Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Alici de Mediterrani
Anchovies with Olive OIl and lemon Off to a rocky start - Deb and I left our Torino apartment at about 1330 CET and headed for Porta Nuova to catch our train to Milano. That went smoothly, we caught our ride without a hitch and enjoyed the just less than 1 hour trek to Milano Garabaldi Stazione. Our plane wasn't leaving until 1835 so Deb had planned a side trip to try and find an area rug (Tappeto) that would put the finishing touch on the living room at our apartment. She had found a place, called the Persian House, in Milano on-line that had a great variety of colors, shapes and sizes that we just were not able to find in Torino. So, we trucked on over there (it was about 400 meters from the train station) and headed in. That was at 1445 and they were closing in 15 min so we lucked out. Since it was Friday they would be closing for the month as well. Well, we made them stay open for 15 min more than they wanted to but we found the tappeto we wanted and got free shipping to Torino as well (which probably meant that we didn't haggle as well
Pizza at Samarcanda
Mozzorella e Gorgonzola e Mele - molto buona as we could have although we thought we got a good deal but what the heck do we know). The rug is a custom design so it won't be completed for 3 months but it was a good quality 100% wool thick pile so we were happy. We shook hands, paid a deposit, said arrivederci and headed out to catch our train to Milano, Malpensa. A few metro stops and we hopped aboard the Malpensa express which took us to Terminal 1. The train was on time and we were all smiles and feeling good the plan was working. We caught a bus to get us to Terminal 2 which was the EasyJet hub. Easyjet is one of those no-frills carriers like TuiFly and Ryan Air. The flight to Madrid was 40 euro per seat one way as opposed to 200 euro for United. Anyway, the bus dropped us off and into the terminal we went. Inside we stopped in front of a small video monitor where the display was sorted by departure time. What was that time and flight number? We looked at Deb's a boarding pass - 1835 hr, Flt # 2779. There it is. What does 1835
Madrid Apt 1
Living room with view to terrazzo - 0015 mean? After looking more closely we realized that it meant the flight was significantly delayed. Crapola!
We were renting an apartment in Madrid and part of that rental included a pickup at the Madrid AP so we had to start calling all those involved to alert them all to the dilemma. Did all that - seems like no problem, everyone in Madrid was great and adjusted everything to help us out.
Faced with a 6 hr delay and looking around the terminal we decided that we did not want to spend all that time there. So Deb whipped out her trusty BlackBerry (BB) Torch and started to search for a place to eat. Bingo, a restaurant called La Salamarcanda was not too far away. So we hopped on the bus back to T1 with our bags in tow, took it 4 stops to Casa Nuove and using the BB GPS navigated some narrow streets until we found the place. It was now 1840 and it didn't open until 1900. The help was busy getting the outdoor tables ready and graciously allowed us to rest at a table until opening. It was worth the wait (as the pics may
suggest). I had Alici (anchovies) de Mediterraine and a couple of meza litre of Beligue rousse (Belgium red ale) and Spagetti Carbonare - Deb got Pizza with mozzeralla de bufala, Gorgonzola and Mele (apples) followed by a chocolate lava cake that was pretty awesome. We walked away spending 50 Euros which was pretty reasonable for the amount and quality of the food. Molto Buono.
We left there at about 2100 under a light drizzle, walked back to the T2 bus stop and got back with a 2.5 hour wait still ahead of us.
Finally a gate was announced and we headed there to find a blast from the past. If anyone remembers Southwest Airlines before they used the A/B/C boarding scheme then you will understand what we faced at the EasyJet gate. Couple that with the usual aggressive european queuing culture and you have mass chaos complete with pushing, shoving, accidental groaping and the less than pleasent smell of folks that have been waiting all day to board this plane. Tempers were on edge and that included ours. Deb and I initially got seperated (she is more aggressinve than I am for sure) but luckily we reunited on the gangway
into the plane and we sat together in the cabin where Easyjet associates apologised for all the troubles and asked that we not blame them which no one did. Uneventful 2h and 10 min flight left us in Madrid where we searched a bit and finally found our driver, Ali (a Morrocan Expat who has been in Madrid for 20 years and loves Barcelona football, who, I have to admit, play with a lot of intelligence and man can they pass the ball - I digress - later) who got us to our apartment at Calle de al Alta 27 where we hit the sack almost immediately.
So, here we are. We went to the market this morning to get some essential snacks and will be heading out to get a late lunch soon. Dinner here is served even later than in Italia. They start at 2130 but most Madrid folks really like to eat at 2230 or so. Tommorow is unplanned although the Prado is free on Sundays so we will see what unfolds. Monday night is authentic Flamenco at Casa Patas just down the street and that show starts at 2230. We are both looking forward to that.
So check out the pics and we will be sending more as we go.
En boca Lupe mia amici,
Gary
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0497s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb