From Milan to Florence

I awoke at 6 and showered, shaved etc then blogged about yesterday. We started the day with a continental breakfast in the Hotel Florida. This involved nice fresh rolls and a selection of jams, marmalade and honey. In my case it was cream cheese that fitted the bill. We then went back to the room and left the hotel at 10. Feeling we had done most of Milan yesterday we took it gently and found a road-side cafe where we stopped for a coffee and a read.

At 12 we went back to the restaurant where we eat yesterday, it is handy for the station and Drew had spotted something he wanted on the menu. For many years whenever we visited an Italian restaurant Drew would opt for Arrabiata, we use lots of chilli in cooking at home and so both like the spicy kick chillies give to food. So this has been Drew's favourite pasta sauce for years, but in recent years it is rarely seen at Italian restaurants where we eat. It is great to know that it is alive and well in Italy.

So as planned Drew ordered pennette ali'arrabiata  and it was just what he wanted. Indeed the sauce was so good that after eating all the pasta Drew used bread to mop up the remaining sauce. I decided to try something local and opted for the Risotto alla Milenese this was a lovely stock rice risotto flavoured with saffron. I know I should not be surprise this is a good restaurant after all, but I have had so many claggy, stodgy risottos in my time, that I was delighted in one which had plenty of flavour yet where each piece of rice was separate and tasteful. We also shared an Insalata Mista.

After lunch we walked across the square and into the Milano Centrale station. We arrived at 12.45 and our train, the Frecciarossa 9533 was ready to leave at 1.20.

Given the shortness of the journey to Florence (only 1 hour 45) I'd opted for second class travel and we were in coach 11 seats 13D and 14D. We were able to get on the train 25 minutes early and it was well air-conditioned, the seats were also the most comfortable we have sat in so far. All of the seats have plug sockets under the table. I would recommend this type of travel. By the way, the strange angle to the photo on the right is due to me taking it with the reverse camera of the iPhone. It is clear I should leave the photography to Drew!

We were quickly up to 300kmh the fastest I have travelled except in a plane. We had a stop in Bologna then arrived in Firenze Santa Maria Novella exactly on time.