Italy
Moncucco

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    • Day 2

      Victoria Secret Angel & Versace Adonis

      April 8, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

      (Short information for everybody reading this blog. This is a summary of all my thoughts and experiences, which I usually write down (quite tired) at the end of each day, without paying attention to any grammatical rules nor spelling, so please dont be surprised if suddenly the tense changes or letters are missing:))

      Turns out Italy did not disappoint us. When we woke up at 7:30 the sun was shining and it was warm enough to walk around without an anorak, gloves and scarf. We went to the Officina Zero, which is a 100% glutenfree bakery, to start of our day with some Croissants, coffee and a freshly squeezed orange juice. We headed to the metro station close by and took a train to the Duomo. Finally we realized what the tickets we had bought really were for. They brought us to the terraces on the rooftop of the building. It was absolutely insane, we didnt even realize it was possible to get up there. We were really happy and decided to stay there for a while and enjoy the sun. Later on we visited the inside and the archaeological area of the cathedral. Our visit made us hungry, therefore we walked over to Amorino (still the very best gelato ever) and grabbed an ice cream. First Kai only wanted to get chocolate but then I convinced him to try different flavours since he was at such a good gelateria, and even though he didnt admit it, I‘m quite sure he thanked me later. Although, what he didn’t appreciate for sure was the „short“ stop at Victoria Secret… well I just had to. What is a trip to Milan without some „serious“ shopping? I returned Kai the favour and spent at least an hour in shoe stores with him, because he couldnt decide whether to buy red, yes red, special edition vans or not. He bought them in the end and was happy, so it was worth the wait:).
      We strolled along the street, went to a supermarket, bought some drinks and snacks and sat down in a park next to the Basilica San Lorenzo. However, the park wasnt as nice as we thought, there were some really weird emo- teenies, walking around, smoking and drinking, which lead Kai and I to have an extended conversation about education which almost lasted throughout the rest of the day. Anyways, we walked on and found a very pretty bar outside, so we sat down and ordered two analcoholic cocktails. Felt quite fancy;))
      We stayed there for a while and enjoyed the sunrays tickeling on our faces.
      On our way to the restaurant „Bistró“, I had found on a „glutenfree guide“ website earlier, we walked past a canal with bars, cute little shops and art galleries. We hadnt seen such a charming part of the city before and I was glad we had come cross it.
      After a couple of minutes we found ourselves walking through a less touristic part of the city and saw an old man carrying boxes of wine out of his car. Kai stepped over to him and offered to help. The man was very surprised at first but accepted Kai‘s offer. They went inside the house while I looked after his cute dog. For a moment I was a bit worried because they took a while to get back. But then they came back and the man thanked us a thousant times. We talked for a bit and he offered to invite us to his house for a glass of wine, but when he looked for his keys to open up the gate he realised he had left them inside, so we waited for about 20 minues until he had called all his contacts and had finally found somebody who could open up the gate for him. Before we left he invited us again but we declined, saying we had a reservation, so he gave us one of his wine bottles and wished us all the best.
      Although I must admit the day was over all incredibly aweosme, my highlight was dinner. The Ristorante Bistró is a 100% glutenfree place where they offer all types of Lasagne, fresh homemade pasta, delicious burgers with soft buns and honestly everything somebody could wish for. I felt like I was in heaven. I can’t remember the last time I had such good bread it was just exquisite. I was more than full but I just couldnt say no to dessert, so we ordered a Tiramisú scomposto. Kai doesnt even like coffee, but he knew that for me this Tiramisu was just a „to die for“ so he shared it with me!
      We gave the girl a good tip and „rolled“ (at least I did) to the next metro station and drove home, packed all our stuff and went to bed where I am now currently reflecting on our awesome day and writing this blog!
      Good night to switzerland:)
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    • Day 2

      D2🇮🇹: Día por Milan

      December 3, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

      Nos despertamos a las 08:30h, aunque yo llevaba un rato despierto. Había sido una noche movidita, y en el hotel se escuchaba mucho ruido de la calle.

      Empezamos el día cogiendo un metro a Navigli, una zona de Milan con canales, súper bonita y que recuerdo de mi viaje en 2020. Estuvimos paseando por allí, entramos a un edificio medio abandonado que ahora es un centro para artistas, y desayuné un croissant 🥐 de crema de pistacho, un empalago de 1000kcal por lo menos.

