Milano, the Heavenly Duomo, and the Airport from Hell

Defintely a mixture of heaven and hell!! Out of the mountains, and through to Milano by train, in the middle of the snowstorm that we had been desperately wanting in the mountains for the last two weeks!!&^%$#@!!*&!! Mountains in the snow may be fabulous, but big cities turn into dodgem tracks with cars and pedestrians slithering in all directions. However, the Duomo dusted by snow is actually rather magical, and the inside is as breath-taking as I had been told - also the Milanese in snow boots and cold red noses are rather less daunting. The Galleries shopping area opposite the Duomo was full of fabulous shops and clothes which no doubt at other times would have been adorning the beautiful people.

The next day getting to the airport turned into a traveller’s nightmare. The snow by now was half a metre deep on the (uncleared) sidewalks, and the taxis had all either slithered into the snowbanks or my hotel had not bribed the right taxi companies, but for whatever reason, not a taxi was to be had to get me from my hotel the six blocks to the airport bus stop. So when the going gets tough, the tough get going – down the middle of the street ( the only clear route) lugging my wheelie suitcase and lurching sideways out of the path of any oncoming traffic as the lights changed!!! 20 minutes later I staggered onto the bus, and the 40 minute trip to the airport became nearly a two hour crawl past all sorts of motorway mayhem.

Needless to say the airport was closed when I got there, and a reality TV script ensued of desperate queues at check-in counters, lines snaking in all directions, and would you believe it NO E-MAIL CONNECTION!!!!! I threw a minor hissy fit at the “Internet connection” office people who told me that they used to have one, but it broke!!!!! A kind man in a nearby queue took pity on the crazy lady, and came to my rescue with his Blackberry to e-mail Steve in NY to say I would be delayed. He even thoughtfully asked me for a secret code that Steve would know could only be me, hence a special little note added that “Oscar would love the snow”....

A delightful night followed when I discovered the useful piece of information that it is more marginally more comfortable to sleep on the carpet in front of the check-in counter than on an airport chair – in case you ever need to know to stake your claim. The next day the planes did get moving and after yet another McDonald’s airport meal in Frankfurt – my third in 24 hours- I made it to NY to meet up with Steve and Anna. We do take international travel of zooming around the globe at the flick of our credit card hugely for granted, so perhaps a little stint on the floor of Milan airport is a not-so-bad reality check.