And a little collage
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Last night in Paris
What greets us every morning. 6th floor! This is why Parisians are in shape.
Today we did some brief walk-bys of L'Opera House and the mall located across the street.
Then to the Musee D'Orsay
Look I'm standing on Paris!
Which one did Monet paint colorblind?
??
Afterwards, we decided to go back home.
But not without buying all dark chocolate from this wonderful Chocolatier!
And don't forget about the Fromagerie! Ummm smelled so good! But we didn't have time to check it out since we had to get ready for a night out on town.
With the boys before going out
<3
On le metro to Erhan's friend's place right outside of Paris.
When we arrived outside the apartment, we were greeted with none other than Erhan yelling "ALLO SALOPE!" Then he quickly realized that everyone around him understands French and ran back into the apartment complex to hide.
Isabel, Carlos, L'Erhan D'Ilhan, Raf, and I. Aperitif time! Champagne, Ricard (blechh), Bugles and chips.
Carlos graciously drove us to eat at Commerce du Paris in the 15th. This place was HUGE! You wouldn't think so from looking on the outside of the restaurant.
Me and Shirin
Timo got scallops!
L'Erhan only eats meat well done... ???
This is what I had. Beouf with mushroom/cream sauce. This was SO rich and tender!
This is what Raf ordered. Probably the best duck breast I have had thus far! Funny thing is, Shirin ordered the same thing and wanted medium well to well-done. The waiter was like "Non" - they won't cook it like that because it tastes best when it's medium. hah!
Good times!
Dinner was lots of fun. Great food, great friends, and funny/great waiters. Dinner started around 10pm I believe. We didn't get out until 12:30! How cool is that? Everything in the states closes at 9 (except for Denny's and bad Pho places, of course). Afterwards, I was sooo incredibly sleepy but this was our last night in Paris - I had to trek on!
In a French club that played an interesting mix of music - old French songs - trance - Madonna - American alternative. It was VERY hard to breathe because of all the smoking. It was like being hotboxed - blech! (Btw, January 07 is when they outlaw smoking indoors - I wonder how that is going to pan out!)
At the end of the night, around 330am.
We had to catch the metro to the airport around 600 so I decided to stay up all night (can you believe it... ME? Pull an all nighter??) By the time I finished packing and showering, I had 30 minutes to kill so I decided to cook an omelette. Ah ~ never too tired to cook!
Today we did some brief walk-bys of L'Opera House and the mall located across the street.
Then to the Musee D'Orsay
Look I'm standing on Paris!
Which one did Monet paint colorblind?
??
Afterwards, we decided to go back home.
But not without buying all dark chocolate from this wonderful Chocolatier!
And don't forget about the Fromagerie! Ummm smelled so good! But we didn't have time to check it out since we had to get ready for a night out on town.
With the boys before going out
<3
On le metro to Erhan's friend's place right outside of Paris.
When we arrived outside the apartment, we were greeted with none other than Erhan yelling "ALLO SALOPE!" Then he quickly realized that everyone around him understands French and ran back into the apartment complex to hide.
Isabel, Carlos, L'Erhan D'Ilhan, Raf, and I. Aperitif time! Champagne, Ricard (blechh), Bugles and chips.
Carlos graciously drove us to eat at Commerce du Paris in the 15th. This place was HUGE! You wouldn't think so from looking on the outside of the restaurant.
Me and Shirin
Timo got scallops!
L'Erhan only eats meat well done... ???
This is what I had. Beouf with mushroom/cream sauce. This was SO rich and tender!
This is what Raf ordered. Probably the best duck breast I have had thus far! Funny thing is, Shirin ordered the same thing and wanted medium well to well-done. The waiter was like "Non" - they won't cook it like that because it tastes best when it's medium. hah!
Good times!
