Day 1 in Milan - Early Birds Gets to Shopping

 We got up super early to catch that early train to Milan. 

Yes there is! When waking up in Rome! 🇮🇹 Well it is Ciao to Roma and Ciao to Milano!! (Very efficient with hello and goodbye being the same word - thanks Venetians!)

We made it the station on time! We has enough time to grab some snacks for breakfast - more croissants, but this time everyone was having orange juice - well Brienna still got her Starbucks.

We waited on the board to post our platform and in we went.



It is a scenic 3 hour trip and we got more snacks and I got an espresso!



We arrived on time. Strike must be over. 





Notice anything strange in that last pic (and many others)? With two of the three people? Anyone? Here is a hint.


If only there was an invention they could use to dim the bright sun from their eyes, maybe an invention I know at least one of them literally has in their bag (because he took a pair from my house before we left). Nope, not sure of these strange things….would rather squint for two weeks. 😎


Milan’s Centrale rail station is pretty awesome to see. One of the nicest! 

We took a ride over to near the Duomo in Milan which as near where I rented our place. I popped into the Farmacia to get Matthew some cold meds to help with his runny nose and tiny cough - nothing serious but will keep a watch on it.  There are many of these pharmacies around and they all have an illuminated green cross making them easy to find.

We could not check in until 2 so we went for lunch near the Duomo. Of course they both wanted to shop. 




We walked past the Duomo on our way to eat. More pictures of that tomorrow of course because we will go inside!

We ate at Pizzeria de Gennaro which is the oldest fire oven pizza place in Milan. It did not disappoint.


Nobody wanted appetizers so we just had the bread until main courses. I had an artichoke, spicy salami, mushroom, and tomato pizza, Brienna had you guessed it salmon, Matthew had seafood pasta.


Mangiare! 



Next we went to the place we were staying - Duomo Inn. There again were two outside doors to go through and this Alice in Wonderland staircase to descend before reaching the third and final locked door to the room.



I must walk up these tiny stairs to get to these two beds. 



The two bedrooms are actually a loft. Brienna wanted her own room so I carried the mattress down and put it in the kitchen which had a door. 🙄

Next Brienna and I ventured out to go shopping…..uh I mean to go sight seeing. 



Next stop Pincacoleca Di Breea which is an art gallery. 




And more shopping. 

Next stop the Sforza Castle. The “Castello Sforzesxo” is a medieval fortification built in the 15th century by the Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza on the remnants of an older fortification. It is one of the largest Cotadels in Europe. 





Of course we had to go up in the tower.




Next we go to visit Parco Sempione Piazza Sempione. On the way we crossed a little bridge. And oh yeah when we left the castle we saw this cat. 😺




This park was very nice and green and kept. The idea was to create an axis with a straight line to Paris through a large tree line and straight avenue Strada del Sempione. That arch has two toll booths on each side for the collection of duty and to delimit urban from countryside. It was started in 1807 and went through many changes. 

Next stop Santa Maria delle Grazie church. Built around 1492, it is a gothic church with a rich history. 


Unfortunately we could not go in because Brienna was wearing shorts. 😔 They do sell these coverings inside but they only took Euros not card and I only had card. I was able to get one pic.

Next stop - Teatro La Scala - one of the most famous opera houses in Europe. It was under renovation so the front looks unimpressive. 


A little tip, if you want to see the opera last minute and it is sold out try standing room only tickets sold on the side for only 10 Euro. It is a madhouse to get them but worth it. 

And finally to finish our tour - the mother of all shopping centers - Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II.




After shopping we ate at the moat famous Panzerotti place in Milan going back to 1888 called Luini. The lines can stretch all the way to the Duomo.

This is a take away place so took ours to the steps of the Duomo to eat.



For dessert of course we got more gelato - this time from Grom.


That was it for the day. I had also gotten Matthew some food from Luini and also some chocolate cannoli so we brought that back for him. Take two cannoli and call me in the morning. He was feeling fine. 

Tomorrow - tour of the Duomo and flight to England. 














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 2 in Milan - THE Duomo and Ciao Italy

Image
Today is Duomo day - our only thing to do before we go to the airport. Of course, there are MANY more things in Milan to do but we only have time for this one last thing. And thank goodness, the kids are starting to look like: Had a wonderful wonderfully snacky breakfast at Sapore which in the square of the Duomo.  I had ice cream espresso, Brienna a decaf, Matthew fresh orange juice - we all had cinnamon rolls which were fantastic.  The Milan Cathedral or Duomo was started some say in 1386 at the height of the gothic style. A long string of architects and engineers have worked on this project over the centuries - even Leonardo DaVinci had his hands in the design of the tower. After we were done eating we had to go out to queue up for entry. First we went with Matthew to the side that only goes in the church. He wasn’t climbing up to the roof.  He got past the bag check and went in. Brienna and I headed for the rooftop queue.  That’s right we are going up there! We g...
Read more

Day 1 in Florence - Late Start Good Food

Image
 As we sat on the train our dear stop Pisa Centrale looked on sadly that we did not stop and visit.  As we rolled on I got this text. Finally we made it to Florence! All of us (well maybe not Matthew) were happy to be off the trains and walking again. Notice how he has no thumbs up 🤔 We took the longest car ride to the hotel - seriously the hotel was two blocks away but my gps had not synched up until after I ordered it up. Doh! The hotel has three sets of doors no kidding; outside for building, inside for hotel, room.  The room is very nice and also has a balcony.  Matthew and Brienna wanted to know why there were two toilets. 🙄😂 Finally a hotel with a bidet!  We walked down and strolled around old town. And we came across the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Absolutely gorgeous.That is the third largest church in the world! The first stone was laid in 1296 and it was consecrated in 1436. Unfortunately we were too late to go in. It was still a sight to se...
Read more

Day 2 in Paris - Dogs are barking!

Image
 Day 2 is in the books. We are back at the hotel after another late night tasty snack at Le Paradis du Fruit….I know I know - the same place two nights in a row?! Brienna wanted it and Matthew hadn’t tried it soooooo. Plus it was a different location (escaped the don’t eat at the same place twice rule on a technicality).  Brienna had avacado toast with smoked salmon and Matthew had a salmon burger with pootato wedges. Me? Fruit pancakes with chocolate nutella with a watermellon lime drink.  The end…bonne nuit! Wait, what did we do all day? OK here we go! We woke up early for a fantastic breakfast at the hotel.  We had to get out early because we needed to make it to Versailles by 9:40 for a tour. It takes around 30 minutes or so by car plus I wasn’t sure where we were meeting out guide exactly. We needed to get there by 9ish. We were doing great on time and the weather was a cool 58 (sorry Texas)! I ordered up our ride and we were on the way. Or so we thought until t...
Read more