Italy Trip Part 1: Milan

I’m back in Boston! I had a wonderful vacation in Italy with my parents. It was everything I thought it would be, and more. The sights were amazing and of course the food was great. I loved spending time with my mom and dad, and I’m looking forward to future family vacations – with my two sisters next time!

Our first stop in Italy was Milan. When we arrived, there was a Wednesday-only mercato (market):

DSC02133local market in front of the Milano Centrale

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I immediately made a bee-line for the pastries

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and the candy stall (what? I just came from a 10 hour plane ride, I needed sugar)


Then we checked in our hotel and set out to explore the rest of the city. I had big expectations for Milan:

1. I know that it is the fashion capital of the world, so I was expecting everyone to be very well dressed and for the whole city to be chic.

2. I was also expecting to do a lot of shopping.

3. I was very excited to see the Last Supper painting by Michelangelo.

Well, Milan was… sort of a surprise:

1. It wasn’t chic, at least not all of it. Milan is actually an industrial city, so some parts were a little gritty. And instead of the runway fashion on the street, everyone was dressed kinda normally. Not badly, don’t get me wrong, but not… exquisite. But the men – oh, the men – that’s another story. They all wore fitted Italian suits (well, since they are Italian maybe I should just say “fitted suits”) and rode motorcycles all over the city. Well tailored Italian suits + motorcycles = hubba hubba.

2. I did some shopping, but it was very expensive. In fact, everything was expensive – not just the bags, shoes, and clothes, but the food and drinks too! I actually bought very few pieces (investment pieces, as I’d like to call them) and my mom bought more (hehe) but overall it wasn’t the shopping mecca I thought it would be.

3. The Last Supper was AMAZING. And it was actually not a framed portrait but painted on the wall of one church! I had no idea. It was breath-taking and definitely worth the one-month-in-advance tickets that my dad thoughtfully got.

More pictures:

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this is me in front of the Duomo (cathedral) – they actually made me cover up (put on a jacket in 80 degree weather) before I can enter the church

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Torino’s Bull. Notice its balls are missing. They say if you put your right heel in the hole and turn 3 times, it will bring you good luck! So of course we did.

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these are my parents chilling in front of our hotel. Just kidding – this is in front of the Castello Sforzeco

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Courtyard – and other tourists (there were a ton of tourists!)


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We watched the ballet at the world-famous Teatro Alla Scala (not allowed to take pics inside so we posed outside with the guards hehe)

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Ways to get around Milan: by foot, train, cars, motorcycles (sportbikes, not Harleys) or cute bicycles

And, let’s not forget – The Food. It was delicious, of course.


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During our entire stay in Italy, I ate gelatto every day (sometimes twice a day)! My favorite flavor was nocciola (hazelnut). Soooo good.

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Plate of happiness: prosciutto, salami, parma ham

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Pork Milanese and roasted veggies. Whoever said food portions in Italy were small was lying.


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The pasta dishes were really, really good. This was prepared with a simple tomato sauce. It was just the primi (first course) portion.

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I couldn’t eat in Italy without ordering carbonara!


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Baked salmon with roasted eggplant and tomatoes. This was the secondi (second course) and contorni (side dish).


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and Sicilian-style swordfish


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No carb left behind. Pizza and all kinds of bread were everywhere.

I’ll post Parts 2 and 3 soon!

   

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