How to get to the Gala for Alessia

The Gala for Alessia which I have mentioned in Principato's Project 7 April 2016, Update on the Trecate Gala 28 April 2016 and Some More Information on Alessia 30 April 2016 as well as on BalletCo Forum and in the London Ballet Circle newsletter takes place at the Silvio Pellico Theatre at 24 Piazza Cattaneo, Trecate, 28069. Trecate is about 5 miles east of Novara, 28 miles West of Milan and 15 miles due South of Milan's Malpensa Airport.

It is a very, very, very long time since I studied Italian and like all Brits I am rubbish at modern languages so please don't quote me but I seem to remember that "mal" meant "evil" and "pensa" meant "thoughts". When I tell you that Holiday Taxis, easyJet's transfer company, quoted me £120 to drive the 15 miles from Malpensa to Trecate which is far more than easyJet charged for the flight from Manchester to Milan you can imagine all the unladylike expressions that passed through my mind. Clearly, Trecate is the Lombard cabbies' equivalent of "saarf ovva rivva darlin'" ("South of the River Madam"). I would much rather spend that kind of moulah on the folks in Burundi.

Happily there is a bus between Malpensa and Novarra which is operated by the bus company STN. It stops at Novara station as you can see from the timetable and there are plenty of trains between Novara and Trecate. Google maps and most of the guidebooks advise taking a train from Malpensa to the centre of Milan and then another out to Trecate but that would be like going from Loughton to Dartford by way of Ealing.

There do not appear to be many hotels in Trecate. Booking.com had only one property on its books yesterday and I nabbed it. But there are quite a few decent looking establishments in Novara and loads in Milan.  There is however an eatery called the Macri almost next door to the theatre and I will be there from 7 pm if anyone wants to meet me.

Milan is the same size as Manchester and reminds me very much of my city. There is the same kind of buzz about the place. However, although we have lots to offer tourists with the Bridgewater Hall, The Hallé and our unique collection of the Manchester Impressionists in the City Gallery they have La Scala with its magnificent museum, the Brera, The Last Supper and a magnificent Gothic cathedral on a classical base.  Also, and, I am sorry to have to admit this, but the Victor Emanuel Galleries beat the Arndale Centre into a cocked hat.

There are cheap flights to Malpensa from London and Manchester with and even cheaper ones with Ryanair to Bergamo.  There are also some good deals from Budapest with Wizzair if Ryosuke and Mel want to see a really good show with a really good crowd for a really good cause.