Milano, Sto Arrivando! (Milan, Here I Come!)
Milan, here I come!! Yes, that’s right, I am going to my favorite country, Italy! I can’t get enough of the beautiful and delicious destination and so a good friend of mine and I are off to the city of fashion for a long weekend! I can’t wait to get off the plane and have a yummy cup of cappuccino at the airport and start the delicious few days.
As I was browsing the web about 6 or 7 months ago, I came across an ad on the side of the page that quoted a really good price to fly to Milan- my eyes got bigger and I immediately started searching… turns out, the fares were as low as $650 from Newark to Milan on United– what??? I decided, I have to go, even if it is on my own… one doesn’t get a direct flight for such a low price everyday- and that to my favorite destination! We have not been to Milan before… as it has never been a destination I was very interested in… it is a city that is filled with fashion… which is great but it never came up as a family vacation. So, when this opportunity presented itself, I felt it would be perfect to go with friends and enjoy what the city has to offer…
So, I got in touch with a friend and she and I, after researching for dates/prices for over an hour, came up with 3 nights in Milan for $650!! Yay! For me, the anticipation of a trip is almost sweeter than the actual trip… well, almost. I have been thinking and planning about this getaway for a while now and am excited now that it is upon us!
Many people ask me how I am able to travel so much- well, luckily my family and I love to travel. We try to use mileage for most of our tickets and we do loads of research to make sure we are getting the most bang for our buck! So, for this trip, we really saved on the airfare… the next step was to look for a good hotel. Our priority when choosing a hotel is location, location, location! We tend to take public transportation to get around, and it is very important to stay in a hotel that is preferably around city center and close to a train or bus station- we are willing to spend a premium for the right location as one should to be able to come out of one’s hotel and walk or take public transportation to anywhere…. For this trip, as usual I checked my ‘go to’ site, tripadvisor to see all the hotels in Milan and their ratings. I saw that Hotel Spadari, a small boutique hotel, right in the middle of the city and overlooking the duomo, was rated number one. It included breakfast- which is a must, and wifi, which is a must as well! So, it was easy and I booked it! It was close to a metro station and walking distance to most things!
As we got closer to the trip, I started to think about how to get to the hotel from the airport.. I started to do some research and check for cab and Uber fares and found out that a taxi to our hotel was 90 euros and over and an Uber a whopping 122 euros- what??? I was not willing to spend that kind of money, especially since I am going to Milan for shopping and I would rather use that money to buy some shoes!!! I decided to check out the Milan airport website to see what my options were. Turns out, there is an express train from the airport to the city center! I then checked the map and it turns out the hotel from there is a 15 minute walk, a few subway stops or a 5 minute cab away! I checked the site for the schedule and price- 12 euros to get to city center- perfect! I also emailed the hotel for their suggested method and they recommended the express train as well!
Now, obviously if you think you will be shattered and tired once you get off the plane, by all means, take a cab or a car to your hotel- but it is really a lot of fun to take public transportation and figure out how to get to your destination…. plus it is a great way to get acclimated and used to the time difference. I find walking out in fresh air and soak in some sunlight helps me to power through the first day without napping… by the evening, after dinner, I am ready to get a good night sleep!
So, now that I am armed with all the information I need, I am ready to go!!! Stay tuned to my 3 nights in Milan!
