A day & night in Milan

As the temperature starts to dip in the southern hemisphere and flu creeps in with winter, a flashback to one summer day and night in the city of Milan is in order.  Perhaps Europe is calling.

My friends and I flew with KLM from Amsterdam.  They were spending a couple of days there while I was there for a night and a short day before heading out to Rome. Travelling, even alone, is a must but travelling with friends is much better and there is more fun to be had.

We took the train from the airport to our hotel, which was walking distance from the train station.

We checked in and headed out as soon as we could. When there is limited time to explore a new place, especially a city like Milan, the hotel is merely for sleeping.

Note to self: one day and an evening is too short so another trip is a must, and stay for longer.

There wasn’t much between the hotel and the restaurant where we were going to have dinner but there remained no reason to be disappointed.

We were celebrating a friend’s husband’s birthday and that was why I, who were travelling on a tight budget, would have dinner at a restaurant such as il Coriandolo. It was great though, so not a waste of money.

I was flying to Rome late in the afternoon  the next day so there was a day to tour the city. As with many tourists, Piazza del Duomo was our first stop. Being a Catholic, anyone would think I’d know how to dress appropriately for a Catholic Cathedral. You’d be aghast! While my non-Catholic friends went inside the Milan Cathedral, I had to be contented with Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and I didn’t even have the budget to shop there. It was lovely nonetheless. If only I weren’t so distracted by the feeling of stupidity for missing out on the Milan Cathedral. C’est la vie! This is my other reason for the desire to go back to Milan.

This is what I saw of the Cathedral. The least I could do was pose with my friends in front of this beautiful church.

I was told that Milanos are handsome men so I had to find one just to look at for a few seconds while I bought a cold drink from the little corner Bar Duomo Caffe. Mission accomplished. I had to take the picture below to remember the experience. I had time anyway as the bus was still waiting for more passengers.

Then, the only other place I had time to see in my short visit was the Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco).

Milan is not like my favorite Barcelona but I would still like to visit the city again, if only to see its fashion properly and to go inside the Milan Cathedral.