Milan, April 29-May1: Slogging through rain in the fashion capitol + Como

We arrived in Milan late in the afternoon, after a 7 hour train ride from Paris. The ride was smooth and uneventful. The train from Paris arrives at the Milano Porto Garibaldi station, not Milano Centrale. That shouldn't have been confusing. But when we arrived, I hadn't yet learned the lesson to always get directions for where we wanted to go. So while I thought the 25-minute walk seemed straightforward and foolproof, it wasn't. We pulled our luggage for about 45 minutes before I used Google Maps on my iPhone and got the correct directions. 

So by the time we got checked in to our hotel, it was already early evening. We set out to explore our surroundings and find a place for dinner. We were almost ideally located, only a few blocks from the opera house La Scala and the fashion shops of central Milan. 

View of Bellagio as the ferry crosses Lake Como

Since the train ride from Paris took basically a whole day, we only had two full days to explore Milan. We had two goals. First we wanted to see the sights of the city. Second we wanted to take a day trip to Lake Como. The weather forecast was for rain to move in. So we decided to do Como on our first full day in hopes that the weather would hold. 

When we told the concierge at our hotel that we wanted to take a day trip by train to Lake Como, he gave us some advice. Rather than take the train to the town of Como, he advised taking the train to  Varenna and then take a ferry to Bellagio. He said that we probably would enjoy that town more than Como. 

Good advice. It was a one hour train ride to Varenna from the Centrale station. We sat with a group of Scots who were in Milan for a long weekend, for shopping and to see a soccer (football) match. They very good natured, talkative, and funny. When we started talking about Scottish accents, then they really hammed it up, putting on a brogue that was almost impossible to understand.

We had a mice scenic ride with views of Lake Como. Varenna is a small quiet town. It was a short walk from train station to the ferry docks. The ferry ride to Bellagio was smooth and calm, about 15 minutes. Bellagio was quaint and picturesque and packed with tourists. We spent about an hour and a half walking around, taking pictures and doing a little shopping. Then we did the reverse trip back to Milan. 

After we got back, we walked to the Galleria and had a cocktail with complimentary snacks at Camparino in Galleria. We sat for an hour and watched the parade of people go by. From our table at the bar we had a nice view of Milan's Duomo. After our drink, we took a walk around the square outside the Duomo to admire it. I think it's one of the prettiest 'Duomos' (Duomi, I guess, is the actual plural) that we saw in Italy. 

Milan's beautiful Duomo

That evening, while we were at dinner, it started to rain. 

The rain continued into the next day, which we intended to be our day for sightseeing in Milan. But we opened our umbrellas and set. We walked throughout the city despite a steady rain. First we went to the Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione, and the 'Arch of Peace' (or Arco della Pace). I like how the Milanese named their arch 'Peace' rather than 'Victory' or 'Triumph' or some other name with more military connotations. 

After the Castle and the park, we walked to the Brera District. We had read that it's an artistic area with good restaurants and nightlife. We were excited to find a restaurant with live music for dinner. Then we walked back over to the Duomo and the Galleria and spent most of the afternoon shopping.

Hotel: We stayed at the Hotel Cavour and liked it very much. It was a classy, modern business hotel. It's conveniently located to the two major train stations (Garibaldi and Centrale) and to all the major attractions of Milan's center city. We found the staff there to be very accommodating and helpful. As you might expect for Milan as a fashion capitol, the hotel is very cosmopolitan and all the staff was comfortable communicating in English. The rooms are clean, modern, and comfortable, and the WiFi was quick and reliable. 

Restaurants: 

Day 1 - Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone. This was the most elegant restaurant meal that we had on our whole trip to Italy. (The wine dinners that we had at the two agriturismi later in the trip were equally impressive.) It was also the most expensive meal of our trip. We saw several things on the menu that looked appealing, and we asked if we could order several things and split them. They very accommodating and even split the items for us, serving us on our own individual plates. We started with a salad of fresh mozzarella on a plate with roasted vegetables. I lightly dressed it with a drizzle of olive oil and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Next course was ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta. Finished with an entree of grilled sirloin with roasted potatoes. The steak was excellently done, exactly to our liking. The potatoes were good but not remarkable. 

Day 2 - New Art Cafe, located in the Brera District. I wish I had brought either a camera or my phone. The decor of this restaurant was very interesting and engaging. We were seated in a little enclave decorated in a nautical theme. The main dining room was adorned with different images of Marilyn Monroe. Our meal was not as elegant as Day 1. It was more casual but flavorful, colorful, and equally delicious. I started with a tomato salad, a bowl of tomato pieces that I dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My entree was green gnoccetti (little green gnocchi) drenched in a rich Gorgonzola sauce with pieces of walnuts. Linda had tagliatelle with squid and artichokes dressed in olive oil. I really wish I could have taken a photo. We had a half bottle of Chianti with the food.

Fantastic serving of seared tuna at Hosteria della Musica

Day 3 - Hosteria della Musica, also located in the Brera District. When we walked by, I saw a sign or poster that said they have live music at this restaurant. So we took a look at the menu. When I saw that they had ossobuco on the menu I was sold. We made a reservation, though I don't think it was necessary. It was a new restaurant, only open for a month when we were there. They really bent over backwards to please us. They brought us a free glass of prosecco and a plate of focaccia bread, plus a regular bread basket. We started by splitting a salad of squid and salmon mixed with fennel and greens. For her entree Linda had tuna. It was a large piece just seared rare and seasoned with black pepper. It was amazing. I had the ossobuco with Milanese risotto. It was very good, but not as amazing as hers. The musician was a very good entertainer. He played an electric keyboard with recorded electronic accompaniment. So it wasn't very sophisticated music, but he was very entertaining. There was a group of women from England celebrating a 60th birthday, and they were quite rowdy.

The next day, we picked up a rental car near the Centrale train station. Within 10 minutes, I was lost and couldn't find the route out of town. Once again, Google Maps came through for us and we wended our way toward the next part of our Italian adventure. 

Click here to see more of our photos from Milan and Bellagio.