SASSY IN THE CITY....PLUS OUR 5 ESSENTIAL TIPS WHEN VISITING MILAN
As part of my summer visits back to my mother land, I always like to squeeze in a short trip or two outside of Budapest or even venture into a new city or country we have not visited yet. After some discussions with Diana, we decided to take a chance on Milan. Neither of us have been there before but visited other regions of Italy and loved the culture, food and its people. The fact that now we are writing a lifestyle blog together made our choice of Milan even more evident, it being one of the Fashion capitals of the world. Well, as always, things did not go exactly as planned, which of course resulted in a rather interesting and adventurous trip with my two girls and my girlfriend, Zsuzsi, in tow.
Our flight was leaving at 6 o'clock in the morning, trying to maximize our time in the city with an early arrival and a potential Italian cappuccino and breakfast in the city. This would have been an excellent idea if we did not spend the night before at the Rihanna concert, held at the famous Sziget Festival in Budapest. Arriving at the airport, after barely an hour of sleep, we quickly doubled up on coffee before even boarding the flight. In preparation for the trip we researched the best way to get around the city and decided to get the MilanoCard which would allow us to use public transportation in the city and also offered some other discounts on sightseeing, restaurants and Uber rides. Good luck finding an English speaking travel agent at this international airport. But we tackled the problem, also bought train tickets into the city's main Central train station by using our best "Italian".
We stayed at the Uptown Palace Hotel, which is pretty centrally located with bus and tram stops nearby, connecting you with all the sites in the city with ease. That is if you do not get lost. All The Time. Despite maps in hand...oh well. The hotel itself is an upscale establishment with a fantastic buffet breakfast each morning. But even at a hotel like this English communication proved to be a major issue. We had to realize that it was better to do research on our phones or laptops at night instead of trying to get any help or useful info out of the hotel staff. Even from the ones who did speak English. Anyhow, we planned out our days visiting various sites including the magnificent Duomo, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, a truly amazing experience. Took a tour of the Castello Sforzesco, visited the Pinacoteca di Brera picture gallery. Literally begged ourselves into the Teatrale Alla Scala and its museum 30 minutes before closing, whose building by the way was very anticlimactic compared to our own beautiful Opera House in Budapest, or the one in Vienna. Took the elevator up to the top of the Torre Branca tower to take in a 360 degree view of the city. Did some window shopping, ok maybe a little money spending as well.
After all the sightseeing and walking 25 miles each day we were ready to get out of the city and visit the gorgeous Lake Como. I reserved a hotel in Lecco which we could reach by train from Milano Central Station. Let the nightmare begin! Wrong ticket, wrong departure time with the wrong platform information. All communicated by train staff members with seemingly excellent English. Instead of taking a direct train to Lecco, we ended up getting off after one stop to switch trains in another small town, whose train we missed by 30 seconds because our first train sat outside the station for 25 minutes before letting us off. This second train was an absolute disaster, no air, no windows open, with very few but extremely sketchy people on it. I never in my life feared for my safety or my kids but we were so scared that we even changed cars dragging our luggage around. Not an experience I would like to repeat. Finally we started seeing the surroundings of the Lake and our mood improved. Upon getting off the train I told the girls we are taking a cab to the hotel. Except there were no taxi stops. In fact no visible taxis in the city at all. We started walking towards our hotel, tried to ask some help in a book store, thinking English would be spoken. Well of course not, but I managed to have them call a taxi company with absolute no luck. They would not pick up. I was ready to just flag down a local car and beg them to take us to our hotel when a taxi finally emerged. I frantically waved it down, nice driver, air-conditioned car, 10 minute drive to the hotel. This was followed by a mix up with our rooms which at this point I was not going to have at all. I think the manager finally understood not to argue with me anymore but figure out a way to correct their mistakes. After a quick shower and change of clothes we hit the town and oh boy was it worth all the trouble! The little city could not be more picturesque, the bay could not be more beautiful with its evening lights. We quickly decided on a restaurant right by the water and our pick was perfect. Fantastic food and drinks with a priceless view. All ends well.
Next day we took a ferry around the lake, another interesting experience. There are clearly no rules on just how many people they can squeeze on a boat. And I really mean squeezing because when your shoulder is touching a stranger you start to worry. We did not have seats to begin with and with the ferry stopping at each little town and picking up more passengers than ones getting off, you would understand the saying of 'packed in as sardines'. Literally. Finally we reached the city of Bellagio, got off the boat and walked around for a couple of hours in this romantic little town with its narrow streets, specialty shops and restaurants. Did someone say Aperol Spritz? Yes, we took a nice break sitting down at a coffee shop overlooking the Lake with our new favorite cocktail in hand before taking the ferry back to Lecco. Late afternoon we took the train back to Milan. Little more shopping in the city before we were ready to say good bye and take our midnight flight back to Budapest. Arrivederci! #mommyknowsbest
My mom was finally in town which meant vacation time! Milan seemed like the perfect choice- a beautiful city in a not-too-distant country, which we already love. It's one of the fashion capitals of the world, so it seemed fitting. Only when we got there did we discover that not only was it not as beautiful as we expected, but the whole experience would go down in a chapter of the DeBolt travel diaries as another crazy trip. Besides all the typical mishaps like not getting on the right train and finding ourselves stopping off at very bad neighborhoods with racists, and running after buses so they wouldn't leave without us, we also had some more unexpected ones as well. Those included our friend Zsuzsi spilling coffee all over herself and me having to wash it for her in the bathroom of a little coffee shop as well as my dress ripping and my mom having to sew it back up while sitting on the bus, bent over, as people in cars stared at me with a look that probably said 'she is freakin crazy'.
But the trip wasn't all that bad, there were many good moments. The Duomo of course was beautiful and extravagant and just like I imagined it. One night we went to the Navigli District which is a long street by the canal filled with restaurants and a busy nightlife. Then there was Lake Como which was so stunning I still to this day cannot believe a place like that actually exists. I've seen many oceans and rivers and bodies of water, but the way the deep blue lake was surrounded by hills and mountains with colorful little houses all along the coast was absolutely breathtaking. And of course the food was amazing and the Aperol spritz extremely refreshing.
All in all, I am glad we made the trip to Milan. It won't be my favorite city, but it was good to see what all the hype was about. Lake Como on the other hand, was stunning, and I hope to be back there someday soon. So learn from our mistakes, and find out the top 5 things you need to know before traveling to Milan... #dianasays
5 things to know before traveling to Milan
1. August is dead. Try to plan your trip in May or September.
2. Not as many people speak English as you would think and no one has any idea about train activity, or directions, or really anything at all...be prepared.
3. Plan the trip out well- the city is huge but can be covered in a day or two. Spend the rest of your days by Lake Como, it's truly magnificent.
4. Aperitivo- you buy a pre dinner drink and eat as much at the buffet as you want- saves money.
5. If you want to see the Leonardo da Vinci's fresco of the Last Supper, make reservation weeks in advance. No way you can get in last minute, something we will have to come back for to cross off our bucket list.
