IS MILAN REALLY WORTH A VISIT? 6 REASONS WHY IT ISN'T. PROBABLY.
Probably visiting Milan shouldn't be your top priority when coming to Italy on vacation. Don't stare at me as if I had sworn or talked indecently.
You might think I am outrageous, but as a matter of fact, there are grounds to my statement. Milan isn't ranking first amongst the Italian top city destinations, definitely lagging behind Venice, Florence, Rome and, of course, the Amalfi coast.
Forget about lovely landscapes, breathtaking sceneries, cute corners and magnificent mother nature. Milan is best known for what I call the "something Week": Milan Fashion Week, Milan Design Week, Milan Book Week, etc. For most people it is a hit-and-run visit to the business-focussed capital of Italy.
The truth is that most visitors squeeze a quick visit to Milan in between places: between a trip to the lakes in northern Italy and famous towns such as Verona or Venice, or even when visiting the Cinque Terre.
So the hovering question is: should you stop and visit Milan on your Italy tours? Probably not, and here are 6 reasons why you shouldn't... or should you?
*1 Enough art to plague a saint (St. Ambrose)
I must admit it: I've had enough of artsy places... at the end of the day even a patient saint like St. Ambrose would be bored to death. Let's take the second most important church of Milan, the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio.
The hut-like red brick facade is pretty unconsequential. And what's the point of having two, I mean two, bell towers?
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| Basilica di Saint Ambrogio @Sharat Ganapabiti |
A pile of bricks still surviving since 370 ac. I am told major Italian artists contributed to turn it into a masterpiece. Donato Bramante, and Giambattista Tiepolo: you don't want any Tom, Dick and Harry to interfere with your travel itinerary!
The external column relief details are full of carved monster animals and vegetables. I don't get them!
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| Details of Medieval beasts |
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| Monsters on the columns |
Then you step into the church: what's the point of covering the whole ceiling with yellow tiles? (I am told they are golden mosaics).
A golden studden altar and vault in the Chapel of San Vittore: well, I am not into this sort of antique church artifacts... honestly, you are better off sticking to more appealing views!
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| San Vittore's Chapel with St. Ambrose's face @Melancholia |
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| The golden altar and the apse vault @Luca Volpi |
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| Golden altar by Master Vuolvino @Luca Terzaroli |
Still interested?
Metro: Sant'Ambrogio M2.
Opening hours: every day from 10 am till 6 pm (with a break between 12am -2.30pm). Free entry.
For a virtual tour of Sant'Ambrogio, click here.
UNREMARKABLE TIP: the patron saint of Milan is Saint Ambrose (the above Basilica is dedicated to him and his remains are buried in the church).
Let alone the service. No sooner you get to a bar or a cafeteria, you are served with your cappuccino plus a jug of water and mint leaves. Or even worse, you ask for an espresso and they bring you free pralines and biscuits!
For a virtual tour of Sant'Ambrogio, click here.
UNREMARKABLE TIP: the patron saint of Milan is Saint Ambrose (the above Basilica is dedicated to him and his remains are buried in the church).
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| St. Ambrose wall graffiti around Milan (right) |
On 7th December (St. Ambrose' s day) every year the Christmas festive season kicks off in Milan.
The main square of the Basilica is packed with foods and handmade crafts, art performers and lights...
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| 7th December, St. Ambrose's day @Luca Volpi |
If you want to know why Milan cherishes St. Ambrose so much, read on.
St. Ambrose was NOT from Milan (how weird!). He was German, from the city that today is known as Treviri. However, he descended from a Roman family. He came to Milan as a governor in 370 to sort out religious fights.
He was crowned bishop of Milan on 7th December 374, and since then Milan has been celebrating him as the most cherished and popular saint.
*2 Cute coffee bars and cholaterie in Milan? Wake up and smell a coffee!
Don't go to Milan if you are looking for pretty coffee houses and chocolatier, sweet treats and baked cakes!
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| Chocolaterie in Milan |
Milan is devoid of enticig bar environments...If you are looking for a modern feel or somewhere cosy and inviting, once you open any bar door, you will want to run away the minute after. The cool ambience is definitely not Milan's strength. At all.
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| Bar environment in Milan |
Let alone the service. No sooner you get to a bar or a cafeteria, you are served with your cappuccino plus a jug of water and mint leaves. Or even worse, you ask for an espresso and they bring you free pralines and biscuits!
