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My parents have arrived safe and sound and are actually out on own excursion for the day. They are both having a great time and asking every imaginable question (what's that, what does that say, who's that man statue on the horse, when was this built, etc) of course, all of which I have no idea. I've been here like 3 months and don't know the entire history of the city :) They are lucky they made it here actually because on their connecting flight, they were sitting in the wrong "waiting area" for boarding the flight and just thought the flight was running late as time passed closer to the departure of the flight. Then over the loud speaker there was a "last call for Demianiuks(they said it was pronounced like Dem-yan-yooks, but we all respond to this as well for we've heard every form of our name through our lifetime) They were able to make the flight though. Lucky for them, I have a cousin (their nephew) that lives in Southern France and he and his girlfriend were planning on driving down to spend the Easter holiday with us and swung by the airport to pick them up. I went to meet them all at the hotel where both my parents and cousin stayed, said our hello's and then we all went out to the city. My mother was a little overwhelmed by the size of the city and was flabbergasted how I was able to find my way around and settle in. We went into the Duomo and saw only a small section of the cathedral because Easter service was in session. We explored the city center a bit more and they all came to my dorm before sitting down for some Italian pizza. They were pretty tired so by 8pm they were heading back to the room and I went home to my dorm. The next morning we were planning on driving out to Bergamo, a city about an hour from Milan. My cousin Kory lived here for a while for his job and it was nice to hand over the "tour guiding" reins for day :) We walked around for the day in the sunny and 75 degree weather and then piled back into our compact car and, of course upon my dad's request of doing everything we can, we drove up into the mountains a bit. I was stuck in the back between my parents and no more than two minutes into our drive, my mother was zonked out next to me and my dad on my right, who was ready to "go and do more" was totally gone as well. I did manage to get pictures of them both, which are humorous, but I was forbidden to put them up here. They did wake up as we were driving up the mountain, which consisted of narrow roads weaving back and forth up the side(imagine my mother during this-yikes). We got the top and got a beautiful view of the valley and town below us. That night we did dinner together again downtown and walked the streets. The next day was Kory and Myriam's last day here and they wanted to go off and do what Milan is best for, shopping. My parents and I went to the Duomo again and walked all through it and climbed to the top. We met my cousins on the street and said our good-byes and headed on our way stopping in a few stores before ending up at the Sforza castle. It is full of artifacts of Milan from the early 13th century into modern times. I showed them more of the city, and then we dedicated the last part of the day getting them ready for their first day trip on their own to Venice. I took them to the train station, bought their tickets and took them through the exact steps and transportation on how to get there. My mom has it written down word for word so I'm confident that they got there today. I'm back to classes today after my long break, but I only have one today and then I'm skipping class tomorrow because we are flying out to Rome for the long weekend. I know they are enjoying their time here and are quite the crew to travel with. Dad is getting lots of practice with his new favorite language, different pronunciations of words everytime but he's trying :) We all really enjoyed seeing my cousin and Myriam since we don't get to see them that often and appreciated all the help they gave us! I'll keep you updated with pics and stories as I know you're all anxiously waiting to hear how my parents handle Europe :) Have a great rest of the week! Love from Italy