Milan

While most of my new mates went to Lake Como for the day, I decided to stay around Milan, where I could save some money and actually explore the city I am staying in. I think I am going to have to come back to redo the north of Italy, and likely the south of France, when i have more money. Unfortunately, I have had to skip Lake Como and Chinque Terre despite being two huge travel bucket list items for this trip. I am short on time to get to Portugal by the 22nd of Septmeber, and even more short on money. So I would rather see Milan and come back and do Como when I have money to support my trip. All this aside, Milan was quite nice, the architecture was amazing and the monuments were quite interesting. I started my day by looking at Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio, which wasn't that exciting given you couldn't see much from the outside, and I didn't want to pay to go in so it was disappointing. Next door was the university, and to be honest, that was more exciting than the Basilica. It had a really nice garden area and some interesting architecture. But given I couldn't go into any of the buildings, it didn't take long until I was moving on. Next was the Santa Maria delle Grazie. This was much cooler and more beautiful, but unfortunately the inside was closed so I couldn't go in. But it was still cool to see from the outside. I then headed towards Sforzesco Castle, which was enourmas and very popular for tourists. As such, there were a lot of people trying to scam you, as you can hear in the video I attach. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed my Lime Scooter into the area, and so it heavily impacted the time I spent in there. It was completely open and high 30 degrees in Milan and so it was incredibly difficult to do anything. As such, I missed the Parco Sempione that resides to the back of the castle. This is also quite exposed and so would have been way too hot to walk through. This did, however, mean that I missed the Arco della Pace that is situated on the far side of the park. This would have been cool to see, but there are plenty of arches in France, so I'm sure I won't regret it too much. After this, I jumped back on a lime scooter and headed toward the Piazza Cordusio, where there are plenty of stores and restaurants. It was cool, but my lime scooter wasn't allowed here either, so that was sad. This eventually led to the main attraction of Milan, the Duomo. This was really cool to see, but of course, I came on the day that the museum was closed, so without my knowing i paid 6 euros just to see the inside and nothing else. This was disappointing, but there was not much I could do. The inside also wasn't thay nice compared to other basilicas in Italy, but was still quite cool. It was also undergoing renovations, so that took away from the moment, too. I don't know why they do these during the summer, but oh well. It is something you have to do when in Milan, so I'm not too fussed. The Duomo Piazza also accommodates the Palazzo Reale di Milano, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and the Teatro alla Scala. These were also quite cool to walk around and see. The location of the hostel was incredibly central, and it was great for seeing everything.

I wouldn't spend more than a day in Milan as you can see just about all of it in half a day. I did exactly this and I was quite bored by afternoon. As such, I decided I would go visit the San Siro Stadium, a legendary football stadium of Milan and Inter that is due to be replaced in the coming years. This meant it was likely my last chance to see it. It would have been great to see a game, or even wander through the museum, but both were too expensive, and it was a tuesday, so there were no games on.

When I arrived back at the hostel, the French Canadians had bought a bunch of drinks and were having them on the terrace of the building. They invited me to join, and we got very drunk of jeiger, scotch, and vodka. The biggest mismatch of drinks I've had in a while. We played drinking games and chatted until about 5 am. I was shocked how quickly time had passed, but given I had a train to catch the next day, I showed myself to bed.Read more