How Milan stole my wanderlust
It was a month ago and it was a spur of the moment decision when we bought train tickets to Milan.
They were on sale so Kay and I thought, “why not?” After all, it’s meant to be a year of travelling around Europe, free of inhibition. Of course, we stupidly booked our train tickets from Zurich to Milan with the thought that Zurich was closer to Milan. We forgot that we had to travel another two hours from Lausanne to Zurich. Needless to say, the train ride was tediously long.
I lost a little of my wanderlust a few nights before we were due to depart. Italy has never been on my top 5 countries to visit (you’ll find that the top 5 are occupied by the Scandinavian and Nordic countries), but I guess there’s kind of an obligation to tick countries off the list while you’re on a one year exchange in Europe. So, Italy it is!
When we got off the train at Milano Centrale, we were greeted by our two American friends who are also studying in Lausanne. We made our way to the metro station and went to buy our metro tickets at the machine. There were a few dodgy women who came up to us and tried to “help” us buy our tickets. One of them said that the ticket machine only takes 50 Euro notes. I soon learnt after that these women who would try to “help” you will usually either steal your money or steal the change that dispenses out from the machine. Already, my impression of Milan was plummeting into oblivion.
It got worse though. When we got on the metro, there was a bunch of relatively young looking girls all crowding around the door in an attempt to block you from getting inside the carriage. I tried to push through but one of the girls were literally in my face, shouting and pointing “DUOMO?!” I finally managed to push through and as the carriage doors started to close, the girls got off the metro. I looked down at my bag and noticed that THE ZIPPER WAS UNZIPPED! I thought I was being super cautious and everything, what with having my handbag in front of me but those little sneaky sneaks managed to get my zipper open! I frantically rummaged through my handbag to make sure everything was still there- my phone, check (THANK GOD). My wallet, check. My travel wallet, check. But where was my iPod? I freaked out a little, but thought to myself that I would rather lose my iPod than my phone or wallet.
Once we got off at our stop, we had to find the tram that went to our hotel. Unfortunately we couldn’t figure out where the tram stop was, so we walked for about twenty minutes until we reached our hotel: the Diffuso Navigli Apartments. Once we got to the apartment, I checked my bag again and was so thankful when I saw my little iPod at the bottom of my bag! Looks like I broke through the group of girls before they actually had a chance to take anything from my bag! The apartment was actually a pretty good place to stay- it had had a kitchen and a pretty sick as slanted roof. The location itself was perfect as it was next to a grocery store and a one minute walk to the tram stop that takes you to the Duomo.
We bought groceries and then caught a tram to the Duomo- which is crowded with tourists and black men trying to trick you into buying their “free bracelets”. Yeah, that happened to me once in Paris- it wasn’t going to happen again in Milan. Even though the Duomo was nice and grand and spikey and cool-looking, I was still feeling lacklustre in the wanderlust department. We did have some gelato though, so that was a plus (including the guy behind the counter who had, literally, the most high-pitched voice I’ve ever heard).
I also remember there was a homeless beggar that was given food by another man, which I thought was an incredibly sweet gesture. See, I don’t mind beggars as long as they’re not the types that are always in your face and trying to manipulate and trick you.
The next day, we went back to the Duomo to look inside (again, at this point in time, all the cathedrals and churches are starting to look the same to me). We then headed to the train station to catch our train to Venice- or as they say in Italian, Venezia St. Lucia!
When we got off the train, I felt as though I stepped into paradise- the sun was shining and the weather was nice and warm. We walked out of the train station and BAM. SUNSHINE, CANALS AND HAPPINESS. My wanderlust was slowly peeping back out.
We caught a water ferry to our hotel: Hotel Alla Salute. Though it was the cheapest hotel that I could find, the facilities weren’t very good. The bathroom was shared amongst all the hotel guests and therefore really gross and disgusting. I avoided having a shower while I was in Venice because I felt like I would catch some sort of disease if I stepped my bare foot in the bathroom. We also had to pay extra for wifi which was fine with me but it would have been more convenient if they had added it on to the overall price of our stay.
Despite the dire living situation, I still had a wonderful time in Venice. I bought a Venetian mask- coz that’s what you have to buy in Venice. There are literally mask shops on every corner.
We paid for a gondola ride around the small canals of Venice. Our gondolier’s name was Marco.
We went past the place where Mozart lived which was pretty cool. The gondola ride cost us 80 euros (so 20 euros each). We then found a really sweet as restaurant to eat dinner- a three course meal for 13 euros! The lasagne was absolutely delicious, although the chicken was a little dry- but still very satisfying.
We then went to Piazza San Marco- otherwise known at St. Mark’s Square in English. We walked around and looked at the shops, had some yummy gelato and then headed back to our hotel to call it a night.
The next morning we went back to Piazza San Marco and there was a little carnival thing going on with lots of cute Italians dressed up in costumes and throwing flags up into the air.
We went up the Campanile di San Marco- or St Mark’s Campanile which is apparently one of the highest views your can get of Venice. Needless to say it was very breathtaking.
We then said goodbye to our two American friends as they had to go back to Switzerland to attend classes the next day.
We ate lunch at a restaurant called Trattoria Al Brindisi and I have nothing else to say except that if you value your Euros, DO NOT EAT HERE. Kay and I were so sure that our meals would only cost around 30-40 euros- but when we saw the bill and it said 98 euros, I almost curled into a ball and cried.
Although to be fair, it was a seafood dish so…
It’s okay though, we drowned our sorrows by eating more gelato.
Kay and I went exploring through the streets of Venice and took a lot of nice photos.
We went back to our hotel and took a speedy nap as we were so exhausted, and later that night we went back out to visit the casino. It was really empty and pretty boring. The streets of Venice are super dark at night time- there’s not a lot of light, so it was kind of creepy walking around. Just as we were leaving the Casino, there was a transvestite that was all, “scusa”, but it turns out that all he/she wanted was for us to take a photo of her in front of the casino. Still, there was plenty of opportunity right there to be thrown off a cliff… or into the dirty canal water, in this case.
We went back to Piazza San Marco to look for a nice place to eat. The Italians really like their 12% service fee so we scouted for a place that was relatively cheap.
Anyway, after dinner, we went back to the hotel and attempted to slumber as we had to get up early the next day and catch our train back to Milan.
I really have nothing noticeably nice to say about Milan- I think it’s gotten to the stage that “big cities” start to look and feel the same after a while. It’s also not very pleasant having to be so uptight and conscious about my belongings all the time, but I did manage to buy myself a nice pair of white summer shoes and also a dress! I didn’t take many photos in Milan for fear of getting my camera stolen. We kept walking past a beggar on the floor, and every single time she would say “Ciao bella”. I sometimes wonder to myself how people get themselves into these situations. I mean, I see homeless people in Sydney all the time, but for some reason, the fear that I have when I’m in countries such as Italy, is void. I never realized how safe I felt in Sydney until I stepped foot into places like this.
Anyway, I guess that’s all there is to my Italy trip. Milan certainly stole my wanderlust and made me realize that these “romantic” perceptions that we have of a certain place are usually over exaggerated and not everyone will have the same feeling of wander. Kay and I have booked a trip to Madrid at the end of May and though it would be great to tick Spain off my list, I still have the same lacklustre wanderlust and dread.
Well, at least I can tick Italy off my list now.
Anyway, I have a ton of homework and assignments to get done before the Easter break so I’m not sure if I’ll have time to post up a March favourites blog. I’ll be going back to Sweden for the Easter break and spending a few days in Stockholm so I’m super excited!
Here’s my vlog from Italy:
Until next time!