Weekend Getaway {Milan, Italy}

Okay, okay, we are pretty far behind on the blog so I am helping Michelle catch us up.  Who knows, maybe I will post more than twice a year...  

First post in my return to blogging: Milan.  We decided to go to Milan because I was down on Dublin for one reason or another, came home from work and told Michelle that we need to book a trip somewhere.  After a quick search on Aer Lingus we decided to make a quick getaway to Milan.  After all, it's Italy, how bad can it be? 

We left after work on a Friday night with the goal of getting to our Airbnb and getting sorted with time to find a local pizzeria.  After checking in we asked to owner where the locals go for pizza and he pointed us to a place right around the corner.  It couldn't have been better.  10:00 at night, one table left, no English anywhere and awesome pizza and beer.  The best part, since we are used to crazy expensive Dublin, we feel like we robbed the place when the bill arrived.  

We ended the night with a couple of more drinks in the neighborhood for a great Friday night out.  I still think it is amazing that we can work in Dublin all day and end up going out to dinner and drinks in Italy.  We definitely are not taking our proximity to the Europe for granted. 

Happy wife at Piccola Ischia.

The next morning we got up early to go see The Last Supper.  No, the picture below is not the real one.  The Last Supper is a massive mural on a wall in a church, this is a picture in the hallway after you leave the church by the ubiquitous exit through the gift shop.  Unfortunately they don't allow pictures of the actual painting...

That is why I made Michelle do our dirty work.

Secret iPhone picture of the real deal.  We never noticed the door under Jesus.  Crazy, right?

The actual church holding the last supper is a piece of art in itself, really an impressive building.

Even more impressive is the Duomo, Milan's main cathedral.  Unfortunately St. Peter's Basilica basically ruined all churches for us.  It is amazing that we walk into this magnificent building and say "Remember the Vatican?  Now that's a church!" 

Me waiting for Michelle to finish taking pictures as usual.

The coolest part of this church is that you can actually go up to the roof and walk around.  It is a really neat experience.  Highly recommended if you find yourself in Milan.  Just a few of the many, many pictures that we took up here...

 

 

 

After the church we walk over to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.  This is basically the coolest shopping mall that you will ever see.  Other than going to Massimo Dutti, our new favorite store, the thing to do at the mall is spin on the bulls nuts with your heal.  Yep, that's good luck.   

The bull.

And the spin

After seeing world famous art, admiring amazing religious buildings, and spinning on the bull's junk, we worked up an appetite.  I heard of this place call Luini Panzerotti right around the corner with these awesome little snacks.  Basically, they are small calzones either baked or fried and filled with sweet or savory deliciousness.  As the kids say, they were totes amaze balls.  If you are in Milan, go.  Just be prepared to wait the tourists and locals alike. This place can get packed. 

We only got one quick picture since we were sort of into our luinis.

Finally we were ready to move past the snacking and onto a proper Italian meal.  We headed over to the Brera which is a really cool area.  Hip shops, nice bars, and great food.  We found a little family place and had yet another amazing meal.  I don't know if you could tell from our big jackets but it was freezing in Milan so a nice carafe of wine and a cozy trattoria was very welcome.  I was craving lasagne and Michelle was craving risotto, one of Milan's specialties.  Perfection. 

Yes, most of my pictures of Michelle are in restaurants...

We spent the rest of the day just cruising around and checking our the world famous shopping.  Oh, it was also a couple of days before Fashion Week.  We thought of sticking around to show the Italians how to make Banana Republic and North Face uber chic, but alas we had to get back to our cubicles. 

 

Later that night we had reservations for a late dinner, but that was before we realized that Milan is known for their aperitivos.  We went back to the Brera and stumbled on this amazing bar that was packed to the gills.  This was definitely the place to be for the tragically hip kids who live the area.  

We ordered a couple of drinks at the swamped bar and were trying to figure out if we could snack on the food that was laid out.  The short answer is yes.  Buy a drink, snack on some munchies.  The problem was the place was so crowded that we could barely move. 

Suddenly we spot some guys leaving a table and Michelle makes a bee line to snag it, beating out at least 2 other parties.  Her ability to hover and snag tables is one of my favorite things about her.  

So we sit at this table, and next thing we know a waiter drops this plate of food on our table.  Milan, I love you.  

We were ready to order another drink and I asked that waiter, "What is that red drink everyone is having?"  Turns out that the Negroni is the drink to have (see picture below).  The Negroni might be my new favorite drink.  I liked it well enough to buy gin, Campari, and vermouth when we got back to Dublin so that I could make my own at home.  Negronis all around for our out of town guests!

I would like to say that we did not eat a second plate of aperitivos before going to dinner, but that would not be true.  They just keep bringing them!

Strong drink, tasty treats, great atmosphere.  Perfect way to start a Saturday night.

Sunday.  Snow.  It was cool for a bit, then it was slush.  Then we were over it.  We headed out to this canal where once a month they set up an antique market.  We kept saying, "this would be great in the summer."  We cruised around for a bit.  Warmed up over an espresso, ventured out again and finally found a great antique magazine advertisement that will one day be hanging up in our kitchen.

Lunch, warmth, another carafe of red wine, and the best eggplant that we have ever eaten.

I ordered a tripe and white bean stew that I was really hesitant about ordering, but so happy that I did.  Tripe is one of those things where when it is good, it is really good, but when it is bad, man is it bad...  I had this dish once before at Delfina back in San Francisco.  My buddies Eric, Michael, and I had a little bit of a dude feast one night.  The entire meal was grubbing, but the stew was the standout.  This dish the second time around, at this random trattoria in Milan, on the canal, with Michelle, warming up watching the snow fall outside, it was absolute perfection. 

Isn't she adorable?  This is what a happy and fed wife looks like. 

Alas, we had to venture out in the cold again.  We only had a few hours left so we cruised around back to the dumo to see it in the snow.

Then we made our way over to the castle and the surrounding park for a couple last photo ops before flying back to Dublin, and back to work on Monday.

Italy, you did it again.  Until next time.