Dinner was lots of fun. Great food, great friends, and funny/great waiters. Dinner started around 10pm I believe. We didn't get out until 12:30! How cool is that? Everything in the states closes at 9 (except for Denny's and bad Pho places, of course). Afterwards, I was sooo incredibly sleepy but this was our last night in Paris - I had to trek on!
In a French club that played an interesting mix of music - old French songs - trance - Madonna - American alternative. It was VERY hard to breathe because of all the smoking. It was like being hotboxed - blech! (Btw, January 07 is when they outlaw smoking indoors - I wonder how that is going to pan out!)
At the end of the night, around 330am.
We had to catch the metro to the airport around 600 so I decided to stay up all night (can you believe it... ME? Pull an all nighter??) By the time I finished packing and showering, I had 30 minutes to kill so I decided to cook an omelette. Ah ~ never too tired to cook!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Le Cordon Bleu, US reunion
Today we went to visit Le Cordon Bleu Paris. We didn't have an appointment but luckily, one of the admissions reps had time to take us into the classes. We were able to see a basic class (they were already cooking poulty), dessert classes, and bread-making classes. I picked up a couple applications for myself and Caroline, and also picked up a couple dessert technique books. Ah for the love of cooking. Julia Child went here, and then later revolutionalized French cooking in America. If it wasn't for her and Jacques Pepin's cooking show, my interest in cooking at the young age of 5 would have never happened.
Afterwards, we decided to check out the other side of the Eiffel Tower.
Ginger eyes! (I dared Raf to wear his hair like that the whole day. hehe)
And then we decided to walk around aimlessly, pleasantly soaking up all the sites Paris has to offer. We later unded up at Auguste Rodin's house for the garden tour. To spare the 18729873248973 pictures, I will just post this famous art piece:
We also saw the Gates of Hell, where a French tour guide was describing that all 100 people on the sculpture was real and was put to death for their hideous crimes. One criminal in particular was put to death (including his wife and "descendants) by starvation! That must be the worst punishment ever!
On our way back home, we were FAMISHED - une crepe avec du nutella, here we come!
Raf and his nutella soulpatch
Later on, Erhan, Erhan's sister, and Shirin came into town from Chambley (just outside of Paris). We decided to walk around Saint-Michel to grab a bite to eat.
I always come into contact with the cutest international stray kitties! (In Costa Rica, St. Emilion, etc) This one jumped up on the door like he was going to open it. Cute!
There are too many options here! We really walked around for what felt like an hour to decide on a restaurant. (Good thing we had that crepe!) We stood in front of two Italian restaurants and decided on the one with outdoor seating.
After dinner, L'Erhan and friends had to catch the metro home, so me, Raf, and Timo decided to take a walk.
Notre Dame is so beautiful at night.
Afterwards, we decided to check out the other side of the Eiffel Tower.
Ginger eyes! (I dared Raf to wear his hair like that the whole day. hehe)
And then we decided to walk around aimlessly, pleasantly soaking up all the sites Paris has to offer. We later unded up at Auguste Rodin's house for the garden tour. To spare the 18729873248973 pictures, I will just post this famous art piece:
We also saw the Gates of Hell, where a French tour guide was describing that all 100 people on the sculpture was real and was put to death for their hideous crimes. One criminal in particular was put to death (including his wife and "descendants) by starvation! That must be the worst punishment ever!
On our way back home, we were FAMISHED - une crepe avec du nutella, here we come!
Raf and his nutella soulpatch
Later on, Erhan, Erhan's sister, and Shirin came into town from Chambley (just outside of Paris). We decided to walk around Saint-Michel to grab a bite to eat.
I always come into contact with the cutest international stray kitties! (In Costa Rica, St. Emilion, etc) This one jumped up on the door like he was going to open it. Cute!
There are too many options here! We really walked around for what felt like an hour to decide on a restaurant. (Good thing we had that crepe!) We stood in front of two Italian restaurants and decided on the one with outdoor seating.
