Saturday, March 17, 2018

Italy - From Agrate Brianza to Budapest

The day started early, as the flight was in the morning, though thankfully not at dawn. When my alarm went off I could hear rain. Typical, as I often have rain on the day of my flight back to Hungary. As if the weather itself knew how much I like living there and tried to discourage me from going back. I quickly packed together my things, checked the drawers for any leftovers, and went down for breakfast. So far, the room had always been quite full when I went down, and therefore I hadn’t had the chance to make the breakfast video. Now I was determined and as there were only few people, I did finally succeed.
We didn’t get to leave the hotel at the time when we were supposed to, as the receptionist had a problem making out the bill! She had to call someone. She was probably very new, and very green. I’m not sure why we couldn’t do it the night before, but the receptionist then said she could only do it in the morning. When I was a receptionist I could, so either they don’t have a very good software, or just don’t know how to.
The rain was still pouring, but we quickly got to the airport in Bergamo. The Italian obsession with signs came in handy as it was very clear all the way how to get to where we needed to leave the car.
Checking in the luggage went smoothly. Also, security went very fast. There were lots of people, so I was afraid that it would take long, but they kept us moving. There was a stag and hen party as well, with the groom in blindfolds. He probably was going to be surprised as to where he went.
I got some water and a quick espresso, which I ordered in Italian. The woman said the amount I had to pay in English, which was welcomed as I’m still not doing well with numbers in Italian. I’ve been trying to practise, but for some reason I have this problem with every language. Sometimes even in Hungarian. I’m fine if I see it written down, but spoken…
By the time I had my coffee it was time to get in line for boarding. I looked out, and the plane was nowhere to be seen. It’s quite common on these budget airlines like Ryanair, that they start the boarding process before the plane arrives, and everyone stands in line for at least half an hour, occasionally two hours, without any place to go to. Since you also have to go to these planes on foot, you often stand outside for a long time, even in the rain. So always come prepared for outside weather, and clear your bladder before standing in the line to board. We did 30 minutes in the staircase to go outside this time. 
I had an aisle seat, so that wasn’t so bad. The guy next to me had to have both his elbows on the armrest, so I kept nudging him. He only realised halfway to Budapest that his elbow was in my arm. I saw that he was looking at some guidebooks to Budapest, so I asked him if he spoke English, and if I can give him some local information. We ended up talking about Italy and Hungary for the rest of the trip.
In Budapest, of course, it was freezing and raining. As per usual. 

Once home, I wrote my reviews for the hotel and restaurant, and also did the video.

Reviews:

Hotel ibis Styles Milano Agrate Brianza



This hotel is located in an office district, technically between Agrate Brianza and Monza. It’s mostly for business people, who come for meetings. It’s also not far from Milan, so if you rent a car, this can be a convenient hotel for you, if that’s where you want to see things. 
The hotel is very modern, like all Ibis hotels. Inside the rooms though you can see some of the ware and tare, so it has obviously been around a bit. The lobby is nice, you have the tea / coffee there and a small bar. The receptionists were for the most part okay, but Francesca was great. She was often in the afternoon shift and spoke English really well. Travellers should note that if you need an invoice, it has to be done in the morning of check-out. I’m not sure why, because the program I used could do an invoice at any time.
The room that I had in the hotel was accessible. Reserved this, because it’s a bit cheaper than the normal kind. This had a few good and bad sides. Good, because it’s a bit bigger, with more room to move around, also bigger bathroom. I do also like a higher toilet and the railings, as I have some problems with my knees. The shower was okay, though the water did spray out a lot. The drawback was that the room was right next to the elevators, and all hours of the day I could hear them going up and down.
In general, the room had some storage, though not too much, but that was fine. The desk only had one plug. There was also a plug on either side of the bed. The bed was very comfortable, though only two pillows. The TV was fixed to the wall, not smart, but the language could be adjusted to the programming, and also had such information as weather. The wifi was not strong in the room. In other places in the hotel it was a lot stronger, so I don’t know if it’s due to the location of the room, or the 5th floor. The bathroom had lots of towels, a hairdryer, but soap fixed to the wall in both the shower and the basin. Don’t even dream about a magnifying mirror, but there was some extra lighting. There was very little storage space around the basin. Not sure if it’s because of the accessible room, or that’s normal for the hotel. What was weird was that there was no soap by the bidet. The most annoying thing about the room was a constant mechanical sound. I’m thinking it’s the vents, but I’m very sensitive to constant sounds, and the low lever humming was really disturbing.
Breakfast was nice. It’s an Ibis Styles hotel, so there was more on offer than the regular Ibis. It was pretty good, and I had no complaints. Maybe the only thing that I missed was that there were no vegetables most of the time, other than fried tomatoes. It could be an Italian thing. Anyway, you can see more about it in my video.
There’s also a small gym. Most of the time it was empty, so that was pretty good. The problem that I saw there was that there were no dumbbells under 4 kg. That’s very male centred. I did switch over to the big machine, but I had to take some time to figure it out.
The hotel also has a restaurant, but that wasn’t open on a Friday night. I guess most of their guests come on weekdays, but I wish that would have been more obvious. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere practically. There was a nice little pizzeria on the opposite side of the road in the building with a few shops, so at least we didn’t have to drive into town. My review of the hotel’s restaurant is separate.
Overall, a comfortable hotel, but I wish that the vents didn’t hum in the background. It does need some cosmetic refurb in the rooms, because I did see some rust here and there. Not a bad choice though in the area.


