Ugh, Milan

After the piece and serenity of Lake Como Milan was a shock to the system.  The we got caught in the city traffic and thanks to Melba found our hotel which was on the way outer edge of the city.  We checked in to the hotel which was the Holiday Inn Milan (everything else was booked as it was the end of Milan's fashion week).  The hotel didn't have any record of our reservation but did have availability. thank goodness.  We got into our room and unpacked our dirty clothes thinking we would go look for a laundry mat and do laundry.  We walked back downstairs and asked not only were a laundry mat was but if there was a shuttle to the Bergamo airport for out flights on the 30th.  The desk guy assured us there was a shuttle for a fee and he would put us on the list for the shuttle leaving at 4:30am.  It take an hour to get from Milan to Bergamo airport.  We headed out to find the mall the guy had given us directions too, he said he thought they had a laundry mat in the mall.

We found the mall and ended up just walking through it as we couldn't find a laundry mat only a dry cleaners.  After an hour of walking around the mall looking for a pay phone or telephone book we gave up and went back.  When we got back the guy caught our attention and told us that unfortunately he had found out from the shuttle driver that there was some construction going on on the autostrada and it was closed every night until 6am.  Since Mom and Dad's flight was 6:20 and it takes an hour to drive there that was not going to work.  We thanked him and set out figuring out what we were going to do.  We all started getting hungry and decided to go find food.

Bad news was we were on the edge of town which merged with an industrial area and Melba wasn't helping finding us anything.  We decided to walk and Melba kept getting confused and we were walking through a sketchy neighborhood so after about a half hour and the sun going down we headed back to the hotel to wait for their restaurant to open.  We sat in the bar and each got a drink and ate the appetizers they had set out.  When the restaurant opened we headed in and got something to eat.  The food was okay but nothing special.  Before we went back upstairs I asked the front desk about internet access and he said we could get on the internet through the TV for 10 euros.

We went upstairs and started repacking all the dirty clothes we had pulled out and later Dad and I tried to get on the internet to confirm our flights on the 30th and find a hotel in Bergamo.  The internet worked for less then a minute and shut down.  After multiple attempts to get back on and several calls downstairs we were told there were technical difficulties and they wouldn't charge us for the use of the internet.  We sat up and decided the best option was to confirm with the rental company that we could change the drop of location from Malpensa to Bergamo Airport and we would drive to Bergamo the next morning and find a hotel there for our last night together in Italy.  Once the call was made and the rental car situation confirmed we chilled out and watched CNN.  We went to be about midnight with the plans to go to Bergamo the next morning.

The next morning we got up and packed up and were on the road by 11am.  The drive to Bergamo was any easy hour.  Along the way we saw signs notifying us that the autostrada was closed every night at Midnight to 6am.  So it's a good thing we decided to go to Bergamo early.

Now I hate to say we didn't get a chance to go and see anything in Milan.  But what I did see I didn't like all that much.  The city is very industrial and new more like an American city.  After the beauty of Lake Como it was a contrast that I could have lived without.  I have no desire to go back to Milan and see the rest of the city.  Sorry all those of you from Milan but it wasn't one of my favorite city.