Trip of a Lifetime

When I began writing a blog, I hoped to share adventures, misadventures, and the general observances of everyday life. In the last few months we have had more “everyday life” than we expected and while there were things that would have made a good blog post, I was distracted and did not write.

Several months ago, my friend Cindy asked if I wanted to go on a girls trip to Tuscany. TUSCANY! Of course I said yes, and Cindy planned an amazing trip. With all that has been happening, the trip was upon me before I knew it. We won’t dwell on the drama I caused myself and others finding clothes and packing for twelve days in Italy with fabulous women.

Cindy is a genius. She invited five friends to go on this trip where we would spend a couple of days in Milan, then a week in a villa in Florence. I knew Cindy and one other of the group, my friend Sally. I assumed everyone else knew each other. I was wrong. Cindy decided we should be friends so she orchestrated it.

In the group are Cindy, and Sally, who are close friends from church. And Beth, Dana, and Judy, who are new best friends for life. All but Dana are from Nashville. We know a lot of the same people, but did not know each other before this trip. Cindy could not have found a more fun, different, and cohesive group of women. By the time we arrived in Milan, we had confused bartenders in two restaurants in JFK, tried out all the Delta and Alitalia Lounges, and learned each other’s stories.

We landed in the rain, checked into our hotel, and headed out to tour the city. Our guide spoke perfect English, with a strong, strong, strong Italian accent and a soft, whispery voice. What we heard was “Ssssss-Duomo-sssssss-Viscotti-sssssss-Leonardo-sssssss-Atrium-sssssss-Castle-ssssss-Last Supper.” We were able to skip the lines, move quickly around the major sites, and have a good, if wet, overview of the city.

Beth had booked dinner reservations for Lo Felix Basso, a Michelin star restaurant in the Atrium in Milan. We were seated at 7:30, which is when they opened. We had not yet adjusted to the Italy norm of eating at 10 pm, nor had we had much sleep in the last 36 hours. I will admit to having the most pedestrian of palates. I don’t even like mustard. But when you are offered food that has been judged to be the best in the world and is prettier than art, you put it in your mouth and say thank you. The entire experience was spectacular. I lost track of the courses they brought. The tableware for each dish was unique and fascinating. And we sat at a table that overlooked the Piazza.

After a short night of dead sleep, we reconvened early for a different tour of Milan. This time our tour guide was the fabulous Catia who spoke perfect English as well as Latin and several other languages. She took us beneath the Duomo to see the excavations and then to the roof. Milan from the roof of the Duomo was magical as was the roof itself. The carvings, mostly to the glory of God, but some to the glory of whomever was in charge at the time, are fascinating. You could follow the political and power evolution by the designs carved into the marble.

I could have stayed all day, but there was too much to see and Catia was so knowledgeable. She took us to tour the museums of the Castle by way of the fashion district. The Castle showed the art of Milan through the centuries. Anything after the 17th Century is quite modern. Like the carvings on top of the Duomo, this art reflected the power and the politics of the day. Much of it was breathtaking, but among my favorites was a relief carved into marble of a woman holding up her skirts and showing her…self. It was made to ridicule the wife of a hated conqueror. There were many images of The Virgin Mary and Jesus. My favorite shows an obviously young, tired teenage Mary. The baby Jesus looks like a little brute. No beatific angelic faces for that artist.

We splintered and went different ways. I joined Cindy and Judy on a shopping expedition. Oh. My. Word. Let’s just say it was an education. These women are PROS. They know style. They know what they like. And they know how to duck down the right alleys to find the very freshest, newest, most fabulous new things. I bought gloves. I am a beginner, but I have all week to be tutored by these masters.

That evening we went to La Scala to see Julius Caesar. I had never been to the opera. My dad loved opera and would have loved to have seen this, so it was special to me. The opera house is lush, rich red velvet with ornate gold throughout. We had really good seats in the first gallery and could see into the boxes below us. The Italians of the time when La Scala was built must have been a small people. The seats were tight, with no leg room to speak of, but who cares. The whole place was red velvet. Every surface was covered by red velvet. It was like being inside a jewel box.

Halfway through the first act, I realized that the little screen cutting into my knees was a translator for the words. Mine did not work, which was fine since it took me so long to get it above my knees. I had read that this opera was originally written for Castrati, men who had a certain surgery to keep their voices high. I have no idea how the singers who sang the role now hit those notes. I will assume they just have a special gift. It was quite difficult to tell when the person singing was a man or a woman. The staging was modern, so we were expecting togas but got military uniforms, razor wire and jeeps. Cleopatra was spectacular.

I have to say, the actual words that they sing are pretty simple and repetitive. When a man whose voice is higher than mine is singing about avenging his father repeating the same words ad nauseum, it’s a little hard to take him seriously. Just shoot him already! With the modern staging it was a bit Monty Python, which totally worked. We had to not laugh during the performance, but giggled at length afterwards.

We had a bite to eat after the opera and the diva, the gorgeous singer who played Cleopatra, came into the restaurant. We applauded then the rest of the restaurant applauded. It was terribly exciting. We finally called it a night around 2 am.

We had a late start on Friday before catching the train to Florence. This trip keeps getting better and better.