Today I got lost twice.   Once was on purpose and the other not so much.

I started the day in Milan and had a 6:25pm flight out to Malta.   By the time I had everything repacked and ate my breakfast it was around 11am and I had a good 4 hours til I had to head to the airport.

Now when I say I got lost on purpose I should clarify – I didn’t try to get lost I just kind of wandered around and didn’t really care if I got lost because I had alot of time to kill.

So I started out walking in the light drizzling rain and actually came upon a castle in the middle of the city – the Castello Sforzesco.   I took my time wandering around the outdoor courtyard and never did find a way in so I just wandered back out in the city.

I passed alot of stores lining a street with flags from around the world celebrating the Expo that will be held here in 2015.   It is truly astounding how many Africans are up here selling umbrellas on every street corner.   It was the same in Spain and Portugal.   After awhile you just want to smack someone after you’ve had an umbrella waved in your face umpteen times.

Anyway, after walking for awhile in a totally different part of town I was officially lost.   I wasn’t panicked though because I had just over 2 hours til I had to leave and I knew if I could just find my way to the Duomo I would be able to find my way back to the hostel.

Luckily someone on the street pointed me in the right direction and I turned a corner and there it was – the Duomo standing tall and mighty.

It was time for lunch.   I stopped in a busy little restaurant and had a nice meal that shockingly did not involve pizza or pasta.   Instead I order a dish with ham, salad and vegetables and then followed it off with an apple cake for dessert.   Oh, and a glass of Prosecco just, well, because.

At 3pm I headed to the airport.   First I had to take the metro back to the train station and then catch the airport bus from there.   After an hour in transit I made it to the airport and once again I went through checkin and security pretty quick so I had a good hour and a half to just sit there and wait for the boarding.   Pretty boring.

A couple hours later we landed in Malta.   Arriving in the dark (it was about 9pm) in a strange city with no map and general directions to your hostel is always an interesting experience.   I knew which bus to hop on to but finding the right stop was a tad challenging especially since everyone else on the bus was also a tourist and had no idea.

After about a 45 minute bus ride I finally arrived at my bus stop and after another 15 minutes of being lost and trying to figure out where I was supposed to go from there I was finally walking towards my hostel.

Uphill.   For like another 15 minutes.

When I arrived I was so elated that I finally made it.   It was kind of late and by the time I got checked in and then settled into my room it was about 11pm.

There was a group of about 5 or 6 people downstairs playing poker for cash and I just knew I was joining that action.

Aside from one night in Granada where we played just for fun and a few little 5c/25c cheap money games with my friends back home, I hadn’t played poker for real money for a good 6 months.

I was itching to play and I bought in for 20 euros.   In the first hand I doubled my money and by the end after just over an hour I had cleaned up taking in a 81 euro profit.

I tried to be a gracious winner and contained my excitement until I left the table and sat in my room and giggled to myself – too easy!

At just after midnight I was starving as I hadn’t timed my meals properly with the late flight and hadn’t eaten in hours.   I headed out into the empty streets and walked about 20 minutes to the bar district where I came upon this cool little takeout shop.

For just 2 euros I bought a medium sized lasagna which would have probably cost 10 euros in Italy.   It was so nice to have cheap food again after paying so much the last month in Italy, France and Switzerland.   Aside from a few days in Venice later this week it should be cheap food for the next couple of months as I enter into Eastern Europe.

I came back to the hostel around 1 in the morning and everyone had turned in for the night so I popped on my laptop and caught things up with facebook and photo uploads and of course this blog.

Tomorrow I’m meeting up with Renald, my Malta friend I met while camel trekking back near the beginning of my trip and I can’t wait to be shown the town by someone who lives here.   Should be fun!