The Magnetic Charm of Milan

Part 3

The last part of our trip to Italy occurred in Milan. My mom stipulated that of all the places we could go, she would like us to visit Milan. I had no qualms with this request. We decided to stay a few days there before returning to the United States.

Before I started to plan what we would do in Milan, I didn’t know much about the city besides it being the financial center of Italy and as one of the world’s fashion hubs. As I researched, I learned that there was much to do in the city. For example, I was surprised that Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper was in Milan. Had I known that I would have tried to book our tickets to the museum where it’s located much sooner.

Although I was ignorant of what we could do in Milan, we had a lot of fun there based on what we learned about the city before and while we were there.

Day 1

We took a taxi to our hotel apartment near Milan Cathedral after we had arrived at Milan Centrale. The apartment was spacious and looked over the Basilica di Santo Stefano Maggiore. We thought it quite nice.

After relaxing in the apartment, we started to explore the city. We first went up to Piazza San Babila and from there walked down toward Milan Cathedral. As we walked along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, we stopped inside some stores to see what they had.

Besides the cathedral, there are many sites around the Piazza del Duomo. One of the most interesting is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This shopping gallery is the oldest in Italy, having opened in 1877, which is still actively used. Many luxury brands have stores there, as well as some old restaurants and bakeries. It was neat to walk around the structure. 

By then it was getting late and it had started to drizzle. We decided to walk back to the hotel before dinner. Jun suggested we eat at Al Conte Ugolino da Marino. It was fairly nearby and had good reviews. Dinner was delicious and we left happy.

We returned to the hotel and piddled around for a bit before going to bed.

Day 2

We awoke to rain. It would prove to rain on and off for most of the morning. We didn’t let that stop us and got ready to explore the city. We started our day with breakfast at Bastianello. This pastry café was a wonderful way to start the day.

We walked westward toward the Church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore. We wanted to visit this church for the frescoes inside, which many call the Sistine Chapel of northern Italy. To get there we walked across different sections of Milan. As we got closer to the church we stopped at a lovely tea shop—La Via del Tè—where we bought a lot of tea and a tea cup. The irony was not lost on us that we bought tea in a country known for its coffee. Stopping at the store was also a way for us to get out of the rain which at that time was fairly heavy.

The rain, fortunately, stopped as we left the store. We continued to the church. When we got there we learned that it was closed in solidarity with a workers’ strike that was happening on this specific day. A bit disappointed, we changed plans and instead walked toward Castello Sforzesco.

Castello Sforzesco is a medieval castle. The fortification was once the home of Francesco I Sforza, the fourth Duke of Milan and the founder of the Sforza dynasty. It is now the location of many museums and serves as an endpoint for Parco Sempione.

We enjoyed walking around the castle and Parco Sempione. While we were there, we also visited the Arco della Pace. This area is known as Porta Sempione, as it corresponds to the area where the city wall was built during Roman times.

From there we walked to Chinatown where we had lunch at Yuebinlou (悦賓楼). While we all enjoyed eating Italian food, it was nice to have something different. The food was delicious and we left quite satisfied. After lunch, we stopped across the street to get some drinks at Chabaidou (茶百道), which is a place Jun and I sometimes go to in Shenzhen. It was wild to see it in Milan.

With our drinks, we walked back to the Parco Sempione, and then toward Via Montenapoleone. Along the walk, we passed the Pinacoteca di Brera. That area of Milan was fascinating as there were many small side streets and alleys with shops, cafés, and restaurants.

When we got to Via Montenapoleone, we stopped to have drinks at illy Monte Napoleone. When we finished with our drinks, we went to visit the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum.

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a house museum. The house as it exists now started with the brothers Barons Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi in the late nineteenth century. During their tenure as owners of their family home, they renovated the house in the style reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance. There are many decorative arts, sculptures, and paintings from that period. Walking around the house was fascinating. There was so much to see. The place was beautiful and quite different from anything we had seen at that point in the trip.

After our visit, we returned to the apartment to rest.

When we were ready, we went and had dinner at DeRos. This seafood restaurant was wonderful. Jun chose to eat here for my birthday celebration. It was a wonderful choice!

When we finished dinner, we walked back to the hotel and called it a day.

Day 3

We began our third day in Milan with a quick breakfast at Caffè Cimmino. Once we finished, we walked toward Santa Maria delle Grazie. This convent is the location of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. For us to see it we had to book a tour; the tickets for individual purchase were sold out when I tried in August. The tour we chose was managed by Walks: City Experiences. This tour was great! Our tour guide was quite knowledgeable and provided a lot of fascinating information about the painting and its history.

Seeing the painting in person was quite amazing. I appreciated that the Museum had limited the number of people who could visit at any one time. That left us the opportunity to view the painting in a calm and relaxing environment. Also in the room was a fresco by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, Crucifixion. This fresco is quite impressive, but it doesn’t get the same attention as The Last Supper.

After we visited Santa Maria delle Grazie, we continued our walk towards the Duomo. Along the way, our guide pointed out some interesting aspects of the city. One of the things I found humbling was the pietre d’inciampo (stumbling stones) outside one of the houses in Milan. These stones commemorate those who suffered during the Holocaust. They are located outside where these individuals had once lived in Milan. They originally were raised above the ground so people would stumble upon them and be reminded of the horrors of the Holocaust. That proved dangerous for people and they are now placed at the same level as the sidewalk.

We also visited other places in the city, such as the ruins of the Roman imperial palace (Palazzo Imperiale di Massimiano), Borsa (Italy’s stock exchange), and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

The last stop was Milan Cathedral. With our tour, we could skip the line and enter the cathedral without having to wait. The inside of the cathedral is impressive. Construction on the cathedral began in 1386 and finished in 1965. It’s the third-largest cathedral in the world and the largest in Italy. I found the stained-glass windows particularly gorgeous.

