A weekend in Milan.

As my final weekend in Leeds for the semester, I decided that it was time to celebrate my academic year...with a trip to Milan! Italy is a country that I have always wanted to venture to, as Italian cuisine would be up there as my favourite in the entire world. As well as just eating, I have always wanted to view the phenomenal architecture and wonderful culture that this country has to offer. Milan would never have been my first choice for Italian cities, but I think after this weekend I have fallen in love. The city is filled with life and is just amazing in general.

Day 1 - After catching a train, plane, then bus, it was fair to say that we were a little exhausted. We didn't get to our apartment till late, so when we arrived, we were all more than keen to grab something to eat. We couldn't connect to wifi, so we ended up choosing a very average pizza place. Honestly, after our first night, we were all a little worried about this weekend, wondering if it was going to be a waste.

Day 2 - After lasts nights disappointment, we decided to head into town to check out the Duomo, the large cathedral. We were just casually walking through the streets of town, then we turned a corner and we caught our first glimpse of this incredible cathedral. In almost perfect synchronisation we all just stood there and simply said "wow". I have never in my life seen something so stunning, I never knew architecture would be able to take my breath away the way the Duomo did. This was a major turning point, as this is when our time in Milan really kicked off. After this, we stumbled upon an art exhibition. And out of all the artists in the world who's work they were displaying, it just happened to be a Van Gogh exhibition. As a past art student, I have studied so much of Van Gogh's work and life, and I was over the moon to be able to see some of the works that I have looked at on computer screen in the flesh. We were fortunate to view some of his earlier charcoal sketches of peasants, in addition to his more famous pieces such as his Self Portrait and Portrait of Joseph Roulin. That night, we did a little bit of research and found that there was a restaurant about 5 minutes from our apartment, and I think I actually think I had one of the most glorious meals ever. It was authentic and homemade pizza and pasta, and it was just delicious.

Day 3 - Today we decided to head back into town so that we could climb the Duomo. For only €7, this is one of the greatest and coolest things I have ever done. After panting up 250 steps, you reach the top of the cathedral, having the most spectacular view of the city. We were able to climb all around the roofs, it was so insane. This also meant that we could get a closer view and the extremely intricate stone carvings. If you ever go to Milan, this is an absolute must! Could not recommend any higher. We then went to grab some lunch at this little Italian bakery, Luini Panzerotti, a little local secret. It wasn't hard to find, as it had a massive line to inside. But we didn't have to wait for long, and within no time we were eating glorious sweet and savoury pastries. They were so good, we all lined up for seconds...and possibly thirds. Then that night, we couldn't help but go back to our amazing little restaurant from the night before. Again, the food was to die for.

Day 4 - As our final day in Milan, we woke up early and were welcomed by a sunny day. We walked into town, as we were planning on heading to the Cairoli Castello and Brera area. On our way we walked through some of the most amazing streets and shops. I couldn't believe that we hadn't been around this area previously, as it was so stunning. We then came to the Cairoli Castello were we found street lined with great markets. Selling delicious smelling food and cute little homemade Italian goodies. However, we were really pushed for time, as we had a bus then plane to catch, so we had to rush through this are. It was a shame, because I could have spent all day there. We then briefly popped over to Brera to have a quick pizza before we had to start heading home.

After the failure of the first night, I had such a great time in Milan. It was actually a lot better than I ever expected. It is definitely a city that I would like to venture back to, and it makes me want to travel around Italy even more. I am going to miss the cuisine dearly, going back to frozen meals here at Devonshire Hall.

Duomo

Piazza San Carlo

Just a few of the alarming amounts of gelati consumed

Christmas lights throughout town

Cairoli Castello

Brera