Day 4: Milano Extravaganza

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Saturday, 22nd October 2011

We finally made our way to the city of Milan in northern Italy on day 4 of our vacation in Europe.

Hailing a budget flight from the Paris CDG to Milan Malpensa Airport, there was absolutely nothing extravaganza about it. The overall Easy Jet experience was good. A clean, modern fleet, on-time departure and an interesting in-flight magazine which made our 90 minutes commute to Italy a painless routine. Collecting our checked baggages took a good 30 minutes though. This was normal practice accordingly to a local Italian whom the ladies spoke to during the flight.

The airport bus station was easy to find and for a mere 5 Euros per person, the non-stop bus brought us straight to Milano Centrale Station where our Apartment was located. It was closed to nightfall when we managed to check into our one-bedroom apartment after some minor glitches and a couple of telephone exchanges with the helpful owner.

We wasted no time in stocking up our essentials from the nearby supermarket before making our way to the Duomo, one of the key attractions in the city. Certainly, there was a "Wow" factor that came with it as we made our exit from the Metro Station. Dinner was served at a local Trattoria next to the grand Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II Shopping Mall where I ordered a decent serving of Pasta with Mussels (Mamma Mia!!)

We decided to disperse back to our apartment shortly after dinner in preparation for our lengthly Venice trip the next day. Back at our accomodation that evening, the noise from the charming trams outside our apartment was always a constant irritant every few other minutes. This would ramble on until the wee hours of the morning when the service finally ended their run for the day.

Otherwise, our neighbourhood was safe, convenient and well-served by the many eateries that flanked the streets.

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