Day One: Milan – The Last Supper, a Bull’s Testicles, & the city is SO TALL
Hello everybody and welcome to the first installment of our Italian journey! Join us as we walk you through our jam-packed two weeks in one of the world’s most popular travel destinations.
We’ll start this story with the bad or rather the expected negative. Getting to Italy…kinda sucked. Sure, any time you travel a far distance, you just expect some suckage, but we seem to have a knack for that suckage being extra sucky. Since we live in tiny lil’ Knoxville, direct flights to/from our city always add a few hundred or even thousand bucks. So instead we flew out of Atlanta since that’s where the flight deals put us. It’s only a short, 3-hour drive away and we have some wonderful friends who let us leave our car in their driveway AND they dropped us off/picked us up at the airport. Everything started off well. Kara’s mom was taking baby/house-sitting duty for week one and arrived well before the crack of dawn. We tearfully kissed our baby boy goodbye, and had a relatively uneventful trip to ATL and even had time in the ATL airport to chill in the Club lounge. It was our layover in Miami where the nonsense started. Due to some plane maintenance, we were delayed by almost 3 hours, after American decided to just get another plane. And let me tell you, the people were restless. The airline kept bringing out carts of snacks and people would attack it like a pack of ravenous wolves. One man, loaded up literal armfuls of snacks, put them in a big shopping bag for himself for later. I guess he thought he was sticking it to them or something. Who knows. After what seemed like FOREVER, including a video chat with our boy, we boarded our 2nd plane for Milan and said goodbye to the USA.
We slept, watched movies, ate, watched more movies, slept more, etc. Closer to landing time I glanced out the window to see the Italian alps covered with snow.
With time difference we were originally supposed to be arriving in Milan around 9am their time and had even booked an afternoon tour. Well, now that arrival was closer to noon, leaving us with that much less time to wander around. After snagging some Euros in the airport and a temporary SIM card in the train station (definitely recommend this if you don’t have international data), we tackled figuring out the Metro. A kind (American) stranger saw us and gave us his metro passes that still had several hours left on them. I was skeptical, but thanked him graciously nonetheless. We really struggled to figure out how to purchase a Metro card here and there was a REALLY long line at the kiosk selling them with an option to use your card. That guy has no idea how much he saved us! We hopped on the metro and arrived in Piazza Duomo nearby our hotel. And…. just….WOW. I didn’t even notice the sea of people for a solid 10 seconds because of the towering Gothic cathedral before my eyes.
It was this moment, I felt like I had arrived in Italy. A kindly reminder from Kara to “watch your back here” told me that we were in an extremely crowded spot and prime targets for being pickpocketed.
We had booked a walking tour through Viator but last minute they cancelled everything except the viewing of the Last Supper because of it being Easter Sunday, which ended up being a blessing because of our late arrival. So we had all afternoon to walk around ourselves. But first thing’s first, we needed to get checked into our hotel and then find some food.
We stayed at the Hotel Gran Duca di York just a few steps from the square. We chose it for the proximity and favorable reviews.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay here. There was no hot water in our room when we checked in, but the situation was quickly remedied while we were out and about. The rooms were spacious enough and clean, service was friendly, and they provide a large continental breakfast. We would definitely recommend this hotel if you are visiting Milan.
We were starving by now and set out in search of food. So…here’s where arriving in Italy, even in a big city like Milan, on Easter Sunday was maybe NOT the best idea. While we expected some places to be closed, we did not anticipate the city to be shut down. So we snagged a late (by American standards) lunch at a nearby restaurant, Al Mercante, that was actually open and had positive reviews. Unfortunately….it didn’t live up to those reviews. The service was friendly enough, albeit slow because they needed more wait staff (more on that later…but TL:DR version is that slow service is just the gold standard in Italy, so suck it up, buttercup). But it was expensive for the quality and quantity of food. We were extra disappointed because we felt like we wasted so much precious time having lunch here.
The shaved artichoke salad was actually not bad. It was definitely a unique take on artichoke we’d never had before with it being raw, yet thinly sliced. I do have to give them credit for an admirable effort on the salad.
While this pasta dish looks incredible, it was not. Those are scallops…that are so dry and rubbery (and not cleaned) I could not chew them. The whole dish tasted of bad seafood. Blarg.
We were SO excited, but that excitement quickly faded when we nodded our heads in agreement that while “not bad”, it wasn’t really good either. Suffice to say, our food adventure got off to a rather disappointing start. Don’t worry though, that sentiment didn’t last much longer.
