Tomm and Danise in Italy: Friday, January 2

Our last day in Italy. Not exactly ready to come home, but growing tired of moving from town to town with increasingly heavy luggage (additional beers) in this cold weather.

Speaking of which, we relocate from Torino back to Milano this morning, pick up beer we stored at Milano's Stazione Centrale, and check into another nearby hotel for our last night here.

Never got inside this Duomo 2 weeks ago so we visit today -- after a quick pizza lunch and an overpriced draught of Peroni Grande Reserve Red (rossa) at 6.6%. It is only a bit more golden than the brand's Nastro Azzurro (see photo below) with barely more taste.

After checking out the Duomo, something like the 6th largest in Europe, we wander the area we hadn't seen before and have one final meal -- pasta pesto, magnifico! The beer selection at Café Martini is boring, so while Danise opts for the ubiquitous Danish brew Ceres, I choose wine for only the 2nd time on this trip, a mildly dry Barolo, 2004, from something called Cantina del Terre.

It's an early evening for us as we have an early flight home tomorrow. Plus we have a LOT of beer to pack to bring home (see photo) in our luggage. To lighten the load, we share a bottle of Chocarrubica while we pack and toast birra artiginale dei Italia!

The haul -- all but two on the right are beer

Submitted by Tomm Carroll