Jenni goes to Milano: Day trips galore

I haven't really done this blog series justice so far. While this may only be the second Jenni goes to Milano installment, it was actually my 7th trip to the Italian city. The first few trips were before Laura had announced her move, and my trip in January got rolled into a larger city break round up blog post. But this trip at the end of summer definitely deserved its own, because we went all out on this one. Every year, me and Laura do a girls trip together. But we both had a lot on this year and in the interest of saving some pennies, we did a sort of staycation instead. Well, a staycation for Laura, and just a cheap flight to Milan for me. The staycation part came from the fact that instead of basing our time together in the city, we treated hers and Fulvios apartment as our base, and then did a number of day trips out of the city, and even into another country. Hallelujah for affordable and efficient Italian rail!

Going to Milan now feels a lot like going to London. There's a certain sense of returning home to it (even though I've never lived in either city), and I know that each and every trip won't be my last. I'm past all the main tourist stuff, lots of spots are familiar to me, and I'm happy taking the city at a more glacial pace. So when I arrived at Wednesday lunch time, I had the usual excitable reunion with Laura and Fulvio, and then a very chilled afternoon at the apartment while those guys finished off some work bits. Even though Milan now sits somewhere between a trip and a holiday, I still felt it would only be right to get into holiday mode the only way I know how: a couple of cheeky drinks. So we headed to a local wine bar which was really cute inside, and then came home for some dinner.

The next day we were off on excursion number 1 and we were headed to an Italian city I've always wanted to visit; Verona. Or should I say fair Verona. It's super easy to get to from Milan - it was a direct train that took 1h 15mins and cost us €32 return (trains in the UK could never). Obviously had to get a little pastry for the train journey!

I didn't pick the best week to go to Milan in terms of weather, as it was forecast to be rainy and stormy the whole time. But you know, the whole life-isnt-about-waiting-for-the-storm-to-pass mindset. So come rain come shine, we were excited for a day exploring Verona. We actually didn't get too unlucky anyway, just a few showers but mostly sunny spells. I would say Verona is a great option for a day trip from any nearby city (Venice is super close the other way too) because it's a lovely compact option that you can easily cover in a day. We started at the Porta Nuova and then walked down the main road until we reached the old town, where there were loads of colourful buildings and the Arena di Verona which is an impressive Colosseum-type of building where they host shows and concerts. We then continued on down the Via Giuseppe Mazzini until we popped out in the main square, Piazza Erbe. There was a big market in the piazza selling all kinds of fruit, snacks, clothes, and gifts. I had my eye firmly on some gorgeous Italian designed kitchenware but I was already pushing the limits of my poor overworked backpack so I had to leave empty handed sadly! It was nice to just wander and admire anyway; I love the architecture in Verona. It's much prettier and more colourful than in Milan, with lots of artfully designed balconies (I wonder if that's at all relevant to anything...)

Obviously we couldn't take a trip to Verona without seeing Juliet's balcony. I actually found it extremely funny how much the city capitalises on Romeo and Juliet; the balcony, lots of restaurants named after them, Romeo's house. Dearest reader, Romeo and Juliet were not historical figures, they were in fact fictional characters. So the idea that you could visit her "actual" balcony was very funny. Especially given how packed it was in there! The graffiti and the letters to Juliet wall were cute though. We even managed to find our intials on our travels! Laura + Jenni 4 life <3.

Like I said, Verona is a lovely compact city so we were able to hit a few of the landmarks in a row; first the Garibaldi statue, then Casa di Romeo, then the Basilica di Sant'Anastasia. The basilica was really stunning! One of the less assuming churches from the outside but the interior was absolutely gorgeous with an amazing ceiling. By this point, it was atleast five minutes past 12 so I was well overdue a spritz and we stopped off for a little pit stop (I went for a Hugo on this occasion).

When we reached the Ponte Pietra, we toyed with the idea of going across the river to explore the castle. But we were getting kind of close to our lunch reservation time, so we decided to save that activity for later!

Instead, we continued to scoop round the edge of the city until we reached the Cathedral di Santa Maria Matricolare. Which was beautiful! Then we wove back towards Piazza Erbe and saw it in much sunnier climes than we had done earlier.

