I will be flying to MXP afterall, because I had problems getting 2 tickets to FCO on AA.com.
I will arrive in MXP on 21 Feb, and leave on 27 Feb. As to when I will actually be in VCE, it really depends on how the accommodation scene looks like then. My casual plan is to take an overnight train MXP-VCE, arriving in VCE before dawn to enjoy the cobblestone streets in Venice at the best time of the day (wonder if there will actually be ferry rides from mainland so early). Anyway, this saves me 2 nights' accommodation in MXP, which is very exhorbitant.
Do you know of supercheap hotels in Milan? The other thead talking about Milan hotels have come up with nightly rates over $200, which is high in my opinion. Cheap nights are rather unlikely, because I was told that for the period during which I will be there, the city's hosting some big carnival of some sort. Prices rocket then. I may be forced to overnight in nearby cities like Verona, Piacenza etc (I don't really know Lombardia that well).
I will want to drop by at Como as well. It's such a nice break to my bitter winter here in YUL.
Drop me an email when you are in Italy, so that perhaps we could meet up sometime over pasta and gelato! Send emails to my web-accessible yahoo account only.
Arrivederci!
Maple
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Flew every one of those 25,000 Q-miles and onto 50,000!