Milano and Roma

I've always like calling Italian cities by their Italian name. Somehow it rings nicer.. and feels like you know something more than the rest. So Milan and Rome, for those who do not (already) know. We arrived from Tirano on the Bernina Express train ( previous blog ) and chose to connect from Tirano to Milan. Opting to spend just two nights in Milan and then three nights in Rome. Arriving in Milan Central Station, having read horror stories of petty thieves targeting unsuspecting tourists, we were extra vigilant and kept close together. Train stations from Brussels to Berlin, are always notorious for such incidents.

Nevertheless, Milan Central Station had the looks to compensate for its bad reputation. It was designed by French architect Louis-Jules Bouchot(1817–1907) and its architectural style is reminiscent of Parisian buildings of that period, especially Liberty and Art Deco. Using my Google Map, we walked about 20 mins to the Best Western Hotel City, located right on Corso Buenos Aires, Milan's main shopping street. After discharging our luggages, we explored the shopping streets and ended up with leather shoes, handbags and souvenir items. Dinner was at an excellent Italian restaurant recommended by the hotel's concierge which was within walking distance from the hotel... proving that local knowledge about dining options is much better than on TripAdvisor. The next day, we chanced the metro to visit Milan's famous Duomo Cathedral and the umissable Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II next door to Duomo. After that, we visited Castello Sforzesco, Milan's former fifteenth-century defensive fortress. The most prized artworks are like Leonardo's Sala delle Asse and Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini and many other works of great masters. It was all within walking distances and I am ever grateful that Ray and my mum didn't complain about having to walk. What struck me in Milan is the big African and East Asian migrant community and I was soon to learn that it is the same throughout Italy. The upside was that mum and me spotted a Bryani hole-in-the wall and we quickly vetoed to take one meal there. The food was freshly made and we chatted with the Bangladeshi server / cook who told us his life story. "In Rome do as the Romans do" "All roads lead to Rome" are some of the popular idioms I'll use in my conversations when I want to drive home a message. So now, in Rome, I stared at a map to see indeed if all roads lead to Rome. (The phrase originated from the vast network of Roman roads that radiated out from Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire). Sadly, the road network today is more complicated than that. This idiom just to illustrate that there are many different ways to achieve the same result.

However, we did do as the Romans did, centuries ago, and walked along Via dei Fori imperiali, Forum Romano, Colosseum et al.. Fabulous, awestruck, ancient, a pile of ruins, if one didn't know any better. Hence a guide would have been useful.. We also visited the Vatican city with the imposing St Peter's Basilica. In the afternoon, we took in the famous Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi), Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon and indulged in some "bella figura" people watch as we savored delicious gelato.