After our sad lunch, and a walk back through a VERY crowded square…
…we took the opportunity to hop in line for going to the top of the Duomo. It was a painfully long wait, but at least the back side of the Duomo is pretty. You have to purchase tickets for this at the Duomo ticket office, which is to the right of the cathedral, near and across the street from the back entrance, but (in usual Italy fashion) the line to climb to the top is ALLLLLLL the way around on the other side. Yeah, the entrance near the ticket office with no line is for Fast Track people only. You can buy tickets online in advance and doing that will likely save you some time. Our day in Milan unexpectedly changed with our tour being canceled, so we didn’t have it planned out to buy them in advance. Anytime you can buy tickets online, DO IT.
So after going through security (being patted down, bags searched, water checked, first born child given as deposit), we took an elevator up to the top and it was SO worth the wait. This is one of the best experiences when visiting Milan. If you get the chance to go on the roof of the Duomo, you have to go.
This church is an architect’s fantasy dreamworld. It is massive in scale, towering up towards the heavens with jagged, Gothic spires forming some truly bizarre views once you’re on the roof. Even the “shingles” on there were hand carved solid blocks of marble. Italy is known for their marble and Milan makes no qualms about showcasing that fact. It also offers stunning views of the city below.
We finished sightseeing here and had to book it over to Santa Maria delle Grazie for our viewing of the Last Supper. So we didn’t have time to see the inside of Milan Cathedral – the line was crazy long and when we bought our tickets they were actually no longer selling tickets to Fast Track Duomo entrance because the church was closing early for Easter services. But we arrived at Santa Maria just in time for our tour and found our group waiting out front.
The guided tour started with a visit inside the sanctuary where we were actually allowed to take pictures. (travel tip: always ask if you can take pictures)
After the brief inside tour, we are walked back out and guess what, through security again, towards the main event. What we can say is this…it does NOT disappoint.
Da Vinci’s masterpiece is truly remarkable in person. Photos just can’t do it justice. The sheer scale, the use of perspective, the audacity to place Judas at the right hand of Jesus when other painters traditionally sat him at the far end of the table. Da Vinci was insistent, claiming that the one who would betray Jesus, would need to be very close to him. Our Viator tour gave us (just our small group) a full 15 minutes to admire the work in quiet. For lovers of art, hard to think of a better way to kick off your vacation and definitely no better way than to spend Easter admiring the impact of Christ’s life in this way.
When we were done here, our guide walked us outside and around the church towards the monk’s garden also known as the Cloister of the Frogs. It was very serene and peaceful in here. In fact, we managed to time our visit to Milan just perfect and the fragrant Jasmine trees were in bloom. This little corner of Milan smelled like heaven.
Our tour concluded in the garden, but our guide stayed to answer questions. She was very friendly and very knowledgeable. The information she gave us really enhanced our experience visiting Santa Maria and the Last Supper. Originally, we were not going to do a tour, but were going to try to purchase tickets direct to visit it. Well, here’s a lesson for you. Individual passes are MUCH cheaper than a tour at 10Euro each, BUT the sales open up about 3-4 months in advance on the official Last Supper ticket website. The number available online are limited and they sell quickly. They only allow 30 people in at one time in 15 minute increments to preserve the art. The Turismo Milano website is really helpful with all of the information about booking direct tickets. You can also try to have your hotel purchase tickets for you direct by calling, but the other thing to keep in mind is that the first Sunday is free entry to all museums in Italy, including some churches and sites like this one. Tickets sell out almost immediately. Leaving your only option to partake in a tour, which is far more costly, but can really add to the trip. The tour we originally booked on Viator was this Milan Half-Day Sightseeing Tour.
Walking back towards the hotel, we made a pit stop at San Maurizio monastery. It turned out to be a great idea (Kara’s idea). It was stunning inside, and not at all crowded. Considered to be the Sistine Chapel of Milan, this is an often overlooked landmark in the city, but you really shouldn’t miss it.
Notice the Last Supper painting above. See how Judas is on the far right of the table, a good distance from Jesus. This is how every other artist depicted the scene.
After pulling up transit times on Google Maps, we decided to just take a stroll over to dinner reservation rather than public transit. We walked through the hustle-bustle of Milan’s downtown, which is…towering, gothic, and chic and made our way to the ever-so-charming Naviglio Grande to watch the sunset before dinner.
Canals lined with shops, restaurants, bars, locals enjoying an aperitif, lovers taking arm-in-arm strolls, made this area feel like small town charm in the middle of huge city. It was here that my appreciation for the Italian “evening stroll” would take root. It was also here that we enjoyed a memorable dining experience just off the main canal tucked away is a gem, El Brellin. This restaurant is touted as a local favorite for exquisite service, delicious traditional Milanese dishes, some atypical fare, and an incredible wine list. And it lived up to all of our hopes for an amazing first dinner in Italy.
