Milano, Italy

Last weekend, I went for a three-day long distance trip to Milano! I headed out on Saturday morning (8:20 am departure) and came back to Switzerland on Monday night.

Unfortunately the pictures I took in Milano are (1) not a lot in quantity and (2) not in good quality. :( So don't have high expectations! This post is in fact just to leave a record of my trip before I forget what I did there. haha.

Landscape outside the train to Milano. Probably a part of the Alps..

Cellular roaming between European countries is so easy!
As soon as I cross the national border, the cellular service company automatically changes to an Italian one.
I wasn't offered data roaming, though, because I'm on a prepay plan.

The hotel I stayed in Milano was actually run by a Korean family (which later turned out to be Korean-Chinese people... wtf) but overall they were really kind and nice, and most of all it was very very cheap! It was also near the main train station (Milano Centrale); only about 10-minute walk and just one metro station away (Sondrio).

They also provided free breakfast, which was a buffet of Korean food! The food was actually really, really legit. They also offered me some treats during the day, like fruits and cookies.

Breakfast on Sunday morning.
Freshly steamed rice, a bunch of Korean side dishes, and a bowl of spicy meat soup :)

On the first day in Milano (Saturday) I didn't do much; first, I took a long nap as soon as I arrived. I was already tired from a week of work and the three-hour train ride across the national border. I woke up around 5:00pm when the day was about to get dark; I hurried outside before it was going to get too dark to hang around.

I took the metro to Duomo, where the famous Duomo cathedral of Milano was located. It was only about five stations away from the place I was staying. The pics I took at the cathedral are so bad in quality, in part because I was trying to be careful about "not to show off" my camera to pickpockets, which are all over the place at Duomo. Nevertheless, the cathedral in the evening was tremendously beautiful, and even daunting, because it was so huge.

Sondrio station- the metro system in Italy was a lot similar to the Korean one, both in its convenience and the atmosphere.

Piazza del Duomo.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Rainy Saturday night..

The "informazione" in Duomo.  I know it doesn't really make sense, but I took this picture because I thought the way people were intrigued/drawn by the light was so interesting..

A man lighting the candles.

Inside the Galleria. There were so many people...

The main store of Prada, right in the middle of the Galleria.

Then I passed the Duomo and headed to Via Montenapoleone, where all the luxury boutiques were clustered up. On the street, there were even hotels and resturants made by famous luxury brands, such as Armani. On the way there, I also saw Teatro alla Scala, the most prestigious opera theater. After having seen most of the famous places in just one evening, I realized how small and convenient it is to walk around Milano, a star-shaped city designed by Leonardo da Vinci (that's what I heard...). Also I could realize that Milano is the fashion capital of Italy, with all the luxury brands competing to open stores to attract the richest Italians, as well as tourists.

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The next morning after breakfast, I headed again to Duomo with a friend I met at the hotel. She was exactly my age and was traveling around Europe by herself for 63 days! After talking a little bit I found out that we were also from the same neighborhood. What a shocking coincidence!

Anyway, we went to Palazzo Reale, which was located right on the side to the cathedral. There was a Picasso exhibition going on there, starting from this September to next January. The Picasso museum in Paris was undergoing a big renovation right now and for that period of time, these 200+ masterpieces were visiting all the major cities in Europe. And right now, they were in Italy! I was very lucky to be able to see them.

To be honest, I didn't expect a lot from the exhibition (I had only found about it the night before) but it was one of the most successful museum visits I made in Milano. I even saw the famous "Massacre in Korea (1953)", "Dora Maar Seated (1937)", and "The Reader (1932)".

After the exhibition, the friend I went to the famous gelato store, Cioccolati Italiani. It was my first time having gelato in Italy (though I tried it before elsewhere) so I was really excited! Three flavors in a cone was worth 4 euros. (SO CHEAP!) They also poured some melted chocolate in the bottom of the cone, and I could even choose between dark, milk, and white melted chocolate. mmmmm. My choices of flavor were pistachio, chocolate with black cherry, and plain milk flavor plus nutella. The pistachio flavor was ammmmmmazing.

The store, located on the street right behind Duomo.

Heavenly!

They even sell melted chocolate to drink on its own! Is this real life...?

After the amazing gelato, the friend and I went on with our own ways- she was supposed to go to Firenze in the afternoon so she headed back to the hotel to pick up her bags. I just walked around the city, hoping to encounter somewhere famous by mistake, like I did the day before. But unfortunately, the walk that took about one hour and a half led me nowhere and I was lost in the middle of apartments, which was obviously far away from the city center. I came across a map at a bus station and, after some studying with the map, started walking towards Sforzesco castle. 

The weather was still really cloudy and even a bit rainy, there were a lot of people at the castle. The main reason to visit this place was, of course, to see Michelangelo's last and unfinished sculpture Rondanini Pieta!

