The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
June 2 - Milan

Last day in Italy and we would have happily gone home after yesterday. I suppose most trips have an enthusiasm curve like that. After watching people driving on and off the Como car ferries for three days, we took our own trip on the way out, heading across to Menaggio then driving down the western shore to find our hotel outside Milan. It was interesting to get a little closer to some of the villas and landmarks that we had only seen from the water. The day was hot and Monday was an Italian holiday, so there were people everywhere around the lake. Still, the drive was pleasant enough.

Our hotel was outside the town of Saronno (as in Amaretto di Saronno) but of course everything was closed. Margene had hoped to get in some last-minute shopping but the holiday did us in there as well. Still, we thought we should at least see a little of Milan before we left. Knowing what getting in and out of Italian cities can be like by car, we opted for the train, an easy 30-minute run from Saronno into the center of Milan.

As expected, the city was hot and humid, so we cheated and caught a cab to the Duomo, the cultural heart. The church was impressive but religious architecture still is not my thing. I can certainly appreciate what it must have taken to build it, though and the stained glass was spectacular. The only shops that were open were in the famous Galleria adjacent to the Duomo which suited me fine since that was one spot in Milan I really wanted to see. The photos that follow will give you an idea of the place.

We caught lunch in a cafeteria-like operation called Ciao on the third floor of the Galleria. It is run by AutoGrill, the same folks that do most of the foodservice on the autostrada. We were there late and most of the stations were shut down, but the food that was available was fresh, nicely displayed and very reasonably priced. This is the first operation of this sort that I have seen on this trip ... but then again, we have been steering clear of cities most of the time. In any event, it was late enough that it also served as dinner. The last project of the day was gelato in Saronno (perhaps the best of the trip) and then back to the hotel to finish re-packing, get some sleep and be ready to head for home in the morning!

It has been a wonderful three weeks and there is very little we would change. Perhaps next time we will have a set week in two different locations with some unstructured time in between so we can decide at the time where we want to go and what we want to do.

The Milan Galleria

Ciao Ristorante


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