      De ahí nos fuimos andando hacia las Colonne di San Lorenzo, y la Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio, que me gustaba de ese último viaje que hice. Ya de allí, cerca del Castello Sforzesco, fuimos a verlo, paseando por calles milanesas muy bonitas. Después de una visita por encima al castillo, fuimos a comer pasta a un restaurante que nos habían recomendado, muy top la verdad.

      Después de comer fuimos a los jardines del castillo, el Parco Sempione, atravesándolo, y nos dirigimos hacia el Cementerio Monumental de Milan, una pasada. Mausoleos y tumbas espectaculares en todas las vías del cementerio. Familias enteras en auténticos monumentos uno tras otro, como una competición por el más bonito. Estuvimos por allí hasta las 15:45, que nos fuimos hacia el Duomo de nuevo, donde empezábamos un Free Tour.

      En el Free Tour nos encontramos de “sorpresa” a Alejandro, Rosa y Sandra, que también estaban por aquí, y hacíamos el Tour juntos.
      El Free Tour fue bonito, pero había mucho ruido y al guía no se le escuchaba a veces, y daba un poco de rabia. Pero seguía siendo bonito e hicimos un camino de 2.5h por la ciudad, acabando de nuevo en el Castillo, pero esta vez de noche.

      Desde aquí volvimos a las Galerías a ver la librería subterránea, y nos fuimos al sitio de la cena, que no estuvo mal, pero tampoco nada wow. (Si Alejandro me lee que me deje su opinión del sitio jajajajja). De aquí ya nos despedimos y nos volvimos al hotel a cerrar el día.
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    • Day 3

      Foodporn am Kanal

      February 19 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Erste Station in Milano: ESSEN. Heute ging es zum Kanal Naviglio Grande, um sich das erste Mal so richtig italienisches Essen zu gönnen. Also gingen wir am Kanal entlang und analysierten den Margarita - Index. Bei 7.50 € und gutem Angebot waren wir überzeugt und setzten uns rein. Und was soll man sagen.. Ich wünschte das Essen wäre nie fertig gewesen und mein Magen wäre unendlich befüllbar 😋🤭 Für Felix gab es erstmal ganz klassisch eine Pasta di Carbonara und für Ania ein Risotto gambaretti a limone. Eine gute Wahl und wir sind gespannt, ob dieses Festmahl noch getoppt werden kann!
      Naja genug zum Essen (ich träumte noch davon), gut gefüllt entschieden wir uns schon Richtung unterkunft auszubrechen, da wir schon ziemlich müde waren. Also machten wir noch eine Mini-Wanderung vorbei an wichtigen und schönen Orten und fuhren dann schon ins Bettchen. Morgen geht es nämlich ganz früh schon weiter.
      Unser Fazit zu Mailand: Eine echt schöne Stadt mit beeindruckenden Gebäuden. Für uns aber ein tacken zu groß.
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    • Day 2

      Erkundungstour durch Mailand

      June 7, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Um 11 Uhr ging's zu Fuß durch Chinatown zum Mailänder Arc de triumph "Arco della Pace". Auf dem Weg haben wir eine kleine nette Kirche gefunden. Marvin ist direkt zum Frisör und wir haben ein leckeres Eis währendessen gegessen. Danach sind wir in Richtung Dom gelaufen und haben das Mailändische Treiben auf der Via Dante beobachtet. Am Dom haben wir Pizza gegessen. Anschließend ging es zu unserer Free Walking Tour, bei der wir früher gehen mussten🤭😉 Danach sind wir an den Rio Grande im Künstlerviertel Navigli zum Aperitivo eingekehrt. Zum Schluss sind wir zum MotorGP Eröffnungskonzert am Arco della Pace, bevor wir es auf unserer Dachterasse gemütlich machten. Unsre 27.000 Schritte sind voll!Read more

