Bonjiorno Milano!

Kind of like the SOUTHWEST of Europe, Katy and I were able to get tickets from Paris to Milan on EASYJET for just $80 or so each. Like Southwest, Easyjet is a first-come, first-serve, no-reserved-seat airline with very cheap pricing. But they do have new planes, and the flight was easy and we arrived into Malpensa with little drama, although the flight was delayed about 30-40 minutes. Most shockingly, though, was the baggage service.

When we arrive at JFK or SFO, we can generally count on a good 45min to an hour wait until we see our bags. We showed up at the baggage claim area at Malpensa...5 min later the conveyor belt starts moving...5 bags in are both of our bags. It was like a dream about what baggage claim should be!!!

On the other hand, the taxi ride from Malpensa to our hotel in the middle of Milan was less dreamy. Who would have thunk that the taxi would take nearly an hour and 75 euro (over $100) to get into town? Ouch. But we got to our hotel, the Westin Palace Milan, in the heart of the city at the Piazza Repubblica, and settled into a very large room...perhaps 3 times the size of our hotel room at the nice, but petite Hotel Bel Ami in Paris.

While still in Paris, I looked up an old friend of mine, Piero Scotti, from my SGI days who used to work in the SGI office in Milan. I hadn't talked to him in years, but thank yahweh for social networking services...it took all of 5 min for me to track him down. While in Paris, we exchanged e-mail catching up on the past 10 or so years and agreed to meet for dinner in Milan the night that Katy and I arrived.

Chowhound and Fodors seemed to agree that a restaurant called La Milanese was good for classic Milanese cooking, so I called the Westin while still in Paris to ask them to book us a table there...which the concierge very considerately did. Our late arrival at Malpensa and the long ride into town resulted in me being late to the restaurant by perhaps 30 min, but thankfully Piero was as well. Katy was feeling a bit under the weather, so we agreed that she should focus on her health and I went off to meet Piero on my own.

Taking the taxi into the center of old Milan, I arrived at the restaurant...located on a street that was barely wider than the taxi itself - very charming. My only concern was that the restaurant, which both Chowhounders and Fodors had called La Milanese was called Trattoria Milanese. This was the right address, I thought, but the name was different. In a bit of a panic, I called the concierge at the Westin and, even though he wordlessly booked the restaurant for me, told me that "there is no La Milanese - Trattoria Milanese is the name of the restaurant". Whew!

I think I'll have to have a word with Mr. Fodor.

Piero met me there and it was like no decade had passed between us at all. I had gotten on with him better than perhaps anyone at SGI in Europe and he and his wife had entertained me before. It turns out that he had moved from the Milan area to Umbria, where his wife is in city management in Todi and where they purchased a 600 year old mill house that they've been restoring.

Swedish penis enlargers Restoring old houses is my bag, baby!

Anyway - had some decent fettuccini ai porcini, scallopini Milanese and, thanks to a great recommendation by the owner, a lovely bottle of Montepulciano and, to wrap it up, a warm, thick, creamy and absolutely delicious tiramisu. Oh yum.

Although I've always been in love with France, Italia (yes, Lisa, you were right) was starting to sing its siren song to me...