Lunch was booked at Antica Bottega del Vino which was a gorgeous historic restaurant with a very cosy vibe. I will say that it was quite expensive by Verona's standards because Verona was actually quite a cheap city. However, it was basically in line with Milan prices which is what we're both used to paying whenever I visit Laura anyway. They're famous for a red wine risotto, which Laura went for, and I got a pumpkin ravioli. My favourite thing about this place though was the size of the wine glasses. As big as our heads!

With no time constraints in place, we actually headed across the famous bridge this time and began our trek up to the castle. And what a trek it was! There were a hell of a lot of steps and a very steep incline but the views from the top were worth it. Especially since we'd managed to pick a nice slot of the day where the sun was peaking through the clouds in a very pretty arty way.

Even though Verona is a super compact city, we really managed to get the steps in. After the walk up to the castle on top of the hill, we decided to take the long way round back to the train station. So instead of going back through the city, we followed the river round on the same side as the castle because there was another cool bridge we wanted to see. The Ponte di Castelvecchio was, as the name suggests, part of a medieval castle so it had this lovely turreted design. The walk was nice as well as it meant we got to admire lots more of the sights from the river, before we reached the train station and hopped on a train to our next destination...

Our next destination was a well-planned pit stop on the way back to Milan. Having been to Lake Como before, I really wanted to see Lake Garda too and so we got a €3 train to Peschieria del Garda, which was only 15 minutes away from Verona and on the route back to Milan. Perfectly planned. Or so we thought anyway. Perfectly planned but maybe not so perfectly timed, as when we got off the train, the sky was suspiciously grey. Practically black actually. So we decided to wait a few minutes and lo and behold, the heavens opened in a BIG way. After hiding out in the station for 20 minutes, it showed no signs of slowing. But being a big believer in Sod's Law, I tried to tempt fate to my will. I basically reasoned that if we tried to wait it out, we'd be waiting until our train home. But if we dared to run out in the rain, it would probably clear not long later. So we made the very soggy 40 metre run to the nearest bar and ordered a spritz. And in a move that would probably get me accused of being a witch back in the day, the rain stopped about 10 minutes later! Besides it's kind of mine and Laura's thing to get caught in drastic rainstorms, so it was another one for the memory books.

We obviously wanted to see more of Garda than just the train station so we downed our spritzes quickly and braved the walk while it was dry. We ended up enjoying cocktail hour at a cool place called Dispensa Ufficiali, which offered quirky cocktails and a cool exposed brick aesthetic. I would've loved the chance to have a proper wander around the town and see more of the lake, but we didn't want to push our luck with the weather and lots of the cute outdoor spots would be closed anyway. Again though, this is the beauty of knowing there will always be another Milan trip - I can just put Garda on the list for next time!

The next day we were back spending the day in Milan. We'd originally toyed with the idea of going to a lido for a sunbathing day but naturally, it wasn't really the weather for it! So we had a leisurely plan to walk around the city, some some beauty spots and get some nice food. We started at Casa Galimberti, which is this really decorative ornate building, and it had the benefit of being really close to Alessandro Servida - a pastry spot that me and Laura had both saved independently. Taking it as a sign of a must-visit, we headed there for a late breakfast and some coffee, both of which were lovely. Cute place too!

We had a nice little walk around the Porta Venezia area, went past the natural history museum, and then the university area. We stopped for a quick coffee in these amazing arty espresso cups (I need these for my house) and then I grabbed a sandwich at the infamous All'Antico Vinaio. I can't say I understand why this specific sandwich shop gained so much fame online and became a rapidly growing chain. The sandwich was delicious but it's the exact same quality you can expect from literally any sandwich shop in Italy.

It was spritz o'clock by this point so we toyed with the idea of going to a rooftop bar. But we quickly shut that idea down when we saw that most of them were charging €20-€25 for a drink. I don't mind doing silly tourist things like that in brand new cities I've never visited, but I'm only half in holiday mode in Milan. I don't quite spend like it's monopoly money! So instead, we found this cute little patio bar and watched the world go by there.