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| Espresso and biscuits |
What is more: would you take friends for a chat to a bar where you can give in to chocolate temptation after two seconds you are sitting there?
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| Tempting chocolates |
Ok, I agree chocolate enhances your bad mood, and it is good for your heart and brain. However, I warn you: after you enter a chocolaterie in Milan, food craving is likely to be the side effect.
One last warning: during the Christmas period, I do not recommend you buy the dark chocolate panettone. It will cause chocolate disorder😊
UNREMARKABLE TIP: dare to try espressos matched with chocolates or biscuits? Here are a few addresses:
Cova Pasticceria, Via Montenapoleone 8.
Farage, Via Brera 5.
California Bakery, Viale Premuda 44.
Still dare to try more pastry shops in Milan? Take a look here!
Want to shop for vintage stuff in Milan? The highlight is the flea market along the 2-km shores in Navigli (south of the city centre). Though some people love it as it is a sort of treasure hunt for memorabia and collectibles, there is nothing much to shop for there.
They say you have the chance to find fabulous stuff especially if you go there in the morning. I saw really common stuff like old cinema chairs and old globes.
Ok, I see your point: to have a true Milanese experience you need to get away from the usual shopping streets and soak into the atmosphere of second-hand bazaars.
However, would you spend your time skimming through old pieces of furniture? Ok, I repurposed an old wine cellar door into our dining table, but there is always an exception to a sensible home decor...
Where's the fun in strolling up and down the Naviglio and wondering who on earth could possibly own those crazy contraptions?
What the heck was that thingy used for? How did it work? And most important: why did it end up there?
UNREMARKABLE TIP: dare to try espressos matched with chocolates or biscuits? Here are a few addresses:
Cova Pasticceria, Via Montenapoleone 8.
Farage, Via Brera 5.
California Bakery, Viale Premuda 44.
Still dare to try more pastry shops in Milan? Take a look here!
*3 Best Sunday market for vintage stuff? Can't be exactly described in glowing colours
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| The Navigli flea market in Milan |
Want to shop for vintage stuff in Milan? The highlight is the flea market along the 2-km shores in Navigli (south of the city centre). Though some people love it as it is a sort of treasure hunt for memorabia and collectibles, there is nothing much to shop for there.
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| A corner in the Navigli area |
They say you have the chance to find fabulous stuff especially if you go there in the morning. I saw really common stuff like old cinema chairs and old globes.
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| The world on sale? |
Ok, I see your point: to have a true Milanese experience you need to get away from the usual shopping streets and soak into the atmosphere of second-hand bazaars.
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| Antique lamps in Navigli |
However, would you spend your time skimming through old pieces of furniture? Ok, I repurposed an old wine cellar door into our dining table, but there is always an exception to a sensible home decor...
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| Furniture on display |
Where's the fun in strolling up and down the Naviglio and wondering who on earth could possibly own those crazy contraptions?
What the heck was that thingy used for? How did it work? And most important: why did it end up there?
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| Bazaar mood |
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| Market art discovery or whatchamacallit?
Want still to kill several hours wandering around the Navigli flea market?
Click here for the timetable ("calendario" in Italian) providing practical infos.
UNREMARKABLE TIP: if you are a real believer in flea markets, head to the Navigli early in the morning (the market is on last Sunday of each month), with cash at hand and haggle.
* 4 As old as the hills... ops... the city trams
My sister Francy told me: "Hey, would love to ride on tram number 1. It's like getting on an hop-on hop-off bus but it's cheaper!".
As a matter of fact, Tram nr 1 is well-known by tourists as it crosses the areas with lots of attractions: from Corso Sempione to the Teatro alla Scala (the Opera House), through the Arco della Pace (the Peace Arch) and via Montenapoleone, the city top-notch shopping district. Well, unfortunately, I trusted her. Wrong choice! If you want to step into that tram to get in a sort of archetypal film mood (film scenes shot in San Francisco trams crop to my mind!), well, get on with it and take a seat! 
Trams in Milan are nicknamed "twenty-eight" ("ventotto" in Italian), the actual year when they started operating! And since then they are still the same! Yes, 1928, you heard it right.
