MILAN, ITALY
I have the iPhone 15 and since I got it the alarm volume seems to be hit and miss. I set the hotel alarm clock for 3:55 a.m. as well. I needed to be sure to catch my 8:00 flight.
The alarms went off and I didn’t even hit snooze. I got up, grabbed my stuff, and checked out of the Hilton hotel. As I was checking out the clerk told me since I couldn’t grab breakfast at 4:00 a.m. to take something from their cooler. I grabbed a chicken and bacon sandwich which would become my dinner in Italy.
I headed for the airport. It was cold and raining. I was pretty confident I could find the airport but I had some angst about refueling. I stopped one mile short of the airport at a gas station. I pulled in and tried both credit cards and the pump did not like them. I continued on.
At the car rental was a gas station which could be part of the same business. I tried to insert the chip card and that did not work. I tried the tap or wave and it worked. I refilled the car.
It was windy although not as windy as yesterday. Sleet and some snow was coming down. There supposedly was a shuttle but I chose to walk the 10 minutes to the terminal rather than wait 10 minutes in the cold and sleet for a shuttle that may or may not come by.
Getting to and through security was a relatively quick affair. Once clear I saw a sign for the Saga Lounge. I hadn’t been thinking of lounge access and may not have thought of it on my own. I’m glad I saw the sign. I checked in and was able to have a nice Icelandic breakfast. And relax.
In the main terminal, the flight was on the board when I checked at 5:30. It was listed as 8:00 a.m. and “Gate Posted at 7:10 a.m.’ In the Saga lounge, the gate (C28) was posted. And when I went to the gate at 7:05 it was still stating that it would be posted at 7:10. Just a guess but the gate areas are smaller than most U.S. airports and they don’t want everyone showing up two hours earlier and milling around.
I monitored the status of my bike and could see that it was out at the plane when I boarded. The flight was nice. I sat in 1F and was able to connect to inflight Wifi the entire flight.
As I disembarked I went to the baggage claim area. One final check and I saw my bike was nearby. I exhaled.
Terminal 1 at Milan-Malpenso Airport is huge. I don’t know how far I walked but it was far.
I realized I did not know how to contact the shuttle for the hotel. Two guys from the bus company made the call for me.
Lodging is at the Doubletree by Hilton Milan Malpensa Solbiate Olona. When the driver picked me up he told me he would wait a couple of minutes for another passenger, Mr. Sherry. I told him that was me. He said I thought you were Mr. Barry. I assured him that somehow we got two reservations in there but just one passenger.
Recovery this morning was 8% on my Whoop band. I am very tired.
