Technology has advanced so much and while it has been questioned over potential surveillance and the likes, it ensured I had an amazing time in. Milan.
For instance, I'm on a high speed bullet train that will get me from Milan to Roma in under three hours. The standard train takes over eight hours to do the same journey, also that in itself some pretty choice.
But not as choice as my stay in Milan itself. The underground metro rail system was extremely user friendly and I found myself getting around Milan surprisingly quickly. One euro fifty got you from A to B and there were plenty of trains at all hours of the night.
But let's get back to the beginning of my Italian adventure.
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I arrived in Milan after a relatively painful sleep at Hotel Wannenhorn in Bellwald (that's all I'll say on the matter apart from the bell tolls every minutes throughout the night!) and, having spent a good hour or so in beautiful Lugano, I was ready and excited for my trip to Italy.
Weather wise, Milan welcomed me with open arms. The sun was shining, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. To paraphrase a fellow Wellingtonian, conditions were perfect.
My host, an older woman named Luisa who wouldn't have been any higher than my shoulder, was your typical Italian: passionate, hand gestures aplenty - and couldn't speak a word of English.
We had one thing in common - we couldn't speak each others language. The only Italian I knew was from listening to hours of Andrea Bocelli - hardly sufficient for a hearty chat with a local.
Regardless, we got along perfectly fine thanks to Google Translate - a function on the search engine's site that allows you to seamlessly translate - well, relatively seamlessly - from your language to almost any language worldwide.
The method was very simple. While I could sort of understand some words thanks to her elaborate hand gestures (I must've seemed like such a baby!), there would come a time where neither of us knew what the other was saying.
Cue the furious hand-typing gesture. It was Google Translate time.
When I first arrived I had a 30-minute Google Translate chat with Luisa about my trip, what to do in Milan, where I'm off to next and what to do that night.
Many hugs, cheek kisses and even a couple of slaps from her, I retired to my room for a bit to freshen up before eventually hitting the central city on Friday night.
She had earlier advised me that it wasn't quite tourist season in Milan and as such, August was the month where residents would take their holidays. "They go to mountains, they go to rivers," reckoned Luisa. What an adventurous bunch.
By the time the clock struck 9.30pm I was back on the metro (nailed it, too) and headed out to see the Duomo for the first time. I've developed a habit where I tip my €3 hat to any buildings, monuments or what have you that I find inspiring. An homage to those that built it, if you like.
I was first instigated at the Duomo. What a beautiful building she is. In a fact the whole piazza was something else. I was in awe.
Being in awe for something for so long builds up an appetite. Naturally, when in Italy, it'd be rude to not do what the locals do - eat pizza and gelato. I found a wee pizzeria not far from the Duomo and grabbed one with spicy sausage. Add a Coke and say goodbye to €15.50. Now it's easy to see why spicy rhymes with pricy.
I boosted home shortly after midnight to Luisa furiously typing away on her typewriter (she uses her laptop for Google Translate obviously) and we discussed what I'd seen and not yet seen. I could sense another itinerary coming and I was more than happy to roll with Luisa's ideas.
Eight hours later I was back up and running and having eaten a croissant fresh from a packet (!) and a good pot of tea, I was ready to smash out some sightseeing once more. The Duomo in daylight was the first on the list, followed by a number of other historical monuments such as the Theatro Dela Scalla.
By 3.30pm I had returned to Luisa's house and was ready to move on of pump next destination. One final big hug later and I was on my merry way to Roma.
One of Luisa's parting pieces of advice was to ensure I had more than one night in Rome. "One day is not enough," she typed.
So I've decided to smash out Cinque Terre and then return to Rome for a day or so before heading out to Mallorca for the penultimate leg of my journey.
Sitting on this train, it's still hard to believe I'm even here. The days have flown by so quickly that I sometimes have to flick back to pictures of countries past just to assure myself I went there! Then, of course, the memories come flooding back.
Which brings me to my next piece of fascinating technology. Had we no cameras, how would we hold onto memories in 20 years time, when life has surpassed our hopes, ambitions and recollections of adventures past.
With around half an hour to go in the train ride I got talking to a retired Australian bloke. He is halfway through a 10-week trip to Europe and the United Kingdom. Joined the SKI (Spend the Kids' Inheritance) Club he reckons.
We got chatting about our trips and the last Bledisloe Cup game he went to, a 16-16 draw, before I told him of the 12-12 result from that morning. We were seconds away from dissecting the state of Australian rugby before he swiftly piped up about rugby league, at which point we wished each other well.
But here's to technology, something that has been my help when needed so far on my short Italian stint.
You're often a pain, but so far you've been a real blessing. I tip my hat to you.
Ciao,
Matiu
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