BUONGIORNO MILANO! :)

Here is my Milano diary 🙂

I traveled to Milano for 12 days between 23-07-2018 and 03-08-2018 for business purposes.

Me and my collegue flew from Ankara ESB to Milano Malpensa Airport with Turkish Airlines and arrived in MXP about 18:15 without any delays. After we rented a car at the airport from Hertz, we visited Tornavento to catch the sunset where I amazed by the beauty of green on our first night 🙂

After we walked around a little bit, we checked in our hotel, the Hotel Astoria, which is located at the center of Gallarate. There are several reasons why I would recommend our hotel. First, its location is really good as it is very close to the Gallarate train station. Second, it is very clean and trustable. I regularly locked my personal stuff in my suitcase when we left the hotel except one day that I forgot. Although I was afraid a little bit about my money and jewelry, nothing was missing after we arrived at that night. Moreover, the breakfast is basic but satisfactory for me; both boiled and scrambled eggs are available which is perfect for a person who loves egg 🙂 In addition, there are two types of cheese, bacon, yoghurt, oats and different fruits. Although I didn’t try, muffins, cookies, croissants, etc. were also available.

After the check-in, we wanted to take some air and walked to a square near our hotel where we had the chance to listen the girl band Alea 🙂 Next, we tried pizza at King restaurant that I really loved and highly recommend. Although I figured out later, the concept of King is unlimited pizza that is you purchase either the beer, wine or cold drink option and reach unlimited pizza of many different types. Waitresses bring and introduce you different types of pizza each time and you choose one or two slices of each type that you like 🙂 By this way, you get the chance of trying different flavors.

24.07.2018 – MILAN CATHEDRAL & PIAZZA DI DUOMO

We went to Milano Centrale and Duomo after work on our second day. Both the square and streets were really attractive 🙂

After we visited some shops, we waited a long queue at Sorbillo which I do not regret since we tried the pizza that I liked most during our stay 🙂 We tried Margherita Bufala D.O.P. with homemade wine and I haven’t tried a pizza that is as delicious as this one yet.

After dinner, we walked to the central train station for almost 1.5 hours and catched the last train by running 🙂

25.07.2018 – ARONA

We spent the third night at Arona with a beautiful and relaxing view. Since the places near the lake were too expensive, we had dinner at Anticogalla located between some small streets. I ordered smoked salmon for the first time in my life but it was so hard to eat since the fish was just so raw like it is catched just a minute ago. Thanks to the companion of delicious red wine, I could finish it 🙂

After dinner we walked through the lake and tried the first ice-cream in Italy at Gelateria Marcella which was really delicious. The first thing that I noticed about ice-cream here was the white color of the lemon flavor. In Turkey the lemon option has a color of yellow and unfortunately it does not taste as much as delicious as this one.

26.07.2018 – BUSTO ARSIZIO

After work, we directly went to Busto Arsizio by car and parked at a far and free parking place. In Italy, you really need to be careful about the location you park your car. We generally preferred the free parking places and since we were tourists it was nice for us to discover places by walking. We spent a free hour to visit shops and purchase some presents.. At around 7 pm, when shops are closed, we chose a place to try “Aperitivo” for the first time 🙂

Aperitivo is an Italian tradition that took place in 1700s which whets your appetite before dinner. Since most Italian eat lunch around 1 or 2 pm and dinner around 8 or 9 pm, it is a good idea to kick start metabolism between 7 and 9 pm by Aperitivo consisting of a pre-meal drink and some snack options such as different types of cheese, cured meats, quiches, vegetables and pizzas. You order your drink and take as much as you need into your plate to enjoy 1 or 2 hours of Aperitivo. A famous drink option for Aperitivo is Spritz that we also tried; sparkling wine, soda and some bitter liqueur such as Campari or Aperol.

27.07.2018 – GALLARATE

After a week consisting of hard work and visiting different new places every night, I preferred to spend Friday night at Gallarate, near to our hotel. I visited some shops until they got closed at 7 – 7.30 pm and the sweet, little park in front of our hotel.

I searched “Best pizza in Gallarate” on the internet and came up with Fior di Farina which is an elegant restaurant located at the cross of Hotel Astoria. I liked its design and enjoyed Bufala pizza with homemade red wine, the best couple for Italy 🙂

28.07.2018 MILAN CENTRALE & CORSO BUENOS AIRES & POLITECNICO DI MILANO & CASTELLO SFORZESCO & COLONNE DI SAN LORENZO & NAVIGLI

It is very easy to wake up early with full of energy when you reserve your day for Milano Centrale 🙂 This time we preferred to go by car and our first stop was Politecnico di Milano – the largest technical university of Italy and one of the top-ranked universities in engineering, architecture and industrial design.

We reached Buenos Aires Zone by walking and Lindt Chocolate Shop welcomed us by chance 🙂 I entered with joy and tried definitely the most delicious chocolate that I have ever tried for a very looong time 🙂

We visited the shops on Buenos Aires Street and arrived to Memorial of Alessandro Manzoni – an Italian poet and novelist who is famous for the novel The Betrothed.

After an ice-cream break at Amorino Gelato, next stop was Castello Sforzesco. Between 1360 and 1370, having become the Lord of western Milan, Galeazzo Visconti II built a fort straddling the medieval wall – the initial Visconti Castle.

