Approaching Milano

We had a testing journey today from France to Italy, where I have two events at the Mantova International Literary Festival - the biggest in Italy. The plane took only 18 passengers and had NO toilet. The flight was 1h40mins. The cockpit had no doors on it, and one passenger spent most of the flight leaning into it to talk to the pilots. We were met at the airport in Milan by two delightful volunteers who drove us the two-and-a-half hours to Mantova. After nine hours travelling we finally arrived at our hotel at 10.30pm, not having eaten since midday. Fortunately a restaurant in the old square fed us pizza and Amarone wine (17% volume). And now we sink back on memory foam beds to dream of a free day exploring the town tomorrow.

This was taken from the plane as we approached Milan. An agricultural town on the plains of Northern Italy.