Milan

With the training behind me, check ride signed and scanned and sent off to the head office, it was time to head home once again.  A long drive to the International airport in Milan on a quiet Sunday morning, the regular check in and security protocols all complete, some good coffee in the business class lounge, then off for the first leg of my long journey home.  At the gate just prior to boarding, the airline announces the flight is cancelled due to a snowstorm in Frankfurt, my next connection, and I get rebooked into a completely different routing, putting me in Munich for the night, but not for twelve hours.  What to do with twelve hours in Milan???

I check into the airport hotel for a day room, drop my bags and change, then head for the train station for the half hour ride into downtown Milan.  It's a drizzly windy day, terrible lighting for photos, but I'm wearing a goretex jacket and hiking shoes, and have nothing better to do.  Thankful for the Italian sim card and data plan I have on my smart phone, I pull up the map and put my feet to work and explore what I can of Milan.

I check out some outrageously priced fashion items, try on some leather jackets that I actually consider buying, eat some $40 pasta dish in a fancy restaurant horribly underdressed, watching all the fashionable people stroll by arm in arm, and just enjoy the day.   I can't believe I thought about spending the day at the airport hotel gym and pool!  When in doubt, get out!  But eventually my feet tire, and I slowly make my way back to the train station, back to the airport hotel, grab a shower, repack, have a relaxing supper, then back through the airport security grind and lines, eventually ending up standing alone in an outdoor parking lot in Munich sometime around midnight, trying to find a ride to my hotel for the night. 

I manage about four hours sleep before I have to go through it all again for the early morning flight to London, then finally on to Halifax and home.  I need to be home for awhile, I can feel it, but I certainly appreciate the experiences I'm chocking up...