After dinner, L'Erhan and friends had to catch the metro home, so me, Raf, and Timo decided to take a walk.
Notre Dame is so beautiful at night.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sacre Coeur, Sexodrome, Moulin Rouge, PDL Paris
Today was another day of some site-seeing for places we missed from our last trip. Our first stop was Sacre Coeur. Silly me decided to wear my stiletto boots today.
From the bottom
Getting higher
We made it! Can you spot some famous tourist attractions behind me?
At the bottom of Sacre Coeur, there are a bunch of French-Africans selling knick knacks. It was pretty funny because the guys were trying to sell us stuff in English.
Raf said (in French): "We don't speak English. No thanks."
Knick knack guy: "Oh you should buy a bracelet for your beautiful Japanese girlfriend."
Raf (in French): "No thanks. And she's not Japanese, she's Chinese."
LOL this is not the first time this has happened. Many of the French think I am Japanese. hahaha. I get that quite a bit in the US as well.
The area around Sacre Coeur is where all the fabric stores are. It's very Bohemian. We walked a few blocks down to check out the Moulin Rouge.
Check out this cool gas station:
What do you do at a Sexodrome? Me and Raf pictured naked people rollerskating in circles. HAHAHAH
You can go to Pussy's, then to the hotel, then the Sex shop, grab a coffee and snack at the brasserie, and then get sushi at the restaurant next door. Sounds pretty good, huh?
We made it!
The prices here are pretty outrageous, and we heard there are better burlesque shows in Paris. Regardless, I really wanted to check it out in person. Pretty cool. I need to watch the movie again. Even though this area is considered pretty seedy, it really didn't feel that "ghetto." The more ghetto (if you can call it that) areas in Paris are nothing compared to back in the bay like Oakland, etc. I didn't really see people here that made me feel uncomfortable.
Next stop: PDL Paris. On our way back to the metro:
Before we hit PDL Paris, we had to get a snack. Or more like my hungry ass needed to get something. I had a SANDWICH RILLETTE D'OI! For those of you who don't know, it is simply a baguette filled with goose meat mixed with a bit of liver. Despite how simple this was, it was so f'in GOOD!
PDL Paris is located in the 1st arrondisement - shopping district. PDL HQ: Stank ass Fremont, PDL Paris: rue de Rivoli. How does this happen???
I was able to meet some of my fellow colleagues. They were really cool and welcoming and even invited us to lunch the next day. (Unfortunately, we didn't have time.) Since we were already in the shopping district, we decided to do none other than --- shop! We hit up Mango, Zara, H&M, and Promod. I was able to find a very Parisian hat at H&M for only 6 Euro. I also bought a cool sweater at Promod. Raf found the perfect jacket in Zara, but unfortunately he didn't get it, and wouldn't let me buy it for him (tsk tsk you can't get it in the US!).
After shopping, we hit up the Super Marche for some groceries. I was really in the cooking mood and walking by all these fresh markets was a big tease. (After all, it was Thanksgiving). I stocked up on water, ORANGE-GINA (a la Timo), chicken and fresh veggies. The groceries here seem to be better and also cheaper. They don't last as long, of course, because they don't have preservatives and all that other crap sprayed on their veggies.
We finished the night off with an experimental dinner. I felt like making chicken pot pie filling. I simply blanched some green beans and carrots, sauteed the chicken in pure, deliceux butter and milk, add them all together, and...
Voila !
Happy Thanksgiving! At least we had some type of bird. ;)
From the bottom
Getting higher
We made it! Can you spot some famous tourist attractions behind me?
At the bottom of Sacre Coeur, there are a bunch of French-Africans selling knick knacks. It was pretty funny because the guys were trying to sell us stuff in English.
Raf said (in French): "We don't speak English. No thanks."
Knick knack guy: "Oh you should buy a bracelet for your beautiful Japanese girlfriend."
Raf (in French): "No thanks. And she's not Japanese, she's Chinese."
