Somehow we landed in Italia. To be honest, it’s not somewhere either of us had been rushing to return to after our initial separate forays in our 20’s. Neither one of us had extraordinary experiences back then. To be honest, they were both a bit sour, but granted, we had only waded into the most touristed places possible…Rome, Venice and Florence. Because of this, we were ready to give the Land of Pasta another shot when we snagged a flight on EasyJet from Sharm-el-Sheik to Milan for $20/each, plus an extra $85 (!) for our backpack houses.
Thus, we had one week to dip our toes in the area near Milan, and try to work a budget miracle. Needless to say, achieving a $45/day average was not possible in Italy, but we did find lots of ways to save. Plus, we knew we’d have from November 18 onward to start rolling the budget back a bit. Another thing, the Euro was centimetering back up in value making it not quite at parity like it was this summer. (Now $1/1.03 €)
We spent our first two nights in the global capital of fashion and design…and the finance capital of the country, Milano. After flying into Milan’s Malpensa Airport, we took a shuttle bus to the Central Station and a regular bus from there ($24 total). Our wallets were already bleeding but the good news is, the transit system was beyond simple and fully integrated with Google. Indeed we were back in the easy-to-travel land of Western Europe!
Due to our late arrival, a rare squabble, and sheer exhaustion, we only had one full day to explore Milan. Most people know the grand spectacle in this city is the cathedral. However, we found a bit more to it than that, (although you wouldn’t know it by the free Rick Steves podcast walking tour of the city that we did.)
Naturally, we have to start the post with some eye candy to catch your attention and make you drool a bit. What is it about Italian gelato piled high? Gelato, invented by a Sicilian fisherman in 1686, is similar to ice cream because it contains sugar, milk, and flavors, but gelato has less cream and no egg yolks. It costs about 3€ per scoop. 😅
Street scene Milan. It felt weird to be back in a jacket and pants after 8 months in summer clothes.
Speaking of clothing, we can assure you that the children, as well as the dogs, are dressed better than we are in the city.
Everywhere you go, this second city of 1.4 million oozes money, sophistication, and class.
Well, perhaps not everywhere you go. Since 2010, this white marble middle finger (called L.O.V.E) measuring 11 meters/36 feet high has been standing outside the Milan Stock Exchange thanks to Maurizio Catellan. You might also know him as the artist who created an 18-karat gold toilet sculpture entitled “America.” According to Atlas Obscura, it’s an unambiguous “f%^ck you” to the world of bankers and CEOs. Cattelan never commented on the meaning of the statue, but most people assume it refers to the economic crisis that affected Europe – and Italy in particular – from 2008 onwards. Classy. We like it. Thanks for the recommendation, Susanne!
Our Airbnb in Milan was by far the best value we could find. This uniquely repurposed set of apartments was created from an old factory building.
By the time you added service fees and taxes, the room cost a whopping $57/night, which was still quite a bit cheaper than two beds in a dorm room hostel. https://abnb.me/vrNtT26j7ub. Also, Francesca really dolce-ed the pot by stocking up on yogurts, granola, pastries, teas and coffees for us to enjoy for breakfast. So dolce!
While in Milan, we got around by local (electric!) bus or tram. Tickets were available to purchase in the metro or at tobacco stands for 2€ a 90-minute ride.
Mmmm. Back in the land of craft beer. Greg has been “in complete misery” for 3 1/2 months 😂
And then there’s the Duomo… Like many things in Italy, Milan’s behemoth cathedral, built in a “flamboyant gothic” style certainly has its own flame-like pizazz. We got introduced to it, as well as the nearby debonair Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, through the free self-walking tour courtesy of Euro-nerd Rick Steves, available for download as a podcast.
This is the second such tour we’ve done and the first in Barcelona was far more interesting, as this one mostly seemed focused on the cathedral itself. Still, it’s free and great value for the facts and we highly recommend his tours!
Covering the size of an entire city block or nearly two football fields and holding 40,000 people, the Milan Duomo is one of the largest churches in the world. It stands on the very site where Milan was founded by the ancient Romans.
It is surpassed by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and Seville’s Cathedral. The statue-studded cathedral has more statues than any other building in the WORLD: 3,400 to be exact, as well as 135 gargoyles and 700 figures. These figures include a representation of Napoleon, as well as Mussolini. Go figure. The cathedral is also accessorized with 135 saint-topped sparkling spires, which seem to stand like Big Brother observing all of Milan.
One of these statues even looks reminiscent of Lady Liberty, added in 1810. Some say this very statue is what inspiredFrederic Bartholdi when he designed the Statue of Liberty. Ah, and we thought she was created just for US…A.
Construction of this masterpiece began in 1386 and took six centuries to complete. The details are beyond intricate and exquisite.
Visitors are able to go on the rooftop as well, but it’ll cost you 13€ to do that so we skipped it.
The size is genuinely overwhelming. And of course, the stone is not just any ‘ol stone. Duomo was made with the most expensive stone available…marble.
More statues, everyone distinctive. According to Rick, we’d see everything from “placid saints to thrashing nudes.” 🤣 Seriously. Where are the thrashing nudes? Hahaha.