    • Day 2

      Navigli

      April 8, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      Schon als wir am Freitag auf dem Weg zum Hotel waren, sind wir das erste mal durch Navigli spaziert. Unser Hotel liegt ja praktisch in diesem Viertel.
      Im 12. Jahrhundert wurden ein etwa 90 Kliometer langes Kanalnetz in Mailand konstruiiert, da es der Stadt an Zugang zum Wasser fehlte.
      Heute ist das Navigli Viertel eher jung und modern. Ein bisschen das Szenen- und Künstlerviertel vor Allem für Junge Leute super , denn es gibt dort viele viele Restaurants und Bars entweder direkt an dem Kanal oder in den Seitengassen. Vor allem Abends super schön und zumindest als wir jetzt hier waren ziemlich lebendig. Es war garnicht so einfach einen Tisch in einem der scheinbar endlosen italienischen Restaurants zu bekommen.
      Als wir uns am Samstag morgen auf den Weg in die Stadt gemacht haben, haben wir aus der Bahn heraus gesehen dass die ganze Straße entlang Marktstände aufgereiht haben, also haben wir unsere Bahnfahrt frühzeitig abgebrochen und sind den Markt einmal komplett abgelaufen. Es war so so schön. Das erste Mal kam die Sonne richtig raus, zahlreiche Menschen die durch die Straßen liefen, Verkäufer von pberall her die alles verkauften von alten Platten/Cds/Dvds über Schmuck, antiquitäten, Klamotten ohne Ende oder Räucherstäbchen.
      Ich hätte wirklich für immer durch die Stände stöbern können. Der ein oder andere hatte gerade sogar eine Platte aufgelegt, was die Atmosphäre noch schöner machte. Nachdem ich endlich!! Einen schönen goldenen Ring gefunden hatte und noch ein paar Souvenirs eingekauft hatte sind wir dann weiter durch das Kanalviertel spaziert. Am Ende konnte man, durch das ein oder andere Tor in die Hinterhöfe der Häuser gelangen, wo man die verschiedensten Pflanzen, Tiere oder Vespen entdecken konnte. Kleine Läden die Seifen oder Blumen verkauften, Fotoateliers mit alten in Masse gedruckten Fotos aus dem alten Mailand. (Auf einem Foto standen die Beatles zum Beispiel direkt auf dem DomDach)
      Dann sind wir weiter gegangen zur Bushaltestelle um endlich in die Stadt zu gelangen, aber es war klar: Hier gehen wir heute Abend essen.

      Nachdem wir uns dann Abends nach einem langen und anstrengenden Tag in der Stadt ein bisschen frisch gemacht hatten, sind wir zurück nach Navigli und haben erstmal ein paar Fotos gemacht. Dann sind wir pber die kleine Brücke auf die linke Seite ded Kanals um uns für ein Restaurant zu entscheiden. Sich „richtig“ zu entscheiden ist hier eigentlich garnicht möglich, wir haben nicht das erstbeste genommen sondern sind etwas weitergegangen aber alles in allem waren sich die Restaurants auch recht ähnlich.
      Ich habe mir dann ein Safran Risotto nach mailändischer Art bestellt. Abgesehen davon dass die Portion nicht sonderlich groß war, war das schon ziemlich lecker.
      Das Personal war auch recht freundlich. Leider wurde es irgendwann super super ungemütlich weil es so windig und dadurch arschkalt wurde. Deswegen haben wir recht schnell bezahlt und sind nochmal auf die gegenüberliegende Seite gegangen. Dort wollten wir dann noch in eine Bar gehen. Schließlich sind wir in einer Alice im Wunderland Bar/Restaurant gelandet. Hier wurde, wie in vielen restaurants dieser Art ein „all you can eat“ Angebot gemacht für 12-14€ konnte man dann einfach viel viel essen bestellen (es sah aus wie Tapas oder kleine Häppchen eben).
      Nic hatte sich dann natürlich noch einen Aperol getrunken aber ich wollte nichts mehr ich war happy so. Die Bar war wirklich interessant und fast schon ein bisschen gruselig eingerichtet aber es war soo voll also anscheinend lieben die jungen Leute es hier.
      Danach sind wir dann aber auch auf direktem Weg zurück ins Hotel. Es war wie an allen anderen Abenden wirklich ziemlich kalt abends und meine Lederjacke war vielleicht doch nicht ausreichend. 😅
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    • Day 2

      Tag 3

      June 5, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Heute war das Wetter zum Glück deutlich besser - fast sogar zu warm. Sind daher einfach durch die Stadt gewandert, waren shoppen und haben die Sonne genossen.
      Auch heute waren viel zu viele Menschen beim Dom angestanden (sieht man auf dem Bild nicht ganz).
      Den letzten Abend haben wir dann bei der Navigli, einem Viertel mit wunderschönen Wasserstraßen verbracht.
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    • Day 33

      Milano

      May 13, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 61 °F

      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.
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    • Day 32

      Milano

      May 12, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

      Awake early so took advantage of the time before Joel came and got my Verizon/Three and Capital One issues resolved - not to my satisfaction as my Capital One card does not work in the hand held machines used everywhere here. :-( Something happened to the chip - maybe. They are sending me a new one to home. Have a back up and there is always cash.

