Fun Weekend

A couple of days have passed since we spent a day in the hospital with Parker. We decided to use this time doing something fun and exciting for everyone. So, with that in mind we made back to back day trips around Milano.

On Saturday, we decided that everyone would take a subway ride to Cernusco and walk and explore the area surrounding the station. My wife and I were a little familiar with the area but the five of us spent over five hours walking through the streets and paths taking in everything it had to offer.

First, we began by walking north past a river and walkway through a park to a little village populated with small stores along the roadside. The buildings were extremely colourful and the store fronts were very inviting. As Nonna and my wife made there way from one store to the next, Nonno, Parker and I walked around exploring the rest of the village. On our journey we found two things of interest. The first was a gelateria, and the second was a small roller coaster for children.

When I first saw the ride from a distance, I knew right away that Parker would absolutely love it. In Canada there would be no way that Parker would be allowed on the ride at 18 months old but here in Italy the rules are very different. We decided that Nonno would be the best person to accompany Parker on the roller coaster; so, after purchasing two tickets and sanitizing the car very thoroughly the two of them got into the last two seats at the back of the ride.

Everyone but me all had a plan to tell the man in charge of the ride to stop the roller coaster if Parker was not enjoying himself. Me, I knew my son and that stopping the ride would not be a problem. The whole time Parker laughed and smiled as the roller coaster went around the track again and again. There was nothing frightening for Parker and the little monkey is definitely going to love going to Canada's Wonderland when he is old enough.

I had also mentioned that we found a gelateria on our exploration. To be honest, it is very easy to find them. Next to a caffe there is probably not an establishment that is more abundant here in Italy. Parker has tasted gelato previously but he absolutely loved sharing Nonno's chocolate ice cream with him. One spoon for Parker and one for Nonno. First Parker, then Nonno.

Yesterday, we decided that Sunday would be a great day for everyone to go to the Duomo together. The subway should not be as busy and if we left early in the morning then the heat on the subway should be bearable for Parker if we needed to put his plastic shield down.

As always, we began our exploration at Loretto. A street similar to Yonge Street in Toronto but with some beautiful architecture. It is normally a 45 minute walk to the Duomo from here but we took our time as we did some extra site seeing with Nonna and Nonno.

We decided to give my father the camera which may or may not have been a good idea depending on how you look at it. Nonno is not the fastest walker on the best of days so giving him a camera so he can take snap shots of everything from an espresso maker in a store window to the gold statue on top of the Duomo slowed him down even more. One of the good thing about it was that Nonno grabbed over 175 images to add to our collection of over 2500 images we already have of our time in Milan.

We had a wonderful time yesterday, walking to the Duomo from Loretto, then walking to the Castle and then to a church several subway stops from there. In total, we spent eight and a half hours on our trip yesterday. You would think that an 18 month toddler would complain a little bit during that time having to spend that much time in his stroller, but he didn't. Between his trips of being carried up and down the stairs in his stroller or the ice cream he shared with Nonno yesterday Parker was very happy.

When we got home, Parker was absolutely exhausted by the time bedtime came around. You know that “tired” you get when you fall asleep in a particular position and you wake up in the same position the next day? That was Parker both nights.

Wednesday is Parker's next trip to the San Raffaelle, for which I believe is only for blood work. Tomorrow, there should be an article containing only a plethora of images from the past few days. My wife will give me a hard time if I don't do it, so again I shall humour her.