A weekend in Milan
SONG: Not by Big Thief
Hi everyone! I know it's been a good while since I posted. I've just been doing a bit of travelling and the rest of my time is spent either teaching or planning lessons. Being a primary school teacher is a lot of work! Today I'm writing about my recent trip to Milan where I visited my aunt and cousin. Fortunately as we went around the city I kept a handy note of everywhere we went, so hopefully the memories should come flooding back and a half-decent blogpost will emerge! We can at least hope...
I took the train from Turin to Milan and met my aunt and cousin at the hotel we were staying - Il Duca (part of the ME range). It was a very classy place and we arrived to a bottle of Prosecco and some Halloween biscuits in our room as well as a complimentary cocktail tasting for our first evening on their rooftop bar (oowee). We did our best to dress nicely for the bar (although my aunt and cousin had been up sine 4 and I had been teaching all day so none of us were feeling overly fancy) and the cocktails and amuse bouche we were served were fantastic. Although, I must admit, had it not been for the fact that the whole thing was complimentary we would definitely not have made an appearance, as just a glass of red wine was 19€ (19€!!). Our first lesson about Milan: everything is very expensive!
After thoroughly enjoying our drinks with a view we headed down to street level to find dinner. We were staying in the business district but despite this there were still quite a few nice looking bars and restaurants in the area. We stopped as a bar called Nhero for an aperitivo. Of course I was going to compare it to my aperitivos in Turin (how could I not) and although this was a lovely spot with a sort of outdoor conservatory on the street, the aperitivo was very amateur compared to what I have tried in Turin (home of the aperitivo so therefore rightly so). We then headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved early night, which none of us got however as we were kept awake by a "party" being held in the new steak restaurant in the hotel. I'm all for an opening party but not one that's so loud it makes the whole room reverberate! Fortunately we were moved rooms to sleep and returned again in the morning
In the morning we were given complimentary breakfast (we couldn't quite believe our luck with all the complimentary stuff really) before we took the metro from our hotel to the Duomo. Exiting the metro stop to find yourself staring at the Duomo is quite something! I think however we were personally unlucky with the weekend we chose to visit, as the 1st of November is a holiday in Italy so the city was full of tourists and Italians alike. We went through the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele (which my auntie likened to the fake ceilings of Ceasar's Palace in Vegas - some people have no taste haha) stopping in some incredibly fancy shops along the way before we stopped for lunch in a very cute restaurant called the Charleston just next to the world's coolest Apple shop (it's under a waterfall!). Here we had more Aperol Spritz and prosecco as well as a very nice anchovy pizza and despite the hustle and bustle of the city this restaurant felt oddly calm. It was a lovely spot to stop off at in the centre.
After lunch we tried again to have a look in the shops but everywhere was so busy we really felt like the best thing to do would be to leave Milan entirely. We of course stayed it out and even found a very nice rooftop on the Rinascente department store that looks out over the Duomo - probably not the best place for a drink as there is a lot of people passing to get a picture but a nice find for a view nonetheless. After a quick walk through Brera which was a very nice oasis in the centre of the city, we took ourselves back to the hotel and asked about a fish restaurant for the night and the concierge recommended us Terrazza Calabritto (the name is taken from a famous fish restaurant in Naples). Apparently the fish market in Milan is one of the best so the fish restaurants are to die for. Our concierge was absolutely right, Terrazza Calabritto was fantastic. We tried oysters, all sorts of tartares and then all devoured the most amazing red snapper dish (everything is of course based on what they get from the market that day). It was fantastic, and in true Flynn-Hasting fashion we found a cheap English pub to stop in on the way home called the Friends bar. We had certainly eaten and drunk our way round Milan that day!
We returned the next morning to our rooftop bar at the hotel for breakfast with a view before setting out to Navigli - an area of Milan with canals, cutely named little Venice. Ladies and Gentlemen I have been to Venice - I will refer you back to one of my earliest blogpost where I went interraling through Euope - I have been to Venice and I personally believe it is an insult to that beautiful city to even compare Navigli to it. Granted there are a few canals and a few restaurants on the banks of these canals, but that is where the comparison ends. It was dirty and not at all picturesque and we just saw no reason to traipse around this tiny area for any longer: we had seen enough. My Auntie had mentioned going to a QC thermal spa during our trip and so we took a taxi over to the spa to try our luck at getting in. Of course with the holiday it was packed so they took our number and told us we might have a chance. We were pretty sure we had none so we settled down in the only restaurant still serving lunch and drinks: a little bookshop called the Red library and Cafe.This was quite a novel thing (see what I did there): to be served drinks in a bookshop on a lovely relaxing sofa. We were quite content. So after a drink or two I was given the lead and told to find us another good bar. We came across Frank's: a jazz bar which did the most amazing cocktails with some of the best prices we had found in Milan (10€ isn't so bad when everywhere else is so expensive). We also managed to stay long enough (no judgement here thank you) that aperitivo had started, which was a nice surprise for us and our stomachs(!)
