Italy Trip 2011 - Day 1 - Part 1

The first day. We did not have much plan on it, because it was filled with travelling. Starting from taking plane from Hong Kong International Airport to Milan Malpensa Airport. There is 6 hours difference between Hong Kong and Milan at that time (September). We took a mid-night flight which was taken off at 01:00. It took almost 13 hours to there. The landing time was around 07:50.

After taken our luggage, we find our way to Milan's Central Railway Station. There is an express rail, Malpensa Express, which takes visitors to and forth airport to the Central Station. It costs 7 euro for a single journey. The price is claimed to be a promotional price. The frequency is twice an hour. It is an approximation, as there is a more precised schedule which is not necessarily half hour for each train.
It is also not necessary to buy train tickets in advance. Just go to the ticket office and get one, easy. Or, you can also buy one from the machines there. Just remember to change the language to English from the main screen if you did not know any Italian.

The express train took us about 45 minutes to the Central Station. The reason why we needed to be there is that we need to get the train to Florence, our focal point for this trip. There is no direct train from Milan Malpensa Airport to Florence. Thus, this is the only way.

Milan Central Station is a very busy station. It is a railway hub for travelers. Many people standing there and starring the schedule board to check when the train come. Some were sitting to wait for their trains. Including visitors from different countries, it makes the station alive. You can feel that place is really energetic. The station is very huge. There are more than 13 platforms. However, it is a bit old. You can see and feel that. There are paintings on the wall with carving pillars. Just like a museum. To me, it is amazing.

In this busy train station, to buy tickets is no easy. Thus, we had bought train tickets online from the web. And, you can buy a cheaper ticket if you can buy on time from the web. However, we could only manage to buy at a medium price. Anyway, the point is, do buy tickets in advance for long trip trains.

Our train started at 11:15 and arrived at 13:00. The train ran on time and arrived on time. That train is the same class of EuroStar. It is pretty high speed and comfortable. The feeling is good. Just the seating arrangement seems a little bit complicated. For us, it is totally fine as we took the seats from the first station to the end. What we saw is for those people got on train in the middle stations, seems always could not get their seats correctly. I don't know why.

Anyway, we got down the train around 13:00. Florence SMN Station is, also, a huge station with 13 platforms or more. I believe it is also an important hub for commuters. The first thing we did was to check-in our booked hotel. Actually, it is a Bed and Breakfast type accommodation.