My Milan stopover
And then the second day arrived. I was most nervous about this day as I would need to use several modes of transport to get to Lake Como via a Milan stopover Thought that if all went well on the road today, the rest of my travels will go off without a hitch. I should have known that disaster will strike when I least expect it. Story of my life.
Good bey Venice
I got up again very early so that I can be on time. By then I knew that I might get lost and I also knew that I had to schlep my suitcase over the massive staircase leading to the train station across the water. There is no scarcity of stairs in Venice and you will need to eat your spinach on days that you plan to get your luggage anywhere (although, if you have extra cash in your back pocket, I saw some guys that will take your luggage to where you need to go. But I think you will need steel yourself for that bill).
Train station madness
Made it to the station with wobbly arms and time to spare. Had enough time to find an easy Geocache, take my last look across the canal and find my platform. I had pre-booked tickets but could not find the ‘Milan’ train. I tried an automatic ticket booth to see what’s going on, only to have it tell me that there are no trains going to Milan that day. How in the world was that possible?
There I was, running like a headless chicken for a while until I discovered the station schedule and finally figured out that all was well. 2 things that I learned here was that the name on the train is not necessarily the destination that you are going to, and that there are 2 different companies that have automatic machines. If you booked with Trenitalia, do use the Italo machine. That was my blond moment of the day.
I got on, found my seat and left my ticket for all to see on my lap. I had some bad experiences before on trains with ticket checkers, so I wanted to keep my ticket in sight. And then we choo chood out of there across the water and onto the mainland. Originally, I planned to stay near the Mestre station as it is a bit cheaper than Venice, but after going through there I am glad that I did not. It seemed a bit dodgy.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. I was happy to look at the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the ticket checker only glanced at my lap and went his way.
Milano
And then came the Milan station and a million people! So many people and suitcases I have never seen. All these trains spewing out people all moving either away or towards me. Every single area was either occupied by a person, a suitcase or a dog.
The see of people did not thin out and I had to ‘fight’ my way out. It is an impressive building with higher than high arched sealings, but I was distracted by all the people around me and paranoidly looking for pickpockets. You constantly hear a mechanic voice saying ‘beware of pickpockets’, but that is no easy task when you are surrounded and squashed by people.
Finally found the ‘left luggage’ place. It sounds weird to my ear. Left luggage to me sounds more like ‘lost and found’ than ‘here we store your luggage’. But that is what they do. After being freed of the burden of luggage I made my way to the metro ticket machine. Again, too many people, but finally made it to the front to buy a ticket. A short ride later I stepped out the first thing that I saw was the Milan Duomo. I really like that you immediately see where you are. It was just like when I stepped out of the station at Koln and immediately saw the Kolner Dom.
Milan to do
On my Milan to do list was climbing the Duomo, walking through the Galleria, see Da Vinci and the Scala Opera House. Milan is also home to the Last Supper. I debated going there but decided to take it off my ‘stress list’. I already had too many things to worry about on this day without having to navigate extra or getting lost. And if you miss your appointment, which has to be made months in advance, it is tough cookies. No Last Supper for me, but definitely not a last supper.
Anyway, number 1 on the list was climbing to the top of the Duomo. I saw a line snake its way across the square. Turned out that that line was snaking in, not up. The line to go up was shorter than the one going in but neither the less long. I decided to stand in line for 10 minutes to see how fast it moves so that I can decide if there is time. After 10 minutes of waiting, I came to a sign that said ‘90 minutes waiting’ and then ‘if you are in this line you should already have a ticket’.
Man! I have just wasted 10 minutes, and nobody could tell me where the tickets are sold. How on earth did they then get their tickets?!?. I walked and asked my way around until I finally found the ticket office on the other side of the building across the street. The ‘office’ was a very discouraging place. 100s of people bundling together hoping to get to the front. Randomly someone handed me a ticket that said that I was number 707 in line. What line? And really being 700th in line or in the crowd was not something that I wanted to waste time on, and then I had to go back and wait another 90 minutes in another line.
A day is not endless, and I chose not to do the one thing that I wanted to do in Milan. I still had a day of more travel ahead, and as it was a Saturday did not want to miss my bus and be stranded. So, I settled for a few outside photos of the Duomo and ventured into the Galeria with its covered shops.
On the other side, I saw the Opera house and Da Vinci and made my way back to the train station. It seemed a bit calmer this time around. I guess the morning rush was over. I bought a ticket to Como and off I went again.
Como and the C10 bus
At Como, I bought my bus ticket to Menaggio and sat on the stairs looking out at a pretty spectacular view considering it is only a bus/train station. And then came the C10 bus, way off schedule. Who cares!? it was either very early or very late, but I was going to get on! Not. I turned around to pick up my bags, and when I turned back, the bus driver looked at me, closed the door and rode off.
What had just happened? I have heard of stories of this particular bus line where the drivers refused passengers and it had just happened to me. I was furious. Without the bus, I was stranded. Weekends have fewer buses and there is apparently no schedule. I had nothing to do except wait for whichever time the next C10 bus would come. And it came. I half expected it not to. And then the road trip along Lake Como began.
This was stressful in a whole different way. Other busses usually say what the next stop is. But this bus was silent. As was the driver. Not a word. Luckily, I had printed out the stops on the way, and there were quite a few. But it turns out that there are stops along the way that are not on the list and others that were on the list, the bus did not stop it. If there were no people at a stop, and no passenger pushed the stop button in advance, the bus drove past. So how in the world was I supposed to know when to push the button?
I was freaked out a bit by this, because I did not know when my stop will be, and it was difficult to follow the route on the printout. About halfway through I asked the driver to please tell me when my stop came up. And then he told me that he has never heard of the stop that I was asking about. What???
So, I sat almost next to him, checking the stop names, if I could see them, and marked them off. When I saw the Menaggio board I got off at the first stop. Turns out that was the correct one. My hostel was about 3 minutes’ walk away.
Menaggio
You just read hostel and not hotel. Yes, I did indeed stay at a hostel. The view alone is worth the sharing of a room and the price was more than right. Here I discovered that Youth Hostel does not necessarily mean youth. There were people staying there twice my age!
Anyway, I got my bed, left my stuff and headed out. All along the shore I went. They have beautiful walkways with flowers in every colour, boats and docks and ducks. And of course, the lake with the snow-covered Alps in the background. And a respectable amount of people. No herds.
Back at the hostel, I found myself in the company of two cyclists planning on biking all the way to the south of Italy. I actually had a good time with these total strangers. And both of them know Africa, so I did not have to explain that South Africa is a country.
That was it for the day of travel. I made it! Not much went wrong. I think the biggest mishap was the ticket office. Getting there when they open seems the only way to get to the front and not waste half a day in lines. It was mostly not a story worthy day, but I think it was still an accomplished one with me earning my ‘badge’ for finding and taking all the different modes of transport and not getting lost or pickpocketed.
I thought with my newly acquired ‘badge’ I will be a travelling master and that I will be waxed for the coming weeks of travel. But as I mentioned earlier, ‘stuff’ happens when you least expect it.
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