Milan
I had been in contact with my friend Agostino (Ago for short) who lives just outside Milan. I had met him while I was studying in Bordeaux at the beginning of my MSc. He got in contact with another Erasmus friend of ours, Eleonora, who actually lives in Milan. It was decided that it would be best that we all stayed at Ele’s during my visit. So after Ago met me at the train station, there we went. Here beginneth the trials I had with my luggage. Since a particular instance during my stay in Rome, my suitcase had been behaving a little funny; now in Milan it all but gave out. We’ll re-visit this later.
That evening we met up with a friend of Ago’s and decided to do “Happy hour” Milanese style. Now Milan’s happy hour is one of the best things you’ve never heard of. None of that two for one stuff. Pay 8-10 euros, get any drink on the menu (including all the expensive cocktails) AND then there’s an all you can eat buffet.We then headed to where all the young, hip (and possibly broke) people gather- a spot called Coloné. After a while the cold started to set in a sitting on the ground drinking wasn’t as much fun.
The next day was time for the grand Milan tour. The Duomo is really something. I know I said the same about St. Peter’s etc, but the Milan Duomo is really up there. When you walk in, the height of the ceilings may make you gasp a bit. It really is quite incredible considering that construction began in the 15th century!
Ago, Ele and I outside the Duomo
We did all the main sights including Milan Castle, the city centre and of course the Duomo. In terms of sights, there actually isn’t that much to see in Milan to be honest. You could definitely get it done in a day. Ele had gotten up really early that morning for volleyball training so she headed back and Ago and I continued on. We had lunch in a cozy little pizzeria and then walked around to see a few more things.That evening, we tried an initial repair of my luggage, but that was in vain. Later that night, we stayed in and had a Spaghetti Carbonara dinner and played Monopoly Bordeaux into the night.
Dinner!
The next day I had to set off in search of a solution to my very serious luggage problem. Due to this, I had to shelve my plans to visit Lake Como that day. It was a pity since Lake Como was one of the things that had made me decide to add Milan in the first place. Such is life eh?
So the repair shops I found online were not actually official Samsonite stores, but just repair men that Samsonite approved to repair their products in Milan. Of course this would mean a problem when it comes to stocking parts. I think you can see where this is going already. The first repair shop I visited (that took me about half-hour on foot) said he could do nothing for me and I would have to wait about 20 days for him to order the part. Of course this was not a viable option. Let’s just cut this story short and say that Ago and I were able to finally find one guy across town who actually made an effort to help me. It was a temporary fix, but all I needed was to get that bag rolling again. That was a relief, considering that I still had roughly half of my trip to go still. That night we went out for a final pizza. I really enjoyed being able to meet up with friends who I had no idea if or when I would ever see again when we first parted. Even more evidence for never say never!!
…and the next day I would begin my journey to Prague! I took a train from Milan to Zurich thereby crossing Switzerland in effect and getting a peek at the Alps. I didn’t have much time in Zurich to spin around in the station before it was time for my overnight train to Prague. I had decided to reserve a couchette space (basically a bunk in a six-bed cabin) and though I wasn’t as lucky as on the Mediterranean ferry, I was alone for a good while before the other two passengers got on. Anyhoo Prague itself will have to wait till the next post.
Stay Tuned!!
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[…] that beyond a certain time, there really isn’t much going on within the city walls at night. It reminds me a bit of Venice in that respect, in that the town empties out at night when the day trippers and persons staying […]