When in Milan

ITALIA

At an ungodly hour on Saturday morning, 3:42 am....shudder.... I awoke, shuffled to the kitchen to drink tea, dressed, then proceeded down the hill to the bus station. Thus began the glamorous morning of travel to Milan.

I was vair tired but my excitement about gelato and the Duomo kept me strong, so did the sandwiches Amalia packed.

The flight was short and sweet and I was able to see incredible mountain ranges and green fields right as we landed at a partly cloudy Malpensa airport.

Getting to our hostel was a bit tricky but we are clever girls and we made it to Bed and Bed Milan after only a few run ins with bothersome peddlers and confusing bus tickets. I noticed right away that our hostel was next to a gelato/pastry cafe, obviously the gods were with us on this trip. We quickly unpacked and went straight off to shopping.

It was incredibly busy in central Milan and the stores were packed, Karen and I found shoe nirvana in this area. I left with a gorgeous pair of leather gladiator sandals and a hungry stomach, lunch was to be had.

Fratty yet tasty

We went to a pizzeria and I ordered beer and an enormous margherita pizza. I was very content despite feeling a little fratastic with my food and drink choices. We wandered all over the district and then finally gave into our need for a nap. Laura and I woke up at 11. Karen laughed at us when we began panicking about missing dinner, 11 pm is the normal supper time. Crazy Italians.

After, wine, more pizza and mounds of gelato at our neighborhood diabetes dispenser, we drifted off into our food comas.

Mochachocalatayaya

Sunday: By far the most epic of days, mainly because we were idiot tourists and also extremely lucky. We had quick breakfast of chocolate croissants and caffeine (the coffee from the hostel was bomb dot com). As we exited the hostel we were suddenly in the middle of a colossal street fair. Hundreds of vendors had completely converted the street into a Sunday market. We left after buying pretty rings and yet another pair of shoes for me, they were only 10 euro!

We got on the metro to the Duomo and when we climbed up into the plaza we were quite literally enveloped into a parade. I still have no idea what the hoopla was about, but it was AWESOME. Veterans and soldiers from provinces from all over Italy were marching down the street to horns and trumpets, singing about Mussolini!

Kicking some brass

They wore these gorgeous black, feather hats and had some pretty sweet boots. I was loving life. I mean what are the odds we pick the best possible weekend for complete and utter cultural immersion? We spent hours watching the parade and exploring the Galleria and surrounding buildings.

Surprise! Parade!

It was simply gorgeous outdoors and everyone was in a great mood. after the parade of awesome ended we traveled down the main street to the Palace Sforzesco. Instead of real guards or a moat, the whole palace is surrounded by guys trying to sell knock-off Prada and Louis Vuitton, Oh Milan, you loony city you. The castle was free to stroll in and we found delicious Mozerella, ham and tomato Panini at a little vendor. We decided that the park behind the castle would be a marvelous place to nom down. Once again we were hit with incredible luck.

I am not kidding, it is so true, we stumbled upon the Milan Male Model hangout. They were EVERYWHERE. Obviously all that runway work is tiring and they just wanted to play football on a nice sunny day. We were not complaining. It was surreal to say the least. So we ate our Panini and enjoyed the sun and erm...sights.

Around 5 we freshened up and went out to the river side of town for appertivo, happy hour with extreme appetizers. The deal is: you get a drink, you get a plate and then you can go crazy at these little buffets covered in all sorts of food.

Nunc Bibemus

Red wine was our drink of choice and we found our home at a bar called Stazione. The bar tender was quite possibly the greatest person I have met on my European adventures. The man was insane he would bat the lamps and start singing out loud at completely random moments. He took a liking to us and whenever he put on a song he would make faces and yell at us in Italian to make sure we appreciated his divine taste in music (he was actually a pretty good dj).

where did the nutella come from!?

Such a fantastic night, it solidified my impression of the people in Milan, friendly, energetic and a touch mental.

Monday: we checked out of the hostel then went to the Duomo for the infamous and popular climb to the top. I was obsessed with this cathedral. It is composed of pink and white marble that just glows in the sun. It really looks divine. We explored the top and I couldn't get over just how complex yet delicate the carvings were. Back in the day, if this couldn't convince people to love Jesus, then I don't know what could.

chillin on the Duomo

We window-shopped in areas that sold shoes that cost more than one of my kidneys would get me on the black market. Before we caught the metro to the airport we all had one last farewell gelato.

A fantastic trip and another country I am just dying to explore, damn this travel bug, damn gelato!

Ciao!