so Las Vegasey.

Our first day in SML We asked Christina what beach we should go to. She told us to go to Paraggi and it was only a short 20 minute walk toward Portofino. I carried Laney in the backpack and we set out along the coast road. We walked a lot longer than 20 minutes and finally stopped at an okay beach that we later learned was just short of Paraggi. The water was quite comfortable and a beautiful turquoise blue just like the post cards.

While we were at SM we wanted to spend one day in Genova since it was so close (about 20 miles) and I had served there for 5 1/2 months. We had wanted to see Cimitero Monumentale while in Milan. But, we ran out of time. We read in the guide book that Genova has the second largest cemetery in the world (the largest is in Brazil, I think). Lenore had grown so interested in "dead things", so on Tuesday we headed to Genova and made our first stop at Staglieno cemetery. I never visited this place while on my mission but I do have a nice picture of it all lit up at night. It was an impressive cemetery. But, not the same format as Cimitero Monumentale. It was a large campus, very much like a very ordered military cemetery, with mainly quite small headstones. On the periphery there were two (I think) "rings" of corridors with larger, more impressive monument style graves. Just like the cemetery in Milan, the artistic talent on display is quite amazing, on par with most museum pieces.



Another site we wanted to see in Genova was Columbus' native home. I had seen it while I served my mission. They made a big deal about it being open once a year on his birthday. So we missionaries went to see it. I was flabbergasted that they wouldn't let us inside. They just opened the front doors so we could peer in. I guess not being allowed in wasn't that big a deal because it was just a stone box, two levels, with a footprint of maybe 200-300 square feet. When we visited this time it was not Columbus' birthday so the doors were not open and there were no Carabinieri on guard. We grabbed an unsuspecting Italian who took a couple of pictures of our family in front of it. Here very nearby, there is also an old gate of the city just like in Bergamo. I think the kids were starting to realize that Italy is a very old place.

Genova also hosts an aquarium that is supposed to be the second largest in the world. (I wonder if Genova has a complex over this second placing all the time.) It probably achieves this through its variety more than anything else. It is not as impressive as the aquarium in Monterey and probably that in San Francisco as well. However, at the skate display in Genova the fish are not shy. (In Monterey they swim just out of reach.) These skates and a couple of small sharks wanted to be petted. I had to put aside no small degree of concern and much instinct and training that says don't touch strange and menacing looking things, but I did. The little ray's skin felt hard and rough, much like I imagine a shark would feel. We all screwed up enough courage to touch them. But, we didn't press our luck by petting them extensively. There was also a neat little hummingbird forest at the facility that we visited as well.

We took the opportunity here in Genova to eat again at a sit down restaurant/bar and all I remember is I had some really qood penne (pasta) with a very yummy bolognese (tomato with ground beef and pork) sauce.

On Wednesday We went to Torino and had an interesting thing happen. We had ridden on about 14 different trains. In very hot, humid, open cars with little (or inconvenient) space for baggage, and difficult conditions for containing Laney (I'm sure a lot of these very trains were old even back when I was on my mission). But, that morning, quite by accident, we got on a train that had air conditioning and compartments for up to 6 people with reclining seats. This was great! We had comfort and privacy. We found out when the ticket controller came by that this was an intercity (IC) train and required a fairly negligible ticket upgrade that was about $2.50 per person. (No, I don't think she was just fishing for a bribe.) It was well worth it. We looked over the schedules and made sure that we took them on all of our remaining trips when possible. This was especially nice when we had to go back to Milan with all our bags.

Just like Cremona, it took me awhile to recognize and get oriented in Torino. We got on a bus and went north looking for the little church that houses the "Santo Sindone", the shroud of Turin. Unfortunately, the chapel closed for lunch right before we got there. So we wandered around a little and looked for a gift to take to Angela Giuliano. We saw some signs regarding the 2006 winter games to be held in Turin. Lenore says we did get back to see the Shroud display. But, I'm not so sure we made it back there.

We got on the bus to head to the Giulianos and asked for someone to indicate where to get off. We found after several situations where we had done this that it is a good idea to evaluate how confident the information-giver seemed to be in their directions. The Italians are so accommodating and eager to help that they will sometimes give instructions when they really don't know for sure.

