A few funny stories from Italia...

Bob and I hopped on a tram to take a ride into the center of Milan. About 10 minutes into our ride, we heard a screech and some scraping noises. The tram stopped and one of the conductors got off to inspect a parked car that just happened to have its nose on the tram track. Remember I told you that cars are parked everywhere?? Apparently the tram driver saw the car, but decided to see if the tram could squeeze by. Obviously not. So one of the drivers got off to go look for the car owner in the bar across the street. The other tram driver sounded an alarm to alert anyone nearby that just may happen to see what was going on. After some minutes, a very harried young man ran up to the car, with a look of apology on his face, hopped in and drove off. The tram then started on its way again. We eventually made it to our destination.

After getting off the tram, we decided to get something to eat before we sightseed. We spotted a decent looking cafe across the plaza and had lunch there. Before we left, I made my way to the "toilett." I should have thought something was strange when a "gentleman" (and I use this term lightly) was walking towards the bathroom in front of me and already undoing his belt and unzipping his pants. There was only one door marked "toilett" and I was unsure about entering, much less following this man into the same room. There was an English-speaking man behind me who assured me that this was indeed the correct room. I wasn't sure of what I would find as I opened the door. What I discovered later was a communal room with two sinks and stalls with doors clearly marked men's and women's. What I didn't expect though was the man in front of me deciding to use the sink instead of the stall. I immediately turned around and got out of there as quickly as possible. The English-speaking man behind me just shook his head and continued into the toilett. Before entering later, I had Bob run interference for me!

Our sightseeing trip to Milan was short, but we were able to see the duomo and the main plaza in the city. The visit was complete with a taste of gelato.