LOL this is not the first time this has happened. Many of the French think I am Japanese. hahaha. I get that quite a bit in the US as well.
The area around Sacre Coeur is where all the fabric stores are. It's very Bohemian. We walked a few blocks down to check out the Moulin Rouge.
Check out this cool gas station:
What do you do at a Sexodrome? Me and Raf pictured naked people rollerskating in circles. HAHAHAH
You can go to Pussy's, then to the hotel, then the Sex shop, grab a coffee and snack at the brasserie, and then get sushi at the restaurant next door. Sounds pretty good, huh?
We made it!
The prices here are pretty outrageous, and we heard there are better burlesque shows in Paris. Regardless, I really wanted to check it out in person. Pretty cool. I need to watch the movie again. Even though this area is considered pretty seedy, it really didn't feel that "ghetto." The more ghetto (if you can call it that) areas in Paris are nothing compared to back in the bay like Oakland, etc. I didn't really see people here that made me feel uncomfortable.
Next stop: PDL Paris. On our way back to the metro:
Before we hit PDL Paris, we had to get a snack. Or more like my hungry ass needed to get something. I had a SANDWICH RILLETTE D'OI! For those of you who don't know, it is simply a baguette filled with goose meat mixed with a bit of liver. Despite how simple this was, it was so f'in GOOD!
PDL Paris is located in the 1st arrondisement - shopping district. PDL HQ: Stank ass Fremont, PDL Paris: rue de Rivoli. How does this happen???
I was able to meet some of my fellow colleagues. They were really cool and welcoming and even invited us to lunch the next day. (Unfortunately, we didn't have time.) Since we were already in the shopping district, we decided to do none other than --- shop! We hit up Mango, Zara, H&M, and Promod. I was able to find a very Parisian hat at H&M for only 6 Euro. I also bought a cool sweater at Promod. Raf found the perfect jacket in Zara, but unfortunately he didn't get it, and wouldn't let me buy it for him (tsk tsk you can't get it in the US!).
After shopping, we hit up the Super Marche for some groceries. I was really in the cooking mood and walking by all these fresh markets was a big tease. (After all, it was Thanksgiving). I stocked up on water, ORANGE-GINA (a la Timo), chicken and fresh veggies. The groceries here seem to be better and also cheaper. They don't last as long, of course, because they don't have preservatives and all that other crap sprayed on their veggies.
We finished the night off with an experimental dinner. I felt like making chicken pot pie filling. I simply blanched some green beans and carrots, sauteed the chicken in pure, deliceux butter and milk, add them all together, and...
Voila !
Happy Thanksgiving! At least we had some type of bird. ;)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Ciao Milano, Bonjour Paris !
Today we had to catch a flight back to Paris around noon. Luckily, our hotel offered free breakfast. It was buffet style - quality typical to that of US hotels. They had a whole basket of croissants with nutella, pizza, amongst other things. The cappucinno I had was good, but the food was... eh... Croissants kinda dry but with nutella, it tasted ok. (Nutella fixes everything!) The pizza was actually decent though.
We went back to the train station to catch the shuttle back to the airport, and another Italian guy asks us for directions! It's weird because this is the third time this has happened (and they always ask us in English). hahaha, I really don't think we look like locals just by the way we dress and look.
Anyway, when we got to the airport, we ended up getting off at the wrong terminal. Arghh, we had to go back to another shuttle stop and wait for the next shuttle to take us back. While we were waiting, this older Italian guy across the street was yelling at us in Italian and waving his hands all over the place. We were like WTF? Maybe he's telling us we are at the wrong shuttle stop. We cross the street, while he is getting on his shuttle, and continues to yell at us in Italian and wave his hands all over the place a la Russell Peters. Raf was like "we don't speak Italian. Is this going to Terminal 2?" He responds by screaming in Italian, then saying "Tear-mee-nal two ovah there!"