The castle's front. Why is it under construction whyyyyy

I think I read from somewhere that this sculpture is one evidence that Austrians once took over the citadel.

Courtyard in the castle.

Inside the castle's ancient museum....

... is the Rondanini Pieta!

After the tour in the castle, I went to have a late lunch/early dinner. I randomly walked into a restaurant that said "Mediterranean pizza" on the outside and ordered a cappuccino and one Margarita pizza. The pizza was only about 8-9 euros so I thought it would be for one person, but it was actually very huge in size. It seemed almost 30 centimeters in diameter and I became speechless. Though I was really hungry, I ended up not eating the pizza crust parts. I couldn't eat anymore!

Italian pizza. Yay!

Then I went to Pinacoteca di Brera, but I didn't go inside it because it was already getting dark and I was too tired to be standing on my feet anymore. (Being lost in the outer skirts of the city for an hour and a half was critical, I guess..) I also wanted to look around Naviglio Grande and relax there, but I just decided to come back to hotel and rest on my bed. :)

The sculpture of Napoleon, who contributed to creating this museum.

Store inside the museum.

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My plan for the next day (Monday) wasn't big: just enjoy the city itself, revisit the gelato shop, and chill. Although most museums in Milano were closed on Mondays, I found a single one that is open, which was Museo del Poldi Pezzoli.

This museum was also my favorite from Milano, along with Palazzo Reale. The people at the information were really gentle and helpful, and there weren't many people inside the museum. The building, located right in the middle of Via Montenapoleone, gave off a very sophisticated and welcoming feeling. The audio guide was also included in the museum ticket, whereas in many other places you have to pay extra money for it. The collection was mostly from the Renaissance period in Lombardy, with a few from other era. I saw many works like Bellini's Pieta as well as many antique pieces from Poldi Pezzoli's own household few centuries ago.

Fountain at the entrance..

Special exhibition for Bellini's Pieta, which was recently restored.
The exhibition was about the discoveries specialists made about Bellini's painting methods & artistic styles of the era while restoring the piece.

When I came out it was around lunchtime, so I went to Luini, a famous "Italian fast food" shop! They sold pocket fried pizza called "panzerotti", with toppings inside. The original panzerotti had tomato and mozzarella cheese inside the fried dough and was worth only 2.5 euros. Why, why are food in Italy so cheap? I have been deceived all along in Switzerland!

Luini was actually right next to the gelato shop I went to the day before, so I went to get another gelato too. I wanted to have the pistachio flavor again, but they didn't have it that day. :( Two flavors instead of three was 3.5 euros!

My personal formula for perfect trip to Milano:
Luini's panzerotti + Cioccolati Italiani's gelato + shopping spree :D

Blood orange sherbet beneath, rich milk with nutella on the top.

After lunch I went to shopping because my handbag zipper was broken and it wouldn't close completely. After finding a satisfying bag I returned to the hotel and rested. My train back to Lausanne was late in the evening and I had about three to four hours to rest. 

Somebody might think I had too much "rest" and didn't do much sightseeing. But my primary purpose for weekend trips was simply to make an escape from everyday routine and do some chillaxing, so I don't really regret taking a lot of rests while I was in Italy.

Teatro alla Scala.

Piazza San Fedele, with Alessandro Manzoni's statue.

Haha found suicide rabbit in Italy too!

At Milano Centrale, waiting for the returning train.

The trip to Milano was great, but my overall condition wasn't good enough to enjoy the city in full. Also if I had planned the trip earlier, I could have at least seen an opera or seen The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which is only open to people who reserved from few months ago. But on the brighter side, I think I succeeded in finding a great hotel in Milano (if I happen to come here again, I will definitely sleep in that hotel again!), met a friend from my hometown by wonderful coincidence, and enjoyed good exhibitions and collections at the museums. 

When I got back to Lausanne it was already past 11:00pm. I was glad that the metro was still running until then.. I wonder what I would have done if it wasn't. Whew!

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The trip has definitely left some lingering imageries in me, and I wish I could visit Italy on its own later when I have chance. While Switzerland is mostly about sceneries, every corner and street in Milano had its own histories. It might be my personal opinion, but I thought Italians are more friendly/helpful and are better in speaking English compared to Swiss people. Also shopping/eating costs less!

This weekend I won't be going anywhere too far because I realized a trip that involves crossing  national borders requires a lot of planning and can be very physically demanding.. haha. But the three days in Italy really made me ponder about the special characteristics of Switzerland; although it isn't a large country, it shares boundaries with several European countries and has four official languages. I might be making some understatements, but I wonder how Switzerland became a country it is now, and how it can have such kind of influence in Europe even though its culture is merely a mélange of French, German, and Italian ones. How had it been possible to hold itself together among the most influential countries surrounding it? I really am curious to know! :)