      Joel arrived around 10AM. He showered and we were off for the day. First to the canal area of Milan - Naviglio Grande. Who knew Venice had a canal? At one time the canal was up to 93 miles long. Started in the 1100s (everything here is old), it was added to in the 1500s with the help of Leanardo da Vinci but finally ceased operation in 1979. At one time if was the 13th largest port in Italy!! Today it is a pleasant combination of bars, cafes, restaurants and park area. You can walk for a long ways along the banks. We had a pleasant lunch and a beer by the wayside.

      Then off for Joel to see the Duomo - walkable from where we were. Impressive as ever and since it is a Saturday very busy. Passed many Milan landmarks on the way - the old entrance to the city, famous churches and a lively shopping area. Also walked the Vittorio Emmanuele II Galleria with its magnificent architecture and upscale shops. Took in La Scala from the outside. Then walked to the large park in the middle of Milan central - Parco Sempione. Again a Saturday event that had finished, a market and lots of gelato and food stands. A very lively crowd and we had a pleasant walk through the park to our Metro station and home for Joel to take a nap and Kay to clean up.

      A leisurely evening, catching up on family and San Francisco politics and activities. Our around 8 for pizza nearby and home for an early evening.

      Miles: 7.5
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    • Day 30

      Menaggio to Milan

      May 10, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

      Today was another day of travel challenges. Left Menaggio and Lake Como behind and wended our way to Milan. The main road "out of town" by the lake was closed due to a major landslide earlier in the week so we had to go over and thru Switzerland to get to Milan. On the way we decided to return the car today as opposed to tomorrow so headed for Linate airport. The usual wind up of a car rental, fill with gas and try to find where to drop off the car in Italian.

      Kay's primary credit card denied several times and after 2 calls to Capital One - no resolution. (A problem when traveling). Problem must be in the card itself as it works on line just fine. So to Plan B - the secondary credit card. Third option is cash !! What a concept.

      Arrived at our new apartment around 4PM. We were not here long and took off for Milan center and the famous Duomo, Victor Emmanuel shopping gallery (upscale) and Teatro La Scala. Our host helped us with a myriad of questions we had around how to get Illene to the airport early in the AM, where Kay can get her nails done and other important things like that.

      Arrived via tram at the Duomo at the perfect time as the sun was right on the cathedral and great for pictures. Then looked for ties in the Galleria - have a request from a friend for a polka dot tie. Saw hundreds, if not thousands, of ties - now to decide which one.

      Had a glass of wine and some"nibbles" (dinner) in a outdoor cafe near La Scala this Italian opera. We had tickets at the Teatro La Scala opera house tonight for Francesco da Rimini.
      Illene is the opera buff, I go for the staging and the drama of Italian operas. Neither of us had seen this opera and we both enjoyed it a lot. Actually quite a sexy opera!! Home via tram - almost midnight.

      Miles: 4.4
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    • Day 8

      Night Milano. Day 8

      July 7, 2016 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

      Сегодня мы включили в программу вечерний Милан. Поэтому, отдохнув в номере после жары, мы пошли к Duomo. Вечером там ещё больше народу, чем днём. Везде играет музыка, праздник жизни. Все вокруг восхитительно красиво! На площади я разговорилась с китайцем, который живёт в Милане и занимается пением. Почти каждый вечер он приходит на площадь и любуется собором. Романтика)))
      Я читала, что ту улицу Навильи посещают именно вечером. Поэтому мы прыгнули в трамвай и оказались в центре богемной жизни. Да, вечером она выглядит явно лучше. Кафешки по обеим сторонам канала делают её привлекательной. Да и богема как раз подтянулась))
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