Parchetto della Maddalena

We arrived at Milan airport where the plane stopped about a kilometre from the airport arrival area. We were herded onto a bus with few seats and lots of standing room. It was pouring rain but not cold. The bus shuttled us to the airport building where we joined the long snaking queue through passport control. We grabbed our bags and bought tickets for the airport - city shuttle bus. It was a “put your bags in the cargo hold yourself” arrangement so I shoved our bags on, pushing other bags further into the hold. We found seats and the driver kept asking where people were from. A large number were from Boston, and each time someone from Boston boarded, the driver, who only knew a few words of English, would say “Trump” to which many passengers would laugh so the bus driver happily kept repeating “Trump”. The bus delivered us to Milano Centrale Railway. From there we needed bus 81 which would take us within 100 meters of our hotel. Google maps was not being very helpful but eventually a kind lady escorted us to the bus stop we were looking for. Of course you can’t buy tickets on the bus so I bolted to a Metro shop and bought the tickets. Bus 81 eventually arrived and we got on but didn’t know what to do with our tickets so we did nothing. We disembarked near the hotel but had no idea which direction it was as when we eventually found it, it was hidden by tall buildings on the main street. It also had rained the entire time we were trying to locate it. Checkin was straight forward and the room great. Must say the location is not the best being 5 kilometres from the city centre. Next door to the hotel, a building is being demolished so there is a constant noise from the smashing of concrete and brick. We decided to have a night in and get some rest after the early start. MDW insisted we have room service although the menu was limited and not much either of us really fancied. MDW said I should have the pulled pork with crispy vegetables. MDW said she would be happy with a bowl of fries. Our food arrived and when the menu says “crispy vegetables” it actually means diced pieces of carrot, celery and zucchini served raw and crispy. Still it was filling and our only meal of the day.
Next morning we started with breakfast. I headed straight for the cornflakes, well more like anaemic flakes as they were almost white. In the bowl I added milk to the flakes and sat down ready to hoe into my cereal. Of course the milk was room temperature, something I should have remembered from our last visit to Italy although I thought it was Paris where I had the milk problem and Rome was ok. I managed to separate the flakes from the milk before filling up on toast and a bacon alternative of pancetta or prosciutto. The butter is also looking very pale, almost looks like lard. MDW was happy with her bowl of rock melon followed by almonds.
Breakfast over we caught the Metro to the Centre of Milan. We walked up the steps and were awe struck by the duomo. The Milan Cathedral is a stunning building out doing the Notre Dame in Paris. It is full of sculptures and works of art. We strolled around this main piazza which is surrounded by all the big name fashion shops. We needed a Post Office for a stamp so Google sent us to one edge of the piazza. We found a postal box but no post office. I asked the security guard if this was the post office but he did not speak English. A couple of young guys offered to help, and told us the post office closed and is now a Starbucks. They didn’t know if there was a post office in the old part of Milan. Needing a toilet we went to McDonalds, always a reliable place for these facilities, but at the entrance was a large security guard so MDW said she wasn’t going in there. Using Google translator I searched for “toilette” but nothing close by showed up so an hour later we decided to venture into McDonalds as a last resort where we walked past the security guard who surely must be wondering if we are a serious consumer or just casing the place. This McDonalds had 4 or 5 seating areas and security guards in each area. I ask one of the guards where the toilets are and he tells us upstairs. This means we have to walk past the security guard at the entrance again but I have bought drinks and we walk confidently past this large figure. All this security seemed like overkill but still the coffee was extremely good and we felt very safe consuming our drinks.
We did a bit of window shopping and determined to find a Post Office asked a lady with good English where a Post Office might be. She gives us directions, past Foot Locker, through the arcade then turn right. No her companion says, go through the perfume shop and you can’t miss it. Well we follow these directions and still no Post Office. We ask a lady near where the Post Office was expected to be only to be told there is no Post Office around here. What is going on with no Post Office in Milan?
We even ventured to the outskirts of the old city finding ourselves wandering down many lane ways until after 6 hours of walking, we were worn out and headed back to the Metro to go back to the hotel. Before going to the hotel, we caught bus 53 to a LIDL supermarket to get a few thing for a simple dinner. This is not such a simple task, the bus stop was hidden around a corner and MDW still needs to remember the cars and buses drive on the other side of the road and a couple of times has stepped off the kerb only to quickly jump back as a car heads straight for her. This bus trip going past 13 bus stops, took us to a much slummier area of Milan. Google maps did a good job on the bus counting down the stops as the announcements on the bus are in Italian only where on the Metro an English announcement is also made. This area of Milan was filled with dated high rise apartments that probably started as modern living areas for the expanding city. Although we had tickets for the bus, still like everyone else that got on the bus, we never swiped or displayed our tickets. I don’t imagine the buses are free but no one seems to be paying. Shopping at LIDL was interesting as we used an online translator to make sure we were getting what we wanted. Bus 86 took us past 15 stops to a Metro where we had one stop before getting to our hotel. I think we are getting the hang of this public transport system in Milan. Tomorrow Florence and our hotel is in the middle of town. We are nervous about the hotel because we sacrificed comfort for location, will this be the right decision?Read more