My roommate Jenn, a ZTA from UNC, and I decided a while back in the semester that we both really wanted to go to Italy but had too many places we wanted to go to just spend a weekend there. Therefore after much planning and advice from our parents, we crammed everything we could in Italy into a short 10 day period and ended up with the trip of a lifetime!
We began our Spring Break by flying into Milan and packing everything the city had to offer into 24 hours. We began on a beautiful Saturday morning at the heart of the city: the Duomo. The Duomo is Milan's central Cathedral in a beautiful yet crowded Piazza (plaza). The plaza was covered with little cafes, street vendors (who felt it was ok to actually touch us when selling things), pigeons, and lots and lots of people. Off to the side of the Piazza was a covered shopping area that held everyone name brand I wish I could afford ranging from Louis Vuitton to Prada and every jewelry brand in between.
After walking through the tunnel we came to a little piazza with a statue of Leonardo Da Vinci surrounded by governmental buildings and the oldest opera house in Italy, Teatro Alla Scala.
We walked around a bit then decided to go in the Duomo and look around. The views of the inside of the Cathedral did not come close to the views we had of the city from the top! Sitting on top of the Duomo (actually on the roof) on a picture perfect day we could see for miles! This was definitely my favorite part of Milan considering it was the first time Jenn and I had even come close to laying out in the sun since we arrived in Madrid and we just happened to be doing it with breathtaking views.
After we had finally soaked up as much sun as possible our stomachs interrupted with demands and we decided to have lunch at a little cafe directly next to the Duomo. Having lunch at an outdoor cafe always makes me feel the most European and sitting in the Piazza definitely provided all my people watching for the next year.
After lunch we walked to the Castle of Milan, Castello Sforzesco. It is so interesting to me that you can be walking through the most commercial streets lined with restaurants and shops and then look up and see a castle older than the United States directly in front of you. Being in Europe definitely gives you a new concept of history! The Castle was home to the royal family of Milan beginning in the 14th century and now is home to ancient art and civic museums. Although most of the exhibits were closed(or cost money), being outside in the castle courtyards was cool enough. It was not a truly grand castle but it had many fountains and beautiful open areas that made the inside much more to look at.
Directly behind the castle Jenn and I found a pretty park that we strolled through for a little while and then rested our feet for a while on the benches. In Madrid the park is such a tourist destination that it is nice to find a park where you can truly relax without the rest of the city beside you.
After we finally gathered enough energy to start walking again we decided to walk by the museum that houses Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper to try our luck at getting a glimpse of his famous work. Unfortunately our smiling faces did not help the fact that all spaces were filled and there were no available appointments until April. We managed to take a picture outside of the museum and that was the best we could do! We walked from the museum to the nearest metro stop (yes I am getting the hang of every city's transportation system finally) to head back to our hotel to get ready to try Italy's traditional "aperitivo".
We got ready and took the metro to Via Napoleone to check out the major shopping street in Milan. I am a major shopper and I don't think I have ever been in a place where I could not afford even the keychain on the mannequin's purse. Jenn and I passed stores from Georgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Cartier, Rolex, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton...anything expensive, you name it and it was there to torture us. Milan is definitely Italy's cosmopolitan fashion capital and it was very evident to us in the first hour after arriving. After working up an appetite from window shopping we headed to an area our hotel receptionist had recommended for good Italian aperitivo. I had heard about the concept of aperitivo but had no idea what to actually expect. Aperitivo is the Italian version of Spanish tapas that when you order a drink you also get appetizer type food for free. We ended up at a chill jazz bar and were the only Americans out of about 6 people. We ordered our 1 drink and waited to watch how everyone around us treated the buffet of food that served as the apperitivo. We didn't want to live up to the American stereotype of the fatties but we were trying to save money and wanted to make this our dinner! Unfortunately no one was eating so we let our stomachs win and headed to the buffet. They were serving everything from pasta salad to chicken and fish. We lived up to our stereotype completely and ended up going to the buffet a total of 3 times...whoops!
Milan was definitely a little different than I expected. Although it is the fashion capital (right up my ally) it is more industrial and lacks the Italian character I came to love so much about Italian cities. Next stop on TrenItalia: Florence!
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