Our last day of the tour today! On the bus and leaving Riva Del Garda by 9am - would have liked to have spent a couple of days just relaxing here! Such a pretty spot and with quite a few towns further down the lake easily accessible by ferry it would have nice to explore a bit!
It took about 2.5 hours to reach Milan, passing through some great farming country, with cereals, rice and corn being the major crops! Also saw several piggeries and some light industry!
Had the usual comfort stop at a truck stop - Mumsie had a major dummy spit when the woman making the coffees flatly refused to put her latte into a proper cup and gave her a paper one! Everyone else seemed to be getting theirs in china, but it was not to be and harsh language was heard! Muttering about Italy and Italians in general, Mumsie let the F bomb drop a few times!!!!! I certainly didn't blame her - Italians are quite often extremely rude and totally intolerant of anyone who cannot speak the lingo or understand what goes on! The saying "It's the The Italian Way" is used to cover for lazy, incompetent service, disgusting toilets and any other lack of manners! When we were here in 2012 we weren't impressed with Italy and our feelings have not changed! And everybody says the French are arrogant!
Anyway, Mumsie got over her rant and by the time we got to central Milan, she had calmed down and joined the others for a bit of a guided walk and then some free time! Milan is hosting an Expo at the moment and the city was chockers! The city and surrounds are home to over 9 million people and is a very busy place at the best of times and today it was mayhem!
There was about 4 hours free time and I decided that I had had quite enough old buildings and crowds of people and so along with a few others took the coach straight to the hotel.
Our room was ready and so I had a relaxing arvo in the air conditioning while the Mumsie and Co walked a few streets window shopping and looking at landmarks and then had to wait until quite late when the ones on the optional walking tour took way longer than expected!
As a consequence it was almost 6pm when they got back for a very quick shower before heading off for our farewell dinner!
The dinner was at a popular restaurant, and went off pretty well and we all said our farewells once we got back to the hotel. The four of us, as usual headed to the bar for a nightcap, Mumsie and I opting for a prosecco while Den and Suze ordered spirits and mixers! We toasted the end of the tour and had a bit of a chat, and then our bills arrived! Ours was a reasonable (for Milan) €12, but Den turned a whiter shade of pale when his came to €26.50 - which is about $39!!! Bloody hell! That's expensive drinks! Especially as the prices in the other places have been pretty reasonable!
So with that sting in the tail, it was off to bed - tomorrow we can sleep in as late as we wish - our flight to London is at 4.55pm and we have a check out at noon!
Unfortunately the hotel shuttle doesn't operate between 10am and 6pm on Saturdays (it's the Italian Way apparently) and so we will have to get a taxi! The hotel is only 15 minutes from Linate Airport and so it shouldn't be very expensive!
This tour has been a bit of a disappointment! Most of the people are way older than us, and a few of them have mobility problems which makes it extremely difficult to get anywhere on time! The scenery has been fantastic, but we have had very little free time to explore the Lakes and because we were based so far from some of the attractions we have spent way too much time travelling on the coach! The hotel rooms have been quite ordinary and although Sally has tried her best, she has had to put up with some serious crap from some of the group who are simply serious grizzlers!
Let's just say that I wouldn't recommend this tour! The first one was way, way superior in all aspects!