Rugby in Italy, Milano

Mum and Dad have been in Switzerland for just over two months now, so it was time for a visit. With the weather closing in in London, I was lucky to make it out in time. Sat next to chatty couple on the plane, so it felt like a long flight... Touched down in Geneva at 22:15, breezed through customs, although I found it weird when the customs official spoke to me in French. Caught the IR train to Lausanne, arrived 11.15pm. Mum and Dad were standing on the platform and I snuck up from behind and suprised them. Their house was only 5 minutes drive from the train station, they lived very near the Lake front next to the Olympic Museum. Had a tour round their house which was the top story of a four story block. Wooden floors, white walls, it had a modern yet old style (sounds a bit Irish I know). 3 bedrooms, lounge and attic and a balcony with a fantastic view of lake Geneva. Unpacked and made a nasty discovery... My body wash had leaked and gone through my bag, fortunately most of it was contained. Unloaded Mums groceries then sat down for a cup of tea and some apple pie. Chatted till about 1 pm. Woke up about 7.30 am. Special K, Toast and OJ for brekkie. Dad picked up some supplies from the local. We were on the road by 9. It was a cracker of a day, the sun beamed onto vineyards spread along the hill sloping down to lake Geneva. There was a low layer of cloud hanging over the lake but this did not detract from the majestic snow capped mountain ranges behind it in France. The view was absolutely stunning as we drove through the towns/city’s of Vevey (home to the European Nestle headquarters) and Montreux. We reached the end of the lake and Geneva and headed up the valley into the mountains. It was quite surreal driving along the flat motorway with towering mountains the height of Mt Taranaki only a few hundred metres away. After Martinay we began steadily climbing, we drove through tunnels with tour de france signs and winded our way past quaint little alpine villages. The border between Switzerland and Italy was in the middle of a tunnel (St Gemain). Then all of a sudden we were in italy, the only real difference was the switch in language on the signs from French to Italian. Not far into Italy we stopped for a coffee. There in the café was a man with an All Blacks jacket on, we thought wow a fellow Kiwi. But it turned out he was an Italian guy whose company was a sponser for the All Blacks (Ivecco) really nice guy who was excited about the game. The Volvo powered on as we drew near to Milan and the stadium San Siro, we missed our first turn off to the stadium so took the next exit. Then we hit the traffic!!! It was still an hour till kick-off and I thought surely all these people can’t be going to the game. I was wrong! Over 80,000 people packed out the stadium the largest ever rugby crowd in Italy. We used all the spare time we had before the game driving round trying to find a park, which created a bit of stress. Finally we found a possie, which we hoped, was a legitimate park! Then we jogged to the stadium with the crowds. After having troubles finding the right gate we eventually made it to our seats. The stadium was absolutely massive, the stands were very steep and leg-room was negligible. We were sitting on the 10-meter line in really good seats. The noise was deafening throughout the whole game except during the All Blacks Haka when you could have heard a pin drop! The game wasn’t great; again kicking and scrums dominated it. We did not have our number one side on in fairness to the AB’s. 20 – 6 was the final result. After the game we drove two hours to Verona, we had a minor mishap with Nav-man on the way. Turns out Dad had kicked the DVD player; we managed to sort it out just in the nick of time (otherwise we were in a wee bit of trouble! – Lesson learnt, you can’t always rely on Nav-man) We stayed in the Montessor Palace. A nice hotel in Verona, the concierge was an AB’s rugby fanatic and gave us free parking in the basement overnight. It was too early to go to bed so we went for a walk to try and find a wine bar. I was on map reading duties and got us a wee bit lost, but we managed to somehow stumble across a cool little wine bar. It was a nice low-key atmosphere and the wine/beer and chips were good. Back at the hotel we had a game of quiddler; Dad was the Verona champ. Breakfast consisted of stand up coffee and pastry at a café in the centre of town. Spent the rest of the morning wandering around Verona, we took lots of photos. Apparently Verona is one of the oldest settlements in Italy and one of the wealthiest. The highlights were Romeo and Juliets famous balcony, the arena, the food markets (where I saw the some whopping loaves of bread!) and the old roman styled architecture. We left Verona around midday and drove an hour and a quarter down the road to Venice, we jumped off the motorway one exit too early but nav man negotiated us safely across the bridge into Venezia. The next issue was finding a car park, the main carpark is near Piazzale Roma, we found it strange having to leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition, we thought we were being tricked but the signs reassured us… :-/ We walked to the ‘boat station’ and jumped on a ferry / water taxi which took us along the main canal. We took photos all the way and even managed to spot a kiwi flag hanging off one of the buildings. Venice is an assortment of ‘floating buildings’ some in a more upright state than others, bridges, glitzy stores (selling mainly murano glass), boatmen and their boats and lots of tourists. We stayed in the Zaguri bed and breakfast, in the San Marco . Our lovely Italian hosts English was not the greatest but they were very welcoming and offered us food and drink on arrival. We only really had half a day in Venice so we hit the streets walking in and out of shops, galleries and food stores. Dad had a wee accident with a leaking drink bottle in his bag. Mum bought some leather gloves and I bought a present for Michelle. I tried on a leather jacket but it was a bit pricey! Highlights of our afternoon/evening were the Ponte di Rialto and San Marco piazza at night. The next day was a massive travel day, we drove from Venice back to Lausanne, we flew along the Italian motorways at 140kph, with me behind the wheel and Dad on work conference calls. Had a run in with customs (or Mum and Dad did anyway) for not having their passports at the border crossing, tut tut! Dad took over the driving duties back in Switzerland, fearing me getting a hefty speeding ticket. With time in hand we checked out some of the hillside villages near Lausanne, very picturesque. Then I saw Mum and Dad’s new house, very spacious! Back at the apartment I had time to pack then have a passport panic attack. Let me tell you it was a stressful situation! Basically I claim it was Dad’s fault because when I handed him my passport after the border control to put back in my bag he put it in the most obscure pocket, unbeknown to me. He claims I did not search my bag properly! It turned out okay in the end I made my train with about two minutes to spare! The train took 45 minutes to Geneva Airport. I had to check in an extra bag into easyjet as I selected 0 bags on my flight, and I bought all the extra groceries for Mum. Arrived in Luton and then bused to central London. I arrived at Michelle’s at 10.30pm a long day travelling, but a great weekend.