October 16 – 18, 2018

Hello again Italy! So like I had previously said, Caoliang had a week off before starting work days in Paris. We started off the week in Luzern but finished it in Italy. Why Italy? More like, why not? Really the idea came into mind because Caoliang really wanted to have Italian pizza again. Just for that?! No really, the pizza is amazing and Milan was only a few hours away by train from Zurich. Plus, we had never been to the north end of Italy yet, so here we are!

By the time we had arrived in Milan, it was about two in the afternoon. We got settled into our AirBnb and figured we should just walk around and see what’s near by. We also were in need of sim cards for our phone, so that held priority over everything.

The first day was kind of a bust. We spent lots of time trying to figure out the sim card (lack of information from sales person, etc.) and just walked back and forth from the shops to the phone store. We did have an amazing dinner that night though. A friend had recommended we try out Trattoria del Abel for their risotto. Milan is famous for their risotto and rice dishes because of where Milan is geographically located. Also, Caoliang loves risotto so even though the restaurant was a little out of the way, we had to go try it!

While traveling, we don’t really make reservations at restaurants, partly because we don’t know the exact time we would be eating, and also the language barrier. Luckily, we arrived right at 8 (when they opened) and got seated. The menu had many a la carte items but we decided to do it big and just order their tasting menu, one Land menu and one Sea. As the name suggests, one menu had items from the ocean and the other, items from the land. From our Land tasting menu we ordered Aritzese oyster mushrooms, the Aquila’s risotto, rabbit with black cabbage and tiramisu. From our Sea menu we ordered mussels soup with beans, Bordighera risotto, the sea bass and warm coconut cake.

The food was really good and really different from each other. I was so happy we decided to do a big dinner and really experience the different foods of this restaurant. The price for each menu was 28 euros. Really not bad!

Our second day in Milan was a bit more productive. Since we walked the famous shopping streets of Via Monte Napoleone and Via della Spiga the day before, we figured we could skip those. Also, we aren’t the kind of people that could be shopping on those streets!! A bit too fancy for us. Instead, we headed to Piazza del Duomo. Walking there, the city of Milan was pretty different from other Italian cities, such as Florence. It was very much so a metropolitan; big buildings and busy streets. Duomo di Milano was magnificent! Even though we didn’t go inside, the outside was really intricate and and beautiful. Piazza del Duomo, the square in front of the duomo, was also pretty interesting. There were pigeons everywhere! Filled with tourists and pigeons, the square was packed with people trying to take pictures or holding out their arms for pigeons to fly on them. Even though it made for great people watching, I was not going to be holding out any kernels for any pigeons!

Afterwards, we walked to an interesting place I had researched, Santuario Di S. Bernardino Alle Ossa. Here, there was a chapel that had skulls and human bones lining the walls. Creepy right!? But interesting so I wanted to check it out. According to turismo.milano.it…

The walls are almost entirely covered with skulls and bones, arranged in niches and on cornices, pillars and doors. They are believed to be the remains of the deceased from the Brolo hospital, from the corpses taken from the defunct seventeenth-century cemeteries. The skulls enclosed in cases above the door are those of executed prisoners.

And creepy it was, but also very beautiful. It is almost surreal to think about being in a room with hundreds of people’s bones surrounding you. We sat in there for a minute, said a quick prayer, and we were on our way. While we were in there, we saw other tourists or interested locals coming and going, too.

One of the big reasons Caoliang wanted to come back to Italy, as I might of mentioned before, was for their pizza!!! So, of course we couldn’t go another meal without it being pizza!! We found this little, colorful spot called Piz not too far. It was nearly closing time but luckily we made it and got seated right away (many places close midday). There were only a couple choices for pizzas on their menu. In our case, it worked out fine because instead of wasting time deciding on a pizza, or wondering which pizza was good, we got both pizzas! This place must get people who request this often because our waitress was already on it, offering us “half and half.” This consisted of half the classic Margherita and half the Bianca. When it arrived shortly after, the waitress instructed us to eat the Bianca first. I didn’t find that surprising since even with pasta, you eat the lighter sauced pasta before the darker sauced. The pizzas were amazing!!! A perfect blend of flavors in a cozy, unique space for an excellent price. We left that place full and satisfied!

We then walked off our lunch by heading to Colonne di San Lorenzo. This place looked like it was taken out of some Roman empire. There were huge columns but in a city square. It looked very out of place to me, especially with boutique shops around it. When looking up what this place is, I was right to say it is Roman. This place is actually Roman ruins and now is known more for a hang out spot for local Milanese to get together and drink in the evenings. Us going in the day time could explain why it was so vacant!

The rest of the day in Milan was spent walking around to different sights. The day concluded with us seeing Sforzesco Castle, Sempione Park, Arco della Pace and even Milan’s Chinatown! I was happy I got to see another city in the great country of Italy. Even though Milan is probably not my favorite, it was definitely nice to see what the big fashion capital of Italy had to show us.

Off to Venice next!! The city of canals here we come!

xx
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