More Adventures in Milan 12.1.11 ; 12.3.11

Despite all of our traveling, we did stick around Milan occasionally to enjoy what the city had to offer.  In the month of December, this included some of our favorite things: basketball and tequila.

When the opportunity arose to go to an Italian basketball game with some of Luke's coworkers, you better believe we were all for it.  Not only would we get to somewhat assuage the void that left by the inability to watch the Pistons and MSU basketball, but the Milan team was owned and sponsored by Giorgio Armani - which meant EVERYTHING was Armani - jerseys, fan gear, etc.  For some reason, I could not get over this; it just seemed so... Milan.

The game itself, of which we have approximately two pictures, was good.  It wasn't exactly what we were used to watching back home, but it was fun to watch a live game and cheer on the 'home team' with the crowd.

Armani made his appearance sometime after halftime, of which we have approximately 22 pictures.  He's the silver fox in the front row, next to the bearded man checking out the perimeter.

Luke denied my repeated requests for some Armani fan gear (because let's be honest, that's what it was), but we still had a great time at the game.

A few days later, we ventured to the outskirts of Milan to visit the yearly International Craft Fair, L'Artigiano in Fiera.  We've been loving all the Italian food, wine, and experiences, but here and there, we were starting to yearn for something a little... not Italian.

After finding a few treasures in the myriad Italian sections (which coincidentally made up about 90% of this international fair), we headed out to find some of the flavors we had been missing.  Some Thai noodles that rivaled Panda Express (nothing had ever tasted so good) and a Cuban sandwich later, we saw what we had been hoping for all along: that green, white, and red flag of Mexico.

As we were missing the beautiful Mexican wedding of our dear friends Gabe and Rubey that weekend, we decided to have some tequila in their honor.  Possibly twice.  When in Mexico, right?

Before calling it a day, we had to at least check out our homeland: America... a.k.a. Cowboyland!?

I'm not sure what we expected to see, but evidently America consists of miscellaneous cowboy gear and old license plates.  And guns.  Shotguns.  That's it.  Huh.

The trip was deemed a success.  After taking one last quick picture with one of the beautiful Christmas trees decorating Milano Centrale station, we headed back home to Novara, renewed and ready for the next Italian adventure!