Originally, we had planned to leave Lake Maggiore at 8:30 Sunday morning. However, after our long day on Saturday, we decided to sleep in and leave closer to 10:30. We already had our train tickets, but we had been told that they were valid for any train leaving for Milan. So, we all slept until 9:30 and then got some breakfast at the hotel. The extra sleep felt great, and allowed us to sufficiently recover from the somewhat stressful day before. We then checked out of our hotel and walked to the train station. We figured we might have to wait for the next train, but we had no pressing plans – we only had to be in Milan by 6 to catch our train back to Rome. We wanted to see some of Milan, but because we were tired, we were okay with a shorter stay. Well, when we got to the train station, we were quickly told that our information regarding our ticket was incorrect. It was only good for one type of train that leaves for Milan, which wasn’t coming again until 1:30. After some discussion with the ticket clerk, we were able to transfer our tickets to the 11:30 train for a fee of 4 euro each. For us, this fee was definitely worth avoiding the wait.

So we waited for the train, which arrived about 15 minutes late. However, the ride was short – only 45 minutes – and I think we made up the time lost waiting. In Milan, we got a cheap locker to store some of our bags and then began our search for the Duomo. This was our one goal for the day, so we figured we would get it out of the way first. We had no idea where to go, and had no maps, so we asked the first person we saw which way to go. They pointed us in the direction and said it was walking distance. We continued to ask people as we went to make sure we were on the right track. It took about a half an hour, but it was pretty much a straight shot from the station. The Duomo was quite impressive, with a very ornate façade. It is definitely the biggest church we have been in, perhaps with the exception of St. Peter’s Basilica, but I think it was still bigger. It was quite dark inside, but very cool which was nice after our long walk. We took our time exploring the chapels and the treasury. I was especially impressed with the intricate stained-glass windows around the altars. The colors were so vivid and the windows so large that it is impossible to not stand in awe before them. We probably spent an hour inside and then met outside to go find some lunch. We decided we felt like pizza, so we found a place to sit down and went inside. It was a good meal and we guzzled down the water. It is times like these that make me wish I were back in America where water is free! It’s usually two euro for a liter bottle, and they typically don’t even offer tap water. But anyways we managed to refresh ourselves with what we had.

After lunch we decided against looking for more places to go and opted for a lazy walk back to the station. Gelato was agreed upon as necessary, so we spent some time looking for a place to get it. Then we found a park and rested in the shade for about a half hour before the final walk back to the train station. The line to get our bags back turned out to be a little long, so we were worried we might miss our train. We did our best to speed things up, but we still had to run to catch our train. We made it with about a minute to spare. This train was five hours long, and we passed the time by reading, playing cards, and making up fun games like competitive hangman. It was fun and the time actually flew by. I also got a couple paragraphs done for my Illumin article. Unfortunately, while we were on the train Italy was playing Spain in the Euro Cup quarterfinals, so we had to miss our first game. As soon as we got off the train we tried to found out how the game was going. It turns out it had been 0-0 at the end of the game and went into overtime. By this point, it was already in penalty kicks. We didn’t get to a TV in time, but Italy lost the game. It was sad, but I guess Spain has waited long enough. Apparently it has been over 80 years since they beat Italy in any game that mattered.

So anyways, it was almost 11 pm when we got off the train and by this time the metro had closed. We were pretty far from our apartments and we had to walk. Ben took the lead, but somehow we got turned around and ended up going the complete opposite direction. Before we knew it we were next to the Coliseum – over an hour away from our apartments on foot. Like I’ve said before, getting lost in Rome is always an adventure. It was pretty cool to see the Coliseum, the Forum, Trajan’s Column, and Palazzo Venezia at night. Also, we then had to walk through Campo di Fiori, which is a popular place for college aged students at night. It was pretty crowded after the game and we saw some celebrations, but mostly sad faces. Anyways, we knew how to get home from here and it indeed took about an hour, making the total trip about an hour and a half. Needless to say, we were quite tired and I collapsed in my bed about ten minutes after getting back.