July 30th 1986 Milan by Autostrada

Here is my journal entry from July 30, 1986 "Sandy could not sleep again for the 3rd night in a row. We got up early today because we have to go to the airport in Milan to fix my ticket which has some kind of a mistake in it. I am writing in the car now. We are going 180 in this Fiat convertable so that is why my writing is so wobbly. We are heading straight to Linate airport. It took us a while to get things sorted out but WE GOT MY TICKET! It is confirmed and everything. Wow, I am so relieved that is finished. We got a Coke with lemon and then went to the car. Maria says "now we are going to to Lumezzane." Sandy is really angry but said nothing. She wanted to go to Milan to get souvenir T-shirts for her friends back home. Maria did not know this. We didn't dare ask to stop since she did not want to come here in the first place for my ticket. So onward we go. No Duomo, No shopping. Milan by autostrada, the only way to go.

My tan, little as it is, is already starting to fade. We washed clothes before we left and mine are still damp. I hope they don't make Sandy's wet too. Since we will be staying overnight in Lumezzane we packed one bag together.

Sandy is asleep in the car now. She has been sleeping badly. She had a problem with her tickets too. To fix them cost 95, 000 Lira! She still has to buy presents to take home and only has 80,000 for 4 days. I think this situation is worrying her. If we had stopped in Milan to shop she would have no money left. It is Danny, Eri, and Judith's birthdays today. I sent them all postcards. The Autostrada is really full today. There are a lot of Dutch cars on the road.

At Lumezzane we went to the dad's factory (something to do with copper pipes). It was a nice factory. We were treated like very important guests since we are staying with the owner. The Dad drove us to a restaurant of a man he knows. There were no menus, he just told us what we could have. I hade gnocchi with tomato sauce. Melon with proscuitto. Some very pink meat with oil on it. I think it is called carpaccio. Then a fillet of very thinly sliced meat. A salad with frizzy lettuce and onions in it. After we ate everything the dad asked us how we liked our meal. Then he got a big smile and told us that we just ate a little horse! Oh my!!!! Well it tasted very good but I am glad he told us after. We went to the house/flat. F@#$$ing gorgeous! 2 Living rooms with leather sofas, modular groups and oriental rugs.Paintings, chrystal, antiques. It was amazing. The chandelier in the dining room was unbelievable. Maria has her own apartment in the apartment. Hers has 3 rooms, a dressing room, bedroom and sitting room. She has a huge shower with jets all around the walls of it. I slept a little and then had a shower. We decided we are NOT spending the night which is fine with me. Tarchizio came over and we left with him in his BMW. We went for a drive. He drove up a narrow road in the mountains that had no guard rail and went straight down a cliff. He went fast. It was scary.We stopped and took pictures of the view. Then we went to Equador Bar and I had a negroni and some ice cream. We met another friend, Franco. I thought right away that he was going to be a big flirt..I was right. Sandy, Maria and I left the bar and went for a walk in the mountains. It was great. We met up with Maria's friends at a restaurant. Franco and Tarchizio came together. Enzo in a Jeep Wrangler. Amadeo in his Porche and then some more friends showed up. Sergio and two other guys. We ate! Pickles with cheese on top. Bread, risotto with mushrooms. Little tomatoes and lettuce and grilled chicken. The chicken had oil with garlic and herbs in it. Yum. Everything was delicious. I had already drank a negroni in the afternoon. Now I had 7 glasses of wine with dinner! I was very happy. Maria was trying to protect us from her friends because we all had been drinking. She told the guys that Sandy and I had boyfriends who were very jealous. The guys laughed and said "that is ok, when you are in Italy you must forget everyone else and concentrate on the Italian boys." We had coffee and left to go to Bar Ecuador again. I had a whiskey sour. It was just past midnight so I was really floating from all the alcohol. Sergio said he wanted to come visit me in the USA. I told him he can sleep in my brother's room with him and that made him shut up. The boys were flirting very much since we all had a lot to drink. Then we had a cafe corretto (espresso with brandy in it!) They asked where are boyfriends are from and Sandy said hers is from Austria and that mine is from France. They told me that I had made a good choice. That Austrian men were not known for romance.They only know how to drink beer. But French men know all about romance. I went home so tired and high as a kite." It was really a big ego boost for me to have so many men flirting. They were funny and we knew that they were not serious at all. Still it was fun to have so much attention. The picture is of Tarchizio and me.