Milano

Up early to start the planning for the day and relax on our little terrace that lets us look out on the city life below. After breakfast and several cups of coffee/tea we are off around 10AM. First stop, the Milan suburb of Brera. Lots of public transport today - metro and tram. The rest walking. Brera is the home of the Bohemian in Milan. (According to the tour books) Tram arrives near the obligatory church - San Marco.- the stone doorway is the only part that remains of the original church built in 1254. However my favorite was the sign on the cafe awning in front of the church. :-) Pic attached. We wandered the streets and of note was another very large building, the Palazzo Cusani, which houses a library and the well-known (in Milan) Pinacoteca Art Museum which boasts paintings by Raphael and Caravaggio. On the grounds of that building was a small botannical garden that was a nice secluded spot away from the street, lots of large trees (linden and ginko bilbao) and a pleasant walk around. Approaching lunch hour the place is alive with restaurants, cafes and shops opening after church.

Then off to the Milan main train station - Centrale. We had seen a picture in the Eye Witness guide that was intriguing and Joel is a transportation buff. He loves figuring out public transportation in all the cities we visit, great for me as I am happy to leave it to him for a couple days. I would certainly recommend a quick stop there, the building is massive, the 2nd largest building MIlan next to the Duomo. The highlight is the cover/roof over the area where the trains leave. Will attach picture but could not get it in its entirety.

Then the most fun find of the day while trying to find the Isola street art *which" we never found. I saw and elevated walk way with a lot of people walking and it reminded me of the NYC Highline. So we went to take a look and, indeed, it was huge expanse of walking, high end shops and unique architecture office buildings, fountains, pools, cafes and all elevated from the street. It was so fun. We had tea there and just enjoyed the ambiance and people watching. Off to take the metro home and a rest before dinner. Got on the metro, went about 4 stops and got off only to find a major thunderstorm in progress. It was pouring and actually had some hail in it. We took cover under the eaves of a building and waited it out. About 30 minutes later we made it home, quite wet.

Rain passed and out for dinner to a great Asian Fusion restaurant near by. Joel surprised me by picking the place and then told me dinner was on him for Mothers Day!! So sweet and entirely unexpected. A great dinner, highly recommend the restaurant. DOU Asian Passion.Read more