[Nov. 2025] We suddenly decided to fly from our home in northern Italy to London, England to do some errand.
Regular airlines were surprisingly expensive, so we decided to fly with low-cost airline Ryanair.
Low-cost airlines usually use low-cost airports.
So this time, we headed to unfamiliar Bergamo Airport.
Since our flight was early in the morning, we reserved a parking spot in advance and drove there by car.
It was great to be greeted by the early morning sunrise, but the parking lot we arrived at felt like a temporary lot, made of simple metal.
From there, we walked and walked to the terminal…
When we finally arrived, the terminal had the feel of an Eastern European bus terminal.
First, there was the arrivals area, and then we continued walking to the departures area.
I thought it would be difficult for elderly people.
I had to go through a “Passport Verification” process here, and I tried to find the counter, but when I asked, everyone just pointed “over there.”
After much confusion, the woman I’d first asked for directions said, “Sorry, I misunderstood.”
Well, she was nice, so I forgave her.
Since this trip was a sudden decision and we were only staying for two nights, we wanted to keep it as budget-friendly as possible, so we checked in with just our carry-on luggage and without seat reservations.
My husband and I ended up sitting quite far away.
It was an experience all its own.
From here on, we had to walk quite a bit again.
At this point, I felt like I was being yelled at, “Old people, stay away!”
To make matters worse, Ryanair recently changed their rules so that boarding passes must be presented via their app rather than printed, which made things even more stressful.
The flight itself went smoothly, and we arrived safely at Stansted Airport.
Next, we spent some time at immigration.
This was because I didn’t have the simplified visa system recently introduced by the UK.
As a long-time UK resident, I didn’t need this.
It took a while to convince the runny-nosed attendant.
In the end, I was right.
By the way, it was Sunday.
It was daytime, so the roads would be clear, and we decided to follow our “ultra-cheap” policy and take the bus to London.
I was surprised to find that the National Express to Liverpool Street was quite expensive, at £17 per person.
On the way back, we took the train, which was £25 per person.
Faced by the grumpy attendant at the ticket counter, I was touched (?) to think, “Ah, I’m back in the UK!”
After a long wait, we finally got on the bus, but there was a huge traffic jam along the way.
It was an unexpected bonus, though, that we passed by my old house.
In the end, it took four hours from the time the plane landed until we reached Liverpool Street.
Even though the weather was lovely, all we did that day was run some errands.
I miss the days when we used to commute between London Heathrow and Milan Linate.
By the way, on the way back at Bergamo airport, I had to wait in a queue with Abdullahs (dark-skinned people) at immigration, which also took an extremely long time.
At regular airports, if I were with my Italian husband, I would have no trouble entering the country.
I was furious and vowed never to use low-cost airlines again, but it seems I’ll just have to get used to it.
That’s because while there are very few direct flights from Milan on regular airlines, low-cost airlines offer a wide variety of destinations.
This is one of the completely unexpected downsides of moving to northern Italy.
