The Milan Cathedral is not only an impressive building, it is also completely out of this world. Shimmering white it looks like an alien apparition waiting to return to its home at the end of space and time…
Milan is about three hours and 10 minutes from Lausanne by train. Ideal for a weekend getaway you say? You betcha! So we packed our little rucksacks and off we went on a little journey. Now, obviously there were some catch 22 along the way: since summer there is a new train on Geneva-Milan connection and since that train has a car less then the old one, the booking system would need an update to avoid reservations for a non-existing car… Guess what happened? Wasn’t that tragic, though, there was still enough room for everybody. And even the annoying guy across the aisle discussing genocide and abortion with his neighbor, who happened to be a bishop from South Africa, could be drowned out by the mp3 player…
Now, I certainly associate endless museums and monuments with any Italian city. Sure, no place is like Rome, I guess, but I was expecting still quite a lot of ancient stones and the like. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that Milan isn’t like that at all. Sure, there are several very interesting art galleries and museums, Leonardo’s last supper (requires booking tickets quite a bit in advance, though), the Castello Sforzesco, and, of course, the Milan Cathedral (and many many other historical places). But ultimately I didn’t really feel like missing out when we decided to take it easy and just enjoy a few warm sunny days walking about.
Of course, walking means getting tired and that usually leads to sitting down and enjoying some little snacks and treats here and there. It was on our way to Santa Maria delle Gracie that we stumbled over chocolat, a cafe that serves one of the best ice creams I have ever had! While there flavor selection is huge, the three times we visited I stuck to trying out there five or six chocolate flavors… Oh boy, that gelateria alone is a good reason just to jump into the train and go for a ride…
While we are talking about food: I enjoyed all my lunches and dinners, ranging from a sandwich or a pizza to the steak in wine sauce. And the desserts, unbelievable! It is good that we stayed only for a weekend, I don’t think that my clothes would have fit me after a week. Even when you just go out for some drinks you will get served something to eat along with it. And I am not only saying some peanuts or crisps, oh no, we are talking about tapas like stuff!
So, all in all we had a wonderful weekend in Milan. And it is so close, why wouldn’t we wanna go back soon? But then there are so many other places just a train ride away….