Since stepping off the train station of Milan, we knew we were in for a treat. It was the best and most beautifully designed station we've been to to date and we figured as the renown fashion capital, the standard must be higher here compared to the rest of Italy. Taking a taxi to our bed and breakfast, the environment of Milan reminded me a lot of New York. Modern buildings situated close together, stylish apartments and pedestrians, chic architect, and an overall "cool" feel to the city. Yes, it totally felt like a city. Perhaps we were use to being in and seeing relatively ancient and historic cities, but Milan felt refreshing to the eyes and comfortable-like a metropolitan area back home.
We stayed in a more residential area known as
Porto Victoria and I would recommend it without a doubt. The area was safe, had easy access to downtown, and great food options nearby. In fact, I had the best pasta in Milan (and Italy) at a place called
Eat Pasta (so original right?!-sometimes simplicity is all you need). My ravioli was handmade sunflower shaped, flavourful, fresh, and served up at a great price! My friends had a prawn and shrimp fettuccine dish that was loaded with plump seafood-so worth the 12 Euros! We also had amazing service and some sample dishes courtesy of the chef too-so impressive!
Prior to arriving Milan and even before starting our trip, we heard there wasn't much to do in Milan so we didn't expect much, but this lack of expectation definitely worked to our favour as Milan ended up being full of surprises. With the
World Expo in town, we didn't even consider going at first. However, our accommodation host highly recommended it and since it was only 5 Euros after 7 pm, it was worth checking out. Besides this deal, the Cirque Du Soleil had created an exclusive show for the expo known as
ALLAVITA! so if anything, that was the best incentive and reason to go. For 35 Euros (~$50 Cad) for the first come first serve front section seats, you be missing out big time if you said no to this exclusive show (don't worry you don't need to go too early to snatch a good spot, its a pretty good watch everywhere you sit).
The first night we checked out
Armani Prive for the sake of checking out a prestigious club owned by Armani Exchange. Turns out, the crowd was a much older business demographic (hence the 20 Euro minimum for drinks) and it was quite dead at 11:30pm so we decided to venture elsewhere. Upon prodding one of the employees there, my friend found out that the "scene" was actually at a few other places so we took a cab ride to
Just Cavalli, an outdoor club party created by Roberto Cavalli, a fashion designer. I'm not anything of a club/party scene person, but I thought it was really smart for these designers to host these grand events and parties or name clubs after them as its such a smart marketing strategy and way of getting their name out to people who don't buy their clothes. All in all, it was definitely a one of a kind experience you wouldn't get back home and if you are into this kind of scene, it be neat for you to check out.
Day 2
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| Inside the Duomo |
As with most of our destinations, our second day was filled up with exploring the main attractions and meandering downtown Milan. The
Duomo is probably that most well known icon of the city and it felt very Gothic, yet pure at the same time as it's made of a white marble stone (fun fact: it is the second largest in the world!). The famous
Galleria of luxurious brand names is also at this piazza and though nothing is within reasonable pricing for my budget, taking photos in there was all I needed as the building is stunning itself. We also went to the opera building
La Scala, to see if we could catch a tour, but maybe because it was a Sunday it wasn't open? or else you needed to book ahead of time so we didn't get to see much besides the exterior.
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| Inside Galleria |
Its funny how excited we became for the World Expo when initially we could care less about it. So a little background info, the expo happens every few years and started when London use to host their annual World Fairs for different countries to showcase their latest technologies, inventions, etc. back in the 1800s. Today, each expo has a different theme and different cities hosts it-similar to the system of Olympics. It's interesting because I wasn't aware of these expos until I heard of the one in held in Shanghai back in 2010 as there was a lot of marketing around it. Following that, it so happened that there was one two years ago in Korea when I was still an exchange student there, but despite the interest, I didn't have the chance to check it out. Thankfully, I finally had the opportunity to see what this expo is all about-unexpectedly too!
