DAY 22 – ALESSIA & THE BEST STORE EVER

Today is just a day to roam around Milan. A quick breakfast at the hotel and I’m off and wandering. I end up in an area with a lot of upscale stores, so I just windowshopped and wandered.

            Then I met up with another old friend from my days at Tahitian Noni. Hard to believe I left Noni almost 10 years ago. Alessia lives here in Milan (she’s Italian, so that makes sense), and for a while we talked on the phone nearly every day for work. Today we met at the Garibaldi Train station, and her familiar voice rang out as soon as she saw me. A few minutes of hugs and hellos, and we headed to a cute Cake Shop for a treat while we visited. (OMG – the Pistachio Frappe was amazing!)

            It was fun to catch up after so many years. Her little girl isn’t quite so little anymore. And we talked about all the wonderful Noni coworkers we had over the years – catching up about some and wondering about others. You can tell true friendships because the talking flows smoothly and doesn’t stop – and we chatted away endlessly for hours.

            Soon it was time for her to get home to her family, so we said our goodbyes – and grabbed a quick selfie.

            Then I found heaven on earth! There it was -- my perfect store in this mall – RED: Read Eat Dream. It’s a Bistro Bookstore! These Italians are GENIUSES!!! I browsed the aisles for a time, then ordered a lovely Chicken Cesar Salas for dinner and flipped through a few books while I ate – which is totally acceptable here. Sure, Barnes & Nobles mostly have Starbucks, and Borders used to have a little café – this this is a REAL restaurant, menu, waiter, and all. If I ever pick up and suddenly move to Italy, it will probably be because of this store.