The heat is on

Up at 5:30 for our 6:45 train to Milan. A short walk to the station, we found our train, took a few tries to get the qr code to work to get on the platform (it only would work once so the train worker finally gave up and let Annette in). 

Our carriage was actually 3 carriages, so of course we went in the wrong door. We found our seats, moved our luggage about 3 carriages and away we went through mountains, fields of corn and grapes and what I think was rice. Seven hours with Disney+ refusing to play downloads. Some of us were lucky enough to have HBO Max downloads. A packet of chips and lemon juice got me through the trip.

It was a good train, on time, but if you intend catching trains in Europe, bring your own food (expensive).

Arriving in Milan we went through the shoddiest passport control ever. Some were checked and some not. Our passports were glanced at and Hello Italy. 

Our next mission was an Uber to our newest apartment. 29 euros was the quote. We asked a taxi driver how much and he said it all depends on the meter, about 20 euros.

11.20 euros later (no traffic on Saturdays) we were fighting with how to get into our accommodation. Finally the iron gate opened. Next was the door to the main building. We had to wait 2 minutes, press a button and the door would open. Fyi, it did not open at 90 seconds. If we were in an Indiana Jones movie being chased by tribesmen with spears, we were screwed.

Next the apartment door. We entered the secret code, turned the special lock anti-clockwise, as per instructions, and did not enter.

Spears were hitting the door all around us. Eventually, I went clockwise, we got in, I dropped my hat, but managed to grab it just before the door slammed shut.

It's hot outside, maybe 32. Our unit is hotter. The aircon, both up and down stairs, goes through the motions of cooling, without actually cooling. They were made by the Placebo air-conditioning company of Milan. 

By 4 pm, we were out walking and doing stuff on the list for tomorrow. The later it got, the hotter it got. We grabbed some little doughy tomato -based snacks for a very late lunch and proceeded.

There were castle walls, a gay pride roller blade group, a metro ride, a lie down in the shade of the park, and a trip to buy food for dinner and breakfast. 

I had my first Italian pizza ... from the freezer section of Carrefour. I got the cheap one and when about to cook was saddened by broccoli and either eggplant or zucchini on it. Never buy the cheapest.