Milan is considered the world over to be the heart of fashion and design, so off I went, in a hired car full of Swedes, in search off some kick ass shopping!
The central area of Milan is very large circular shape, with several main roads out into the greater Milan area. Our hostel was situated on one of these main roads, on the eastern side of the city. It took a while to find, as Hotel America, our hotels, is just the 4th floor of a building, above a huge club and behind a lot of scaffolding! We found free parking relatively close though which was a bonus! Armed with some great tips and suggestions from the hotel manager, we began the 25min walk to the city centre.
It didn’t strike me as particularly Italian as we were walking down the street – all felt a bit grey and urban, which is not what I was expecting. I decided I had to cast away my stereotypes of Italy – so far my experience of Italy was limited to Ventimiglia, Caesar’s Palace/The Venetian hotels in Vegas and pictures in my guide book of Rome. None of which looked anything like Milan!!
We knew we’d reached the central area of the city when we could see one corner of the famous Duomo. At that point though, our tummys took control and we went in search of a restaurant. Wanting to eat real Italian food, it took us a while to decide on something, but boy was it worth it! I had a carbonara pizza and it was heavenly! Needless to say, we left the restaurant completely stuffed and very, very content! We walked off our dinner by visiting the Duomo – Had to queue a little to get inside, but it was worth it. Having taken over 500yrs to build (still isn’t completely finished!) the exterior is an impressive example of gothic architecture, with its many huge spires towering over the square below. Il Duomo is only surpassed in size in Italy by St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, so as you can imagine, it is rather spacious inside! What struck me more than anything though, was the brightness of the stained glass windows – although obviously under restoration, these windows were fantastically new looking, with modern designs and colours of startling clarity! Other than that, the church was very like most other cathedrals I have been in – the various points of religious interest were rather lost on me. One thing that did grab my attention however, was the church orderly that was emptying the prayer candles into a bin bag – even when still burning! How disrespectful!
After doing the obligatory tourist thing, we walked through a rather swanky looking shopping centre called Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which connects the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza della Scalla. The arching steel and glass domed roof was the first of many arcades designed in this style, and contained 4 storeys of stores, selling everything from haute couture to books. An amzingly ugly window display in the Prada store caught our attention for quite a while! The other end. we grabbed some heavenly gelato (Italians really do do it best!) and then hit the shops!! H&M, like most of the other stores actually was manic, with huge, stressed crowds! Without realizing it, we’d gone to Milan during the last weekend of fashion week, so of course it was packed!! I purchased a ridiculously expensive pair of trainers that I just had to have, and the others bought various articles of clothing, before we crashed and required a caffeine fix. Passers by ensured we had plenty to watch while sat drinking coffee, with impossibly stylish people walking past with bulging designer carrier bags, and people who I’m certain hadn’t looked in the mirror for a decade – being in Milan does not automatically mean you’re tasteful, that’s for sure!! Feeling slightly more energized, we hit Via Montenapoleon, one of the famously trendy shopping streets in Milan. It is known to be the most important street in Milan’s fashion district, with such shops as Pucci, Armani Collezioni, Fratelli Rosetti, Louis Vuitton, Omega, Versace, YSL, Ralph Lauren and other famous designer names.
Starting to lack both energy and daylight, we took the metro back to the centre of the city, then waited (rather a long time) for the street car back to our hotel. Strangely, at the other end of the street we were waiting on was a random ruin of a house, which rather fascinated me, as it was set in the middle of a roundabout. It is at times like this when I wish my camera was better – after about 50 attempts by both me and Stefan, we eventually managed to get a half decent shot of it!
At the hostel, we had quick power naps and regrouped to plan the night ahead. Of course, the main event was to be dinner, and we soon went out to a local place called Charlie Brown’s which was highly recommended by the hotel owner. We were not disappointed – although we had to wait a while for a table, the atmosphere of the restaurant was fantastic, full of happy diners and busy but friendly waiters. Even if the food wasn’t the most amazing Italian meal I’ve ever eaten, it was very nice – I went half-half with Emma on some pasta and risotto, so got to try two different dishes. The coffee and biscotti was very welcome and helped clear my head after a little too much sparkling wine!
