March 22nd, 2010: Let the Italian Adventures Begin

 Alle aqvile del vi' alpini
Che le penne insangvinarono - su tutte le cime
A prova di ferro tormento valanghe - per il piu libero volo

Elena and I stumbled upon this memorial sculpture while cruising the streets of Verona. I failed to get an exact translation (maybe someone out there can provide some wisdom) but I believe this is in memory of the Alpini who died in avalanches while protecting the northern borders of Italy. The equivalent group in the United States is the 10th Mountain Division, familiar to backcountry skiers due to their system of huts available for use in the Colorado Rockies.

My adventuruous commute from Sent, Switzerland to Milano, Italy continued at the Verona (Porta Nuova) train station. This would be the first of three trains I needed to take to reach Garbagnate Milanese, the train station closest to my suburban basecamp of Arese.

The best part of the commute was that I was traveling with all of my ski gear (pictured in Verona). I had to catch the Milano Metro during rush hour and then sprint for the regional train to Garbagnate. The rush hour trains were packed, which meant that I wasn't really able to document the madness. Surely some Italian got a picture or two of the crazy mountain man with skis on the Metro.

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