A 'Milan' for all Seasons!
In Spring I had the opportunity to join a tour of the Galleria Campari. What a fascinating history about the iconic Milanese drink. And it would have been rude not to have sampled a Campari Spritz and Aperitivo at the neighbouring Villa Campari!
In Summer, a couple of weeks ago, I joined a wonderful walking tour of a most (and I think my favourite) interesting area of the city. We met at the Santa Maria Dela Passione which is the second largest church in Milan (the largest being the Duomo of course!) It’s 50m cupola was stunning and reminded me of the Pantheon in Rome. It is situated in a peaceful area of Milan opposite the Conservatorio di Milano. You can often here the students singing as you walk down Via Verdi.
From here we wandered into the Quadrangle of Silence near Piazza Eleonora Duse and stumbled across the secret garden of Palazzo Invernizzi, which has been the home to a colony of pink flamingos for more than 30 years. Not something you see every day!
We peeked into the gorgeous gardens of the Villa Necchi Capiglio however as we didn’t have time to visit the Villa itself, I will be returning to explore the beautiful Case Museo. We ended the tour outside the Modern Art Gallery housed in the Villa Reale, once inhabited by Napoleon.
In Winter, on a chilly day in December, we walked around the Castello Sforzesco, visited the magnificent Duomo and walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (Italy's oldest active shopping mall). It was quite magical with the Christmas lights and the huge Christmas tree decorated with thousands of Swarovski crystals. We had also managed to find some tickets for the Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie and afterwards had dinner on the Naviglio Grande in the Navigli (we have since returned in the Summer and it was just buzzing!)
In Autumn we wandered through the Brera District and window shopped in the Golden triangle (3 streets in central Milan which combined have become the world’s fashion Mecca), before having lunch at the top of Milan’s famous department store – La Rinascente - overlooking the Duomo.
I have enjoyed exploring Milan in all 4 seasons and would recommend the city as a short break or as part of a longer Italian itinerary.