We were picked up by Christian’s French friend Elrick and he started to drive us to Milan. I wasn’t able to reserve a room for us because my internet was super slow and what rooms showed was ridiculously expensive. So after 20 minutes we had a decision to make, Milan or Torino. The decision fell on my shoulders and out of impulse I said, “Torino.” and we whisked away on the rather odd Italian highways.
On the way to the Torino I checked on the Hostelworld app and found a fairly cheap room in a hotel right across the street from the train station. After settling in we realized that the concierge at the hotel didn’t give us our passports back. A bad rookie mistake. We went back down in a hurry and supposedly, after googling it, we learned that some hotels keep your passport, as a way of actually helping you. Because if they didn’t you are legally supposed to go check in with the local police station. It’s a weird process and had me worried for a bit. Rule #1 always keep your passport on your person. To our relief when we came back from getting groceries, the concierge no longer needed our passport. TAKE A DEEP BREATH HERE!
That night we booked a room through Airbnb in Milan and also bought the train tickets. Like most first time experiences here, it was stressful being in a time sensitive situation. Especially in a part of the country where not everyone speaks English. Luckily the technology here has advanced where the ticket was just a QR code and bam!! We were revved up and ready to go to Milan! What adventures the city holds are unknown. Hopefully less graffiti.
Ryan Joshua Doble – World Traveler
Email: RyanDoble@Uncarvedblocktraveler.com
website: www.uncarvedblocktraveler.com