Yesterday night, Karine’s phone started acting up. The keyboard would misbehave or stop working, the maps app would freeze. Apps would freeze and crash for no reason. She was 3 versions behind and software updates won’t work. Without a computer to see the device log, I was unable to diagnose the problem. After doing everything short of an entire software reset, we were at the point that we need to get it serviced by Apple. The conveniently located Apple Store is booked solid until we’re supposed to be on a train to Monterrosso so that wasn’t an option. A little bit of searching found a second Apple Store about an hour away by tramway with availability today. Think about where the bus line ends in your city, that’s how far off center we needed to go.
So this morning we got up bright and early, stopped by the nearby coffee shop (📍Nowhere Coffee) to get the life giving juice (coffee) and the second best cinnamon bun we ever had (very close second to our all-time best in Athens), and embarked on our Apple Store journey.
At the Apple Store we were somewhat relieved when 10 minutes in the tech said he had never seen that type of problems before. After much trying and several failed attempts to run Apple’s diagnostic tools, the tech was unconvinced that a full erase and start from scratch could resolve the issue or at least allow him to run diagnostics, but it was the next step in the script so we tried. To everyone’s surprise, it worked! The diagnostic was run and, other than the battery needing to be replaced, passed. Not willing to wait half a day for the battery replacement, we loaded the essentials on the phone and headed on our long trek back to Milan, almost two hours after arriving.
It turns out a cinnamon roll and coffee a full breakfast does not make. After many hours working on getting the phone fixed we decided to head to LùBar for a proper meal. 📍LùBar was our original brunch reservation for the day and while we had rebooked it before taking the train the tomorrow, it was close to the small botanical garden (📍Giardini Indro Montanelli) which will help make up for the vacation time spent in a shopping center in the suburbs.
A good meal and some flowers later, we headed back home to wait for diner while Karine installs all the missing apps and sets up her brand new old phone. On our way home we discussed why Milano wasn’t a city for us. Part of it comes to the city having very little of its old character. Having been extensively bombed by the allies during World War Two, much of the city was rebuilt afterwards leaving it more bland. It did become a fashion capital and all the big designers are there, but that’s not for us. In the end we lacked interest and ended up concluding that of all our travel plans, Milan was the best place for us to be forced to take a trip to a shopping centre in the suburbs. We didn’t feel we missed out that much.
The dinner at 📍Osteria del Treno was a very casual affair. The restaurant was exactly what we expected; they cared about serving good food and were not pretentious about it. Most importantly, they had the much sought after osso bucco with its risotto! The meal was good but did not get it even in the top 3 of our meals so far. It was a perfectly correct way to end our time in Milano.
Places
NOWHERE - CAFE · Via Vetere, 14, 20123 Milano MI, Italy
★★★★☆ · Brunch restaurant
maps.app.goo.gl
LùBar · Via Palestro, 16, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
★★★★☆ · Restaurant
maps.app.goo.gl
Giardini Indro Montanelli · Via Palestro, 14, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
★★★★★ · Garden
maps.app.goo.gl
Osteria del Treno · Via S. Gregorio, 46, 20124 Milano MI, Italy
★★★★☆ · Restaurant
maps.app.goo.gl