Unfortunately, we were told to get off the bus one stop too early. There were two bus drivers at the bus stop where we got off. I asked them where we needed to go and even they didn't know very well. Eventually, we determined that we just needed to walk a little ways. For the first few blocks nothing looked familiar to me and I was starting to be concerned. But, we went just a little bit further and I finally started to recognize the place. I rang the citofono (intercom) at the appropriate apartment building and when Angela rang us in I made Lenore and the kids ride the elevator since it was a new experience for them. It was a maximum 3 person elevator. (Once on my mission we crammed 4 elders in one, but it's not a smart thing to do, especially not going up.)

The Giulianos had remodeled their humble apartment, approximately 400-500 square feet. She fed us a wonderful and varied lunch. One interesting note, At one point Angela wanted to change my plate because I was switching from one food to another. I protested because I felt bad about burdening her with so many dishes to wash. She said something about mixing salty foods with sweet. I'm guessing that is one of the reasons they change plates with every course.

One common story I found on my mission was that often an Elder's strongest convert was tracted out early in his mission. Sis Giuliano says it was my 12th day in Italy that Steve Smith and I first knocked on their door. I looked it up in my journal and found it was 20 June 1977. We were having lunch together again on 19 June 2002, almost exactly 25 years later!

I told her that my experience with her family during my mission was one of the best experiences of my mission. I remember mostly a Family Home Evening that we had with them the night before I or Elder Smith left town. Sis Giuliano said the closing prayer and the spirit was very strong. At that time I knew she knew what she had to do. Her husband was never receptive to the Gospel and died several years ago. Her two daughters, Claudia and Eva, and her son, Tito, all joined the church. Tito only remained active for a couple of years. He has a live-in girlfriend and a young daughter. Angela and the two daughters remain active to this day. Both daughters married non-members. The husband of one died unexpectedly a couple of years ago. She has since taken out her endowments and had her husband and daughter sealed to her in the Temple. The nonmember husband of the other has since joined the church and is serving as the district clerk. So Angela, two daughters and a son in law are active temple-worthy attending members.

I have never set down or shared with many the struggles of my mission. I'm not sure they were unordinary. My fear going in was in being able to maintain the schedule and the physical rigors of missionary work. I didn't know that I could be so consistent at getting up at 6:30am and going to bed at 10:30 pm. I didn't know I would respond well to the structure and routine of the LTM.

My struggles were of a different kind. I had really had a very happy and enjoyable time in my family and socially in the church during the last couple of years of high school. Of course when I arrived in Italy the finality and reality sank in and I was homesick. However, I was smart enough to know that I was homesick for something I could not go home to. I could go home. But, I would not return to what I had left. My life would never be the same and especially if I left the mission early.

Other than learning that important lesson my struggles on my mission mainly had to do with living up to perceived expectations; and learning how to best apply myself.

I wanted to serve the Lord. But, I hoped that would allow me to attain important missionary roles. I longed to fill positions like Wade: Zone Leader and Assistant to the President and be looked to as an example. (It didn't help that also my two best friends, Stuart and Chris served as AP's and later Sean also filled that prestigious calling.) I realized that mission demographics played a large part when I was made a senior companion and District Leader fairly early on. But, I thought that the position of Zone Leader couldn't be very far down the road. It never came. When I reconciled myself with this and got my heart in the right place we seemed to really be able to concentrate on the work and do some good. Then my companion wanted to go home and I couldn't convince him otherwise. It was one of the largest in a line of speed bumps on my mission. When I recovered from this and fearfully submitted myself to the Lord, offering to remain in Cremona for the rest of my mission, that's exactly what happened. I spent my last nine months there and finished up as President of the humble little Branch.

I feel I spent most of my mission time as a foot soldier, tracting 40-50 hours per week. There were weeks of endless door knocking in 95 degrees with matching humidity, while most of the people weren't home, or in freezing wind and snow. We would take turns managing the tracting record so we could keep our gloves on and not have to freeze our fingers all the time. We rode our bikes in snow and driving rain. We didn't face outright opposition. But worse, marked indifference and apathy.

I spoke to Angela Giuliano somewhat of Elder Steve Smith and told her that he had passed away. She wanted to know what he died of. I told her what I knew at the time, that he had died of AIDS. But, that I thought he was in good standing with the church when he died. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that Quinn McKinnon, my LTM companion whom she was also acquainted with, also died from AIDS several years ago.) Shortly after we returned from Italy a movie was aired locally on TV called the "Kim and Steve Smith Story" that explained in greater detail his illness and death and his ties with the Church. I have obtained a video copy of the show and converted it to PAL format for Europe and sent it to her. She watched it with a friend who could translate it for her.



