I've had worse Monday mornings. Yesterday started with a surprise, my shower head had LEDs in it when it was turned on! Cue minutes of fascination as to EXACTLY how it worked, and a bit of dismantling et voila; still no idea. Baffled. One part spare after rebuilding it too.

Breakfast was a journey into the Etap unknown with a coffee and a croissant and I then left for the Geneve train. Got to hand it to Etap though, the room was ultra modern, very comfy bed and cheap. Just a shame about where it was... Lyon.

The train to Geneve was packed, and once there it was a mad dash through customs (??!!) to the waiting Milan train which was somehow going to cross the Alps... The scenery was incredible, makes the Lake District look like a series of little road bumps, and to cap it all off and make it proper festive we went through a snowstorm... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

The train pulled into Milano Centrale and immediately gets the award for best train station in the world, it's vast! More like a cathedral than a station all marble and 100 foot high ceilings and that. My hotel was halfway between the Station and the City Centre, I dropped my bag there (the less said about the hotel, the better to be honest) and walked up into the city centre for a few hours stroll and a couple of Milano Caffes. It does feel like the shopping capital of the world, as long as you are after Prada/Armani/Fendi/Vuitton. Which I can't quite afford after this last week Otherwise it's a coffee, a mooch around the ever so impressive Cathedral, the Duoma, and a bit of people watching!

I wandered back to the hotel quite late, got changed and grabbed a bite to eat in a traditional little ristorante near the hotel. The homemade Pasta with Veal Polpettes in a tomato and basil sauce with the best Tiramisu I have ever tasted (Cicchetti has a lot to learn) to follow and a couple of crisp lagers hit the spot very well. However it now appears that I have singlehandedly bailed out the Italian governments national debt in one meal. I will be made Prime Minister in a ceremony in Rome tomorrow. Do tune in.

Late last night I made an executive decision with all the stakeholders involved in this European Bailout Petit Grande Tour (i.e. I text my bro) and decided to squeeze out an extra night in Rome as then I can give a bit more time to things like Vatican City and fit in a couple more museums. Therefore this morning I left the "hotel", boogied up to the Central Station and jumped on the 12:00 to Rome. Very excited. Currently doing 287kph across the Italian countryside. Don't you just love technology?

Ciao,

Si x