Milano Bordello

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Vincenzo pulled up at the roundabout, I chucked the bag in the boot, and we're off for Milan. The journey begins here.

It's a sweltering 32C and the car has no air conditioning, but we stop for a few breaks on the road, where I get a beer and he gets a fag. By 7pm, we reach Milan and easily find the hotel above Rolling Stone, after some seriously dodgy parking! Then down to a local brewery to get some buffet dinner and fresh tasty beer, like you can't find in France.

Then off to see Gogol Bordello in the Milan Idaroscalo, a huge park on the edge of town. Vincenzo gave the impression that it would be something small but in fact, there were thousands of people there! We pushed our way to the front of the queue where 2 guys were serving tickets to several hundred anxious customers from a single ticket printer... and then we were in!

Needless to say, Bordello were awesome, and the gig mostly consisted of mad swinging around and dancing with Italians, who didn't really seem to know what to do! By the end I was just completely shattered, we just went home and passed out in the hotel beds.

Friday August 30th
Managing to get up just before check-out time, we skimmed down for an Italian breakfast of espresso and toast, and Vincenzo headed for Torino. Meanwhile, I got in contact with Carolina and agreed to catch the 1430 train to Venice, and headed into town to buy tickets and leave my bag. With 2 hours to spare, I caught the metro down to Moscosa and took a look around the district, the canals, and got some food before walking back to the enormous Facist-style train station. Met Carolina on the platform, only to find she was at the other end of the train! No worries, I hopped into my seat beside an Italian lady and we chatted in broken Franco-Italian for a while before I went to sleep...

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