Leaps and bounds better than our “meh” lunch, this place comes highly recommended by everyone and now yours truly as well, but you’ll have to excuse these pictures because the restaurant lighting was VERY low. We started off with an antipasti, the “crispy mushroom roll” you see on the menu below and ordered a half bottle of wine to share. Our first taste of Italian wine and we chose something from the Lombardi region that was divine. El Brellin also offers you a taste of a sparkling white wine to awaken your palette at the start of your meal, which is a nice touch. Again, cannot say enough about the service and our experience dining here.
The mushroom starter was downright tasty. The pomegranate seeds added a lovely pop of brightness and the honey a necessary sweet note in contrast with the earthy flavor of the roll. And the celery salad was a revelation. Who knew celery could be so versatile on it’s own? We, silly Americans, just toss it into chicken and tuna salad.
We made a solid effort to enjoy as many “local” fares as possible. So in Milan, we ordered up two dishes they are known for in this region – a first course and then a second course to share between us both (and it was still so much food!).
Risotto alla Milanese: A buttery risotto served with saffron & bone marrow make this an extremely rich and unique dish.
Cotoletta alla milanese: A tender veal cutlet that is pounded out almost wafer thin, breaded & fried. This was served with fresh, seasonal vegetables on the side that had been lightly roasted, which were a surprisingly perfect pairing to the heavy cutlet. I think I recall there being fennel and onion and zucchini.
We were too stuffed to order dessert and besides, we had to save room for you know what….
After dinner, we took a slow stroll over to a nearby Gelateria for our very first Gelato experience at Il Negozietto del Gelato.
A cute, quaint little shop that churned out admirable gelato and friendly service. Overall, a satisfactory first gelato to kick things off that taught us a valuable lesson…most gelaterias only accept cash.
We opted to walk back to our hotel (and walk off our dinner), admiring Milan lit up at night.
We had one of our many video chats with Asher and grandma back home and he was doing JUST FINE without us *sobs*. Day one and we already missed that little nugget something fierce. Afterwards, we promptly passed out.
Knowing we had to catch an early train, we headed out before breakfast the next morning to get some pictures thinking it would be less crowded. We were very correct in that assumption. We took the opportunity to wander through the now deserted Piazza and snag some great pictures.
We wandered through the nearby Galleria Vittoria Emanuele for a few minutes.
One of the strangest traditions in Milan is spinning on the bull’s testicles in the floor of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Built in 1877 by Giuseppe Mengoni, its soaring iron-and-glass structure, cruciform plan and churchlike proportions were designed to celebrate the new industrial Italy, one with more secular concerns such as business, fashion and high finance.
Unfortunately, Mengoni plummeted to his death from the scaffolding just weeks before the 14-year project was completed. So, to avoid similar bad luck tourists and Milanese alike head for the mosaic of the dancing bull (said to mark the spot where he fell) to grind their heels firmly into its testicles.
The proper way to do it is to place your heel on the bull’s groin – just look for the worn patch! – and turn backwards three times. They say this mosaic gets replaced often because of how worn down it gets over time.
On the other side of the Galleria opposite the Duomo Plaza is a monument to Leonardo da Vinci and the famous La Scala Opera House.
After a nice morning stroll, we decided we were hungry. I pulled up Google Maps to find us a highly rated café nearby and this is where we quickly learned a lesson about Italy.
They sleep in.
There was nothing open. At least not for another hour or so. Most cafes don’t even open their doors until 7 or 7:30. HOW?!?!?!?!!!? See, we come from a country where most folks are probably already on their way out the door & stopping by their local coffee shop on the way to work. Not here folks. This was our first moment of true culture shock.
After giving up the search and having our hopes dashed for our first taste of a true Italian cappuccino, we simply headed back to our hotel where we knew breakfast was included. They provided an admirable spread for a European breakfast buffet and of course, offered us coffee beverages.
We each leapt at the opportunity for a cappuccino. It was admirable, far better than anything I could make…but I still felt it was lacking. Surely a local cafe could do better. Oh well, maybe tomorrow morning?
Next Up: Venice…
Erin @ Brownie Bites Blog says
YAY ITALY POSTS!! That is some amazing architecture. It’s a shame that your trip started out with some disappointments (especially the bad food, that’s a major sadface way to start a tour of Italy) but you guys took it all in stride.