Uhhhh, okay. To this day we have no idea what he was talking about and why he was screaming at us in Italian. Now we really can't wait to get back to Paris!
Russell Peters on Italians
When we finally arrived around 5pm, we dropped off our stuff and literally went downstairs and grabbed a sandwich grecques.
Remember this? Vivre la France ! It was SOO GOOD!
Oh la la, this was SOOO SATISFYING. After we gobbled this down, we just stayed in and unpacked/settled down. We later went out again for another snack. Stopped by another random cafe on our way to the Super Marche and had Soupe de L'oignon (French onion soup) and Chocolat Chaud (hot chocolate). Through much of this trip, only real French I have been speaking is when I order in restaurants. hah! The waiter was patient with me and responded back to me in French. Across from the cafe, was Notre Dame. What a site - it is so insanely beautiful at night. I can't believe that this is part of everyday life here in Paris.
After our snack, we decided to take a random trip to the Louvre. The Louvre is also extremely beautiful at night.
Me doing the Ginger eyes. This picture doesn't do it justice.
But this one does:
After the Louvre, we strolled around Saint-Michel and Saint-Germain. Raf was starting to lose it, so I had to "take him around." ;) Ah, we are so lucky that Timo lives in a great area! It's good to be back. =)
We went back to the train station to catch the shuttle back to the airport, and another Italian guy asks us for directions! It's weird because this is the third time this has happened (and they always ask us in English). hahaha, I really don't think we look like locals just by the way we dress and look.
Anyway, when we got to the airport, we ended up getting off at the wrong terminal. Arghh, we had to go back to another shuttle stop and wait for the next shuttle to take us back. While we were waiting, this older Italian guy across the street was yelling at us in Italian and waving his hands all over the place. We were like WTF? Maybe he's telling us we are at the wrong shuttle stop. We cross the street, while he is getting on his shuttle, and continues to yell at us in Italian and wave his hands all over the place a la Russell Peters. Raf was like "we don't speak Italian. Is this going to Terminal 2?" He responds by screaming in Italian, then saying "Tear-mee-nal two ovah there!"
Uhhhh, okay. To this day we have no idea what he was talking about and why he was screaming at us in Italian. Now we really can't wait to get back to Paris!
Russell Peters on Italians
When we finally arrived around 5pm, we dropped off our stuff and literally went downstairs and grabbed a sandwich grecques.
Remember this? Vivre la France ! It was SOO GOOD!
Oh la la, this was SOOO SATISFYING. After we gobbled this down, we just stayed in and unpacked/settled down. We later went out again for another snack. Stopped by another random cafe on our way to the Super Marche and had Soupe de L'oignon (French onion soup) and Chocolat Chaud (hot chocolate). Through much of this trip, only real French I have been speaking is when I order in restaurants. hah! The waiter was patient with me and responded back to me in French. Across from the cafe, was Notre Dame. What a site - it is so insanely beautiful at night. I can't believe that this is part of everyday life here in Paris.
After our snack, we decided to take a random trip to the Louvre. The Louvre is also extremely beautiful at night.
Me doing the Ginger eyes. This picture doesn't do it justice.
But this one does:
After the Louvre, we strolled around Saint-Michel and Saint-Germain. Raf was starting to lose it, so I had to "take him around." ;) Ah, we are so lucky that Timo lives in a great area! It's good to be back. =)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Exploring Milano
We started our day again around 1pm. Damn jetlag! Since we walked all day yesterday, we decided to take le metro all day today.
We walked around the D'uomo area again, and stopped by a cafe that looked really beautiful around Avenue Dante.
We ordered NASTY tortellini - it was dry, had little sauce, mushy and just plain bad. It is sad to say that I can make a better tortellini from scratch, and even from the can than what this place served. Then we ordered a hot chocolate. We were happy to see that it was thick like the one at Les Deux Magots in Paris. With our hopes high, we tasted and realized that it was very bland and kinda gross. It was like they used cornstarch to thicken it up instead of real chocolate. Blech.
