As Monza is not a major station (I presume due to proximity to Milan, which is) I could not buy a ticket direct to Monza, but rather had to buy one in Milan - it's basically a local service.
I made my way to the train station in Florence, which wasn't quite as easy as one might imagine, as the footpath (aka sidewalk) was rather narrow, and very busy. However, my luggage and I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare. The train left on time, headed north over the mountains to Bologna, thence northwest to Milan. I had a first class ticket and assigned seat, and once again the train was full, but very comfortable.
The journey was rather slow over (and through) the mountains, I suspect due to track work. I used the time to text Jon about progress. [Jon's phone had a US number, so I would have been making an international call from Italy with an Australian phone; I've no idea what the rate would be, and whether it would be an international call, or just local. But SMS is fairly inexpensive.] Despite the delays in the mountains, we arrived just 15 minutes late into Milan.
It took a while to figure out how to get the remaining distance to Monza. I tried one of the new electronic ticket machines, which fortunately had a very helpful lady to explain things; the machine displayed messages in many languages too. There were 2 choices, one was a train direct to Monza, but an earlier one would have required me to change trains somewhere. Ah, no thanks, I'll wait.
Unfortunately the train direct to Monza was not just going to Monza, but some other places. With a bit of logic, some luck and asking again in the information office, I found out that I needed the LECCOTIRANO train. OK, but what a strange name. Fortunately, the monitor at the platform listed all the stops, and Monza was first. So at least I knew I was on the right train! [As it turned out, I eventually discovered that Lecco and Tirano are two towns north of Monza, that we would travel through!]
Jon was waiting at the station, in his company car - an Alfa 156. We introduced ourselves, and then I had a tour of sorts of parts of Monza as we headed to the Union Bike shop, as I had some riding gear to buy. Union Bike had quite an array of things bike related, and there was not too much trouble buying jacket, pants and boots. There were a number of reasons for buying here - it saved me dragging them around Quebec (riding gear is heavy, even textile) and I had no decent summer riding apparel anyway as it's hard to justify in Seattle.
After the purchase it was off to Jon's apartment to unpack, settle in and chinwag for a while. Jon had arranged to meet a friend of his, Bruno, at a restaurant in downtown Monza. We walked the dozen or so blocks, which was good, as I learned a little of the layout of the area, and also I hadn't done much walking and needed the exercise today. When we reached the restaurant, there was no sign of Bruno, but it's obviously a very popular place to be, as there was a line waiting to get it.
Bruno showed up on his K1200RS, and then we went to the head of the line and were seated almost immediately; it's nice to know the owner. Turns out that Bruno is in the printing business - seems I can't escape it! A long evening of dining and wining with excellent food and great company ensued. Jon and I then walked back to the apartment for a good night's rest.
We had a map to reach them, and Jon knew vaguely where they were. I had my Garmin GPS V receiver with me, and had maps of the area loaded in, and also had created way points for both Mototouring and the Diaz residence. BUT, the GPS would not do routing! It would show the streets we were on, and where we were and it displayed the way points, but when asked to go there, it said something to the effect "there are no nearby streets to start from"! Oh well.
We headed off on Jon's K75, and I received my first lesson in Italian riding style. Lane splitting (riding between lanes of cars) is expected, and cars will move out of the way! Part of the desired route was blocked off due to roadworks, so we had to make a quite lengthy detour. And eventually used the GPS to show us which general direction to Mototouring. And then we found them! It's not a shop or garage, rather an enclosed yard, shared with some sort of building company; there's a warehouse and office down the back, and that's where they are.
They wheeled the Aprilia out for me to check over, and I dutifully noted all the scratches. Then I was told not to worry about them all, they're expected to be there! So unlike any car rental I've used. Filling in the paperwork, and taking a credit card imprint in case I didn't return the bike in working condition, it was time for my first ride in Italy. I followed Jon back to the apartment, since my local geography was scant, at best. Jon then headed off to work while I studied maps. And Jon's copy of Motorcycle Touring Through The Alps which had many roads to travel in this part of Italy - the Alps were visible from Jon's apartment! I also experimented with the GPS receiver, but had no sucess making it figure out how to get from here to there. Sigh.
I enjoyed this quiet day after the last couple of weeks, and learning the lay of the land would prove useful later on, for navigating in and out of Monza, or even for just walking about.
When Jon returned from work we spent some time shooting the breeze on the balcony, before walking down the street to buy pizza for tonight's dinner. We walked back to the apartment and sat on the balcony, eating excellent pizza and watching the sun set. A great way to end the day, a very enjoyable day at that.
Italy In July