Italy Part III: Milano
Our time in Milan was bittersweet. I was very excited to explore the city but knew that when we reached Milan, our trip would quickly approach the end of our vacation. We made the best of our day and half in this beautiful city, which involved some major retail therapy!
STAY
For two nights, we called the Park Hyatt our home. The location was very convenient and in walking distance to many spots. When I poked my head out our hotel window, I could see the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II! Not sure how Dan felt about that, though.
EATS
One of my most fave Italian meals I became obsessed with from our first Italy trip is pasta with cheese and black pepper. Needless to say, when we found a restaurant called Cacio & Pepe, I made Dan take me. We split this pasta dish and then had our own entrees. It was so much food! If I had a do-over, we should have also split an entree.
For lunch one day, we decided to take a break from Italian food. I know, is that even allowed??? Dan had read about a place in Chinatown that had amazing Chinese dumplings: Ravioleria Sarpi. These little guys were phenomenal! We knew it had to be good because when we finally found the spot, there was already quite a line!
The stand was a bit hard to find since there was construction going on right out front. While waiting, you can actually watch the dumplings being made. We highly recommend this place for lunch if you feel the need to break from Italian food.
On our last night in Milan, we dined at Tartufotto. As you can guess by its name, the restaurant specializes in all things truffle. This was my entree, basically pasta with cheese and black pepper with a healthy helping of truffle.
Dan went for the roasted octopus, also topped off with truffle. Four thumbs up all around for this dinner!
Not too far from our hotel is the Lavazza Flagship store. That was our first stop when we got to Milan. I needed a coffee break and some yummy pastries before we set out to explore. The cafe was spacious, beautifully decorated and had outdoor seating, which was where we sat - great people watching.
We did a lot of walking, so I constantly needed a break. During one of our outings, we walked by Farage. It's the cutest little coffee shop and I was very into the decor. But aside from the decor, I can report that the coffee was yummy. I wasn't quite hungry but the desserts in the glass cases looked magnificent.
SIGHTS
We couldn't come to Milan without visiting the Duomo. It was the first thing we did on the first morning we were there. We wanted to try to beat the crowds and our plan worked! By the time we walked out of there, the line was starting to get pretty long. The inside of the Duomo was beautiful. It's so incredible to think about how something like this was built so long ago and is still standing today for us to visit. Photo cred goes to my Instagram Husband for this one.
We highly recommend purchasing the ticket that allows you to visit the rooftop. Seeing the Duomo from the outside was breathtaking. I mean, look at all the detail behind us. We were also lucky to have such a perfectly clear day to enjoy it.
One thing we were not able to see in Milan was the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. We tried purchasing tickets two months in advance and still couldn't get them. If you ever plan on visiting it, you MUST plan ahead!
SHOPPING
On our way into Milan, we stopped at the Serravalle Designer Outlet. I had done some research on outlet shopping before we left for our trip, and this one seemed to have the best mix of designers in one place. Dan snapped this pic of me while I was in my element at the Gucci outlet. I picked up a few souvenirs for myself and my mother. Between the discounted prices and the VAT refund, I was able to save a decent amount of money!
As I previously mentioned, our hotel was right next door to the Galleria Vittorio Emanualle II. The architecture of this building is beautiful and it houses adorable cafes and designer shops. Of course, I popped into a few of the stores here to seek out some items my mom asked for and picked up a few more souvenirs for myself :) Dan was so over shopping by this point!
Milan is chock-full of boutiques, as you can imagine. During our stroll through the city, I stopped in a few stores that specializes in flats and picked up two pairs. They are super comfy and for Italian leather, so much cheaper than faux leather at home. I learned this the last time we were in Italy when I only bought one pair and wore them into the ground. A few other places we checked out: (1) we really enjoyed wandering through the Brera district, a cool neighborhood with lots to see; (2) La Rinascente, a high end department store that has a great food hall all the way at the top, definitely worth a walk through; (3) Excelsior another department store that was fun to walk through. The fashion is great to look at but is definitely pricey; (4) Antonia, a beautifully curated high end store. I liked walking through it and getting inspired by all the beautiful clothes and accessories; and (5) Pharmacies. Yes, that's right. I always pop into the pharmacies to buy beauty products such as Italian made lotions and soaps to bring home as gifts. They're always a hit!
And with that, I have fully recapped our vacation. It was fun to reminisce but also sad that it's over! I'll have to start dreaming of our next vacation, which will be a little bit different with a little baby in tow :)