MILAN DAAALING! MILAN! - MILAN, ITALY - DAY 22
Kay and I took the same night train to Florence and to Milan, but we were in separate carts. There’s such a storm happening in Italy, that she and I both got off at different stops and had to take the bus. From not sleeping the whole night, I slept the entire 10hrs, plus a two hour bus ride. We had to take the bus from Verona, so TECHNICALLY I’ve been there too now haha! I only managed to just barely catch a glimpse of the river at night though. I met a REALLY nice girl on the train. Her name is Sara, and she's studying in Vienna. She was on her way home to the Alps in Switzerland, (French side). She completely walked me through getting into Milan, and translated all of the Italian for me. Much needed divine intervention after splitting with Kay, and having the trains all screwed up. Kay is also safely at her Airbnb waiting for the boys in Florence.
I get to Milan, and the train station functions are worse here than in France. That should say something. It makes me really nervous to travel solo in Italy because they do everything differently, including the train systems and tickets, and no one is helpful in that the employees don’t seem to know any information. After I got off the bus, I immediately went into the train station to ask about bus tickets to Lake Como and a train ticket to Croatia. I waited an hour, but because of the language barrier, I pulled the wrong ticket for the queue, and gave up to try elsewhere. *(Every time I say "they knew nothing", just imagine an Italian shrugging their shoulders with their hands in the air). I checked with a tourist place, and they knew nothing, and pointed me to customer service. I walk over to the customer service place in the station and they knew nothing, and pointed me downstairs to the metro. I ask there too and they knew nothing, and told me to go back upstairs to customer service. At this point I was totally fed up, and headed down the block to drop my stuff at the hostel. Everything is a little easier when you’re not carrying 45lbs on your back.
I had breakfast, hopped on the WiFi and communicated with Kay. After this, I went straight back to the train station, as these tickets are priority. Finally in the correct line, gathering the first bit of info for Lake Como was easy- It runs every hour, but they said I should go to a different train station near the duomo. I asked for more information but they knew nothing, so I’ll just have to figure that out early tomorrow and get my ticket on a machine.
The second line for Croatia was another 30-45mins and they knew nothing on how to get to Croatia. The best information they could give me was a 6:45AM reservation from Milan to the Italian / Croatian border. Good enough. I communicated this to Kay and she said depending on the car and how much space they have, she’ll try to pick me up from that end station and drive all of us to Zadar, Croatia. If not, I should definitely be able to get a train from the end station to Zadar...According to the Italian train ticket attendant who knows nothing.
It was now 12:30PM, and I finally went out for the day. I saw everything I wanted except for the Fondazione Prada. Half the day had gone by, and by the time I’d get there it would be two expensive cabs round trip, a ticket to get in, and MAYBE an hour in the actual gallery. I was only disappointed because I knew that if the train stuff hadn’t taken so long, I probably could’ve made it. Another time I hope! There were long lines in the station too because of the weather, and only a handful of train ticket attendants. Everything is electronic, but it’s all in Italian, so I couldn't even help myself.
I walked EVERYWHERE, and spent very little money hoping to flex over more funds to Lake Como tomorrow. I hadn't known this at the time, but I was in Milan during Milano Fashion Week. I was walking around with my camera, and I couldn't figure out why well-dressed people kept walking near me, staring me down, giving me looks of a Zoolander "Blue Steel" expression, and then passing me and looking severely disappointed that I hadn't paid any attention to them. I later realized they probably thought I was a fashion photographer / blogger, and they're faces instantly dropped when I wouldn't take their picture. They probably thought I didn't feel they were fashion "worthy" enough haha! I didn't make the connection until much later because knowing that Milan is a fashion capital, I just assumed everyone living in and / or visiting Milan always dresses this well.
Keeping to myself, I saw the Duomo Di Milano, the Milan Cathedral, San Bernardino alle Ossa (the bones church), Middle Finger Milan in the finance district, and went to a nearby neighborhood recommended by the hostel staff that was BEAUTIFUL, and probably my favorite part of the city. Everything in this small, side-neighborhood was designer, elegant and expensive, but completely unknown to tourists and therefore not crowded- I LOVED this! It made for a good replacement to the Prada museum. I stopped for lunch at an Indian place believe it or not, and had jalebi. I can’t believe they have it all the way in Milan, Italy but not where I live on the West Coast in the States!
I walked all the way back just as it was getting dark, and now I’m sitting in a pizza place next to the hostel writing to you. It’s not Roma pizza, but it’s cheap haha! Getting to Lake Como tomorrow should be fine. My only stress as of right now is getting to Croatia thereafter- It’ll probably be a 3:30AM wake up call. I could technically leave at 5AM if it’s only an hour, but the next train is 6:45AM to the Italian / Croatian Border and that’s cutting it a little too close for comfort for me. Pray all goes well!! Everything has worked so far :)
More tomorrow night, love you guys!
-eM
