Stacy Takes Flight
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Photos

Travel is my favorite kind of bug.

Welcome to my travel blog!  I quit my job in NYC to go on a 100-day travel adventure, and I will be documenting, inspiring and sharing as I go.

Today I am in:  New York City

More about me

DAY 40:  A DAY IN MILAN – WITH MY MOM!

5/31/2014

0 Comments

 
Monday, May 26 (Milan) – My mom arrived in Milan this morning to spend a week with me in Italy! Our plan is Milan – Cinque Terre – Florence and then she heads back to Milan to fly home to NYC, while I continue on to Rome and then Turkey.  I’ve been to Milan once before and don’t remember it being too memorable, so I only allotted one day and night in Milan while my mom was here.  But we ended up having such a great time in this city, that I kind of wish we had more time to stay!

My mom’s flight landed in the morning so by the time she arrived at the hotel we were both ready for breakfast.  We started walking in the direction of the Duomo and stopped off at a cute little sidewalk café for a brunch of tea, a shared veggie panino and a café gourmand, which was a coffee that came with a teeny tiny ice cream bar that came in foil like butter. Delicious!
Picture
Picture
We detoured a bit after eating and found ourselves walking up and down the streets with the most high-end stores like Fifth Avenue.  Many of the stores were familiar, but some I had never heard of, and we enjoyed window shopping (and I almost bought a leather jacket, but I couldn’t buy something like that in the first store I entered in Italy… could I?).

As we approached the Duomo, the sky started to open and luckily the line was short so we got inside the massive cathedral before getting soaked.  Entry was free, but it costs two Euros for a wristband if you want to take pictures inside.  It was beautiful with detailed stained glass windows throughout, but to be honest, I thought many of the cathedrals in Spain (particularly in Malaga and Sevilla) were even more stunning.
Picture
Being Monday, many of the museums were closed, so we opted for walking around (luckily the rain was short-lived) and eventually had lunch at Antica Focacceria San Francesco, a delicious café serving Sicilian specialties mixed with international cuisines and filled with locals on their lunch break.  Then, we had our very first gelato (of many) - yummm!
Picture
I then allowed my mom to rest a bit (after walking another mile or so to our hotel) by relaxing in our hotel spa.  We each got a massage which was very nice except we had to walk through the hotel lobby in our bathrobe and slippers – awkward!  I wouldn’t let my mom go to sleep or take a nap and succumb to jet lag, so we kept moving and arrived at the Navigli district just in time for my favorite Milan tradition:  aperitivo.

Aperitivo (the Italian version of happy hour) is common throughout much of Italy, but only in Milan is it customary to have a free buffet with your drink.  Kind of like ordering a drink in Granada, Spain and receiving a free tapa, except more food to choose from!  We enjoyed a sampling of all kinds of Italian food and drink while looking out at the canal and people going in and out of bars and restaurants.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Finally, we ended the night with some live music outside the Duomo where the philharmonic was performing.  Two friends of a friend back home were nice enough to take me (and my mom) out and we enjoyed cocktails on the rooftop bar of La Rinascente, the famous high-end department store.
Picture
Picture
It was a long, fun day and a great way to kick off our stay in Italy!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Hi! I'm Stacy, a 28 year old Manhattanite who quit her job to go on a 100-day journey across the world.  Follow me as I hot air balloon in Turkey, hike the Todra Gorge in Morocco, horseback ride across Ireland, and take part in all the other active adventures I can find!

    Archives

    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    100 Days Of Travel
    Accommodations
    Active Travel
    Antalya
    Apartment
    Apps
    Art
    Austira
    Austria
    Beach
    Belfast
    Best Of
    Best-of
    Bikes
    Bike Share
    Bonvoyage
    Budget Travel
    Cappadocia
    Cinque Terre
    Connemara Park
    Cordoba
    Dorset
    Dublin
    England
    Fitcation
    Fitness
    Florence
    Funny
    Galicia
    Galway
    Germany
    Good Food
    Granada
    Grunau Im Almtal
    History
    Hobbies
    Horseback Riding
    Ireland
    Istanbul
    Italy
    Itinerary
    Jerez De La Frontera
    Lease
    Life Lessons
    Lisbon
    Local Delicacy
    Local Sports
    London
    Madrid
    Malaga
    Mallorca
    Marbella
    Marrakech
    Milan
    Morocco
    Music
    Natural Wonder
    Nerja
    Nightlife
    Northern Ireland
    Nyc
    Photos
    Planning
    Porto
    Portugal
    Rome
    Running
    Salzburg
    Santiago-de-compostela
    Sevilla
    Seville
    Shopping
    Spa
    Spain
    Staces-places
    Switzerland
    Touristy Things
    Travel Tips
    Turkey
    Unemployed
    Valencia
    Vienna
    Work
    Zurich

    RSS Feed

© 2014 Stacy Schwartz.  All rights reserved.