The gelato section of the cafe. Despite the rainy/chilly weather, the Milanese are always eating gelato.
I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
The cafe at night
Perhaps a random apartment complex?
Afterwards, we explored some more and decided to try and check out the Last Supper. To our dismay, we found out from the reception that we had to make reservations first. Then we asked a couple Americans and they said they had to plan it 2 months in advance! Man, sucks that we came all the way to Milano and didn't get to see it! We had already explored much of Milano already so we busted out our map to check out what other attractions there were. We found a castle so we decided to trek over there.
This castle used to be the center of Milano, and had a huge wall surrounding the entire city. Pretty cool!!
There was a big group of Chinese tourists walking around this area. This one Chinese lady asked if I was from China. I told her I was from the US, but that she could speak Chinese with me. She was asking me info about the castle, and I was like "I don't know" in Chinese. hahaha! I was as much of a tourist as she was. Later on some Italian people asked us for directions! Hmmm, do we look like we are locals? I didn't think so but I thought it was pretty funny.
After the castle, we just kept walking around and went back to Avenue Dante. We decided to do some shopping outside the D'uomo area where the more affordable stores are located - Zara, Mango, and some cheaper Italian stores. We noticed that the Milanese definitely dress more flashier and gaudier - since it is the high fashion capital of Italy, Milano is definitely more focused on status. They love to wear logos of high-end brands.
Later on, we stopped by another random cafe and ordered Tiramisu. It was pretty good. Yay! Something tasty in Milano! Btw, the cafes in Milano are interesting - they have bars where people just stop by and get an espresso, drink it quickly standing up, then leave. This was pretty strange since we were used to sitting at a cafe in Paris for hours.
Doesn't it look beautiful?
After Raf took this picture, the umbrella broke and fell down. I hope it didn't hit anyone in the head! It was pretty funny.
After some shopping, (Raf got me a reall cool shirt from Zara!), we went home to relax a bit and wait for the restaurants to open at 8pm. When we got back to the hotel, we realized that there were hookers and trannies around our hotel. One lady in particular was ALWAYS outside our hotel. She dressed normally and everything but just stands around with her cell phone at night and in the mornings. We saw another older lady (dress code screamed hooker) with her two pimps. I swear, one of the guys was wearing a white suit! LOL. Made sense though since it was in the financial district where a bunch of hotels are.
We were debating on two restaurants - one restaurant that was pricier but recommended by the hotel, and another one that was arbitrarily chosen and not as pricey. We chose the latter (and was walking behind three tall trannies) as we walked to the restaurant. Much to our surprise, it was a GREAT choice! It looked pretty empty, but when we entered the restaurant and walked down the stairs, there were quite a few diners. It looked like a mom and pop restaurant. One of our waiters was this tiny old man that looked like his name should be Luigi. hah!
We ordered a glass of house white wine that was REALLY GOOD. They are VERY generous with their glasses of wine here - they open a new bottle and fill your glass to the brim. We ordered carpaccio that was fantastic. For our main dishes...
I ordered half a lobster and linguine. Look at the bib they gave me! Raf ordered Spinach Gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce.
Raf digging into my dish
We later ordered Panna Cota for dessert. This place was soooo yummy! This was our first satisfying meal in Milano, and I am so glad we had it before we left! In comparison, the average restaurant in Paris is pretty good (apparently, we heard from others that the food in Milano sucks), and the city is just always lively, no matter what time of day it was. Also, we missed people watching at cafes. Our trip to Milano was interesting, but overall, we were kinda bored and at this point, itching to get back to Paris. Home Sweet Home. ;)
We walked around the D'uomo area again, and stopped by a cafe that looked really beautiful around Avenue Dante.
