Hub Hotel and Milan

If my fears and trepidations about the first leg of the trip were founded, any concerns about the second leg were not borne out in fact. Once I actually made it to the Beauvais airport, everything else started falling in place. I had some concerns about the flight itself on Ryan Air, a discount airline in Europe, but actually it went very smoothly, from check-in through boarding through disembarkation. (BTW, even though it is a bargain airline and the goal is to save a little money, I highly recommend paying the few extra Euros for the premium boarding. Much like Southwest's cattle call, you can pay a tad more upfront and be one of the first on the plane, or save and fight with the crowd. In this sense, at least, I am not a fighter.)

I was not 100% sure how i would get from the Bergamo airport to my hotel, but as it turns out they actually sold tickets on the flight itself for the bus ride from the airport to Milan Centrale. From there, it was an easy (one stop) metro ride to the urban train, and from there an easy ride to the station nearest my hotel. Being a Sunday, there did not appear to be any taxis standing by, so I bought an espresso in one of the bars, then had them call the hotel for me, and they quickly sent their van to pick me up. The irony is that this was one of the easiest transfers I have ever made, and it was one with the least thought. I felt I could relax and that my vacation had truly begun.

That brings me to a side thought, namely the types of trips you can plan. At least when I go to Europe, I see three options:
1) An escorted tour (e.g., last Christmas)
2) A self-tour, highly planned (e.g., this one)
3) A self-tour, unplanned (e.g., the one I took nearly three years ago to Germany)

More on this later, though for now let's say that the self-tour highly planned was starting to sound like the least desirable of the three.

The Hub Hotel itself is incredible. Normally, when writing a review, you put down the good things then the "could be better" parts. In this case, I'll do it backwards, listing the one drawback: It's on the outskirts of town. OK, that is not great, but they make up for. The night prior, I stayed at a hotel in Beauvais which I liberally labelled "the boondocks," and the difference is that while The Hub is out of town as well (in what is an industrial area), their liberal use of vans (such as picking me up at the train station) makes this a relatively minor issue. Yes, I didn't have the freedom of walking out the door at any time of day and being in the heart of it, but given the price and the quality of the hotel, I thought (at least for the moment) that I would take that as a compromise. The place is new, modern, open and airy. There is a great fitness area, with a pool, spa, wet and dry sauna. Free WiFi (only drawback: Limited to one IP address). The drinks in the bar were very stiff, with my vodka tonic being over 50% alcohol. (Good thing I saw him poor it so I knew to take it slowly--it's hard to tell with VTs by the taste which way they went.)

My timing, though not intentional, could not have been much better, with the Monaco Grand Prix running the very afternoon I arrived. I've always heard Italians love Formula 1, and I asked the bartender; he very candidly and quickly answered yes, then went on to express the regret that the last couple of years Ferrari had been doing poorly. Nothing artificial, he spoke of it as simply as an American would of baseball.

Also, as I have noted before in Italy, in the hotels at a minimum English seems to be a standard skill. The receptionist at check-in (Amanda) had incredible skills, the bartender (Pietro) was almost as strong. After not being able to exchange virtually a word with anybody in France outside of Paris, this felt like being home! Candidly, comparing Paris to Milan is link comparing Venus to Mars: In Paris, I have never felt at home or relaxed. Whether it be the language, the rudeness, the attitude, or just the vibe of the city, Paris always seems like a rude, impersonal woman: Beautiful, yes; intelligent, yes; yet the lack of warmth, the lack of approachability, make her (the city or the woman) very ugly on balance. Milan, on the other hand (in fact all of Italy I have ever seen) is much the opposite: Maybe not as strikingly beautiful, maybe even not quite as cerebral, but a charm and warmth that make it feel like home, wherever and whenever you are there.

Anyway, back to the Grand Prix. (And, in the sense of full disclosure, I have had two of those vodka tonics I referenced above, so with the time change, tiredness, lack of food, and all else combined, I am feeling rather toasted as I write this!). Anyway, watching this run on the streets of Monaco, a place I visited only a year and a half ago, is a trip in itself. I actually remember the streets, and of course the harbor, and to see it transformed in this way is mind-boggling. There is some ineffable incongruity between the elegance of Monte Carlo and the gritty, oily image of Formula One cars tearing down the boulevards. And, I should point out, that advertising really DOES work, in that I am now switching midstream from vodka tonics to Red Bull and vodka. (Nothing worse than a middle-aged guy buzzed but awake! Oh well!). Anyway, the bartender, the consummate Ferrari fan, is really into this, which means that if I feign to watch it I actually have to remember who is ahead at all times…geeze, what a chore: Unlike football or even baseball when you kind of know something has happened, lead changes are more subtle and unannounced in Formula 1. In any case, it's a real fight between Vettel, Button and Alonso--not that that normally makes sense, but given that Alonso is the Ferrari guy (and I AM in Italy), he is naturally the "favorite" in my mind, as well as the guy who keeps feeding me these rather strong drinks. BTW, though I will read this after I sober up and before I publish, I promise not to change it so that you get the raw feelings (i.e., the words of a true boozed up bug!).

On a non-Form 1 note, OMG!! Bright sunlight! This is not the Seattle BS about it being a nice day just 'cause the clouds are gone and you can see the glowing mass of helium, but instead this is a beautiful, SoCal envious day. I want to finish the race (lap 60 of 78), then I am debating whether to go outside, or hit the whirlpool/hot sauna/dry sauna. And, in any case, I am following my own advice in that I have purchased another bottle of "Wodka" and will have a glass with me whichever way I go. OK, so this was from Duty-Free rather than a supermarket, but the principle is the same, sort of!!

BTW, Sara and Pietro your English is very good.