Italy is in my blood. Literally. My great grandmother, Carmelina Mazza Potter, was 100% beautiful and feisty Italian. She was born in the small village of Gurro, which is near the border of Switzerland, with the Alps being her backyard. Someday, in the warmer months, I will go there. But, since we are close to Winter, we passed this time around.
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My beautiful Great Grandma Carmelina. She was well under 5 feet tall, but had more spunk than anyone I knew! She would come out and have snowball fights with the kids in her 80’s!
On our train ride to Milan, we rode past some similar adorable villages near the majestic snow-covered Alps. The ride was beautiful. I knew very little about Milan. My uncle served a mission there and Salma Hayek mentions it in the movie Grownups. That was all I knew about it. haha When I searched for things to do in Milan, the number one thing was the Milan Cathedral…
We took the metro (subway, tube, whatever you want to call it) to the cathedral. When we walked up the stairs out of the metro station, it was right there in front of us in all its glory! It was a cool experience! The building is AMAZING!!! Absolutely gorgeous at every angle. I think it was my favorite cathedral I’ve seen so far in our travels. My boys had fun chasing, feeding, and playing with the huge group of pigeons. One night when we went, there was a street musician playing music! We loved it!
Surrounding the cathedral is a huge shopping mall. When I say huge, I mean it! We walked for a mile and the shops never ended! There were also a lot of restaurants. Right by the cathedral, we found a restaurant we loved so much. We ate there three times and the food never disappointed and the staff was always spectacular and friendly. It was called Catto Rosso.
While in Milan, we also visited the Sforza Castle. It wasn’t that great, but I might just be saying that because I was spoiled in Ireland and England. It was free to walk the grounds, so we did that for a few minutes. Right by the castle was a huge arch that was really cool. And then there was a really fun park for the kids called Sempione Park. It had a cute little train, fast electric cars, and a fun playground. It was exactly what the kids needed!
Even though 90% of the city was decorated with graffiti, it was actually pretty clean. Litter was always thrown away, dog poo was cleaned up, and smokers usually used the smoking areas throughout the city. Overall, Milan was okay. Restaurants were all pretty good. People were nice. Public transportation was dependable. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a desire to return, but if I find myself there again, I wouldn’t mind.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
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