Day 1: Milano Malpensa-Como (52 km, 350 m uphill)

Hello from Como in Bella Italia where I just finished the first day of this year’s bicycle adventure. I’m planning to go from Milano to Istanbul, while working remotely three days per week, meaning that four days per week are bike days. Inshallah, I’ll be in Istanbul by mid or end November.

This trip was originally planned together with my friend Udo. But due to unforeseen circumstances he could not join the start, but will join asap.

Today, I took the plane from Oslo to Milano Malpensa. The trip to Oslo airport was quite relaxed – I ordered a taxi to the central station and took the Flytoget train because it’s more relaxed with a huge bike box. On the train, I facepalmed myself when I found out that I had packed my bike lock, but had forgotten the keys.

After landing at Malpensa, all went smoothly first, too. I got my luggage and bike quickly and had it reassembled within one hour. The problem was that my mobile charging contact has stopped working. So when I plugged in the charger, it would not charge. Shortly after leaving the airport with low battery, the phone went black. Now I had to navigate to Como just looking at the position of the sun and bypassing wild geese on their way to Africa. Or as a better alternative, I figured, I should try to buy a wireless charger because it’s only the Lightning contact that doesn’t work. After visiting many stores, I finally found a Gigante hypermarket, and it was so gigante that I found both a phone charger and a new bicycle lock.

So, then I charged my phone a bit so that I could navigate again. And finally, after darkness had already settled over Lago di Como, I arrived in Como. The hotel is alright. The fresh pasta and the red wine were delicious.

Mr. Nansen says ciao.