Fulfilling a promise

On July 21st, 2023, after a wonderful time in Vienna visiting family and friends, the plane started to descend into Milano. I was very excited to reunite with a wonderful friend from Boston, who had moved back home a few years ago and whom I had promised to visit. Right before the wheels touched ground, the plane accelerated and went up sharply. The lady sitting next to me turned to look at me, with notable fear on hear face. I tried to calm her and said as calmly as I could: "wir werden es noch einmal versuchen" (we will try again), and pointed out the stormy skies we had just descended from to convey the bad weather and likely cross winds the pilot was facing. In fact, that day Milano had been hit with a tornado, and there was still some residual bad weather by the time I landed. After disembarking, I took the train and headed to Milano Centrale train station, where I'd meet my party. Once at the train station, I ventured into the food court and treated myself to a superb combo of pizza and birra Moretti.

"Ciao, Dani!" were the words I heard from my friend, delivered in her usual cadence. It was so nice to see her again that I immediately jump off my chair to give her a big hug. Next, we made our way back to the train station to pick up my wife. After taking a moment to appreciate that the three of us were finally in the same city, we headed to her place to drop off our luggage. One of the best things about having a local friend when visiting a new place is that you get to experience the city like a true local and I was ready for it!

Walking around Milano

We headed towards our first landmark, "Castello Sforzesco" a historic castle built in the 15th century. Once serving as home to Milano's ruling families, nowadays serves as a place for the arts. The second landmark was the "Duomo di Milano", hard to miss. Stating that I was very impressed by the intricate patterns and architecture of the Duomo falls short to describe this amazing cathedral.

Adjacent is the iconic "Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II", known for its beautiful architecture and luxury stores:

We window shopped around the high-end stores and decided to skip the good luck ritual of spinning on the bull's testicles. Instead, we decided to visit Panzerotti Luini", a must when in the area.

"I could live here"

As we continued wandering around the city, we reached "Piazza Gae Aulenti"; "Wow," I exclaimed, "I could totally see myself living there (I wish)," pointing at the "Bosco Verticale" building. I took pictures of the building from every angle I could and as we continued walking around, my daydreaming put me in the mood for a drink. Fortunately, we stumble upon "10 Corso Como Café", which I was drawn to because it reminded me of the Bosco .

Exploring the canals

Yes, I was surprised to learn that there are canals and gondolas - how cool is that! However, I chose to walk along the canal to explore the area and stores of Naviglio Grande.

We started walking and two places immediately caught my attention: Libraccio Milano with its tempting "oggi tutto a 2 euro" (today, everything at 2 euros) sign and Il Discomane with its amazing CD and vinyl collection. The area was vibrant, drawing curious tourists like me. We made sure to get and "aperitivo" at Mag Cafe, where we were able to enjoy the view of the canal on that warm Saturday afternoon. We finalized the visit to this area by stopping at "Foto di Milano", a studio filled with black an white pictures showcasing Milano throughout the years.

Mi ricordo di te, Lago Maggiore

I was happy to coincide with a cousin that was living in Valenza at the time, and we agreed to meet at "Lago Maggiore", a place that was in my to-visit list.

We enjoyed lunch at "Isola dei Pescatori", and the views were amazing. After finishing our lunch and taken in the views, we headed to "Isola Bella", and stroll around, it is really breathtaking.

First hiccup of the trip

It was time to say bye to my family and friend. I was to pick up a rental car at the Malpensa airport and drive to either Modena or Bologna, - I was going to wing it and decide on the way. When I arrived at the airport, I was informed that, by mistake, I had rented an electric car. I explained to the person at the counter that I was heading all the way down to Puglia and having an electric car there would be... inconvenient. She agreed, but told me that due to the current storm, many people were unable to return their rental gas-cars. "Fine, I'll head to Linate airport and see if I can rent one there". However, due to the storm, the trains were down and had to stick around the airport for 2 hours. When the service finally resume, I headed to Linate, which is east of Milano and an hour and a half away from Malpensa by train. While on the train, I booked a gas car. When I finally got there, I was informed that they only accepted European driver licenses or international driver licenses. Needless to say I had none of these. I realize it was pointless to argue at that point. After a phone call with my cousin, I headed to Valenza to spend the night there; no Bologna or Modena for me.. When I arrive to Valenza and was able to gather my thoughts, I was able to find a car... in Genova, so Genova was my next stop.

In this link are all the places I visited during my time in Milano and some that I'll visit next time 🍹

Make sure to check all the pictures and videos on my instagram 📸🎥

Road-tripping Italia III