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- May 18, 2024, 10:31 PM
- 🌙 18 °C
- Altitude: 131 m
ItalyLombardyMilanPiazza del Duomo45°27’51” N 9°11’23” E
Failed to escape Milan 😞
![](http://d2k8htqlk8yn1a.cloudfront.net/img/flags-png/it.png)
After lunch, I thought maybe take the green line that is included in my ticket.
But ended up not doing that.
Then I got a hotel in Varenna (station is varenna esino) ... Which is in the middle of the y-shaped lake Como.
The general idea was to see some part of the lake then somehow got to tirano, take a famous scenic train ride through the Alps. It's called Bernina Express .. operated by a swiss train company .. trains have huge windows spanning the roof for great viewing. Looked amazing in the pics. Even Stefania (a local faculty in Turin) highly recommended it.
So I need a train ticket to go to Varenna tonight. Maybe do dinner .. see the lake in the night and sleep in my hotel. Did all that planning in another restaurant while sipping beer. Met Shamim Bhai from Kumilla!
But that didn't happen. Train was full so the ticket checker guy refused to let me (and many more) in and that was the last train (something I found out the hard way since I bought a ticket for the next train and realized later that it's 10 am nextday and not 10 pm today. Another rain ticket wasted (no refunds .. but these are like $10). The other people who got refused entry in the train seemed to have some choice words for the ticket checker. But those were in Italian. Duolingo failed me again! But they were punching the train - I think they expect better from Trenitalia ( or Italo or TrenOrd or ... Too many train companies here).
Came out of the station and it's pouring ... No taxi .. can't bike in the rain. I mean I can .. I have a poncho and all that. But dont feel like. Feeling drained walking around all day.
Finally snatched a taxi and went back to the same hotel as last night. It was easy last night - walked in and got a room. No such luck this time. No room there. Not even one in "The Best Hotel" next door. Biked around and found a room in another 1/2 star hotel. Hotel Eden. Owner seemed Chinese - he warned me that the rooms are more expensive than other hotels .. it's €120! Jumped at it .. since all other decent hotels for the night were 300-600 euros! I guess it's weekend traffic ...
Finally came to room and crashed.
Oh the hotel I booked earlier? Tried cancelling it on booking.com. Nonrefundable booking but says cancelled. Don't know what that means .. will I get the money back? Too tired to worry about that now. Gnite.Read more