Holiday Fall 2007- First Stop Milan

On October 23rd we packed up the whole family and headed off for our first European holiday. We were taking just under 2 weeks and going to Milan, Italy and Malaga, Spain. We had originally just been going to Malaga but in the research, we found airfares were much cheaper with a stop over in Milan so why not use the money saved to extend our travels and visit another "must see" spot?
We chose a departure in the late afternoon so it would not be one of those crazy, rushed starts and we could actually relax a bit in the flying out process. We flew EasyJet...think Southwest... where you have to scramble for your seat as none are assigned. However, since we had the kids we were awarded with Special Assistance Boarding so we were one of the first groups on board. Well for the most part this was true, it was just the Milan-Malaga portion that did not quite work out that way. Anyhow, we got good seats on this first leg and the flight to Milan was uneventful. Another benefit of stopping in Milan was that none of the flights were very long so this made traveling with two kids very bearable.
I will say up front the weather was bad the entire time we were there... cold and rainy off an on, windy...just blah but we were in Italy so how bad could it really be?
Once at the Milapensa Airport, we took a shuttle bus to the other terminal and from there were able to take a train right into downtown Milan. The train station we arrived in had a subway station in it and we quickly located the stop near our hotel.
I must say traveling on the subway in Milan made me appreciate even more how nice the subways are in Prague. The first train we got on never really came to a full stop in the station...it was kind of slowly creeping forward even as we got on. That was the only time I can say this truly occurred, but was a little unsettling. The trains themselves seemed very worn and dated but they got us to our stop without any problems. We then spent a bit of time orienting ourselves and making our way to the hotel.
We certainly got what we paid for in our hotel and we now know what a true 2-star rating means. However, it was clean and the beds were comfortable, except when one of them choose to collapse the first night because it had not been setup quite right...and it had running water, no hot which made showering an event, but the toilet worked and was in the actual room so who were we to complain. Needless to say we tried to spend as much time out as we could. Since it was so late I ran out to the local McDonald's and grabbed our dinner.
The next day we headed out to do a bit of sight seeing. We started out in a nice pizzeria a block from the hotel and then back to the subway to head downtown to an old section of the city. There is a large galleria with very high-end stores in it and a beautiful glass ceiling and mosaics. Outside is a large piazza with the Duomo Cathedral and a large statue. Alex fed the pigeons that were there as well. There are many scammers in this area and this really made us not want to be anywhere near it. There were people giving bird feed to your kids then demanding money. People tying bracelets on visitors wrists, stating they were a free welcome gift, and then demanding money. It made it very unpleasant and the local authorities apparently do nothing about it. We have been told to go in February when it is too cold for the scam artists to be out. Appealing thought to be able to enjoy the city without being pestered for 'donations' but a sad concept that one can only enjoy the beauty of this amazing city in the dead of winter.
We then headed back to the hotel for a rest and then headed out to look for a place for Alex's Birthday dinner. After walking around for a couple hours it became apparent the section of the city we were in was not well know for it's restaurants. There were lots of shops but not many places to eat. We did stop at a nice bakery and Alex picked out a small Sacher Fudge cake for later. We then went back and ate at a restaurant right next to the hotel. It was very nice and the food and service were great. They did not have a birthday cake so Alex got a tiramisu with 4 candles on it and they shut off the lights and sang in Italian as well. It was very nice and now Alex can say she had her first tiramisu on her 4th birthday in Italy.
The next day we headed out back to the Duomo area and caught a sightseeing bus. We went to the castle with the bus and walked through a large park behind it. We then road the bus again to another small park where they had a playground and a small carousel that Alex went on. We were leaving the park just as it was getting dark and found when we got back to our bus stop that we had missed the last bus. I used Google maps on my phone to figure out where we were and figured out we were only about 8 blocks from our hotel. We also found a nice restaurant about 2 blocks up from where we were, so we had dinner there. The food was good but still not quite what I expected in Italy. We then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel.
Our last day we went back down through the shopping district and bought Alex a birthday present at the Barbie store we saw the day before. I got myself an Umbrella (Big mistake as you will see later) and Logan got a plastic covering for his stroller to stay out of the rain. We then grabbed out luggage and headed back for the airport. We had a very early flight the next day so had booked our last night at a hotel by the airport. We got back on the subway to the train and back to the airport. We then called the hotel and they came and picked us up.
The hotel was a welcome surprise. Very modern yet very warm. Both kids got small stuffed lions when we checked in so they immediately loved it. They had a free internet hook-up area in the lobby as well as a small kids corner with a Playstation 2 and some blocks. The hotel restaurant we good but very expensive. The rooms were like new and had huge bathrooms with a big tub and a shower. The chain is called Novotel and I thought they were great.
The next morning we got up at like 4:30 and headed out for our flight. This time we had an issue as the umbrella I bought would not fit in any of our bags. We were given the option to pay for it as an extra piece of luggage, or try to stick it someplace and hope for the best. I chose to put it in the back pocket of the largest bag we had. It still hung out a bit, but they umbrella was cheaper than the extra bag fee so I was willing to take the chance. They sent me to an oversized baggage check area which they said would make sure it went through alright. Next stop Malaga, Spain.