Dad has a good head start on the pictures he took in Italy, so now it’s my time to tell the story.
Day 1 is
really simple. We headed out to the airport in Newark, New Jersey and boarded
the plane to start our trip. That sounds so simple, but it meant a driver to
take us to Newark, several hang-ups at the gate to get our boarding passes,
waiting in line for the security check, and then sitting for what seemed like
forever until it was time to board the plane. Our plane was one with two side
aisles, and we were sitting two abreast next to the widow side of the plane. It
really wasn’t too bad.
United has some nice features on their transatlantic flights. Each seat is provided with a pillow and blanket and earphones. In the seatback in front of us was a built-in video screen. We had a personal choice of several movies, many TV shows, games, or a constant view of the location of the plane in flight and information about altitude, current time in the arrival city, expected arrival time, and lots of other stuff. It managed to keep us occupied for a lot of the trip.
The second day began with our arrival in Milan. We landed at Malpensa Airport and took the Malpensa Express train to the city of Milan. We left our luggage in storage at the train station and then took the Metro downtown to be greeted by an incredible view of the Milan Duomo (cathedral) when we came out of the Metro. This cathedral is the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world and one of the prettiest. It was built starting in 1386, finishing in 1810. We think our contractors are slow!
We didn’t spend much time at the cathedral before we went off hunting something to eat. (Yes, they did feed us on the plane, but portions are very small and it was now past lunch time.)
We found a place that sold all kinds of sandwiches to take out. We bought a couple and found ourselves a space among the curb sitters to enjoy our lunch. There were people of all ages sitting along the curb. Some in very casual clothes and some in suits or office wear. Your lunch is lots cheaper if you take it out instead of sitting at a table.
United has some nice features on their transatlantic flights. Each seat is provided with a pillow and blanket and earphones. In the seatback in front of us was a built-in video screen. We had a personal choice of several movies, many TV shows, games, or a constant view of the location of the plane in flight and information about altitude, current time in the arrival city, expected arrival time, and lots of other stuff. It managed to keep us occupied for a lot of the trip.
The second day began with our arrival in Milan. We landed at Malpensa Airport and took the Malpensa Express train to the city of Milan. We left our luggage in storage at the train station and then took the Metro downtown to be greeted by an incredible view of the Milan Duomo (cathedral) when we came out of the Metro. This cathedral is the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world and one of the prettiest. It was built starting in 1386, finishing in 1810. We think our contractors are slow!
We didn’t spend much time at the cathedral before we went off hunting something to eat. (Yes, they did feed us on the plane, but portions are very small and it was now past lunch time.)
We found a place that sold all kinds of sandwiches to take out. We bought a couple and found ourselves a space among the curb sitters to enjoy our lunch. There were people of all ages sitting along the curb. Some in very casual clothes and some in suits or office wear. Your lunch is lots cheaper if you take it out instead of sitting at a table.
