So, we got to Milan today. The hotel I am at has free internet so I am taking full advantage. C and I learned several things today-
1. An 11 hour train ride sounds alot better in theory then it is in practice, and it doesn’t sound that good in theory.
2. When your guide book says reserve ahead to see Leonardo’s Last Supper, what it really means is “Reserve before you come to Italy, goofball.” As of today, 1 Oct, 2007, they are fully booked through November. We will give it a shot early tomorrow morning to see if we can sneak in from a no show, but the chances are slim.
3. Always try and see the serving sizes of a restaurant before you order. Yesterday in Marseille, C and I went to a chinese restaurant for dinner. (C had a hankering for a nice big bowl of ramen, and I could have used one myself.) When our food came (at a total of 18 euros) the food was litterally postage stamp size. C’s ramen was in a bowl that would be too small for a rice bowl back in Japan, and my curry and pork was in a saucer sized plate, and wasnt particularly full.
Today we had dinner in an Italian restaurant here in Milan (still staffed, strangely enough by Chinese) for four euros I got a full sized pizza, and C got a full plate(really enough for two people) of salmon and pasta for 6. That plus the salad we ordered and the basket of good complimentary bread proved to be way too much food. (and it was pretty darn good, too)
4. My guide book sucks. I bought a copy of Let’s Go and a copy of Lonely Planet for Western Europe. I ended up carrying the Let’s Go (after taking a razorblade to all the places I wasnt planning on going, the thing is a friggen brick) Every country has the information arranged slightly differently, and I have found mistakes in almost every city. Thanks to my guide book having a borked map, C and I spent an extra 15 minutes trying to find our hotel. It also doesn’t list area codes with phone numbers, making it practically useless to use as a phone reference. C’s guide book has color photos of most tourist spots, tons more useful information, and better maps, in general then those availible at tourist information booths or the ones we got with our eurail pass. Even though my ability to read Japanese is limited, I still turn to her book first because alot of times my Lets Go is just dead weight. (pro tip- before traveling to Europe, learn Japanese fluently then buy a Japanese language guide book.)
5. Back in Marseille (so we really didn’t learn this today, but deal with it) we had heard from many people that it is a dangerous city, however we happened to go when (and this is just a guess from the crowds and posters) a rugby world cup game was being held in town. This had the benefit of there being a pair of cops stationed every three meters. On the flip side, however, there were hordes of incredibly drunk rugby fans staggering around the city. (who, in general, were wearing enough flags to make a Canadian blush) I wanted to get some pictures, but when the populace of a city is so drunk that the wind wafting out of a metro enterance smells like a brewery, it is generally a good idea to let sleeping dogs lie.
This hotel seems to have a proper computer set up. We have to wake up early tomorrow but I will try my best to get a bunch of pics posted tomorrow. (and possibly read some of the stuff I’ve written- the sky is the limit)
Repatriate 