Back out in the cool air and after a lot of debate, we took the streetcar to the area known as fake Venice, called Naviglio. It’s built upon a canal, hence the Venice connotations, however in the dark, and without a decent map, we weren’t able to find the canal and soon headed back to the hotel. The club under our hotel, called Rolling Stone/Revolution looked buzzing, and enticed by the 10€ cover charge with 2 free drinks…the boys and I went in to party while Emma and Annika went to get some much needed sleep! Being an international student/Erasmus night, it was busy with a fantastic atmosphere! It really was the most fantastic club I’ve been to yet in design, with one huge room downstairs with a very large dance floor and lots of sofas/chairs around the edge, lasers, smoke machines, tv screens etc. Upstairs, there was another room, this time playing more rnb and dance than the rock downstairs, with smaller dance floor but floor to ceiling windows that over looked the club below – was an incredible view once the club was heaving. The cover charge was certainly worth it, especially as the free drinks contained far more alcohol than any other drink I’ve ever had in a club! Generous is an understatement! The dj was a fantastic mixer, judging the mood of the crowd fantastically and ensuring an endless stream of good songs. They even had bike videos playing on the tv screens which kept Johan amused while dancing! At 3.30 tho, we realized we needed to get some sleep as we had another early start in the morning –8am, ouch!
The following day brought with it lots of drizzle and grey clouds which was a shame. However it didn’t stop us getting out and exploring more of the city – First of all we headed to Teatro alla Scalla, the famous opera house. Originally built in the 1700’s but restored after WWII, the building itself isn’t particularly inspiring. We took a tour inside however, and that was impressive. All sumptuous seating, lavish decoration, high acoustic ceiling…in fact all the red satin wallpaper really reminded me of Stefan’s apartment!
Caffeine was once again calling, but first we went via the nearby castle. Built in the 14th century, Castello Sforzesco is in reasonably good condition, with the walls and ramparts all intact. The courtyard looks rather like a building site which ruins the atmosphere slightly, but it is easy to see how it would have looked in the past, with moat and draw bridged entrance…there were even two Bengal cats playing nearby, which made me smile J
We found an empty little café nearby and refueled with yet more gelato and cappuccinos, before wandering through the old (ish) town. We hopped back on a street car to the fake Venice area and actually found the elusive canal now that it was daylight. Rather over-rated, I must say! An old market lined the street up there, and it felt a little dingy-touristy…not great. We found a nice restaurant down through a foliage filled archway where we had pizza’s for lunch. Was lovely, but mine was a little too spicy for comfort!! Sadly, once again I didn’t have any room left after for dessert – will have to wait until my next trip to Italy I guess 
We left Milan roughly on time, even fitting a quick trip to the supermarket in for wine, coffee etc. Leaving the city was a little easier than our arrival, however an hour or so later we arrived at the outlet store, and that’s when it got confusing! Not only did we have to find the entrance to the mall, but also to find a car park space!! Only took us 15mins...! Serravalle was very stereotypical, and could easily have been any outlet mall in the world. We managed to spend a couple of hours there, though as my phone died and meeting plans kinda messed up, I spent the entire time on my own, worrying about meeting up with the others. I did however make a couple of purchases, in the Lindt and Triumph stores. Johan trumped us all by far with his purchase of bright green ¾ length Puma boots, which at first glance are ghastly, but grow on you very quickly! Am rather fond of them now, but I’m still not surprised they were the only pair in the store
The journey home was not particularly eventful, just long and dark. Though we all seemed to go a bit mad at one point, probably due to the fact we were all knackered but hyped up on caffeine! Johan drove the whole time, with Emma navigating, and I must say it worked fantastically! Even the car was good – not so big it was hard to find city centre parking, but not so small that we felt like sardines! It was also very refreshing to not be the leader of the trip for once – normally I’m the one who does masses of research and planning and then everyone relies on me, which can often take the fun out of things. However this time, as I didn’t really mind what we did, I was really easy going and just let Emma take control (she’s also a planner!), offering advice and suggestions only when needed. I did feel rather lost at times, and I feel I didn’t get to know the city as well as I would have done had I been in control of the map, but it made a very pleasant change J
