So, I've finally taken my first Holiday here, since going on holiday. A good friend of mine from back home, Samantha, came with and we hit up Milan and Paris, not finding however what we were expecting.
Our first stop was Milan, however I was lucky to make it even that far. I didn't check in for my flight as Sam hadn't either (however she was on a UK passport, and all EU citizens don't need to check in). Noone said anything until I boarded the plane, and the incredibly rude flight attendant told me I hadn't checked in, and that I would need to wait to have clearance from the captain, before he'd allow me on his flight. Two minutes later it was resolved, and she told me to take a seat. Five minutes after this, she came down the aisle and asked me to show my Passport again. I had put it away having been distracted by a rather large woman in the row beside me, and forgotten I had put it away. After searching in vein for 10 minutes, they evacuated the rows behind and infront of me, and made them search for my passport too. I found it in the back pocket of my bag, and then walked rather embarrasingly to the flight attendant whilst the passengers applauded me. It wasn't so bad; I only delayed the flight by 20 minutes. I made a lot of friends that day. 198, to be exact.
Milan was the first stop. Having been incredibly grateful to get away from the scolding looks I was receiving in the plane, Sam and I boarded a bus not knowing where we were going. Luckily enough, we got off at the right train station in Milan and eventually managed to find our hostel. My first impression of the city was that its actually quite dirty. A lot of the buildings are cool, but very run-down. The roads aren't maintained, there is rust from the tramtracks all over the road and the metro service could be something out of a horror movie.
The Centre of Milan was amazing, with the Duomo Cathedral standing right in the middle. The only problem with that is there are a lot of men from Ghana hunting out vulnerable tourists. Unfortunately, Sam and I fell pray to the 'free friendship bracelet' charm that so many others to on a daily basis. The contrast between central Milan, where all the big branded shops are, and the rest of the city was huge. It was more than apparent that they only really care about people with money here. There was plenty to see here (including far too much PDA), but I think the only reason I'd ever visit this city again is to see the Last Supper (you have to book well in advance for this, and so we ended up missing out).
Paris was also an incredibly cool city, and I definitely enjoyed my time there. However, it seemed like Paris was determined to get me to hate it. The Louvre was closed on the day we went to visit it, we couldn't go to the top of the Eiffel Tower due to congestion, the weather was completely shit and the people were so incredibly rude. Ok vent over.
Paris is a beautiful city, with amazing buildings everywhere. I kind of expected it to be a let down, in the way that it was probably glorified in romantic movies giving an unrealistic impression of the city. Well, it definitely wasn't. It was simply stunning, and despite my few grudges I could have stayed there for a lot longer. I managed to see a lot in the time I was there, including the Eiffel Tower, Concorde, the old war housing, going under the Louvre, the government buildings, statues and monuments galore, the Bridge of love and the list continues. However, there is so much more to do there. I never made it to Monmartre (you can take a tour and see where Amelie was filmed there), I never made it to the Moulin Rouge or managed to get inside the Louvre itself. Oh well, perfect excuse for another trip there.
Am now back in Berlin and the hunt begins for a job. Hopefully I can find one shortly, so I can remain here in Europe. Fingers crossed.
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