My Milan

I love this city. I still can’t believe I avoided going back for a year, despite its proximity to our new home. I guess we needed some time to settle in and get on with our new life in our new country. When you have as many former homes as I do, sometimes it’s important to not be too sentimental when leaving a place.

But sentimental I was as we stepped off the train and I started seeing and experiencing all the familiar things – the dingy yet monumental station, the breathtaking architecture, the omnipresent bars and outdoor cafes (serving the most delicious coffee in the world), the duomo…

But we got off the train with a mission. With only three days to spend in Milan, our priorities were clear: eating, walking around soaking up atmosphere, eating, seeing our friends, eating, browsing in trendy little shops, eating, admiring the architecture, eating, taking in a little art, and eating. The only parts of the weekend that were pre-planned were the meals; everything else was merely killing time until the next eating opportunity.

The highlight of the weekend was a trip to my favorite restaurant of all time, Joia, but really all of our meals were fabulous. The brunch at the mozzarella bar Obika was delicious, as was the lunch back at one of our favorite pizzerias in our old neighborhood (where we discovered that our old palazzo is now completely covered with scaffolding – good thing we got out when we did!).

And then there was the gelato – it was cool and raining on and off for most of the weekend, but the gelato still tasted delicious – even though I’ve had it thousands of times, I’m still amazed at how good it is each time I taste it.

We didn’t even get around to everything I would have liked to do (for example, we were so busy eating long meals and running around the city that we hardly had any time to sit at outdoor cafes and people-watch while sipping negronis and prosecco). Guess we’ll have to go back again, soon.