After a couple of hours on the train Maike and I arrived in milan..Maike had organised an apartment through airbnb but we couldn't check in til 2 so we had a coffee and snack nearby..after checking in and getting our bearings we ventured in to the city on the tram..we went and checked out the amazing Duomo cathedral, main square and gallery (beautiful old building where all the fancy shops are)..we eventually found a tourist info place and also had a look in the Sforza castle in the park...we strolled around and found another shopping street with ridiculously expensive clothes and then checked out a free gallery of modern art..the art was cool, and we listened to audio description, but the best bit was the building! It was an old bank and it was absolutely amazing..
We then headed back via the supermarket to pick up a couple of cheap bottles of wine..Maike cooked scrumptious spinach gnocchi, we got ready and hit the town! Well, not really, we more hit the big park..which happened to have clubs in it :P took some cool picks in front of the beautiful arc and got to what we thought was our destination club..payed 10euros to get in (not realising that entitled us to a free drink :( ), sat down, realised it was the wrong club and left! As it was pretty yuppie..finally found the right club and were let in for free with free drinks (#winning)..met some cool South African guys who we danced with and then completely misunderstood each other and left because we thought the other wanted too lol it wasn't until we were walking home that Maike asked, why did you want to leave? Haha id thought she'd wanted to leave! So we turned around and went back for more of a dance :P then on the way home Maike rolled her ankle, we encounted a mouse running up the tree and (I think) in my attempt to look at the mouse I stubbed my toe and got blood all over my white shoes lol..fun and eventful night!
Maike had to leave the next day so we went to the pharmacist and saw to our injuries (just like mum says, you haven't really had fun unless there's bruises :P) and then explored a little more..walked through the park and saw a couple of Asian weddings and some super cute turtles..tried some delicious italian pasta..attempted to go in to the botanic gardens but it was closed for lunch so we just headed to the central station..which was so disorganised! We waited for an hour and Maike missed her train because there were so many people waiting to buy tickets..anyways I got lost going back to the apartment to get my bag and then by the time I got back to the station Maike had found another train..and then story of my life I couldn't connect to wifi so didn't know how to get to a hostel so ended up getting a cab to one I knew the name of..and it was full :S so I borrowed their wifi, found another hostel and lugged my bag around milan to the 'milano hostel' which was run by an Egyptian..went and used a dodgy Internet cafe..Met some cool people who offered me to go for drinks but I was a little worse for wear from the night before so bed it was :P
I went back to the duomo and had a look inside, it was incredibly beautiful..strolled along the streets and had lasagne and espresso (when in Italy) and used the cafes wifi..uploaded some pics..I then decided to move hostels as this one got a little pricey on weekends so I lugged my heavy bag around for about an hour in the ridiculous heat before finding my next one..which had apparently double booked but couldn't get on to me..the man was nice tho and squeezed an 11th bed into the 10bed dorm..which was a tiny room lol but oh well! Showered, went to a shop to buy duct tape for my bag then headed to a district in milan with artificial canals and loads of restaurants,,had a gelato and people watched for a bit, bought some phone accessories (spare battery thing for an iPhone, best purchase ever) then headed home to sleep way too close to a stranger...
Didn't do too much the next day...went in to central and was waiting at a cafe for a vodafone store to open that was never going to open lol eventually figured out a SIM card (for emergencies and so I could sign up for carpooling)..skyped mum and dad..tried to organise a lift to somewhere on the way to barcelona for the next day but no luck..napped, Chinese guy staying next to me presented me with a origami stalk, had a couple of glasses of wine (out of a carton) with a gay, vegan Mexican guy..chatted to a few of the others staying there (2 English girls and a German)..eventually decided to get a bus the next day to Marseille on the French Riviera, about half way to barcelona...