La Quolina



This restaurant is part of the Ibis Styles hotel in Agrate Brianza. It’s mostly aimed at the surrounding offices. The prices are moderate and they also offer a lunch and dinner menu. For me, the portions were a bit large, but that was fine. 
The inside of the restaurant is modern, and relaxed. The service is efficient. I saw some reviews complain about English, and it was limited, but the menu does have everything in English as well. If you don’t speak Italian, use Google translate or just point. There is strong wifi.

The food was great. I ate there four nights, so I got to taste a few things. Spaghetti was very nice. The fish in salt was worth the wait. It was delicate. Though frankly, maybe a bit too simple for me, I generally eat more spicy foods. I loved the steak, though the eggplant was a bit weird with it, but I rolled with it. The veal liver was fabulous! It was on the dinner menu, and I loved it so much. Could eat it every week. Wouldn’t mind the recipe. 😉 They also had a nice Italian beer on tap, and the house wine was good as well.
Overall, very nice little restaurant. Not overly complicated. It’s the kind of place where you go and be comfortable with your friends, or even go alone and eat with your laptop. However, it wasn’t open on Friday, probably because it’s mainly for the office crowds. I was sad I couldn’t eat there on my last night.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Italy - Milan



I've been here since Monday, but it's been all work. :( Though doing a fare had been kind of fun, but since I also have a cooking blog, I would obviously rather attend a fare of kitchen or cooking related things, than building related ones.

However, today was finally fun. I started the morning the usual way. I dragged myself out of my really comfy bed, convincing myself that working out is a good way to start a day. It is, but if I could get away with it, I'd rather snuggle under the covers and watch TV, than lift weights. However, my body needs weights more than a bed, so working out it was.
After a shower, I went down to breakfast. It was interesting, as it was really busy. They do have good breakfast here. I saw some black men in those dress things. There's probably a proper name for them, but oh well. I'm not sure if I've seen people dressed like that in real life, so I tried not to stare. Funny thing, there was a kind of single people's corner where I sat down, as pretty much everyone sat alone.

So finally, we were off to Milan! It's not that hard to get to in a car. In Milan there is much need for GPS, as a lot of streets are one way. It can also sometimes get confusing, and you may end up on the tram lane. It's more common than you'd think. We quickly found a car park not too far from the Duomo. A few turns, and there it was. It's massive. Sadly, we couldn't get in, as there were so many people, and such a long line, I just didn't want to spend hours standing there. At least I have a reason to go to Milan again.
I did go to the Gallery, which is a kind of posh mall. I wanted to take a picture of this Prada window display, but there was a weird man standing in front of it. He was looking down in front of himself, and his hand was moving in his pocket. Thoroughly grossed out, I went to take pictures of other things and return to the window once he was gone.

Next was the square where the Scala is. In front there is a statue of Leonardo. We went into the Scala museum, but they said they were having a rehearsal, so come back between 4-5pm. Okay, plenty more to see. So on the list next was the Sforza castle.
It's a nice walk there. You take Via Dante, which is part pedestrian. Of course, in front there are plenty of people selling roses, selfie sticks, the usual. I wonder if anyone actually buys. They sometimes annoy me.

So we checked out the castle. Pretty cool, though only checked out one museum. There are actually several, but frankly, unless a museum has something really cool or special, they just blend together after a while. This one didn't prove to be that special, though it did have some lovely things that you can see in the video.

