Milano

So we arrived by plane to Milano from Stockholm at around 11 pm and then caught a cab to our hotel, which had been arranged by the local sales rep. Along the way we came to a stop at some lights and there were 2 "ladies" having a chat on the street corner. Their chat was getting a bit heated and the one wearing short red shorts and stiletto heels went stomping back over to the other side of the street. The other one then turned around and we caught sight of her butt cheeks hanging out of the bottom of her black and white striped skirt (belt?) - obviously showing off her wears. Sarah and I had a bit of a chuckle to ourselves until we realised our hotel was just around the corner - we were obviously staying in a classy part of town.

The view from my hotel room was spectacular (not)

A good work day, a Milanoese speciality for lunch, which looked and tasted a lot like veal schnitzel and french fries, topped off with a gelato at the airport - what could be better? Now it's been mentioned before that all I do is talk about food on the blog, so to shut those people up I thought I'd give you an idea of what the rest of a work trip can be like.........

Catching up on a bit of work at Milano Airport

Our plane from Milano to Zurich was cancelled due to a broken part, ok no problem, I'd rather find that out before taking off. Lovely lady at the counter annouces this and that we need to proceed back to the check in counters to get a seat on another plane, result? Mass panic as people try to get ahead of everyone, however to get to the check in counters we need to clear Passport Control. No worries for Sarah who has an EU passport, not quite so easy for me. So I tell Sarah to go ahead to get a good place in the queue and I'll join her when I get through. When I finally get through I noticed a few people from our cancelled flight standing at one of the luggage carosels, which is extremely fortunate as our suitcases pass in front of me. So I grab the bags and head back up to the check in counter where Sarah has been waiting for me at the front of the queue. Get a boarding pass for the next flight (which actually was the same flight number and boarding time as the cancelled flight), go back through security and passport control and head back to our gate where we are faced with an extremely rude Swiss Air attendant that would only say "Wait". Is there a plane? "Wait". Are we going to get to Zurich tonight? "Wait". Eventually she points at the doors and says "Bus" and we all get on the bus, bound for the plane. All this for a 35 min flight, we should have caught the train. And the icing on the cake - our luggage didn't turn up in Zurich . . . . . so much for my new, never-get-lost, lucky suitcase. The guy at the Swiss Air "Lost and Found" did give us a survival pack consisting of a one-size-fits-all T-shirt and undies, which fit perfectly of course, toothbrush and some basic toiletries. He also mentioned that our hotel was in a great part of town, right in the middle where all the shops are, and yes it did turn out to be as he said, however all the shops were shut as it was late and the Euro 2008 Swiss game had just finished as I hoped into bed so was kept awake by screaming fans (not sure if they won?).

So in tomorrow's blog post I'll be talking about how great the food is in Zurich, and hopefully that my suitcase arrived.......