Italy in September: Milan

Post date: Nov 20, 2019 6:48:58 PM

Penny and I have made an important decision. We realized that 2 years ago we went to Cinque Terra in September. And this year we are in Milan in September. This September in Italy thing… seems like a fantastic idea! So this is the second of what I hope will be many posts about Italy in September.

Now, Milan. I’ve been to Milan many a trip, but never before with Penny. Since we’re both terribly busy with work at the moment, we really didn’t plan much. I think we were both focused on the same thing: let’s eat and drink our way through Milan. We were both pleasantly surprised, and disappointed in equal measure.

But first, coffee with croissant.

I like to think of myself as a pretty savvy traveler, but I have recently become too confident on public transportation. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten on a train going the wrong direction. In Berlin. Where I live.

So yeah, we got excited about riding the tram, then immediately had to get off the train so we could get on a tram going the other direction.

Still love a good tram ride.

We learned that, unfortunately, Milan isn’t the most touristy town. I think our initial focus of just eating and drinking was the right idea, those were my favorite memories.

But we did attempt the touristy thing and went to Il Duomo. It was impressive, but the line to get in was equally impressively long.

Then we walked through the galleries next to Il Duomo. Which are also impressive.

And by now it was past noon, so obviously time to stop and drink wine. We were not disappointed by anything except the service. I live in Berlin, so when I say the service was bad, I mean LEGENDARILY bad.

But the wine was good.

I’ve seen this building all over pinterest and facebook, and I can see why. The idea of a “green” building is definitely appealing. Even though it looks goofy.

The remainder of the day we spent wandering along and drinking at this canal.

Yes this weed is probably invasive, but I honestly stood there and stared at it for a solid 5 minutes.

The photo below is totally unfiltered. It really did look just like that.

For dinner we picked a place called “L’osteria del Formaggi”. The whole menu was inspired by cheese… so it was basically my heaven. Gnocchi with goat cheese and ginger, gorgonzola ice cream. I have since had dreams about this dinner.

We attempted to be tourists again on Sunday and went to a castle of some sort.

Again, very pretty but we weren’t overly thrilled.

Also, an arch, which I have become convinced is a staple of all European cities. Even the small ones.

But despite all the fairly boring touristy things, there was a dog marathon. For people with dogs, to run a marathon. So we sat and feasted our eyes on the puppers, which were really the best part of the day.

Finally, we went grocery shopping at my favorite store in the world. Eataly, as cheesy as it is, has amazing food. We started by dining in their restaurant obviously. And I came to Italy with an empty suitcase which I then proceeded to fill with good Italian food and wine.

Every time I return from Italy to Germany, my bags look like there is an actual shortage of food in Berlin. There’s not, there’s just a shortage of good quality ingredients.

I think that the comment: "our favorite parts of Milan was just hanging out and eating" is why Milan would be a great city to live in, but not a great place to visit as a tourist.

We will be back Italy, next September.