Girls Trip To Italy Gone Wrong

Welcome to our trip to Italy that went wrong… 

My friend Jade and I had originally planned a girls trip to Italy in the summer of 2022. The plan was to fly to Milan and then take coaches and inter-rails to Lake Como, Venice, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast. We had no idea what we were doing; we wanted to be spontaneous and book on the spot. Thank goodness we did because it worked in our favour. To be flexible, we took two weeks off work and booked a one-way flight. 

Milan: 

Our flight was from London Gatwick to Milan Malpensa Airport at the start of July. We flew with Ryanair which cost us around £70 each one way, including a 20kg bag. (We’re girls, packing light is impossible). Once we landed, we got on a train to Milan Cadorna and jumped on the Metro to San Siro Stadio where our hotel was.

Day 1: 

We stayed at B&B hotels in San Siro. It did the job for a couple of nights, we had a clean room and it was easy to get to the metro lines. We freshened up, dropped our bags and ended up at a street party across the road. After staying there for a drink, we went over to Duomo Square (Piazza del Duomo). We explored and walked around and found an incredible gelato shop.

After that, we went to this beautiful rooftop terrace bar overlooking the cathedral. It was such a vibe and the atmosphere was cool.

On our way back, we had such a movie moment. A man was playing Bella Ciao on the saxophone and everyone gathered around to sing and dance outside the Cathedral. It was so wholesome!

Day 2: 

We got up nice and early. It was 40 degrees as Europe was having a heatwave. Both of us had meetings with associate agencies, so we made our way and decided to put our heels on in the Metro so we’d look professional walking in. Typical us took the wrong route, got harassed by several men and couldn’t make sense of google maps. So, we ran back and forth across a dual carriageway, jumping over the fences in heels to realise we walked past the building 5 minutes ago. We were playing real-life Crossy Road at this point.

Anyway, we finally arrived, completed our meetings and then changed out of our casting outfits before we made our way back to Duomo Square for a shopping trip. Both of us were covered from head to toe in bites, so we had to stop at a pharmacy on our way back to the hotel.

Lake Como: 

Our next hotel stay was at Italiana Hotels and Resorts in Rho Fiera. The hotel was nice and relatively easy to get to but it was slightly further out from the city. We planned to go to Lake Como for the day. My foot was so swollen because like a fool I started itching it.

Day 3:

The train was about an hour to Lake Como and it was super easy to get to.

Lake Como…no words. Such a beautiful place. (P.s dear future husband we are getting married here, it’s already decided). We found a beautiful beach area where we relaxed and sunbathed. The view was incredible and we felt so grounded and present. We lived in the moment for sure. My foot just continued to swell up to the point it became numb and wouldn’t even fit inside my slider so we made another pharmacy trip which was a 20-minute walk away. They just prescribed me another cream. It did nothing for the swelling or bites. I looked like that lady in the Harry Potter scene. (Harry Potter fans if yk yk)

After spending the day appreciating this stunning place, we got the last train back to the hotel. We met some people and the idea was to go out for dinner and then hit a few bars in Milan Central. That didn’t happen lol. Instead, I had my foot in an ass washer and had room service bring up tonnes of ice. Jade at least had some entertainment for the evening.

Day 4 – things get worse: 

We had booked a bus to take us to Venice. The swelling started spreading up my leg and I could almost feel something crawling inside.

Instead, we cancelled it and had a taxi take us to the nearest hospital in Rho. As we were outside the city, it was a local area so there was a strong language barrier. There was no service which meant we couldn’t even use a translator.

Anyway, we were waiting for a couple of hours before I was taken into a room. I lay on the bed and 3 doctors were there bending my fat foot like a banana. I had to call my sister’s Italian friend to translate everything. The doctor said it looks like a bad reaction to a mosquito bite and it’s now infected. He was asking if I was scratching it and I was like what nooooo never 🙄. He ruled out the rest of our travel and prescribed me antibiotics (which I ended up being allergic to).

A taxi had to take us to the pharmacy to pick it up. The taxi driver carried me out of the car and up the steps, into the shop. The funny thing is I didn’t ask him to. He just swooped me up. So here I am, in a taxi man’s arms, with a blue bandage, no shoes on and there’s Jade trotting behind. Lol…god bless him, he was genuine.

Pasta Trip:

The hotel staff were glad to hear we had to extend our stay by another night. We were starving so we went on a pasta hunt in the local town. It was a 25-minute walk away and just to make things better, the taxis and buses were on strike so poor Jade had to piggyback me. In 25 minutes we almost got run over, she dropped me and my sliders fell off several times. All we wanted was just some mf pasta. At last, we got to this cosy, small restaurant and typical me orders a dish which I didn’t like. Plus I paid €40 for 9 pieces of pasta.

Day 5 – okay now it’s really gone wrong:

We had to, unfortunately, cut our trip short and get on the next flight home. Honestly, it just kept getting worse and worse. So, we got to Malpensa Airport and our flight was delayed by 4 hours. As we are in the terminal about to board they cancelled the flight. The pilot walked out and the staff said there was no pilot to take us home because this was during the airline strikes. At this point, I’m trying to book another flight but there was nothing until 72 hours later and the hotels nearby were fully booked! My foot was still gigantic and I was in so much pain. I remember crying and stressing because the allergic reaction to the medicine had kicked in too. Jade just needed some popcorn at this point.

Another funny story, Jade had to call for assistance. So, I was in some electric wheelchair, half laughing, half crying and the guy was on the back of it, standing up and pressing the acceleration whilst Jade was running behind trying to catch up. He was zooming off, manoeuvering in between people, it was so funny. Well, he wasn’t laughing but we were.

We had to pay £200 for a taxi to take us to Milan Bergamo Airport, so we could get on our next flight which wasn’t until 5 am the next morning. Eventually, after a very long night sitting in the airport deeping life, we made it back home to the UK.

Moral of the Story:

The moral of the story is: pay for your damn travel insurance, punch up a mosquito, don’t itch your foot and check there’s no current crisis before you go. I hope you enjoyed reading about our chaotic trip to Italy. Our travel is incomplete so there will be another blog coming soon. Let’s hope the universe doesn’t test us this time. Check out my Instagram highlights to see some video’s from our trip – https://instagram.com/asha_rakha?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

A huge shout out to Jade for being the best travel partner through it. This is one to remember. Pick your travel partners wisely! She kept the spirits high and now we look back on it and it’s by far one of our favourite failed trips. Many memories to cherish forever.

Love,