The cathedral was the last stop on our tour. Afterward, we continued to explore the city. First, though we had lunch at the Sophia Lauren Restaurant. Named in honor of the actress and associated with her, the restaurant had some amazing pizzas. Their four-cheese pizza was sensational.

With our stomachs filled, we backtracked our walking tour to revisit some of them and ended up back at the Church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore. The church was open and we were able to see the frescoes. Nearly every interior wall is covered in a fresco. These frescoes were created in the 1500s by many artists. Many of them depict scenes from the Bible, while others are scenes from the history of Christianity. The frescoes were impressive.

From the church, we returned to Sforzesco Castle to take pictures of it on a clear day. The fortress had a different vibe when it wasn’t raining. It was much more lively as people enjoyed the space.

We then walked back to the apartment to rest our feet. When it was time for dinner, we went to Alto Ristorante. The views of Milan from this restaurant were a lovely addition to the food we ate. It was also a nice way for us to end the day.

Day 4

Looking for a breakfast place, we passed an eatery called California Bakery. We decided to check it out to see if they had anything that interested us. When we went inside we learned they were having Sunday brunch and it looked delicious. We decided to have breakfast here and it was a great choice.

We then walked southwesterly towards the Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Colonne di San Lorenzo. The columns are the remnants of what was likely a Roman temple.

From here, we walked down Corso di Porta Ticinese towards the navigli system. The navigli are canals in Milan. There were originally five of them which traversed all parts of the city. Beginning in the 1930s, the canals in the northeastern part of the city were infilled to make way for roads. Today, the remaining canals are used for irrigation and tourism.

After walking around the Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese, we walked back to central Milan. Along the way, we stopped at Caffè Napoli for a quick coffee.

We continued our walk northward and stopped at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop there as I wanted to give my mom a break from walking. It ended up being serendipitous as the art museum was amazing. There were many great works of art here, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Portrait of a Musician, Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit, and Raphael’s cartoon of The School of Athens.

The art museum is built within the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. This library holds da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, which is the largest single collection of his writings and drawings. We were able to see some of them during our visit.

When we finished our visit, we walked through the city and ended up at Eataly. Since we were there we browsed around this marketplace. We ended up buying some pastries and olive oil.

Afterward, we walked back to our apartment for a rest.

Since we were tired we didn’t want to venture too far from the apartment. We decided to eat at Giardino di Giada (玉園饭店). The food there was good, and we left happy.

We then returned to the apartment for the night.

Day 5

For our last full day in Italy, we decided to take the train to Verona. We first navigated through the metro to reach Milano Centrale. The metro has a retro 60s/70s vibe to it. When we got to the train station, Mom and Jun got some coffee before we boarded.

The train ride went smoothly and we soon arrived at Verona Porta Nuova. From the train station, we walked to Piazza Brà. When we got there we explored this area. The main attraction here is the Verona Arena—a Roman amphitheater built in 30 AD. The Arena is 50 years older than the Colosseum in Rome. The arena is still used today. Many opera productions are staged here. The closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place here as well.

We then continued our explorations by walking up Via Giuseppe Mazzini towards Piazza delle Erbe.

When we got there we continued to Juliet’s Balcony at Casa di Giulietta. The balcony is claimed to have inspired William Shakespeare when he wrote Romeo and Juliet. The place was full of tourists taking pictures. We spent a few minutes there before continuing with our walk.

By this time we were hungry. Jun searched online and chose a restaurant nearby: Osteria da Ugo. This place was so cute. The food was delicious. And the service here was impeccable. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch here.

After satisfying our hunger, we walked across the Ponte Navi toward the Palazzo e Giardino Giusti.

Palazzo e Giardino Giusti was built in the sixteenth-century. The palace and gardens are gorgeous. The site is better known for its gardens, which are in the Italian Renaissance style. The apartments in the palace are lovely, and the custodians of the palace have done lovely work in incorporating plants to give the palace a lively feel. The gardens, however, were the highlight of this site. The three of us thought they were spectacular and picturesque.

We then ventured towards the Funicolare di Castel San Pietro. Along the way, we stopped at Ponte Pietra. The bridge was completed in 100 BC, which makes it the oldest bridge in Verona.

We then walked to the funicular to go up to the Castel San Pietro.

The views of Verona from Castel San Pietro were gorgeous. It was nice to sit and enjoy seeing the city from this vantage point.

By then it was getting late and we needed to start heading back to the train station. As we walked down the stairs from the castle, we crossed the Ponte Pietra back into the historic city center.

Along the walk back, we stopped a bit to admire the Arena and to get some drinks at Pasticceria Barini. We also bought a Torta Russa di Verona to take with us back to Milan. This puff pastry has an almond flavoring. When we ate it the next day we discovered it was quite delicious.

When we arrived at the train station we learned that our train was slightly delayed. After it arrived and we had boarded, we took the time to relax as we went back to Milan.

Upon arriving in Milan, we took the metro back to the apartment. We dropped our things and then went out to have dinner at Velavevodetto. The restaurant is known for its pasta, and it lives up to its reputation. This neighborhood restaurant was a wonderful place for our last dinner in Milan.

After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood one last time. It was a wonderful night!

Day 6

A long day of traveling awaited us as we woke up early that morning to get to Milan Malpensa Airport. The drive there took almost an hour. Fortunately, it went quickly as our taxi driver was a seasoned driver.

Our flights that day went well. They were all on time and we had no issues with our connections or immigration. When we arrived back in Oklahoma City, my brother met us and drove us to dinner and home.

The two weeks we spent in Italy were delightful. It was a treat to visit all the places we did. The trip was one to remember!

Return to Part 1: Roman Times or Part 2: A Sojourn in Florence