The World Expo felt like a global size heritage days with each country having their own uniquely designed pavilion to showcase the best of what the country has to offer, a food cart/stall/restaurant and maybe even a souvenir shop for you to take a piece of that country home with you. It was cool to run around and take photos with all these different places and feel like we were trekking the globe within a few steps! "Lets go there, no let's go there!" Though, we were on a time crunch as we had to catch our Cirque show at 9pm so I do recommend spending a whole evening or two checking out all the exhibits because there's just so many. And since it's only 5 Euros after 7pm, going multiple evenings is definitely more worth it than the 39 Euros for one full day. However, some country's exhibits are also quite popular than others and you have to wait in line for access whereas others you can just go straight through. Also, some exhibits close early so that was the downside of an evening pass.
This years' theme was on the focus of food, from the consumption and waste of it to the cultural dynamics of food. It was a very neat experience to be reminded of the cycle of food and the awareness brought forth in conserving and sustaining our availability of food into the future generations. The Cirque show brought forth an abstractly visual performance of this reality, and speaking of which, I can't express how much I was in awe! I love theatre and artistry, so this show brought forth my inner joy. To top it off, we were also able to catch the light and fountain show at the giant led light tree towards the center of the exhibition (I think it happens every night)!
Well with every high there are bound to be some lows, so here are a few downsides of Milan to be aware of:
1. train and metro platforms are confusing so plan ahead and give yourself more time when navigating the transportation system, especially to and from the Expo as you can easily get onto the wrong train due to the lack of information
2. For the Expo, if you didn't buy tickets in advance, the ticket booths are actually in the train system so make sure to grab them before exiting as once you get to the entrance of the Expo, you go through security and are expected to have your ticket. Save time and get your tickets once you get off the platform and before exiting the station. We didn't know this due to a lack of signage and had to go back into the train station-though it wasn't a long wait since it was later in the evening
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If I had to choose one cathedral to go to in all of Europe, it would be the Sagrada Familia "sacred family". I've only been to four countries in Europe on this trip, but I can say without a doubt that its incomparable and purely spectacular. Like other famous attractions, make sure to buy tickets beforehand as the line up is crazy long upon revival. Even purchasing online, you have to select the exact time you plan on arriving as there are limited tickets for that time frame. I highly recommend buying tickets with a tour or getting a headset with your ticket to go at your own pace (what we did) as being educated and enlightened on the history and making of this cathedral made all the difference-and possibly why it's my favourite.
Afterwards, we headed to browse the infamous Las Ramblas street filled with touristy stuff, souvenirs, and artists of all sorts. "Infamous" because apparently theft is common and tourists are terribly targeted here as warned to us by various travellers (and locals) we met going through Europe. By now, I didn't find it too necessary to shop for these over rated things, but what I enjoyed was walking down this street towards the harbour and port on the coast of Barcelona. It felt very refreshing to see a more serene and refreshing side to Barcelona and the board walk here is full of activities one or all can partake in. The beach view can be admired and if up for it, sun tanning of course! There's also a Christopher Columbus statue here which gave me a light bulb moment because I never thought he was Spanish. Though it makes sense as Spain is one of the most southern parts of Europe and knowing how the story goes, led him to discover North America. (FYI: Spain is a walking history book!)
To cap off the night, and with the ease of a vehicle, I was able to drive my travelling companions to Monsterat Mountain, an hour ish away from Barcelona and about 40 minutes north of Terassa, where our local friends are living. Highway driving wasn't bad, and the view was so worth it the closer we got. The road leading up to the mountain is super windy, but definitely take it slow and stop frequently to capture the different angles and views of this beautiful creation. We were in a rush to beat the sunset so we didn't stop along the way, but personally I thought the view from below the mountain had the best view of the whole thing as once you're above, you're mainly admiring everything below (which is awesome too!). There are also restaurants at the top, but as it was pass 9pm, they were all closed.
