Milan: the confused city.
If I’m completely honest with you, I wasn’t really sure what I was letting myself in for when I rather spontaneously booked flights to go and meet my dad out in Milan for 4 days.
When I think of Milan, I think fashion, chic, trendy; a city bursting with life. However that wasn’t necessarily the impression I got when I began reading up on this infamous city.
Symbolising Milan's fashion industry
I soon found out that Milan isn’t really considered to be the most popular of tourist spots and to make the most of the city, you have to really dig deep to discover the hidden gems that aren’t so visible to the unsuspecting eye.
Upon arrival, I saw exactly what people meant. My dad and I took a walk into the centre of Milan in the scorching Italian sun, but all we could really find was the castle and the breathtaking Duomo. I was so glad that I’d booked us on to a 3 hour walking tour two days later…
Il Duomo - The world's largest Gothic cathedral
For anybody hoping to visit Milan, I would strongly suggest that you book yourself on to one of the walking city tours. I saw so much more in 3 hours than what I did in 3 days! And not only that, but most tours have entry to see Da Vinci’s world famous Last Supper included in the price.
The famous bull's balls - Spin on them for luck!
When you go ‘behind the scenes’ in Milan, you see it’s true beauty. Hidden behind the endless grey architecture are quaint, little cobbled streets with quirky, little cafés and countless cute gardens.
Milan's lovely Brera District
The impression that I got of Italy’s fashion capital is that despite it being one of the oldest cities in the country, it is in fact a little confused about it’s true identity. Having torn down all it’s original structure and covered up it’s many canals, the city has now completely re-built itself from scratch based on numerous other cities from around the world. Especially Paris, thanks to Napoleon’s influence. It was sometimes easy to forget where I actually was!
The "Arco Della Pace" - Milan or...Paris?
I found myself becoming more and more intrigued with Milan and it’s history, and whilst exploring this fascinating city, I also managed to cross off another 4 of my ’1,000 Places to See Before You Die’: Il Duomo, The Last Supper, La Scala Opera House and ultimately… The Milanese Experience.
I plan to go to Italy next year and your blog post helps! I want to explore Milan and I will surely bookmark this post for future reference
Thank you so much! I’m glad it was of some use to you…
I’ve visited Milan at the end of June and wrote an article about it titled “Milan. Where nothing is what it seems” (http://www.travelocafe.com/2010/07/milan-where-nothing-is-what-it-seems.html). One of my biggest surprises was to discover the Monumental Cemetery, a huge open air museum one must see to fully understand Milan. It is not said in vain that you can judge a culture after the way they honor their dead.