Leonardo arrived at the hotel around ten, and the 3 of us headed out. Finally, I had a guide who would show me where the chic Italian women shopped! We walked away from the hotel and looked for a pharmacy for Lance, still ailing, and walked and talked. They plopped on a bench when I found a cool t-shirt shop, and then we separated as Lance headed back to rest and Leonardo and i kept on going. I caught up on the family and his own plans, and he was very patient while I stopped in a few stores, and ooh-ed and aah-ed at incredibly styling stores and windows.
Yes, that’s fur on that heel!
Finally, i understood why everyone talks about the fashion in Milan. He showed me that Guido Gobino had opened a little shop in town (so I didn’t have to pick up numerous bags for him in Torino) and then he introduced me to Odilla, which I liked even better!
We stopped in a grocery store to pick up something for Lance (and while not as beautiful as the food porn in Whole Foods, the selection and variety put all US supermarkets to shame) and then we headed into a restaurant he had been wanting to try. I’d left it completely up to him – just saying I wanted it to be excellent.
He didn’t disappoint! A real old-school kind of place with older, male waiters (who promptly brought over their selection of jumbo white truffles) and the place filling up with nattily dressed businessmen. The 4 people at the table next to us were evidently having the truffle tasting menu, and we inhaled the wafting aromas. Our meal was one of my top 5. I had orrechiete with broccoli and baby squid:
and then the most incredible charred porcini mushroom caps over tomato sauce:
A bit of dessert, and we headed back to the hotel. But not before he showed me Via della Spiga, the uber nice shopping street for locals. He headed with me over to Peck to select my 5 bottles of olive oil to bring back in my suitcase, then kiss, kiss and he headed back home as I grunted and shoved all my goodies into my trooper of a Rimowa suitcase.
Time for Carolyn’s birthday dinner at The Small. We agreed it had the best ambiance of any restaurant we’d been to:
and the first course was awesome:
but the second course was just so-so. However, we’d called and ordered a tiramisu birthday cake:
which was super-duper yummy. We surprised and delighted the waiter by asking for spoons only, and we all dug in until we’d had way too much. A fun end to an incredible adventure. Out to the airport at dawn the next morning, we all were on the same flight from Frankfurt to Denver. We returned in a daze, and almost immediately I missed the beautiful architecture of Italy.