It was Friday night so we had a fun dinner-and-drinks night ahead! I honestly can't relate to anyone that worries about third wheeling a couple; Laura and Fulvio haven't been able to get rid of me sine literally their first meeting. But I read a quote that third wheeling a happy couple is feeling like being the first born child in a happy family. So I always love reappearing to be the daughter that Laura and Fulvio never asked for! We had a fab night out and enjoyed a few glasses of wine at the apartment before dinner at a restaurant called Hot Rock, and then drinks at a bar after.

Then it was time for another day trip! This time, we were venturing further afield and actually crossing country lines into Switzerland for a day in Lugano. Again, it only took about an hour and a half, and cost about €30 return. And thankfully the windows were insanely big because the view as you approached the lake were insane! We knew at this point it was going to be a very beautiful day indeed.

Lugano has 2 train stations; the main one and then Paradiso. The main one is right in Lugano town, whereas Paradiso is just round the lake and right near the funicular, which we really wanted to do. So we got off at Paradiso, went to the Funicular and then saw that the price was €30 each! Just to catch a train up the mountain, admire the view from the top and then come straight back down. We knew Switzerland would be expensive but we couldn't justify it when we knew we'd have amazing views all day. So we looked for a halfway house and found a place called Parco Panoramico Paradiso, which was a little park up a giant hill. So we still got the high up views, but for only the cost of the energy it took us to walk there. A nice early win in the bag.

The amazing views just basically continued from there as expected! The nice thing about getting off the train at Paradiso is that it gave us a good walk around the lake to get to the town. And that first half of the walk was really tranquil and peaceful, compared to the slightly more hustle and bustle of the main area of Lugano. So it was good to get both perspectives and we had so many pretty pit stops and photo opps on the way.

It definitely got busier as we arrived in the town and I could see why. It was so pretty and filled with lots of lovely architecture, cute restaurants and lots of spots to do pedalo boats. The main thing on our mind at this point though was food and so we headed in search of lunch. We'd pre-decided that we would go for pizza ( I always think it makes a great lunch option) and we went to a place called Authentiko, which was house in this amazing galleria. We had the perfect indoor-outdoor vibes and we split 2 delicious pizzas. We got one traditional one with spicy salami (Diavola), and then one more innovative one with courgette cream, courgette flowers and guanciale. Sadly no photos of them because our phones were inside on charge but I guess you'll have to take my word for the fact they were amazing. 

We needed a nice long walk after all that pizza so Parco Ciani was the perfect place. I love how pretty and well landscaped all of Lugano was, but this spot in particular was just breathtakingly pretty. I know you can see that it's beautiful from the photos, but in real life it was really just one of those places that makes you feel really blessed and like all is well in the world. The perfect sunny day was just the cherry on top.

We hadn't actually ventured into the town properly by this point as we'd just been hugging the lake the whole time, so we went for a little wander around. There was a cute little market and some lovely shops, as well as some nice bars and cafes. The main one that drew us in though was the gelato shop! We picked a place called -9 Gelato, because I always look for places that exclusively store their gelato in the metal lidded tins. My rule with gelato is if I can see it, I don't want it. It was a rule that certainly worked here as this was exceptional. I got one scoop of melon and one scoop of a sort of pastel de nata flavour, and Laura got one scoop of coconut and one scoop of extra dark chocolate and all the flavours were just amazing. Obviously we got a little try of each others because sharing is caring!

It wasn't long untilt he lake called us back again and we decided to rent a pedalo. There were loads of different places leasing them out and they were all around the same price, but we decided to choose one with boats where you sit on top, instead of being crouched inside. Some places offered quirky boats shaped like cars, but they looked very cramped and uncomfortable! As you can see, we were very happy with our choice! We had a lovely little pedal on the lake with no real direction, and got the giggles as we got swayed by choppy waters created by boats passing. What a lovely way to spend an hour or so!

It was only right to complete the day with a little cocktail stop on the lake, before heading back to Milan (and then me back home in the morning). It's always the loveliest trip with Laura, and having a long distance bestie means that the memories you create together are even more precious. This was the perfect way to end the summer (I literally got back on August 31st) and I'm already counting down to Laura and Fulvio's next visit to England in the Autumn!