Today we left the lovely lake town of Varenna and travelled an hour on the local train to Milan. Before we left we took one last walk along the lake around to the Cipressi Villa gardens, and stopped off at Hotel Du Luc for a coffee (or water in Rs case), and chocolate cake. The weather when we started walking was freezing and raining, with fresh snow showing up on the tops on the southern end of the lake, with cold cloud hovering around the peaks. The northern part of the lake was bathed in sunshine. It was very changeable conditions, so a stop for coffee inside with a stunning view over the lake was welcome. Our landlady for the apartment was good enough to drive us up to the station with all our bags, where a traditional farewell occurred. The train punctual as always, had us into Milan early afternoon, where we opted for a taxi to take us to our hotel, where we were given a choice of rooms. We settled for a slightly smaller room but still has a bedroom and separate kitchen, sitting area. It is located on the eastern edge of the inner city, about a twenty minute walk into the piazza, which we duly did in the afternoon. A walk that was somewhat interrupted twice by Michelle purchasing an item or two, which required R to take a fairly short walk to return purchases to the hotel! By the time we got back that evening we were exhausted! We made the decision not to enter the cathedral this day as there was only an hour before it closed, and decided to go tomorrow morning, with thoughts of travelling to another lake for the day after this. This will depend on a few shopping items being sorted! Dinner was found eventually a few blocks away from the hotel in a cafe, where we ere the only occupants. Their menu selection was very different, but their desert options were amazing. We selected a couple of egg arrangements that came in mini casserole dishes. Unfortunately they mixed up R's choice, but the two guys running the place were good company so we did not complain. They brought out the best bread we have had in Italy, which had the waiter beaming. We found out he was from Sicily when M choose a scilian wine - very proud of his heritage we suspect. Sleep was not easy that night, with hayfever and noisy neighbours. We did have a good laugh though when channel surfing the Italian TV channels, and we came across the Nudi E Crudi programme. Basically a man and a woman having to survive in the Nicaraguan jungle with no clothes on. It was like the Survivor series without any purpose. There was no competition, nothing much happened for days, and they blanked out their bodies so they might as well have been wearing clothes - what was the point? We could not stop laughing the more we thought this one through! Tomorrow we explore the Milan Duomo.