Paris/ Milan Day 1

27th Dec 2009

This is our final day in Paris and we are bound for our flight to Milan at 1100hr so we had to check out of our hotel early to make our way to the Orly airport early for check in. We made our way to Charles de Gaulles Etoile where our shuttle bus is waiting to pick us up. The pick up location is just beside the Arch de Triomphe so I managed to have my final snap of the great structure early in the morning where cars and tourists are scarce, which makes a photo!

Bar area of Marriott Champ Elysees

Reception Lobby of Marriott Champ Elysees

Ahh... no one to stand in between me and the great Arch de Triomphe!

Once we hit Linate Airport in Milan, we took the train towards the Central Metro station. We are putting up in AC Milano Hotel in Milan, which I have booked through www.booking.com and am glad that it turns out this hotel is as good as the website has shown. This hotel is very near to the Metro Centrale and since we have our huge luggage with us, we took a cab and it cost us lesser than €10.

AC Milano Hotel: Clean and neat room. The only down side is the thin door... You'll hear everyone.

The restroom is very well done too.

Even the basin is tastefully done!

Exterior of the hotel building.
Looked exactly as per advertised in their website.

AC Milano hotel is actually a chain of hotels. The Group of hotel is called AC hotel and Milano is the location of the hotel and they have several hotels scattered all over Europe. The room in general is very satisfactory with exception of the door not being sound proof so any party in the room can be heard by all and sundry. The hotel room rate is not cheapo but taking its location and breakfast included factor in, I would say it is a steal at only €80 per night. The Duomo is a stone's throw away due to the tram right outside the hotel that brings you straight to that famous attraction.

The only bad thing about tram is that
the cables makes it hard to get a good shot
of the surrounding buildings unless
you do some post processing cloning.

This christmas tree is powered by electricy
generated by the dynamo attached to the
bicycles around the tree... interesting

The Duomo, landmark and symbol of Milano.
It is a must see for everyone who travelled here... and that's about it!

Duomo against a dark sky.

Milan would've left a beautiful impression to many who have read the posting this far and would continue to be so if I have just stopped writing and leave it at that... but then again, I wouldn't want you to go there with high expectation and then curse me to high heavens when you are actually there. To have a full disclaimer, I am only in Milan for 2D1N and from these period I have formed the following opinion about the city and you read and adopt at your own risk:

MILAN IS A DEAD CITY

Apart from the fantastic Duomo, there are plenty of things left wanting in that city. It is overrun with immigrants from the African and Indian nation selling cheap chinese made products every corner that you turned to. Touting is common and I for one hated that although being conscious that it is after all a tourist spot. The city itself is dirty due to the fact that the snow on the pavements and walkways are not being cleared. Food are mediocre and doesn't even made it close to that of Rome. No wonder it has been deserted by the previous administration as the Italian state capital and moved instead to the great city of Rome.

Shopping at Duomo

Roadsides stalls selling candied.

One of the cafe that we dine in near the Duomo.
Not to boast but I would've made better lasagna that the
chef of that cafe would be shamed for good.
The deco looked good though... small and decent looking,
which is why we are lured to dine there in the first place...

Left wanting to have a proper dinner, we headed back to our hotel as we noticed a pretty posh restaurant beside our hotel. The restaurant name is Grani And Braci and thank God, this place is perhaps one of the best thing that happened to us in Milan! The service and food is good especially the Black Angus beef steak!

Bread is OK. Not fantastic but ... OK~

Waiting for my order to come. It had better be good!

Black Angus beef steak (4.5/5)
One of the best Black Angus beef steak that I have eaten!

Spagetti dresses with pine nuts and white truffle oil (2/5)
The pasta is good but somehow I tasted a funny flour taste...
My wife didn't sense that funny taste... maybe it was just me.

The address of Grani And Braci

With this posting my friends, I end my Europe 2009 trip posting. Moving on to other location and little things in life!


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