Milan cut a bit short
| March 26, 2009 | Posted by Angela under My Travel Adventures |
After the Palace of Versailles, we had to catch a flight that evening to our next destination, Milan. Our flight was at 7:20pm so we had the taxi pick us up at 5pm.
Although it was right in the middle of rush hour, we made it to the airport in plenty of time. Check in ended at 6:40pm and we were in line to check in at 5:30pm. It took us about 20 min before getting to the front of the line.
I gave the attendant our tickets. She looked at us and said “Um, I’m sorry, you are at the wrong airport. You are at Orly and you leave from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.“ I think my heart fell straight to my stomach. I didn’t read my ticket thoroughly. We had arrived at Orly and since it was a low cost carrier I figured we were leaving from Orly but we were leaving from the main Paris airport.
And on top of all that, it was the last flight of the day. We started running to find the taxi line and pushed our way to the front. I told the taxi driver the situation and I said do you think you can make it to Roissy-Charles by 6:40pm? He kind of laughed and said he would try but it was rush hour so it probably wasn’t doable. We were off!
Traffic was crazy and then on top of that, one lane was closed for construction. He looked back at us and said, I’m sorry I don’t think we are going to make it. We decided to keep going anyways.
We got to the airport at 7:05pm and we didn’t even bother to try to check in – there was just no way.
I want to the EasyJet help desk and asked for the next flight. It was at 6:50am the next morning and it was going to cost 50 Euro per person. We really had no other option.
We debated about sleeping at the airport or getting a hotel. We weren’t about to go back into town to stay for less than 8 hours. There about 8 hotels there at the airport luckily. Roissy-Charles is a large hub attracting businesses all over the world. We decided it would be best if we stayed at a hotel so we can shower and get a good night’s rest.
It was 170 Euro for the night. On top of that, we had already paid for our Milan hotel.
And most importantly, we were going to miss our scheduled 8:30am time to see the Last Supper. You have to book the Last Supper months in advance and I found a reseller and bought tickets 2 weeks ago but the only opening they had was for 8:30 am. I went for it, not knowing I was going to stay in Paris another night. That was really a bummer.
The hotel was at Terminal 3 and our flight left from Terminal 2. You’d think that since we were staying at the airport we’d be at our flight on time. Nope – we barely made the cut off time. Then at security, I lost my boarding pass. It was so embarrassing because everyone was waiting behind me. I searched the floor and found it on the other side of the scanner. I guess it flew out, I don’t know.
Most travelers on this flight were business travelers. They were all men in suits with their brief cases. It’s about the same time it takes to fly from Dallas to San Antonio.
I crashed on the plane and I had crazy dreams about flying. If you ever have flown with me you’d know that it tends to be stressful – I promise, I don’t do it on purpose.
Oh well, you can’t expect for everything to go perfectly because if you do, you will always be disappointed.
We finally get to Milan. The Milan airport is really far from the city center and it is more economical to catch a bus in town. We had to wait for the bus and finally made it to the Central Station at around 10am. Our hotel was about a 10 min walk from the station but we took a taxi, haha. We were so beat. We got to the hotel and our free breakfast buffet had ended. Since we missed the Last Supper and our breakfast we just fell asleep.
We were staying at the NH Grand Hotel Verdi near the Central Station. It was part of a European chain hotel that caters to business people. Milan is not really a tourist attraction city, mostly a business city. It does have the famous Duomo Cathedral and Leonardo’s Last Supper. And of course, attracts fashionistas and shopping lovers.
We woke up around 1pm and decided to walk to the Duomo. It is the 4th largest Cathedral in the world and took 5 centuries to build.
On our walk down to the cathedral, we stopped at a trendy pizza place to have lunch. We had pizza and beer. Milan, being the fashion capital of the world, is very trendy. Everyone looks their best and it is easy to stick out like a sore thumb if you don’t dress like them. While we were eating, everyone was whispering to each other and pointing at some table in the other room. Apparently, some famous model was there. Jason and I didn’t recognize her but she had all her crew with her.
When we left, we saw the Ferrari in the front. As we got closer to the Duomo, we started to notice more Ferrarris, Corvettes and Lamborghinis. Yep, this was Milan.
We got to the the Dumo plaza and wow, the Duomo was beautiful. We had tickets to go to the Terrace so we can look from the top.
We decided to walk through the trendiest shopping district passing by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada – after all it was the home of the designers. There was a bling cell phone store where you had to ring the door bell to go in. I did find a store I read about in a book that had discount designer clothes. You know, skirts for $300, discounted from $600. Haha. It was fun looking though.
We did some more window shopping and I had some gelato. I don’t know how they do it but their gelato is so amazing.
We got back to the hotel exhausted and just ordered in room service.
The next day we had to hop on a train to Venice at 1:30pm. We spent the morning shopping. I read about Corso Buenos Aires which is similar to Michigan Ave in Chicago. Store after store. Although it was great to find Milan boutiques that you won’t see in the states. We did shopping until about 12:15pm and then Jason had to grab my arm so we could get back to the hotel.
We made it to the train station in plenty of time. I had to go shopping in Milan so I was trying to use my time wisely 
We missed the Last Supper so I know we will be back.
Off to Venice!
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For you next visit, make sure that you’re there for the flea market at the Naviglio Darsena on the last Sunday of the month. Tons of African and Native American (seriously!) crafts, antiques, and the usual flea market stuff.
oh man! i’m sorry about the airport mix up. it sounds like the amazing race. haha. glad you both are having a wonderful time. i love traveling and seeing historical places and eating at cool restaurants, but sometimes staying in and ordering room service is the way to go
God Bless y’all!