In order to get any time at all at the Egyptian Museum, we had to leave Angela's house before her daughter got home from work. But, we told her when we were planning on leaving from the train station and she said they would try to meet us there. And indeed after we visited the Egyptian Museum and went to catch our train they did find us at Stazione Porta Nuova and they had a nice bag of treats and snacks for our train trip. Yummy Italian hospitality again!

The Egyptian Museum in Turin is supposed to be second only to the one in Cairo. I expected perhaps more mummies. There were maybe ten or so. Great statues and monuments filled two great halls. Another large display was made up of many tomb contents (including mummified pets: fish, cats, a crocodile or two, all sorts of foodstuffs that might be needed by the dead in the afterlife) and the walls of another were lined with a papyrus Book of the Dead. These parts I remember from a visit during my mission.

The next day (Thursday) in SML we set out to find the beach Christina meant for us to find on Monday. We took the bus to Portofino which turned out to be an adventure in itself. The road is a narrow two-lane affair that winds along the coast. On the straights it is a tight fit for a bus and another vehicle to pass. However, there are several sharp turns where it was difficult for the bus alone to pass. The driver would approach these turns with a honk of his horn to warn oncoming motorists. More than once the other driver had to stop hard and back up for us to pass.

We passed a very nice, large, orderly private beach in a large cove at Paraggi and I assumed that was where Christina was referring us to. But, right after it about 400 yards was a very small secluded cove that looked public and not crowded. It caught my eye. But, I wasn't sure if the others had seen it. I later learned that everyone in the family had noticed it.

As we neared Portofino I smelled the odor of burning rubber or heated electrics. But, it didn't register enough for me to wonder where it was coming from. Then one of the passengers alerted the driver that there was smoke coming out of one of interior panels of the bus. He stopped the bus right where we were on a curve, very effectively blocking the road both ways. We all got off the bus. No road traffic was going in or out of Portofino for a couple of hours.



We walked the remaining 200-300 yards into the town past the neat little church down a little salita to the port. There were lots of tourists probably from a cruise ship. We sort of looked around. But, we wanted to get away from the tourists so we walked back down the road to the little beach we had seen. (Here.)



"Our" beach was accessed by 30 or so steep stone and cement steps. It's just a little cove maybe 50 feet wide. Only part of it was "nice" sand. But the rest of it was acceptable. Being so close to the cliff, at least part of the beach and the water is shaded all the time, which was nice. The waves are just little ankle breakers and the water is very clear, visibility was probably abt 30 feet, and the water temperature was probably close to 80. We had fun swimming around and skipping stones.

There is a very lovely villa across the way from this little beach. Lenore and I imagine it is "our" home for the eternities. A picture of it can be found here.

 

Our 2 mile march 3 days prior and sleeping on the rather stiff Italian mattresses had taken its toll on my lower back and I was suffering. It only took a couple minutes of swimming/floating/stretching before I felt 100% better.

At one point Lenore wanted me to look after Laney so I took her hand and led her down to the water we played around awhile and I started looking around for stones to skip. I sort of forgot about Lane and got away from her. All of a sudden I heard some noise and confusion and someone yelling, Dad! Dad! I started turning around and saw one of the Italian sunbathers running into the water. Then I saw Laney floundering (and foundering) and sputtering in the water. She had gotten out a little ways and one of the puny waves had knocked her down. The Italian lady plucked her out of the water and handed her to me. I was quite embarrassed that I had so quickly and easily neglected her supervision. She was upset for a couple minutes. But, suffered no long lasting effects. Weeks later in San Clemente she had very little fear of the water and enjoyed herself immensely.

At this beach we ran into a couple from Atlanta. He was a drug rep and had won a national sales contest within his company. He told us the President of the company was a descendant of the Medici family and the company was headquartered right there in SML. They were staying at the very posh Miramar Hotel in SML. He spoke Italian very well. I didn't ask him where he learned it. I assumed at school or maybe after he started working for the company.

Christina, who rented the apartment to us and whose family owns and runs the hotel next door, had been very nice and solicitous. She had checked in with us probably everyday and was constantly apologizing for the "works" next door. Evidently many patrons at the hotel and even neighbors had complained quite a bit about it even though Christina had nothing to do with it. Thursday evening we were speaking with her to let her know that we had found her beach and thought it was heavenly. She wanted to make up for the noise from the construction and offered us a bottle of wine. We told her we didn't drink wine. (Yes, I didn't take advantage of the potential missionary moment.) Later in our conversation we mentioned that we were going out to dinner Friday evening, our last night in Italy. She said she knew a wonderful restaurant and would make a reservation for us.

Our Thursday and Friday in SML were wonderful, exactly what we had wanted. The "duties" of sightseeing were all taken care of and we could just relax and enjoy ourselves. Our Friday plan was to go back to "our" beach

(Ominous music) When we went down to the Bus stop Friday morning to go to Portofino we found signs stating that the buses were on strike until 5pm! I remembered reading the notices the week before at the train station in Milan about a train strike to occur on Friday, but I didn't realize it included the buses. So we had a dilemma. Lenore suggested we walk. But, I really didn't think that was a good idea with my back giving me trouble. I wanted to check into taking a taxi. I asked one of the drivers and he said 16 Euros one way (he may have been taking advantage of the train and bus strike.) That was more than I wanted it to be. Lenore suggested just staying at the public beach there in SML. Well, compared to our beach in Paraggi, the beach at SML was a poor telestial kingdom. I then thought we could use one of private beaches. But, that would have been 50 Euros and beside the exorbitant cost, Lenore was dead set against the Las Vegas experience that would entail.

This situation was causing some consternation and strife. I'm glad I didn't get upset and create a worse situation. Finally, Lenore remembered the ferry boat that runs around the Tigullio peninsula. It was something that we had wanted to do. I checked on the price and it was something like 22.50 Euros round trip for the whole family. This was the perfect solution and I was very pleased with this outcome.

I don't want you to think that our marriage is one of consistent strife over expenses. I'm not always trying to spend lots of money and Lenore is not always simply keeping me in check. We usually strike a very good balance in money matters. Earlier in our marriage this situation might have easily escalated to a vigorous row. I'm glad that both Lenore and I have the love, consideration, experience and trust enough to stay calm and allow the best solution to present itself. If we had gotten all upset at each other over this I think in a very real way we would have stifled our "karma". In this case we felt karmically blessed.

The ferry was about a 50 foot boat and there were about 50 people on it. The trip to Portofino was about 45 minutes. But, really didn't seem that long. We took some photos and video of the picturesque views from the boat. I think Laney, and even the big kids, quite enjoyed the boat ride. At one point Lenore pointed out to me a very large and older yacht named "Christina O". I figured it was at least 100 feet in length. Boy, was I bad at estimating. I later looked on the internet and found it is more than 300 feet long. It is no longer owned by the Onasis family as of a couple of years ago. It has been renovated and rents out for $70,000 a day. It accommodates 35 people and has an equal number of staff.



We had a great time at the beach. We realized the conditions were good for snorkeling. So I walked into Paraggi to buy a mask and snorkel. This time rather than walk the road which is really fairly dangerous, I saw a footpath (not entirely unlike the path to the potholes at family camp) and had a lovely short walk into town. We later found that the footpath goes from SML to Portofino and that was probably how Christina meant for us to get to the beach in the first place.

The snorkeling was really quite fun. I think the kids really enjoyed it. Like Hawaii there were lots of fish to see. I found an anchor that was stuck on some cable about 10-12 feet down. I tried a couple times to bring it up. But, it was going to take more than a couple of seconds to free it and it was covered with imperceptible pricklies that hurt my fingers. It might have been the beginnings of coral and I imagined getting some exotic infection because of it. Perhaps if I had some diving gloves I might have been able to bring it up. I did find a small (7 inch?) hexagonal terra cotta tile with some imprinted writing and encrusted with some stucco. It was my Italian vacation souvenir and I brought it home.

We left our idyllic beach for the last time and walked the footpath back to Portofino. We had our next to last gelato at the slightly pricier gelateria right on the port. Each gelateria seems to have a special or unique flavor (the one we frequented in SML had "puffo", Jensen's favorite.) In Portofino we had Creme Caramel which was very good.

We got ready for our dinner at "La Lampara" restaurant. Lampara is probably a dialect word for lampada which means lantern. We took a passagiata (walk) down to the seafront and took in the Friday evening atmosphere. Jensen called Kimmie for the last time to check in on our pets. There were lots of people sitting in the front patios at the pricier restaurants with a view of the ocean. Ours was just a short way off the seafront. We were the only people at the restaurant when we got there. Actually 7:30 is a little early for the evening meal in Italy. We enjoyed the dinner (Laney got a little out of hand near the end) and we tried to do the whole Italian meal thing. But, couldn't really do all the courses for everyone. Not simply to avoid running up the bill. It's just a lot of food. I didn't really pick the best plate for myself. It was veal, which I love. But, it was a sort of a veal pate loaf.