After my cousin had been chatted up by a man who had nearly drunk the whole bar dry, we decided it was time to move on and we found ourselves at a quaint little trattoria called La Porta Rossa next to our hotel where we had the best meatball tagliatelle we have ever had, and for surprisingly low prices. After our eventful day of drinking and eating (again) it was then time for us the head back and we parted ways in the morning - I headed back to Turin and my family went back to the UK.
So all in all, I would not recommend Milan for sightseeing and beautiful architecture. But if you are keen to do a slightly upmarket long weekend, then it's perfect. We cannot deny that we ate and drank very well in Milan, I would just say that there are prettier cities to visit if you wish to take those all important instagram pictures (haha!).
On that note, I shall finish my ramblings. I hope you enjoyed my review of a short stint in Milan. I've also just come back from Bologna (told you I've been busy) and am eager to write a blogpost about my time there as well! Until next time!
Hi everyone! I know it's been a good while since I posted. I've just been doing a bit of travelling and the rest of my time is spent either teaching or planning lessons. Being a primary school teacher is a lot of work! Today I'm writing about my recent trip to Milan where I visited my aunt and cousin. Fortunately as we went around the city I kept a handy note of everywhere we went, so hopefully the memories should come flooding back and a half-decent blogpost will emerge! We can at least hope...
 |
| Rooftop Cocktail Experience |
After thoroughly enjoying our drinks with a view we headed down to street level to find dinner. We were staying in the business district but despite this there were still quite a few nice looking bars and restaurants in the area. We stopped as a bar called Nhero for an aperitivo. Of course I was going to compare it to my aperitivos in Turin (how could I not) and although this was a lovely spot with a sort of outdoor conservatory on the street, the aperitivo was very amateur compared to what I have tried in Turin (home of the aperitivo so therefore rightly so). We then headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved early night, which none of us got however as we were kept awake by a "party" being held in the new steak restaurant in the hotel. I'm all for an opening party but not one that's so loud it makes the whole room reverberate! Fortunately we were moved rooms to sleep and returned again in the morning
In the morning we were given complimentary breakfast (we couldn't quite believe our luck with all the complimentary stuff really) before we took the metro from our hotel to the Duomo. Exiting the metro stop to find yourself staring at the Duomo is quite something! I think however we were personally unlucky with the weekend we chose to visit, as the 1st of November is a holiday in Italy so the city was full of tourists and Italians alike. We went through the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele (which my auntie likened to the fake ceilings of Ceasar's Palace in Vegas - some people have no taste haha) stopping in some incredibly fancy shops along the way before we stopped for lunch in a very cute restaurant called the Charleston just next to the world's coolest Apple shop (it's under a waterfall!). Here we had more Aperol Spritz and prosecco as well as a very nice anchovy pizza and despite the hustle and bustle of the city this restaurant felt oddly calm. It was a lovely spot to stop off at in the centre.
 |
| The Foodhall at Rinascente |
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| Terrazza Calabritto |
We returned the next morning to our rooftop bar at the hotel for breakfast with a view before setting out to Navigli - an area of Milan with canals, cutely named little Venice. Ladies and Gentlemen I have been to Venice - I will refer you back to one of my earliest blogpost where I went interraling through Euope - I have been to Venice and I personally believe it is an insult to that beautiful city to even compare Navigli to it. Granted there are a few canals and a few restaurants on the banks of these canals, but that is where the comparison ends. It was dirty and not at all picturesque and we just saw no reason to traipse around this tiny area for any longer: we had seen enough. My Auntie had mentioned going to a QC thermal spa during our trip and so we took a taxi over to the spa to try our luck at getting in. Of course with the holiday it was packed so they took our number and told us we might have a chance. We were pretty sure we had none so we settled down in the only restaurant still serving lunch and drinks: a little bookshop called the Red library and Cafe.This was quite a novel thing (see what I did there): to be served drinks in a bookshop on a lovely relaxing sofa. We were quite content. So after a drink or two I was given the lead and told to find us another good bar. We came across Frank's: a jazz bar which did the most amazing cocktails with some of the best prices we had found in Milan (10€ isn't so bad when everywhere else is so expensive). We also managed to stay long enough (no judgement here thank you) that aperitivo had started, which was a nice surprise for us and our stomachs(!)
After my cousin had been chatted up by a man who had nearly drunk the whole bar dry, we decided it was time to move on and we found ourselves at a quaint little trattoria called La Porta Rossa next to our hotel where we had the best meatball tagliatelle we have ever had, and for surprisingly low prices. After our eventful day of drinking and eating (again) it was then time for us the head back and we parted ways in the morning - I headed back to Turin and my family went back to the UK.
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| Franks's cocktails |
On that note, I shall finish my ramblings. I hope you enjoyed my review of a short stint in Milan. I've also just come back from Bologna (told you I've been busy) and am eager to write a blogpost about my time there as well! Until next time!
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