Milan in October

Milan was the first stop in our three city trip to Italy. The Duomo, which is one of the largest cathedrals in the world, is a top attraction. It is quite awesome to see in person. We highly recommend taking the elevator to the top; the incredible view of Milan and of the Piazza del Duomo below is a must see. One thing we noticed about Milan is that there does not appear to be as many tourists as in some other cities such as Florence. We enjoyed sitting on the Duomo steps and blending in with the locals at lunch hour.

Another must-see is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is next to the Duomo. Many restaurants and high end shops can be found in this beautiful structure, and there's ample people-watching to enjoy as well.

We were fortunate enough see a Picasso exhibit at the Palazzo Reale while we were in Milan. The exhibit, "200 masterpieces from 1898 to 1972", displayed more than two hundred of Picasso's sculptures, paintings, drawings and ceramics and was one of the highlights of our trip. The exhibit runs through January 27, 2002.

If shopping is your game, you will not be disappointed in Milan. For high end shopping, walk down Via Alessandro Manzoni from the Giardini Pubblici towards the Piazza della Scala. This is sort of the "Rodeo Drive" of Milan. For more affordable shopping, walk along Corso Buenos Aires.

Quick Tips:

If it's raining you may want to save the visit to the top of the Duomo for another day. The roof looks as though it would be very slick on a wet day.

Regarding hotel accomodations, if you are planning to visit Milan in March or October, it's advisable to make your room reservations well in advance, since major international fashion shows are held in those months.

Please check out my journals on Florence and Bellagio to read about our other two stops in Italy.

Best Way To Get Around:

Milan has an excellent subway system. There are subway stops near all the main attractions such as the Piazza del Duomo. Day and hour-long passes, are available and are a good buy if your schedule can take advantage of them. For the most part, though, we walked to nearly all of our destinations in Milan.

We flew in and out of Malpensa and took one of the many shuttle buses to and from the Stazione Centrale. The shuttles are convenient and inexpensive (ITL8,000-10,000, or about -) and drop you off right at the international terminal. Buses depart every twenty or thirty minutes. Expect about an hour ride to Malpensa from Milan's Stazione Centrale.

The Gran Duca di York is a moderately priced hotel with 33 rooms, and is located in the city centre just a few blocks from the Piazza del Duomo. The historic building, constructed by the Catholic Church in the 1890s, once housed dozens of priests from the Duomo, including the cardinal of Milan, who later became Pope Pius XI.

Our double room ($135/night) was very clean, comfortable, and fairly spacious by European standards. We had a private bath with shower and a bidet. Some rooms have a terrace. Our room had a television, but no CNN International, as is common with some hotels. The Italian version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" can be quite amusing when one is deliriously tired with jet lag, however. We noticed a lot of street noise (read scooter traffic), although it quieted down to acceptable levels late at night. Our only complaint is that the walls seemed paper thin.

Everyone we encountered at the front desk was friendly, helpful, and spoke serviceable English. The typical European breakfast of coffee, juice and light pastries is included in the room rate and is served at a coffee bar just off of the lobby.

The Gran Duca di York is located next to the Piazza Tomasso Edison where there are a couple of banks and, consequently, ATMs (or "Bancomats" as they're called in Italy) that actually work. For some reason we had alot of difficulty finding ATMs in Milan that were in service and able to dispense cash. We don't know if our luck finding ATMs in Milan was an abberation or not.

It seems as though many of the hotels in Milan are located in the Buenos Aires-Stazione Centrale area, and we saw precious few hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Piazza del Duomo. So if it's important to you to be in this central location, the Gran Duca di York would be a good choice.

The hotel is served by the Cordusio and Duomo metro stops. Their fax number is (+39) 02-8690344.

As a final note, we are under the impression that since Milan is primarily a business destination, accommodations are relatively expensive here. It's also advisable to make reservations well in advance, especially in March and October when major international fashion shows are held.