We ordered NASTY tortellini - it was dry, had little sauce, mushy and just plain bad. It is sad to say that I can make a better tortellini from scratch, and even from the can than what this place served. Then we ordered a hot chocolate. We were happy to see that it was thick like the one at Les Deux Magots in Paris. With our hopes high, we tasted and realized that it was very bland and kinda gross. It was like they used cornstarch to thicken it up instead of real chocolate. Blech.
The gelato section of the cafe. Despite the rainy/chilly weather, the Milanese are always eating gelato.
I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
The cafe at night
Perhaps a random apartment complex?
Afterwards, we explored some more and decided to try and check out the Last Supper. To our dismay, we found out from the reception that we had to make reservations first. Then we asked a couple Americans and they said they had to plan it 2 months in advance! Man, sucks that we came all the way to Milano and didn't get to see it! We had already explored much of Milano already so we busted out our map to check out what other attractions there were. We found a castle so we decided to trek over there.
This castle used to be the center of Milano, and had a huge wall surrounding the entire city. Pretty cool!!
There was a big group of Chinese tourists walking around this area. This one Chinese lady asked if I was from China. I told her I was from the US, but that she could speak Chinese with me. She was asking me info about the castle, and I was like "I don't know" in Chinese. hahaha! I was as much of a tourist as she was. Later on some Italian people asked us for directions! Hmmm, do we look like we are locals? I didn't think so but I thought it was pretty funny.
After the castle, we just kept walking around and went back to Avenue Dante. We decided to do some shopping outside the D'uomo area where the more affordable stores are located - Zara, Mango, and some cheaper Italian stores. We noticed that the Milanese definitely dress more flashier and gaudier - since it is the high fashion capital of Italy, Milano is definitely more focused on status. They love to wear logos of high-end brands.
Later on, we stopped by another random cafe and ordered Tiramisu. It was pretty good. Yay! Something tasty in Milano! Btw, the cafes in Milano are interesting - they have bars where people just stop by and get an espresso, drink it quickly standing up, then leave. This was pretty strange since we were used to sitting at a cafe in Paris for hours.
Doesn't it look beautiful?
After Raf took this picture, the umbrella broke and fell down. I hope it didn't hit anyone in the head! It was pretty funny.
After some shopping, (Raf got me a reall cool shirt from Zara!), we went home to relax a bit and wait for the restaurants to open at 8pm. When we got back to the hotel, we realized that there were hookers and trannies around our hotel. One lady in particular was ALWAYS outside our hotel. She dressed normally and everything but just stands around with her cell phone at night and in the mornings. We saw another older lady (dress code screamed hooker) with her two pimps. I swear, one of the guys was wearing a white suit! LOL. Made sense though since it was in the financial district where a bunch of hotels are.
We were debating on two restaurants - one restaurant that was pricier but recommended by the hotel, and another one that was arbitrarily chosen and not as pricey. We chose the latter (and was walking behind three tall trannies) as we walked to the restaurant. Much to our surprise, it was a GREAT choice! It looked pretty empty, but when we entered the restaurant and walked down the stairs, there were quite a few diners. It looked like a mom and pop restaurant. One of our waiters was this tiny old man that looked like his name should be Luigi. hah!
We ordered a glass of house white wine that was REALLY GOOD. They are VERY generous with their glasses of wine here - they open a new bottle and fill your glass to the brim. We ordered carpaccio that was fantastic. For our main dishes...
I ordered half a lobster and linguine. Look at the bib they gave me! Raf ordered Spinach Gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce.
Raf digging into my dish
We later ordered Panna Cota for dessert. This place was soooo yummy! This was our first satisfying meal in Milano, and I am so glad we had it before we left! In comparison, the average restaurant in Paris is pretty good (apparently, we heard from others that the food in Milano sucks), and the city is just always lively, no matter what time of day it was. Also, we missed people watching at cafes. Our trip to Milano was interesting, but overall, we were kinda bored and at this point, itching to get back to Paris. Home Sweet Home. ;)
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