Afterwards we had a walk in the park. It was such a lovely, sunny day, people were laying about everywhere. I loved the little lake with all the birds and turtles. So we walked all the way to the Arco della Pace. I went picture crazy on it. A really nice couple asked me to take some pictures, and they really seemed to love what I did. I sometimes wish I had models to take fun pictures of.
We started back to the Scala, but stopped for a sandwich on the way. There was a fun park in the actual park, and at the house of monsters ride the woman who sold the tickets looked just like the zombies.
We hurried back to the Scala. Sadly, the theatre itself was still a bit dark, but very pretty. I wish I could go to an opera there. I also checked out the museum portion. It was very nice, with a special exhibition on Maria Callas. Her dresses were so tiny! I also took a picture of a wonderful bust of Caruso. Oh, and they had figurines of the old theatre characters. Pierrot and Pierretta, Scaramouche. I know them from Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche novel. Which, by the way, is a fun novel that is very underappreciated. The movie is also great.
Anyway, afterwards we started back to the Duomo. I did the spin on your heel thing in the Gallery. I also went inside of a very pretty bookshop, where I could take pictures of the Gallery from the upper floor. The Duomo ticket office was closed, sadly. By then, I was exhausted and ready to return to the hotel. The day was great, but the pace was a bit forced. The bottom of my feet was feeling it.

Overall, I enjoyed Milan a lot. It's a very nice Italian city, with a good feel to it. Still, Florence stays my favourite Italian city, with Lucca a close second.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Italy - Agrate Brianza

My journey took me to Italy now, though it's projected to be mostly of work.

It started at Budapest Airport, as per usual. Ryanair is my least favourite airline, but they are the only ones who go to Northern Italy directly from Budapest. They have messed around with their price settings, so it got increasingly complicated. We got priority boarding just to make sure that the laptop wouldn't end up in cargo. We had the big bag wrapped up, to prevent theft. Budapest Airport has been in the news a lot lately, because the steeling got out of hand. The rule had always been that you only put clothing and toiletries in what you check in, but it's been getting international attention just how bad the thefts had got. Hence more people are opting to get things wrapped.
I also tested my new laptop backpack. I never got the point of laptop bags that you carried on your side. Especially for women, laptops can get heavy. I've had pain in my waist because of heavy bags, so I decided to get a backpack for my work laptop. I got a Samsonite one, and it was well worth the higher price. I could feel my spine being supported much better.
My usual routine at the airport was interrupted by Costa Coffee being closed. I'm lactose intolerant, so I always have to pay attention that they have my milk where I get my coffee. Luckily, at Upper Crust they had my milk, and even caramel coffee, so I was happy. Good coffee too, I recommend it.
As per usual, the boarding gate for the Ryanair plane was in a little building outside the airport building. We went there and waited, and waited. They only started to let us into the plane around the time when we were supposed to take off. I guess that's not so bad.
My seat was an isle seat, so sadly I couldn't take pictures. I got my laptop out and watched a few episodes of Iron-Blooded Orphans. I want to watch more Gundam until I go to Japan, because I want to check out the Gundam café in Tokyo. What was annoying was the captain of the plane. When he spoke, you couldn't tell if it was Italian or English most of the time. He was speaking so fast, I don't think he breathed. The speakers were extra loud too. I was just glad it was a short flight.

We arrived to Bergamo airport, which is sort of near Milan. There are lots of buses going to Milan, so if you arrive to that airport, don't worry. I'm sure they also have a price competition going on. We got our rental car, and were off to Agrate Brianza, where the hotel is. Sort of.
On the way we stopped at a local store and got some food and drinks. Nothing special, but I usually get Yoya drinks here, which are very nice.

Checking into the hotel - Hotel Ibis Styles Agrate Brianza - went very smoothly. The receptionist spoke really good English, she didn't even have the usual Italian accent. Very nice woman too.
I got an accessible room, because they're cheaper. For more on the room, check out my video. What I don't talk about on there is that the bed is very comfortable. The water pressure in the shower is okay, could be stronger. The hand-shower was also so high up, it was a bit difficult to reach. Good thing I'm not in a wheelchair. The annoying thing is that since the room is right next to the lift, I can hear it going up and down all the time. There is also an electric buzzing in the room, and so I have to have something on all the time to make a sound barrier. They often have this sound in chain hotels. Why, I have no idea, but it's highly annoying.

We had dinner in the hotel's restaurant. Kind of late, as my boss usually likes to eat at odd hours. Not very good for my attempts to lose weight. I was pretty tired by then, so of course I made the bad choice of pasta. Bad for my waistline, but it was very good. Perfect sauce. Also had a glass of wine, so by the time I ate it all, I was ready to fall into bed. I did fall asleep quite fast.