il rientro

After a quick flight over the Atlantic, I landed early last Saturday morning in rainy London. I don't know if it was the butterflies in my stomach or the lingering suspense of the Swedish thriller movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" that I caught on the flight, but for some reason I couldn't sleep. After dashing through the security checkpoint obstacle course in Heathrow's terminal 5 I made it to my red eye flight to Milan, and before I knew it we had landed at Linate.

Instantly, I felt as though I had arrived at home. Rowdy Italians joked around with each other while waiting for luggage and the distinct smell of rich espresso emanated from the airport bar while I briskly made my way to the bus eager to get to Milan.

delicious breakfast, Milano style!

 I had to wait for my friend Maria to finish work on Saturday morning, and to kill time I enjoyed a cappuccino and brioche al cioccolato (which amazingly costs just 2 €) and tried one too many incorrect PIN codes for my Italian debit card, which was then eaten up by the ATM. No big deal, I just had to wait 2 days for the bank to open and 3 weeks to get a new bank card sent to me (anything less would be un-Italian).

Maria met me at Porta Genova a little while later. It's the most wonderful thing reuniting with great friends; even if a substantial amount of time has passed, it can feel like you just saw each other the other day and practically pick up a conversation that you left off months ago. She was just as bubbly and wonderful as she always has been and it was such a treat to catch up on that sunny Saturday afternoon. The weekend was off to a wonderful start!