In 1447, upon the death of last Visconti, the people of Milan proclaimed the Ambrosian Republic and partially damaged the castle.

However, the castle was to be saved by Francesco Sforza; an immensely capable military leader as well as an astute politician originally from Romagna. He was previously hired by Visconti family to defend the city and thanks to his success he was welcomed by the populace as a liberator. On 1450, Sforza and his wife Bianca Maria Visconti were hailed as the rulers of Milan. Once in power, Francesco Sforza immediately set to work building additions to the Visconti Castle. Thanks to his great contributions, the castle has started to known as Sforza Castle.

By leaving Sforza Castle behind, we visited Colonne di San Lorenzo; the famous Roman ruin located in front of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The place is very popular for young people and families in terms of its historical atmosphere and fresh air. It is also cheap and joyful to bring some drinks with you end enjoy the night with your friends 🙂

We gave a little break here to experience its spirit and moved to our final destination for today which was Navigli. The Navigli neighborhood is named after the Naviglio Grande Canal where you can find small shops and good restaurants serving authentic Milanese cuisine. Since we were very tired and hungry because of walking the whole day, we walked around a little bit and tried a spontaneous restaurant; L’Altro Luca e Andrea. I tried “Eggplant and Buffalo Mozzarella” which was baked in the oven and shared Tiramisu with my friend – highly recommend to try if you visit here 🙂

As a summary of the day, you can find our tour as below 🙂

29.07.2018 SANTA CATERINA & ISOLA BELLA & ISPRA

We spent Sunday at lakeside with fantastic views and a relaxing atmosphere. Actually, before coming here, I didn’t know that Italy has this many lakes and green areas.

We started our tour from Santa Caterina by driving from our hotel about 45 minutes. I was amazed by the view at the minute we arrived.

Santa Caterina is one of the wharfs of Lago Maggiore which is the second largest lake of Italy (where the largest is Lake Garda) A majestic church is located right behind of the wharf and also a swimming area is available when you go down a little bit. However, you also have the option of visiting nearby islands as my friend suggested to me. With following his instructions, I purchased a ticket to go to the Isola Bella that is the Beautiful Island as you may guess 🙂 At this point, I want to inform you that there are 3 islands that you may visit if you have enough time. Due to the last ferry which was returning at 4 pm, I had only one option and I chose Isola Bella 🙂

I reached the Isola Bella with a stop at Stressa and changed my ferry.

The island is called as “beautiful” after the name of the wife of its founder Vitalino VI Borromeo, Isabella. The family donates their wealth to the city with many different art treasures as well as a very large and beautiful garden.

“However fantastic and wonderful it may be and it is the island Bella, it is nevertheless beautiful.”
(C. Dickens, 1844)

After the tour in the palace, I had lunch while waiting my return ferry near the wharf – another very delicious meal 🙂

Although I reached the Isola Bella through Stressa, my return ticket was a direct ferry. Buuut, I forgot to leave at Santa Caterina where I should meet with my friend. So I understood that one should be careful while enjoying beautiful views and taking lots of photos 🙂

As soon as I was aware of the situation, I talked with officers and asked where we were going to. Below, is the map view of some parts of Lago Maggiore related with us 🙂 We were crossing over the lake again and going to the opposite shore. Luckily, our next stop was Ispra lying on the same coast with Santa Caterina and the distance between them was 10 minutes by car. However, my telephone was not active yet for abroad usage, so I was not able to connect with my friend and inform him by my cell. Thankfully, a sweet seller girl let me to use her phone and called my colleague. If it is written in your destiny that you will visit somewhere – even if you do not know its name – you go there eventually 🙂

After Ispra, we started to drive back to our hotel but we came up with a Panzerotti Festival 🙂

Actually, our first attempt was to try Panzerotti at Luini located in Milano Centrale but unfortunately we couldn’t try it since the place was on summer-break. Hope you get a chance 🙂

Panzerotti is a well-known Italian pastry; deep-fried pockets of dough filled with mozzarella and tomato sauce. It reminded me the Turkish pasty “pişi” but I did not like its taste really much. However, it was nice to try something new 🙂

30.07.2018 – ANGERA

On Monday, we drove to Angera after work and again got relaxed with the help of the peaceful lake view. Since we had limited time, we could not visit any touristic places but enjoyed the fresh and quiet air.

01.08.2018 – VARESE

On Tuesday, we catched a train from Gallarate to Varese after work. As I heard before, Varese was truly elegant and beautiful. Our first stop was the magnificent clock tower, Sancto Victori Martyri Patrono.

Next, we visited the Vienna Garden and tried La Piedigrotta Ristorante for dinner. I suggest this restaurant as well 🙂

02.08.2018

We spent our last night with our Italian colleagues in Gallarate with Aperitivo.

03.08.2018

On Friday night, there was a delay of 2.5 hrs for our flight. However, this very delay provided some additional time for us to say goodbye to Italy with the companion of delicious Italian pizza and red wine 🙂 We tried Rosso Pomodoro at the Malpensa Airport and loved its Margharita. I really recommend you to try if you have extra time at the airport.

Hope you enjoy Italy as much as I do 🙂

Love,