POSTCARD FROM MILAN - 1-4 July 2016

We had a dreadful start to our Milan weekend by BA changing all the check-in arrangements at Heathrow.  The queue to check-in was horrendous, but I managed to get through without too much of a problem.  My friend Richard didn’t have such a good time, but we eventually found each other in the BA lounge.  Our flight was a little delayed but we made it to Milan without too much of a delay.

We took a bus into the city centre and after checking in and getting ourselves sorted we had a wonder around the city and even climbed to the top of the Duomo [the cathedral].  In the evening we had drinks with a friend of Richard’s and then walked to what we thought was a cheap restaurant, but it proved rather expensive, if delightful!

On Saturday morning we did an excellent City tour with a very good guide and then had a light lunch before relaxing in our rooms to get ready for our evening at the opera.   We arrived at La Scala in time for a glass of fizz before the start, and ordered one for the first interval.  I thoroughly enjoyed the “La Scala” experience!  Der Rosenkavalier was amazing with good music, although it was rather long, starting at 7pm and finishing at 11.45pm – with two half-hour intervals.  It was however an evening to remember!

The next day we had a very early start to go to Lake Como for the day. Unfortunately the Concierge gave us a start of an hour earlier than needed, so we were not happy bunnies.  However our trip to Lake Como was really wonderful in glorious weather.  We had an hour to ourselves in Como itself and then boarded a ship on the Lake for a two hour cruise along the lake to Bellagio.  We had a light lunch there and then took a small ship back across the water to pick up our bus home, getting back to the hotel at 7pm.  After an hour’s recovery, we treated ourselves to the prosecco that had been left in our rooms and then went to a little street café for some supper.

On our final morning we moved into a spare room for our last few hours, and then took ourselves on a tour of the Duomo and the Duomo Museum.  We finished up with an Aperol Spritz in a local café before making our way to the airport for our flight home, which was sadly delayed by an hour thanks to strikes in France!

A delightful action-packed weekend!