So grateful to have the opportunity to bring Lily with me while teaching in Milan this year! Her class has a virtual student, making it an easy transition for her to finish up the year remotely. So me and my newly minted 15 year old set off on a mother-daughter adventure.
We booked on Delta's COVID-free flight, that meets certain COVID testing requirements, that means you do not need to quarantine once arriving. This mean we flew through JFK, were tested once landing, and presented our COVID test that was taking within 72 hours. All seemed fine, until we went to board the flight, and were informed that we had the "wrong COVID test". We were told we could get a rapid test, but that we had to have it done to board the plane as "Milan is very strict". So we spent $500 (gulp) for the rapid test, and received the results exactly 4-minutes after they closed the boarding doors. We kept our cool, barely, as the plan sat there for another 20 minutes as they rebooked us on a flight through Paris. Could be worse!
We each had our own row, which Lily declared was almost as good as being in first class... :) Which is probably cheaper to buy multiple seats? But I guess you miss out on the caviar...
But worse it got. Poor girl woke up with an upset stomach, not dissimilar from her long flight to Asia, and get sick on the plane a few times. Then had to get off the plane last, resting every few feet. Then sick in the Paris airport, and on the plane from Paris to Milan, and in the Milan terminal, AND in the cab from the airport to our place!
The upside is that our place is super cute and in the perfect location with a short walk to Cattolica, the Duomo, AND Navigli!
The downside, was only that with the delays from our "not the right COVID test" we arrived 4 hours later than planned, leaving me about 90-minutes to figure out if and how to take Lily to campus, to decide it was safe to leave her home and to get her settled and logged in to the Internet, for me to get showered and dressed and to figure out how to get to the classroom (being a university in the city the classroom I am assigned in rarely in the same space more than once! and is in a building somewhere in the 2 block radius of the main building) - and to get there! Luckily Chiara was able to back up my start time by 2-hours, but whew! If I was a smoker, that would have been a pack moment!
Thankfully once Lily showered and slept, she was good to go. She joined school a couple of hours late ready to go. So ready to go, that after school ended at 9 PM our time, we went out for paninis, gelato, and a scooter ride around the Duomo. Amare l'italia!
Another plus is the jasmine. The smell goes straight to your soul and infuses with the beauty of Milan.
It ended up being a pretty amazing day! Milan is not very busy due to COVID. And not to mention the waitress at the panini restaurant was gushing over how beautiful Lily was. Bring on day 2!
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