Mr NYC in Milan & Italy

The thing about Italy is that, like all great places, it isn't just one place or one thing. There are so many parts of Italy that are so distinct and special, so unique unto themselves -- cities like Rome, Naples, Florence, Naples, Turin, Venice and others; areas like Tuscany, Lombardi, Sicily and others -- that visiting just one of them is an amazing experience unto itself. 

And, of course, NYC and Italy have many historical links. 

Of course, a big reason why Italy is so diverse and fascinating is that for roughly 1500 years -- after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and the unification or "risorgimento" in the 19th century -- Italy as a country didn't exist. It was a collection of small kingdoms, duchies, city states, and republics -- and thus each city and region fashioned its own identiy.

I've visited Venice and Rome multiple times but, until recently, had only spent one night in the city of Milan. That changed last month when I visited the city for almost a week -- first for work, then for fun, with my wife. We had an amazing time and here I'll tell you all about it!

First, a few things to understand about Milan. It's very far north, very close to the Swiss border, and it's not only the biggest city in all of Italy but it's one of the biggest cities in all of Europe. It's also really rich, one of the biggest banking, fashion, and chemical capitals of the word. There's even a couple of jokes about this -- "For every church in Rome, there's a bank in Milan" and "Milan works so the rest of Italy doesn't have to."

While Milan has an ancient history, its doesn't have quite the same feeling of antiquity that Rome obviously does. Milan lives in the future. But it's still replete with history and we saw a lot of it.

The center of the city, what "ties it together", is the Duomo Cathedral. A massive structure, the Duomo is the biggest cathedral in Italy -- except for St. John's Basilica in Vatican City, technically not Italy -- and all the rest of Europe. It took 600 years to build -- between the 1300s and the 1900s -- and you can see why: it is the most ornate, intricately designed house of worship that you'll ever see. It's drench withed marble statues, beautifully carved, on the walls of Duomo and on the top of the cathedral -- that you can visit and that also provides amazing views of the square and city beyond the Duomo. We spent a long time there and this is what we saw: 

Across from the Duomo, as you can see, is the King Victor Emmanuelle statue and the entrance to the Galleria which has lots of high-end stores. After we walked around the Duomo and the Galleria, we treated ourselves to a lovely Aperale Spritz:

That night we went to a ballet at the world famous La Scala Theater. It was under construction when we got there but, along the way, we saw a beautiful LED exhibit and headquarters for the 2026 Winter Olympics which will be held in Milan:

In fact, as the wife and I were crossing the street toward La Scala, a young guy behind us asked if we were American and, when we said we were, he excitedly told us that he was from East Flatbush, Brooklyn and was in Milan visiting a friend -- small town, small world!

Then we saw the ballet that consisted of three seperate pieces choreogrpahed, ironically, by Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine of the New York City ballet. Here's the program of the show we saw as well as the stunning interiors of La Scala (from our nosebleed seats):

Next day, we went to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie to see one of the most famous paintings in the world -- the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. Along the way, we saw some lovely architecture and an interesting little fountain:

Painted on the wall of the church, Da Vinci created the Last Supper between 1494-1498. You shoud read about it at the link above but a few interesting things to note about this painting: 1) Because it's painted on a wall, many people think the Last Supper is a "fresco" but it's not -- it's a "deco" or a mural. A fresco is something painted on wet plaster, which means it's captured and dried, much like a photograph. A mural is painted on dry wall -- like the Last Supper was. 2) You'll notice, in looking at the painting, that almost everything is grouped in threes and that Jesus himself looks like a triangle. This represents the Holy Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It's a stunning painting and, according to our tour guide, his greatest painting ever, even better than the Mona Lisa in Paris.

The church protects the Last Supper like a nuclear warhead -- it's in a air-controlled room, only a few people can visit it at a time for about 15 minutes, and you can go to through a few rooms before you get access to it. Also, there's another painting across from it, The Cruxification by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, that is also an amazing thing:

Also, during World War II, Milan was heavily bombed by the Allies. The Last Supper was protected by a whole bunch of sandbags that kept it safe. In addition, there's a lovely little garden behind the church is a fountain with a some frogs that, our guide told us "No kissa, no prinza."

That afternoone was visited the stunning Sforza Castle. It was built by the family the ruled Milan in the 15th century and it's a huge fortress with massive battlements, courtyards, and walls:

On our last day, we visited the funky, vibrant, artistic neighborhood of La Brera -- it's like a Soho, Williamsburg, Upper West Side place -- full of culture, history, good food, and highly walkable. While there, we visited the Palazzo Brera which is a big building full of art academies and cultural institutions. It also has a beautiful garden in the back that was built by the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in 1775 when Milan was part of the Habsburg Empire:

And, nearby, we also found another cute little church:

As you can see, there's so many fascinating and beautiful things to see in Milan that it's hard even to comprehend it all. Just so you also know, Milan has a really great Metro system, it's a super easy city to get around. 

Finally, the food! We ate two really great meals in Milan that signify everything that's great about Italy -- the nouvelle restaurant 28 Posti where we ate a delicious tasting menu (and where we met a lovely couple from Chicago who were having a last big trip before the expected birth of their child in 2025) and the Boeucc, an amazing place that's been in business for 1696 -- it's older than the country of Italy itself! We had a dinner than included an incredibly good truffle pasta -- super good!

And then we left. Back to NYC. Just so you know, the airport is quite far from the city of Milan -- it's an hour by train. It's always painful to be in a train station in Italy because you can see all the amazing cities that are just one ride away, and it's tempting not to just hop onto one of them and go to Venice, Verona or so many other places:

But Milan is a great place and totally worth seeing. 

I've been to Italy a few times now but, as indicated earlier, mostly in Venice and Rome. As a kid I spent some time in Florence and saw the David Statue and the Duomo there but I haven't been back since. One day I shall return there and also go to many other great places in Italy. And, when I do, I'll be sure to blog about it all here!