Girl's weekend in Milan - Kate in Zurich

My girlfriend’s and I hopped a train to Milan last weekend. A simple three-hour train ride from Zürich to Milan, through the most beautiful southern lakes and valleys of Switzerland. One of my favorite things about living in Europe is the efficient transportation to neighboring counties. As a gal from Seattle, I still can’t believe how quickly I can get to a number of European countries from Zürich!

We dropped off our bags at our apartment and headed straight for lunch in Brera, the historical core of the city. As we navigated off the busy main street and into the alleyways of Brera, we knew we had found the perfect atmosphere for our first meal in Milan. (My friend Kate wrote a great recap of a recent trip she took to the Brera district in this blog post.) We sat down outside an old gorgeous town square and soaked in the Milanese ambiance. A few bottles of house red later, we were ready to explore Milan!

I had been to Milan once, many years ago. I had a vivid memory of a beautiful shopping street, Villa della Spiga, and hoped to see it again. It is located in the Quadrilatero d’Oro, or ‘golden rectangle’ area just north of the Duomo. Walking along the beautiful pedestrian streets brought back memories of Milan all in this little quaint, quiet, unaffordable area just far enough away from the busy Duomo. These streets are just for window shopping though, as they house only the most exclusive high end brands. (I’m quite used to merely window shopping in Zürich on our famous Bahnhofstrasse.)

After a wander through the golden rectangle, we made our way through The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (also only high end brands, perfect for dreamily window shopping). The gorgeous ceiling, beautiful store fronts, and fantastic flooring is a feast for the senses. We spun our heels on the famous Bulls Ball (seriously). Then we got our first look at the Duomo. We wandered the Duomo square for a bit taking pictures, then headed to the Terazza Aperol terrace for a snack and drinks. This was mainly an excuse to get off the busy Duomo square and enjoy the spectacular view from the gorgeous terrace.

My favorite part of town was Porto Genova. It is a gorgeous area along the oldest canal in Milan. There are many wine bars and fabulous restaurants. We thought we had discovered a small hidden treasure of Milan. The river, the bridges, the hip shops, the swanky cafes were all ours. The setting is magical. For shopping, we found amazing leather jackets, sweaters and scarves at Reptile’s House. We enjoyed a wonderful cafe style lunch at PaninoLAB , checked the rugby score at Murphy’s Law, all before discovering the gorgeous old canal and enjoying a glass of wine at the Sofa Cafe.

Then our friends, who had been at the Expo all Saturday, wanted to see some of this bliss we had raved about. We took them with us and ran into the largest Sunday market we had ever seen. It was beautiful. The Naviglio Grande Antique Market takes place the last Sunday of each month. The 2km long market has over 380 exhibitors including high end clothing and antiques. The setting is magical. The area of Naviglio also had great shopping. The restaurants along the Naviglio Grande are fantastic for ambiance, people watching, and especially the food. We ate dinner along the canal both Saturday and Sunday. I would highly recommend this area of Milan.

In the mornings, we stopped at our local espresso bar before heading out to explore for the day. One Euro for an espresso! 1.30 Euro for a cappuccino! There are my people! In Zürich, a cappuccino is about five Swiss Francs. A Swiss Franc and a Euro are now about equal. Most of our meals were 20 Euros each, including cheese, wine, main, and espresso.