We arrived back in the early evening but it was still very hot and we were very grateful to Mary and Davide for their air conditioned apartment. Our final days in Milan were spent visiting the La Scala Opera House, walking the streets checking out the shops for last minute shopping and repacking our cases to make sure that we could fit everything in for the trip back home.
Funny, but this did not happen so it was a trip to the local shops to get another suitcase!!! All good now.
Our last evening was spent with Anna, Mary's friend, who we met close to where she lives, only a couple of stations away. Anna took us to her local bar where we had a spritz to start which allowed us to partake of the "happy hour" nibbles. This is a big part of the Italian culture and this bar provided the most amazing spread, from the obligatory pizza, meat selections, cheese boards, sandwiches, all types of spaghetti to the biggest round of parmigiana, you just cut it off as you wish, all there free of charge. Needless to say we didn't have dinner as we had planned. There was however, still room for delicious ice cream some time later!!
Anna, Julie and Linda at 'happy hour'.
The Parmesan cheese - huge!!
Anna said that it is lucky this bar is still open, as Milan, like all of Italy, closes down in August, including restaurants, shops and even some supermarkets. We noticed this in the city as the famous Campari restaurant in the Galleria and other high class restaurants also closed on the first of August for the whole month. Reminder to self: don't go to Italy in August!!
We set off early by taxi to get to the Cadorna station, a short trip away, where we caught the express train to the Malpensa airport. It was a half hour trip which arrives directly in the airport and cheap too. The cost is €11 as opposed to the €90 flat rate charged by taxis!!
We are now ready to go home, our last leg from Hong Kong and leaving with wonderful memories of our European holiday 2013 and we hope that you have enjoyed following our travels via our blog as much as we have had living them.
Julie and Linda
16 June - 7 August 2013
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