The Weekend in Milan I Didn’t Know I Needed

Ask pretty much anyone, even the internet, and they’ll tell you that there’s not very much to see in Milan. And they’re sort of right. There’s a castle and a few cathedrals and a whole lot of shopping, which basically means you could spend under a day there if you don’t want to spend a ton of money on the shopping. Knowing all that, I still decided to go to Milan last weekend and I’m so, so, so glad I did (I’ll hit a few other parts of Italy in December).

Years ago, when I was the flower girl at my aunt’s wedding, I danced with one of her friends (hi Andrea). Today, he lives in Milan with his wife and two kids, and when I asked him for recommendations on what to do there, he kindly offered to let me stay with them and show me around. Naturally, I accepted.

Or maybe not naturally, since I had actually only met him once as a kid. But whatever, I accepted.

The trip started off filled with little stresses. Google Maps lied to me (for the first time in the 5 weeks I’ve been in Europe) about the train to take to the airport on Friday morning and I freaked out about being late (even though I wasn’t) and gave into the pull of Uber. Then, the lady at airport security was not nice about the fact that I had too many liquids (right size bottles, just too many of them) and threw away a bunch of my toiletries without letting me choose which to keep. My phone battery was draining faster than it has the whole time I’ve been here.

But then I was on the plane! And then I was on a bus to the central station where the family’s nanny met me to take my bag and talk about plans for the afternoon and evening. With a phone battery of about 32% at 3:30pm (I know), I headed off to Duomo.

Holy crap, y’all. I am not usually that impressed by big, impressive cathedrals because they’re just… similar. Duomo felt like its own crazy-awesome thing. I could have stood inside/on the roof forever and ever. I settled for around an hour before getting some gelato and heading to Andrea’s apartment, where I met his wife and kids, and they fed me a delicious Italian family dinner. 

With a phone battery of 7%, I learned that I had the wrong plug adapter despite having gone to Google for reassurance before I left that morning. Google let me down, though, because your EU plug adapter will not work in Italy. Andrea laughed at my EU adapter and let me use one that actually worked in Italy. And then I went to go see Rocky Horror Picture Show with his wife, Ale. 

The show ended late, and I talked to my mom while half-asleep before passing out around 12:30. And then I slept till almost 9:00 because the blackout shades were serious blackout shades. I had no idea it was even a little light outside. After a shower and breakfast (the kids were so excited to “introduce” me to Nutella), I headed out to shop a little on Corso Buenos Aires, which apparently has the highest concentration of clothing stores in Europe. I made it to about four stores and was super overwhelmed by the number of people when I got a call from Andrea saying it was time for lunch, so I met the family and we headed to Peck.

I had Milanese pork with ridiculously good roasted potatoes and also tiramisu because it was suggested that I should get dessert and who am I to argue? Also, I have in my head that I don’t like tiramisu, but it was really freaking tasty. The kids drew me pictures at lunch on the back of their coloring sheets and now the pictures reside in my rather grey dorm room to make me happy.

After lunch, we all walked to Castello Sforzesco and I was left to tour on my own while Andrea’s family ran errands and went home.

{So many streets were “paved” with this. I tripped/stumbled so much.}

{Unfinished Michelangelo work}

From there, I headed toward Pinacoteca Brera, which is an ancient and modern art museum. I also encountered a million amazing artists selling work on the street that I’d totally have bought if I had a good way to transport it.

I swung by La Scala afterward, hoping to see the inside but there was a show happening.

The outside is nice, but the internet tells me that inside is stunning.

And then I decided I needed further sustenance, so I got more gelato.

I did some more store-browsing that resulted in the purchase of a single (Italian cashmere) sweater. It’s cozy.

After all that, it was getting rather dark and we had plans to carve a pumpkin, so I opted to head back to Andrea’s.

When I got back, though, Ale and the kids were out running errands, so I sat down to do some reading (#responsible) while Andrea watched his football – by which I mean soccer – team lose. Since it was pretty late, we ordered pizza for dinner. Let me just say that Italians have the right idea if they all have plates the size of pizzas. Like, we all had individual pizzas that were larger than the size of a standard dinner plate, and they had plates to accommodate them. GENIUS. 

Super fresh fruit was dessert and then Andrea made a deal with the kids that we would carve the pumpkin in the morning because it was a little after 9:00. We all passed out by 10:00.

I ran with Andrea the next morning. He’s training for a marathon and in way better shape than me, but I managed an easy 7K before a shower and pumpkin-carving.

Let me explain. Because I’m American, it was assumed that I am an expert pumpkin carver. I am not. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in at least six years.

Following the sketch I was given, I still managed to mess it up. But the kids pronounced it “Bellisimo!” which I thought was very kind.

Then we headed to the Navigli, where there was an antique market.

And also brunch. I had avocado toast with scrambled eggs and a slice of pancake offered by the kids. All very tasty! We walked around for a while after eating and then they took me to the bus station to head back to the airport.

My flight boarded way early, so I was glad to be there in pretty good time.

I flew back to Paris in the dark and had no train issues on the way back to campus. Yay!

So what I may not have appropriately conveyed with all the pretty pictures is how grateful I was to be with a family this weekend. Yeah, there aren’t 32904 things you must see in Milan, but that’s okay. I got to hang out with a super nice family who took care of me and made me feel loved. I got to meet little kids who made me smile endlessly even though we had a major language barrier. And I, of course, got to explore a new city that I seriously adore. It was great and I left feeling so happy, if sad to leave. 

I have no school today because it’s All Saints’ Day, and I’ll be mostly doing work, but also going to breakfast and a cycling class and possibly shopping. 

Your turn:

What’s your favorite part of exploring a new place?

Did you do anything fun for Halloween?