MILANO REDUX

To celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary on October 1^st, my husband and I booked a long weekend in Milan.  We first got to know the city in 1984, when we taught English there as a second language.  Needless to say, Milan has changed a great deal in 39 years, but it’s still as magical as I remember it.  To plan our itinerary, we used two articles from the New York Times 36 Hours series; here are the links:  from 2019 and from 2022, and I’ll use that format for this post.

THURSDAY EVENING

We arrived at Stazione Centrale at about 7:30 pm and took the Metro to our Airbnb apartment in the Brera District, where our host was waiting for us at the front door to the building.  What a sweetie!  Knowing it was our anniversary, she had set out place settings for our breakfast, together with dark chocolate Baci in the shape of a heart.  (Really regret not taking a photo!) Little did she know that Milan was where we first discovered Baci chocolates with their little love notes inside.

We all had dinner reservations, so we deposited our bags, got the quick rundown on the apartment, and went our separate ways,but not before I explored the huge terrace.

We had reservations at Bistrot Clotilde, and the evening was so fine, we decided to walk. 

I ordered sfilacci carpaccio and my husband ordered grilled octopus as appetizers.

Risotto alla Milanese for my main course (tasted more refined than it looks) and vitello tonnato for my husband's. 

FRIDAY MORNING

We took one of the historic orange trams to a former railway warehouse behind Stazione Centrale, which the 2022 Times article described as

the new headquarters of the design and architecture firm Dimorestudio, this cultural hub spans more than 20,000 square feet, with a concrete central courtyard surrounded by studio, office and gallery spaces, as well as a bar and shop (both opening soon) stocked with curated goods chosen by the founders,…

Although the article is only a year old, Dimorecentrale was closed to the public.  Oh, well.  We took solace in a walk through the Mercato Centrale, a high-end food court along a corridor inside the station, offering fantastic, freshly-made foods from various regions of Italy.  We marked it as a place to return to for lunch on our way back to Berlin.

Next up was a nostalgia visit to the Casa degli Artisti, built in the 1930s and fully decrepit by 1984. 

P., one of our fellow language teachers, had a painting studio on the first floor.  I remember the glassed-in corridor facing an overgrown courtyard from which you entered the ateliers.  The windows were broken; the rain came in; canvases stacked in the hallway got soaked.  It was so La Bohemme!  

We learned to make polenta at a party there and first heard about the Cinque Terre from P.'s sculptor girlfriend.  He retained his atelier until the City evicted everyone so it could renovate the building.  It’s lost its romantic charm, but it still brought back a lot of wonderful memories. You can read more about the Casa degli Artisti here in Italian Vogue.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

P. couldn’t join us in Milan but suggested we have lunch at the Grand’Italia, a trattoria he said hadn’t changed a bit.  He was right, and the food was simple, straightforward, and delicious!

After lunch, we made our way to the Fondazione Prada, situated in a light industrial area under urban renewal and made into a mixed use residential/tech hub.  The 2019 Times article describes the Fondazione as follows:

A five-story building clad in gold leaf welcomes visitors to Fondazione Prada, a new contemporary arts complex as notable for its world-class exhibitions as for its eye-catching architecture. Last year the opening of a nine-story tower marked the completion of the compound, a former distillery redesigned by OMA, the architecture firm co-founded by Rem Koolhaas. Tour the tower’s large-scale artworks — Jeff Koons’s tulips, Walter De Maria’s shiny Bel Airs, Damien Hirst’s disturbing black flies — along with temporary exhibitions,… Even the on-site cafe, Bar Luce, is worth a look; its retro décor styled by the film director Wes Anderson includes whimsical touches, such as a Steve Zissou-themed pinball machine.

I wish I could recommend it, but I can’t.  The permanent collection struck me as arriviste and lacking in artistic merit.  I know that sounds snotty, but the art was really uninspiring.

Even the Wes Anderson bar was a bit of a letdown, but I suppose it’s worth going for an Aperol Spritz. 

FRIDAY EVENING

We had dinner reservations at Nebbia, a Slow Food restaurant in the Navigli District, home to the medieval canals that once ringed Milan and brought goods (including the stones from which the Duomo was built) into the city from the north.  In the mid-‘80s this area was being rediscovered and gentrified.  It’s hipster world now and the rents reflect its renaissance.   

