Jayestravellingadventures

I have just come back from the Monza Grand Prix and what an experience it was. As I’ve had so many F1 trips this year, I didn’t organise this one as much as the previous ones, and I noticed it.

I was flying from Gatwick so I had to catch a 2 hour train to the airport at 830am. The train was stuck at Farringdon due to a train further up on the line broken down and needing fixing, a short while later we were on the move and I arrived at the terminal at 1130am. I was restricted to hand luggage only for this trip so I didn’t need to drop my bags off, I could just go through security.

The flight was straight forward and the passport control wasn’t that long either. Once I was through I needed to work out the train and metro system to get to my hotel. After a 45minute train ride and a 10 minute metro journey, I ordered an Uber which was €14.60(£12.52/$16.93) straight to the hotel.

The Hotel I stayed in was called Kilma Hotel Milano Fiere and gosh it was in the middle of nowhere. I paid the hotel tax which was €40(£34.31/$46.39) and got settled into my room before heading down for dinner in the hotel. The room was lovely and clean, I had no complaints about it. The bed was HUGE!

Down in the restaurant the food was in Italian so you had to guess what you were getting or ask the staff. If you aren’t a fan of fancy food then I wouldn’t recommend eating there. After dinner I headed upstairs to rest ready for the journey tomorrow.

After breakfast I went to reception to ask them how to get to Milan central station, and the answer wasn’t really clear. I did find out the hotel provides a free shuttle service to a station near called Rho Fiere. However, the shuttle runs from 8am – 1030am and then 1730 – 1900. So it doesn’t give you much flexibility, especially on Grand Prix weekend. I shared the shuttle with other tourists staying at the hotel and luckily for me there was a father and son who were also attending the race.

So we rubbed our heads together to think of our route. We took a train to Garibaldi and from there we went to Milano Centrale. I have no idea what tickets I brought, and I think I brought the completely wrong ones twice as, I purchased some prior to me going on this trip. I paid around €20(£17.16/$23.20) each day for the tickets.

We finally arrived at Monza station where we waited for the Z221 bus which after 20 minutes we were told it would never arrive. A man from the UK who was with his partner told us not to go into the shuttle queue as it was an over 2 hour wait. We then were approached by some locals asking if we wanted a ride. I was a bit skeptical first but after the journey and being in the 30+ degree heat, I just wanted to get there. So for €30(£25.73/$34.79) we hopped in and it was well worth it.

We ended up doing this to the track each day as it was easy and straight forward. Gabriel was lovely and gave me a massive list of things I need to do next time I’m in Milan and Monza.

At the end of each day there was a shuttle that took us back to the train station which cost €3(£2.57/$3.48) each day and it was HELL! The journey which would have been only 10 minutes was 50minutes, there was no aircon and they packed us like sardines. On the first day 2 separate people felt sick so we pulled the bus over and one guy (who I was assuming was Italian) was arguing with the driver. Thankfully The next two days wasn’t so bad once you wrestled grown adults onto a bus.

Where we were dropped off it was roughly 25 minutes walk for you to get next to the track. I then had to walk a further 15 minutes to get inside the track and to my seat. I didn’t realise I brought a seat so it was a great surprise when I found out. My seat was located right in front of the Pit entry in 23a Parabolica Interna Row K seat 54. The seat was brilliant!

The food options in that area wasn’t great, if you wanted more of a variety then you’d need to walk all the way back out and around to stands 27-30 as they had loads of food including ice cream. Each day was repetitive with the travel and me simply sitting at my seat trying not to burn or get sun stroke. But still enjoy the racing.

There is one thing I have been grateful for with these trips, is that the hotels provide you breakfast boxes in the morning if you have paid for Bed & Breakfast. his has allowed me to eat on route as well as take them into the track to snack on whilst there.

Before I knew it, it was race day! And this journey made me realise the end of my F1 trips are nearly over! It was an early start for race day as I got to the track at around 9am. I met up with my old head teacher from lower school (Primary now), and we had a lovely catchup before the day got underway. I started talking to the couple next to me and they are lovely, it was there first Grand Prix so we tried really hard to get on TV for them.

We got to experience Leclerc crash next to us, and the silence was deafening! But the atmosphere soon came back alive when Kimi battled for 1st against is team mate George Russel. Once Kimi crossed that line it was a party!

I went onto the track, found some tire marble and went to see where Leclerc crashed before making my last journey home. People were taking everything they could get their hands on.

My flight wasn’t until 1800 and I had to be out of my room from 11am, so I had 3 hours to kill before I needed to head to the airport. At home I thought I could go and explore the area, however when I got there I soon realised there was nothing around. Only a small café which I went to for lunch and it was full of Italian workmen. I felt so uncomfortable!

Once I ate the food I went back to the hotel. Again I was let down because you had to pay to use the sauna and steam room and the sky bar was empty and locked, so I was forced to sit in the lobby waiting. It would have been nice if the hotel had an outdoor area to be able to enjoy the weather.

I couldn’t use the hotels free shuttle as it wasn’t inside their operating times, so I had to walk to get the bus. From Rho Fiere I took a train again to Garibaldi to get the Airport Terminal 2 train. I think I became a pro at the train system. The flight was easy and I was soon landing in the cold and wet UK.

Overall the weekend was brilliant! I met some lovely people and caught up with some old friends. I even saw Lightning McQueen!! Monza was a lovely circuit which I would do again. But I would make some key changes.

The hotel is not ideal for F1 weekends unless you are happy to spend money on transport or doing lots of walking outside the track. There is nothing around and to get to anything like a shop or train station its a 40minute walk away, and you are walking through areas which don’t seem very safe at night.

I would leave at 8am on Friday and Saturday and I wouldn’t get back until 2100 due to the hotel being in the middle of nowhere and having to catch multiple forms of transport that were every 30 minutes.

If you add up the 2 hour journey each day and the money spent you’d probably get a hotel that’s right next to the station. Now I’m not completely knocking the hotel, the facilities and staff were lovely. If I could pick up the hotel and move it closer to the city it would be perfect.

Getting to the track, make friends and share the cost and don’t let them rip you off. I made it clear and was very transparent and I paid €30 each day rather them €40 on Saturday and €50 on Sunday. It beats waiting in the queues for hours in the sun!

I am absolutely gutted my F1 trips are over for the year but I’m so grateful I went to Monza to round up the incredible experience I have had. I have made friends for life as well as memories I will cherish and I cant wait to experience more next year! Thank you for coming along with me on this journey and for accepting my non-cruise content for a while. The support has been exceptional and really pushed me out of my comfort zona and I couldn’t have been anymore prouder.

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