When I asked for the check the lady told me that Christina had taken care of it. I was floored. I'm sure it was at least 100 Euros, probably quite a bit more than the bottle of wine she had offered us.

We took our last little walk back through town to our apartment and stopped for our last gelato.

I was stressing a little about the next morning's task of lugging the bags from taxi to train to train to bus to plane and making it to the airport on time. The way everything worked out I ended up each time carrying the 3 largest suitcases and the largest shoulder bag. We debated taking the earliest train just to make sure we could get to the airport with enough time. But, overall it wouldn't make that much difference. We were mostly concerned with getting the IC train so we could be comfortable in a compartment and easily keep an eye on our luggage.

We had to connect with the IC train in Genova so we made the change at the Brignole station since the train was stopping there and at Porto Principe. This way we might get on before the crowds and thereby get our compartment. On this first train there was even a car that was essentially just a box car with no seats. You could buy a very discounted ticket and ride in that car. In the IC trains there are little overflow fold-down jump seats in the aisles of the trains and I can remember occupying one of those uncomfortable positions on a mission transfer. I didn't want to do it again. It ended up that the IC train was a little late into Genova so our time was tight when we got into Milan.

I had checked into the airport shuttle buses the last time we were in the train station in Milan. I left everybody and all the bags and hurried over to the bus terminal where I waited at the head of the line for at least 10 minutes while the clerk chatted on the phone with a family member. She probably thought I couldn't understand her and I would assume it was not a personal call.

I didn't realize there was more than one bus line that shuttled people the 50 minute trip to Malpensa airport so we didn't actually leave on the next departing bus, causing a little more anxiety and consternation. Then to top it off our driver had a 15 minute argument with one of the passengers who he apparently thought hadn't paid for a ticket.

We made it to the airport with about 1 hour to spare and walked by the guards with their small machine guns. At the Alitalia check-in counter thankfully there was absolutely no one waiting to check in! They singled out Jensen's bag for an impromptu inspection. But, cut it short because we were running out of time. I wouldn't recommend showing up for an international flight with only an hour to spare. But, we didn't have to do any waiting at the airport and with customs and all just sort of breezed from one step to the next onto the plane. We were practically the last people to board the plane.

I don't recall much eventful happening on the flight home. Laney got her own seat from Milan to NYC. We watched "A Beautiful Mind" and I enjoyed it well enough. But, I'm not sure I would have had it do so well at the Oscars. Our plane was late leaving NYC and Laney did not get her own seat. We were pretty cramped and tired on this last leg.

One of the things we noticed that we thought was silly when we got to NY. We had to pick up our bags to go through customs and INS inspection. The line took a little while. But, it wasn't too bad. At the INS station we had to surrender our precious Italian salame that we were trying to bring into the country. I'll bet the inspectors had it for lunch! The silly thing was after doing all of this and re-checking our bags, never leaving a "secured" area, they made us all go through the metal detectors again! By this point all nerves were wearing thin and time for some people was running short before the departure of their flights.

Some notes on Italian food:

One of our favorite Italian foods is a desert called "tiramisu" (see the movie Sleeping in Seattle). It is ladyfingers soaked in espresso and rum or marsala with creamy mascarpone cheese or zabaglione and perhaps some chocolate shavings. We have never had any that wasn't homemade or "chef" prepared. We saw some for sale at a grocery store in little plastic dessert cups that were probably "factory" made. So we bought some. It was probably the ickiest thing we have ever had. I think the biggest problem was the excessive amount of alcohol. I guess they usually just use the flavoring. But, these were dripping with it. They weren't even very sweet.

When Liliana and I were neighbors in the Italian houses and did cooking and dishwashing together I grew quite fond of a couple of her Italian dishes. One of these was Risotto Milanese. I mentioned it to her and she made it for us one night. It is a rice dish made with mushrooms and onions and sometimes saffron. She was probably one of the better cooks at BYU at the time and her skills are not diminished in the least. Liliana also introduced us to a "new" strain of tomato that I think we don't have here called "ox heart" or "beef heart". They were quite large (especially for an Italian tomato) and ripe and juicy.

Some of our yogurt here in the states is ok. But we labor under the no-fat/low-fat myth. No such problem with Italians. There you can find full-fat yogurt and it is creamy and delicious. We ate quite a lot of it.