Visiting a city for two days, and expecting to experience everything it has to offer is like speed dating to meet your soulmate. That said, I spent 48 hours in Milano, and it was pretty great.
Interesting Tidbits about Milano:
- Wealthiest city in Italy
- One of the four fashion capitals of the world
- Founded 600 BC: Settlement of the Celtic Insubres
- Layout of city center is based on an old system of canals (Navigli)
Frist Day:
Checking into a new hostel for the first time in years gave me a rush of happy travel-hormones. The Madama Hostel & Bistrot is filled to the brim with street art — an enjoyable, hip place filled with locals, and sweet employees. I made a friend within minutes of lifting my backpack up onto the bed, and taking my shoes off: A nice, straight Dutch boi. He was in the city for a couple of days as well, before flying to Romania, and we connected over Linguistics and his broken phone. Together we went into the city to walk around, avoiding most of the rain, but only most.
After a first glance at the Duomo (pretty Gothic), we continued on to the Castello and the park beyond it, as well as the Arco della Pace. Around this time we realized we had never introduced us by name, a common occurrence while traveling I find; you talk to people about where you’re from, where you’re going, the hostel, beautiful spots, embarrassing stories, and good food. Who cares about names anyways? (It’s not like I’m dyslexic and propably will forget it before it ever registers).
I had my first Italian coffee of this trip in a quaint cake shop called Sucré Salé. The barista was the cutest (and maybe queer?), and the drinks were of course amazing. Anyways, so China Town was pretty cool, and I wish I had returned on the next days because it is one of my favorite spots in the city. The pedestrian zone is a nice stroll between asian stores, bubble tea, and restaurants that left me salivating. I enjoy crossovers, don’t judge.
The Cimitero Monumentale around the corner was closed for the evening — here I will return, duh — and we were both a bit peckish, thus we walked up north into the nothingness of non-touristic Milano, and found a pizza place. 5,50€ for a Pizza Margherita is a cool prize, coupled with a wine (Chianti), and a park bench across from an abandoned building in the middle of the park, it was a great dinner. We talked more Linguistics, and watched the dogs that came running for pizza crust, which they didn’t get because I love pizza crust. On the way back into the city, I paid an insane amount (3€ for two scoops) for gelato, and it was a bit of a let down. I didn’t care because I was tipsy. Around the Corso Como the rain caught up to us, and from one moment to the next it started pouring. The trip to the metro was long and soaked my socks, ugh.
By the time we reached the hostel, I had sobered up, and we had missed karaoke night — what a shame. We met some of the other people staying in our room though, a Canadian boi studying in Cambridge, and a German girl. Latter and I agreed on how horrible it is to meet fellow Germans abroad, it’s a thing, no German likes to meet Germans abroad. We kinda became friends over that shared dislike, fancy that. I regaled them with horror stories of how I was scammed in India, and we had a good laugh.
Second Day:
On Sunday, I woke up early after sleeping like shit. Inviting the German girl to breakfast at the hostel before she had to check out, I managed to procure not only a free Latte Macchiato but also a free croissant. I was ready to pay, but the lady at the bistrot bar waved me away with a smile: What a wonderful start to the day. My new friend and I moved on to a lunch aperitivo at the Piazza del Duomo, discussing creative writing, books, and dungeons and dragons. Fun fact: Aperol Spritz is from the region, and around five to six pm you see it on every table at every bar. Instead of a Spritz, which is bitter which I despise, I had a freshly pressed orange juice, and it was heaven.
Alone, after bidding my new friend goodbye, I continued my sightseeing adventures by foot as I was dead set on walking as much as possible to wear in my new barefoot shoes before the Camino. I stumbled upon the Giardino della Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte by accident, a happy one, it’s pretty, and reminded me of London.
The Giardini Indro Montanelli were nice. Lots of big, old trees, and calm. Enjoyable after the busy streets of central Milano. I didn’t stick around for long, only strolling through on my way to the Central Station or Milano Centrale FS, an imposing art-deco (and other) building, and comparable to what I imagine the Grand Central in New York feels like, all high ceilings and echoing footsteps. Continuing my walk to the skyscrapers and highrises — not a common sight in Europe — I admired the Bosco Verticale di Stefano Boeri, wondering who had enough money to live in a building like this, the utilities have to be insane. It does look pretty cool, all trees and bushes, and black walls. Crossing the Corso Como I forgot to check out the store 10 I had been recommended, again. It’s a nice, swanky part of the city (I love the word swanky, it’s so weirdly adorable).
My absolute favorite sightseeing spot in Milano is the Cimitero Monumentale, a cemetery filled with art, where the tourists disperse until you feel like you’re alone. I spent a long time admiring statues, and resting my hurting feet while sitting on low walls in the shade of trees swaying in the breeze. After some searching, I found The Last Supper, the family tomb of Campari.
On my path back to the Duomo, I crossed through the Brera quartiero, and found myself back in the fashion metropolis. I constantly feel, and am, underdressed. It was around six pm, and my phone was dying, which is why I skipped out on revisiting China Town. Back at the hostel, I ate dinner, and worked on this here blog which you are seeing: It didn’t exists until that very evening.
Last Half Day:
Monday was a tired day on which I struggled to take sufficient care of myself. I ate tomatoes for breakfast that someone left in the hostel kitchen, and checked out around 10:30. While walking to the Navigli, the leftover canals, Little Venice, I bought some cookies. For an hour or so, I lounged in the sun along the water front, realizing how weird it is that Milano doesn’t have a river running through, and how much I love water: Rivers, lakes, sea or ocean. They change a city, broaden it, offer a place to rest the eye, and relax. In a small alleyway along one of the canals, I found the Cortile degli Artisti, a collection of art studios and the Foto di Milano, where you can look at (and buy) prints of photos from over a hundred years ago.
At the central station, I bought a ticket to Bergamo, and had to wait about half an hour until the train platform was announced (I think they announce it only once the train arrives at the station?). Happy to sit down, I almost fell asleep on the hour long ride, knowing I would do more walking once I arrived in Bergamo.
This concludes my more or less exactly 48 hours in Milano. I would have loved to stay longer and get to know the places beyond the famous sightseeing spots, the real Milano. But after half my life of driving past the city to go other places, I am grateful to have stepped foot on its cobblestone streets. It was a good two days in which I made friends, ate a lot of pizza, and got a whiff of the backpacking lifestyle I have missed in recent years.
Thank you for reading!
Love, Mila
So cool und alte Erinnerungen werden wach 🙂 Wie oft bin ich als Studentin im Frühling nach Italien gefahren. Florenz, Venedig, Rom – besonders Florenz ohne Touristenströme und Preise…. 1 Cappuccino kostete 0.75 Pfenning. Aus der Juke Box kam: Its a heart ache, nothing but a heart ache – meine Freundin Julie und ich standen an der Bar, genossen den Cappiccino und unseren Liebeskummer 😀
Aww, freut mich, dass da bei dir gleich die Reiseerinnerungen hochgekommen sind 🙂
Ja, auch deine Fotos sind so super. Freue mich darauf bald mehr von dir zu lesen. 🌞