I know, I know, I never finished writing about my frugal trip to Rhodes this past July, where all I paid for was lodging, groceries, and an ATV as transportation (it’s going to happen soon, I hope)… But I have another trip coming up very soon and I’m really excited, combined with some apprehension as well. Not too much apprehension, but some.
You see, when I travel I book non refundable cheapo tickets since refundable ones cost a lot more money, often nearly twice the price… I booked my tickets just two weeks ago, totally last minute, to Milan. And then, of course, right after I booked my tickets, massive political protests combined with rioting broke out… Where else but Milanmassive political protests combined with rioting broke out… Where else but Milan? Just my luck.
I’m not canceling my trip.
2 years ago I had a trip to Georgia with my son right when there were massive protests there as well. We just avoided the area of the protests as best as we could… Of course, just our luck since I tried to book centrally located lodging that it was right around the corner from the parliament where all the protests were… And right across the street from the central police station. So in the middle of the night, Friday night, at about 2 am, we saw massive amounts of people on the street and the police, but we stayed indoors and stayed out of it. The rest of our trip was totally normal and we had a great time, and I’m hoping that this time I’ll have even less of a connection with the protestors since I’m not staying centrally located, but a bit further out.
Additionally, most of my trip I won’t be in Milan. I’ll be predominantly in the Alps and other cities, with just a two day stop in Milan at the end of my 8 day trip, and here’s hoping that things calm down by then. Because even if I’m not staying near the government buildings like I did in Tbilisi, the rioting has happened in duomo square, one of the main touristy sites of Milan that I planned on seeing. Hopefully avoiding that area at night, when the riots seem to happen, will help? I don’t know. If things start heating up I’ll certainly leave. If there are protests and large crowds, I’ll avoid before it gets to the point of rioting and violence.
Hopefully this worry will be for naught, because otherwise this trip would be a dream come true since going to the Alps has been on my bucket list for a very very long time.
I’ve pictured myself hiking in the Alps or snowshoeing through them ever since I first saw The Sound of Music as a child. Last March, I had a brief (just a few hours) stopover in Milan with my daughter Rose on the way back from our Northern Lights trip, and just seeing the Alps from the plane was breathtaking.
I can’t wait to see them up close, breathe in the fresh mountain air, and take in all that beauty. Hopefully, those will be the memories I take home from this trip, and the protests will have died down by the time I get to Milan.
Timing is funny.
Wish me luck!
If you’ve been to Milan, what would you say are the things I have to make sure not to miss?