 Amazingly enough, Milan trams survived the II World War bombs (sort of), and though many tram depots were bombed, the 1500 tram models (the one you still see clanking today on the city centre tracks) were repaired and took the streets again. Most of them are still painted in the original yellowish creamy colour. That's kind of eerie, don't you think? To get on one of them is quite an exercise of tenacity: wait patiently for the wooden steps to unfold, sit on the slippery wooden benches, and hold on tight onto the handrails. When you get off, wait patiently again for the wooden folding doors to let you out. Your are off the hook!   UNREMARKABLE TIP: to be fair since 1983 the same trams that you see in Milan have been running on the roads of San Francisco on the F-line along Market Street. When you say: the world is a village... * 5 Milan won't give you the kiss of lifeMilan isn't really exciting... I mean, it would never cross my mind to describe Milan as sexy or romantic. Would you?I was looking at "The Kiss", the painting by Italian painter Francesco Hayez at the Brera Museum. Two young lovers kissing each other passionately in the half-light of a castle hall... Actually, it looks like a stolen kiss!  Fun for adults? Ok, it looks a bit like witnessing a Holliwood cinematic kiss. A man and a woman in the frame: she is leaning back with abandon, while he seduces her with the longest kiss ever... If I hadn't read in the guidebook that this was actually a romantic representation of the Italian political spirit during Risorgimento in XIX (i.e. supporting the Italian unification against the Habsburg empire), I would think this was one of the most startling kisses ever...  Unremarkable tip: there is another painting that will not give you the kiss of life and that's Bellini's Pietà or The Dead Christ supported by Mary and St. John the Evangelist...  It is not actually a kiss. However, it shows desperate Mary wanting to bring her son back to life by blowing him an air kiss... Still looking for the perfect kiss? Click here for more practical infos. UNREMARKABLE TIP: entry is free every first Sunday of the month. 3 euro (instead of 10 euro) on third Thursday each month (from 6 pm til 10 pm). * 6 Milan isn't note-worthy
After all this art worshipping, now... music worshipping? This city is wearing me out!
I'm off... but I will be right Bach!(Bach has nothing to do with Milan, but I couldn't say "right Verdi", the pun wouldn't work in English). 
Anyway, Verdi? Who's Verdi? What's to do Verdi with Milan and La Scala opera house?
Well, this is not Verdi, the guy below is Giuseppe Verdi (for the record, the young lady above is the opera singer Maria Callas).
This old bearded man that looks so kind-natured (and he was NOT!) composed in Milan most of his great opera scores.
So what? Well, when he lived and worked in Milan, Lombardy was under Austrian rule. Verdi didn't like the Austrians very much, and neither did the Italian Risorgimento movement (remember "The Kiss"?). As a matter of fact, when you listen to Verdi's Nabucco opera and the chorus singing "Va Pensiero" (to sing along click here), it is all about the struggle for Italian nationhood against Austrian rule. The premier of many of Verdi's operas were held in La Scala Opera House, in the very heart of Milan (by the side of the Duomo). Despite the hefty historical prominence, if you look at it, the building is quite unassuming...isn't it?  Have you ever heard that a music hall is the mood barometer of a city? Well, in Milan it is and, honestly, I find it really bizarre. UNREMARKABLE TIP: if you are an opera fan, La Scala museum has a notable collection of musical instruments, tickets, paintings, ceramics which belonged to famous composers or performers (click here for more info). And Maria Callas? She was possibly the most influential opera soprano who performed at La Scala. Apart from her glamourous costumes on show in the museum, people believe that her ghost is still lingering in La Scala. But that's another story to Handel😉. Clearly this post has been rewritten ironically. Personally, I LOVE Milan- In fact I talked about my recent visit and my 24-h itinerary here and an interesting Mudec exhibition here. Whether you are an art lover, photo nutty, or someone who loves discovering secret places, Milan should be on your bucket-list. I would recommend you to spend a fair share of your holidays in Italy to explore the lesser-known corners of Milan. Don't underestimate the endless pleasures that sounding this city out can give you! In the Internt of Things era it is great to be able to still travel on old glories like the old trams in Milan. In Milan I drunk the best coffees ever, after scavaging all morning in many local markets! So make sure you don't miss Milan out in your plans when you visit Italy. ARRIVEDERCI MILANO!And you? Have you included Milan in your holiday plans? What's your favourite spot? I would love to hear your comments! |
