Nico and I took the train from Lake Como, arriving in Milan fairly later than the rest of my family who were already at the airport waiting to board their flight back to the US. As we wandered the train station, trying to figure out which metro line we needed to take to get to our Airbnb, I already missed the ease of traveling with my family and having a known method of transportation ready for us.
We eventually found our metro and crammed onto the train with our oversized backpacks, sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd of Italian commuters. Our metro stop was conveniently located under a McDonald's, where we grabbed some lunch later that day (Don't judge us. McDonald's is of a much higher quality in Italy and you can buy soft serve ice cream with coffee over it).
We arrived at our Airbnb, an apartment complex with a very strange layout. Our host met us outside by the gate, lead us through a locked door to her building, then through the locked door of her apartment. She showed us our room and gave us a set of keys to help us through each of the three obstacles protecting the apartment.
That afternoon, Nico and I visited the Duomo and shopped around a little bit. Milan is full of people trying to scam you into buying stupid trinkets or paying for a photo with a "levitating" person. Nico ended up buying a thread bracelet that a man tied onto his wrist (before getting a "yes"), saying it's from Africa.
The Duomo
The really cool ceiling of this mall
That night we went to dinner in the Navigli District. We had an aperitivo, which is like an Italian buffet - all you can eat small plates of food accompanied by a cocktail or a glass of wine. Nico and I bought a bottle of wine to share and stayed awhile. We actually got a bottle plus one glass each because after pouring our first glass, the waitress set the bottle down on a slanted table and it fell off and shattered over the ground.
The canal in the Navigli District
The next day, Nico and I packed up our stuff and attempted to leave the apartment. We were instructed to leave the keys inside the apartment and to lock the door before exiting. That part was simple enough. Then we arrived at the gate. How do we open it from the inside without the keys? We searched for a button but it made no sense for there to be one since someone could simply reach their arm through the gate to push it. We jumped up and down where the cars drive out, hoping to trigger the sensor. Then we just sat and waited for someone to open the gate with their keys. Eventually someone did come (from the inside). He simply pushed a button that was cleverly hidden on a wall adjacent from the gate. We looked at each other, laughed, and then made our escape.
Leaving the apartment, Nico and I took the metro first to the train station to drop off our heavy backpacks and then back to the Navigli district to go to a market we came across the night before. The place was called Mercato Metropolitano. It was an old railway station that had been renovated to host local merchants and artisans during the Expo taking place in Milan at that time. The market had different stalls with various types of food, wine, cheese, etc. The area was thoughtfully repurposed with sustainable and reused materials, making it a lovely place to spend the afternoon.
Canal during the day
Nico
Canal
(Note: The market is most likely no longer there since it was just running during the Expo. However, Mercato Metropolitano has other locations throughout Italy and one in London.)
Late that afternoon, Nico and I went back to the train station and began our trip to Venice.
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