The food at Nebbia was great but the service was abysmal.  You know that sinking feeling of abandonment you get when you see people who arrived after you did being served before you are?  Well that pretty much sums it up.  We bailed on dessert and found a hole-in-the-wall gelateria a couple of doors away, lit by hissing fluorescent lights and peopled by older gentlemen sitting on plastic lawn furniture in an adjacent room with pinball machines.  Perfect and perfectly delicious ice cream!

SATURDAY MORNING

Our apartment was within walking distance of the Duomo and after a cappuccino at a bar across the street, we set out on Via Brera at around 10. 

Our route took us past a Saturday flea market and the Pinacoteca Brera,  

La Scala, 

and through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Thirty-nine years ago, you could walk virtually all alone through the Galleria, but that was then and this is now:  Milan has become a major tourist destination, and the Galleria and the square linking it to the Duomo were jam-packed.

 

At 11 am, the ticket line for the Duomo visit—the roof and the interior--was already very long, and our best option was 5 pm, so we took it.  To pass the time before lunch, (which was a return to the Grand’Italia—sooooo good!), we went to the Museo del Duomo, where the treasury of the Duomo is housed, a visit well worth our time.  Inside we found embroideries, 

reliquaries with lapidary work, 

gargoyles masquerading as water spouts,

stained glass panels, 

 medieval sculptures,

a painting by Tintoretto,

 and scale models of the cathedral.  

One of the most amazing displays was an iron armature that once supported the statue of the Virgin Mary at the apex of the main spire (seen below). 

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

When we first visited the Duomo in 1984, you could go up on the roof and have it all to yourself.  Not anymore; we found more tourists than gargoyles after climbing the 436 steps up to the very top.  But the view was sublime.

After our walk on the roof, we descended into the cathedral interior, where a Mass was being said.

 

Feeling sufficiently blessed, we then stopped off at the Camparino Bar in the Galleria

for a Negroni Sbagliato for me and a Negroni Classico for my husband.   

Thirty-nine years ago, you could walk right up to the bar for a Campari soda and be served immediately.  This time, we had to wait half an hour for a table.   

First world problem, I know. Boo hoo.

SATURDAY EVENING

Dinner was at Pasta Madre, another Slow Food restaurant recommended by our Berlin friend.  The cuisine is Sicilian and the chef hails from Catania.  I had pasta con le sarde, a classic Sicilian pasta dish sauced with sardines, fennel, pine nuts, and raisins I’d eaten often in Palermo.  My husband can't remember what he ate, but he insists it was good!   I concur, and the service was friendly and prompt without being rushed. 

SUNDAY LUNCH EXCURSION

This was October 1^st, our 40^th anniversary.   A little background:  We spent our first anniversary in Milan teaching at the language school, and on our arrival after work in Pavia, the small university town where we lived at that time, we frequently had dinner at the Bar Carlo, our go-to pizzeria near the train station.  That night so many years ago we splurged—we had a pizza plus an appetizer!  This anniversary was a bit more elaborate.  In another nod to nostalgia, we took the train 25 miles south of Milan to Certosa di Pavia, just north of the eponymous town. 

This being a Sunday, and Italian Sundays being all about lunch, we booked for 1:00 pm at A'mare, a restaurant in a park-like setting a few hundred meters from the Certosa.   

A'mare specializes in fish and has an extensive wine list.  We started with a Franciacorta 

proceeded to an antipasto of various iterations of raw fish

followed with a shared pasta course--cacio pepe with raw tuna and lemon zest,

moved on to a whole Orata roasted in a salt crust, 

followed by a complimentary chocolate amaretto dessert (I saved the candles),

and ended with an espresso.   

Let’s just say, it was memorable and a huge upgrade from the Bar Carlo!  (But I would have gone back there in a heartbeat had it still been in business, sentimental as I am.)

Despite barely being able to move, we walked over to the Certosa , a 14^th century Carthusian monastery complex with two cloisters and a church with an imposing Italian Gothic facade.  This was not our first visit, and it did not disappoint. 

We walked back to the station through a wood, caught the train, and spent our last night in Milan, walking around our (just for the weekend) fashionable neighborhood, marveling at how ultra-glamorous these 20-sometings were and wondering how they could afford to spend €5.000 on their outfits.  Good thing we didn't come to Milan a few days earlier--Fashion Week! Think of the clothing intimidation!

Milan is a gorgeous, terminally cool, very affluent, economically vibrant city that may be the most European of Italian cities, which is to say it works—in both senses of the word.  It's crowded with tourists, Italian and foreign, but I highly recommend it.  Especially if you’re celebrating your 40^th wedding anniversary!

Cin! Cin!

Keep it real!

Marilyn