Ristorante Al Mercante is a nice, moderately priced restaurant offering traditional Milanese and Tuscan fare. Set in a Medieval square (Piazza Mercanti), this area of Milan once served as a center of civic activities and housed a prison. Al Mercante was very conveniently located for us, directly between the Piazza del Duomo and our hotel, the Gran Duca di York.

This little restaurant is apparently well known for its selection of antipasti, and the huge antipasti table dominates the restaurant's lower level (you can clearly see the antipasti table just inside the front door in one of the photos). On both of our visits we were led to a table in the upstairs dining room.

The menu at Al Mercante is very extensive; you'll have your choice of pasta, beef, chicken, seafood, and pizza. We found that the pasta dishes, seafood and stuffed vegetables (ripieni) were all excellent, and the house wine was of good quality. The swordfish I ordered one evening was grilled to perfection.

Menus in English are available. We were amused that our Italian must have improved over the course of 24 hours; on our first visit we were presented with bilingual menus, while upon our return the following evening the same host gave us menus in Italian.

Al Mercante is closed Sundays and August 3rd - 28th.

Milan's enormous Duomo is the third largest cathedral in the world, dominating the large square named after it. Construction of the Duomo began in 1386, yet it was not completed until the 19th century when Napolean, who was crowned King of Italy here, had its facade completed.

We took the elevator (open 9:00am - 4:30pm) to the rooftop terraces. Even with the elevator, there are plenty of steep stairwells, odd corners, and narrow passages to traverse in order to reach the top. It's hard to explain, but this building exhudes somewhat of a creepy, yet not unenjoyable midieval feeling.

The view of the city from the rooftop terraces is spectacular to say the least. It is also a good place to get a close up look at some of the statues that top the roughly 3,500 spires. It seems as though every statue is one of a kind, representing either saints, animals, or monsters. The rooftop terraces and the view of the city from them are a must-see in Milan.

Also of note are the Duomo's five huge doors housing bronze reliefs, which were made between 1840 and 1965.

The Piazza del Duomo is a popular spot for locals to enjoy their midday break, and there are typically many street performers in the Piazza as well.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is an elegant shopping mall lined with many cafes and high end shops. Savini, one of Milan's most famous restaurants, is also located here. The most distinctive feature of the galleria, which was constructed from 1865-1877, is the beautiful iron and glass dome. Part of an ambitious urban renewal project, the galleria was designed to link the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza della Scala.

This unique structure is a must-see if you visit Milan. There's something intriguing and "can't put your finger on it" captivating about this place. Maybe it's the combination of the 19th century atmosphere enhanced by the ultra-hip elegance of some of Milan's finest stores.

The shopping here is expensive, but we had a great time just strolling around, window shopping and people watching during our midday visit, when the crowd swells with locals taking a break from work.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is located in the Piazza del Duomo, and a visit to the galleria and the Duomo could be combined, making for an enjoyable morning or afternoon.

This exhibit at the Palazzo Reale displays more than 200 of Picasso’s works nearly 50 years after his first retrospective was shown at the same location back in 1953. Paintings, sculptures, drawings, and ceramic pieces are shown in chronological order. Some of the pieces have never been publicly exhibited before. Several panels throughout the exhibit document the changes in Picasso's life and deliniate the various artistic phases.

Of the 227 works on display, 151 belong to the artist's heirs, 55 are from other private collections around the world, and the remaining 21 are from international museums.

One of our favorite parts of the exhibit was a series of 12 drawings of bulls, with each succeeding work less abstract and more detailed than the previous one. The most impressive part of the exhibit was a huge gallery with many paintings lining the perimeter and several large canvases displayed back to back and offset in two rows in the middle of the room.

The exhibit concludes with a multimedia presentation displayed on four large screens.

I would have loved to take a couple of pictures, particularly in the large gallery mentioned above, but photography is prohibited. If you have an appreciation for art and are in Milan during the exhibit's run, you should definitely check this out.

The exhibit runs through January 27, 2002. The hours are:
Monday 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 9.30 a.m.-8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9.30 a.m.-11 p.m.
Admission: ITL18,000 (about $9).