The famous Madonnina, (Little Madonna) the statue of Mary is coated in up to 6750 sheets of pure gold that stands on the cathedral’s highest spire.
The tallest stained glass windows in the world.
The entrance to the Galleria, one of the world’s most prestigious shopping malls, features an Arc de Triomphe, celebrating the unification of Italy.
The Galleria was designed by Giuseppe Mangoni who tragically plunged to his death off some scaffolding the day before it opened in the 1870’s. This four-story showpiece with an imposing glass arcade was originally, and still is, a shopping mall…the first in the world. Sure beats the crappy ones we have now. It was also the first place in Milan with electric lighting.
Mandy, in her four-year-old threads and four-blonde strands (like four cheese but better) begins wandering…
Hmmm. She wonders if Prada or Louis Vuitton is offering any BOGO sales. 🤣
Wow, is that a sewer grate?! Better not touch it.
An explosion of marble and color coat the floor. The coat of arms in the center mosaic belongs to the Savoy family, whose Victor Emmanuel II played an essential role in the unification of Italy, and who the gallery is named after.
The mosaic with the crowd gathered around it features a bull in the bullseye middle, which is a symbol of the city of Turin. (I guess Victor Emmanuel forgot we’re in Milan, not Turin?) The little bull, or turino, is said to bring good luck if you take two spins (clock-wise) on his “irresistible little testicles.” (Rick’s words, not my own!) 🤣 Apparently so much spinning is conducted that an new tile has to be added every few years.
Mandy walks proudly, satisfied with her performance.
Other photos of the main piazza.
From there, we went onto learn about Leonardo da Vinci, (courtesy of Mr. Steves.) Because he spent 18 years of his life in Milan (from 1482-1500) and created some of his greatest works while there, Leonardo Da Vinci certainly deserves this 1972 statue. You may have heard of one of these enormous masterpieces called “The Last Supper,” which evidently is — 29 feet wide by 15 feet tall (9 x 4.5 meters.) Yes, it’s only one of the world’s most iconic paintings and costs 15€ per person with advanced reservations to see. Hmmm. Not sure how Jesus would feel about this 🤔
Leonardo is depicted with his signature bushy beard, wearing a full body robe and engineer’s hat. On each side of the statue is a tribute to Leonardo’s contributions to the world. This side featuring blueprints represents architecture.
Holy macaroons.
Greg gazes longingly at the fancy Italian coffee.
Wandering the side streets
As the day wore on, we started to consider our budget lunch options. Pizza was an obvious choice, but we wanted something more unique, and with less gluten.
So we settled for L’altro Tramezzino, which was “Venetian Street Food” featuring tiny half sandwiches featuring unique ingredients for 3-3.50€ each. Pictured was Mandy’s which included avocado, shrimp and cream cheese & crab, kale & tomatoes. Greg enjoyed his gluten free. After receiving our lunch (aka snacks), we plopped ourselves in a nice square with tons of locals to enjoy it in. Delicious!
Around us, the locals were ALL eating takeout sandwiches from All’Antico Vinaio, across the street from where we ate. In fact, there was a massive line at least 50-75 people deep. They were stuffed with meat, so we turned it down, but they must be good. 😮
After lunch, we stumbled upon a dessert option at Mr. Dick, which were pancake-y treats in the shape of…yes, nothing like sexualizing waffles. To be honest, we were a bit disappointed there wasn’t a bigger spread of choices. (Pun intended.)
The majestic colonnade is all that remains of the architectural system that once connected San Lorenzo Maggiore to the Via Ticinensis, the old Roman road to Pavia.
The sixteen 8.5-metre Corinthian columns came from a nearby building, possibly a pagan temple, from the imperial age.
Ticinese Medieval Gate was originally built in the 12th Century.
From here we walked a little over a kilometer to the entrance of Sforzesco Castle, or the Castle of Milan which dates to 1368, but was rebuilt by the Duke of Milan (Sforzesco) in 1450 because the first one wasn’t grandiose, aka hoity toity, enough for him.
It remained a fortress until the arrival of Napoleonic forces in 1796 when Napoleon began the demolition of the fortified walls to make way for an even more grandiose project….the “Bonaparte Forum.”
Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II damaged the castle so what you see today is post-war reconstruction of the building now used for museum purposes.
It, like many castles we visited, were delightfully free in Italy!
A beautiful park lies beyond the castle.
And at the opposite end, the Arco della Pace, aka Arch of Peace. If you travel Europe long enough, you’ll notice that Napoleon dropped these everywhere! This one is gorgeous and without the crowds of Paris.
Cute little men playing something like bocce ball in the park. This game actually originates in the ancient Roman Empire.
Waiting for our ride to take us the 45-minutes back “home.” Love riding historic trams. These charming ones are from the 1920’s. We happily paid our 2€ for this!
Time to split a half liter at Lambraste for 6 euros. For dinner that night we made caprese using delicious local ingredients in our room for about 4€.
Total cost this day: $96.40. Ouch. But at least we’re still experiencing it!
