Ravenna To Milan - May 20, 2014

We were up early this morning to make sure we were ready for our 10:00 train. We caught the local train to Bologna which took an hour making several stops. At the Bologna station, I had a sandwich at a nearby cafe. After that we followed signs to our platform. They led us to a new section of the station which is several levels underground. This section looks more like an airport with nice benches to sit on and no-smoking signs all over. Hopefully, the old seedy station will be torn down and travelers can have more comfort and services.

Our train to Milan was a fast one. We sat in the Business Quiet section in comfortable adjustable leather seats with plugs to charge our appliances so we could use the train's free wifi. When I looked out our window it seemed that we were going pretty fast. I turned on my GPS and it told me that our speed was just under 200 mph.

We arrived in Milan before 2:00. We checked into Hotel Florida and immediately went down the street to a small trattoria so Ann could have some lunch that she missed in Bologna. Risotto and salad for her. I decided to snack on pasta with a smoked salmon sauce.

We went back to the hotel to plan our next day's touring route. We didn't get far so we decided to go back to the train station and look for the tourist information office. It was hidden. After trekking through all of the floors of the station, and it is a very large station, we found the office. It was closed for the day. Then we walked around the outside of the station to find the stop for the Hop On Hop Off bus. No luck with that either. So we went back to the hotel where I got onto the internet and found that we could get day passes for the metro system for lots less money. We will be going underground early tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was at pizza restaurant that I found with Trip Advisor. Ann had Napolitan - mozzarella, anchovies and tomatoes. I had frutti de mare - calamari, octopus, shrimp, mussels, clams, etc. We chased them down with beer. We were lucky to get a table at 7:30. The restaurant filled up quickly soon after we were seated. Tables were packed closely together. The men sitting next to us had a loud conversation which we couldn't understand.

So now it is time for bed.

Sorry for the lack of photos. Because I have been to both Ravenna and Milan and took many photos then, I decided to relax and observe this time. Once we get to Torino and I start cycling, I will take lots of photos and post them on this blog.

As an aside, we turned on the TV yesterday and saw that there were floods in the Balkans. We fortunately missed them but we feel sorry for the locals that were affected.