August 28, 2019
When I wake, the room is quiet and I look around to see that my roommates are still sleeping even though it is nearly 10 am. And it is raining outside. I climb down quietly from my top bunk and change into pants and a jacket for the first time since being in Berlin. Then I go down to the lobby of Ostello Bello for breakfast. There are only a few other people in the dining room, so after I fill up my plate with toast with nutella and eggs, I pick an empty table and eat my breakfast before I go back to my room to grab my umbrella and purse before heading out to explore.
I have absolutely no plans for Milan, so I just start walking. I leave from Ostello Bello with my umbrella up to protect me from the steady drizzle. At the end of Via Medici, I turn right onto Via Santa Marta. I am in awe of the beautiful, intricately detailed stone architecture of all of the buildings that I pass by. It starts to rain harder, so I take cover under the nearest building, just across from Banca d’Italia. I admire the design, with columns and statues carved out of the facade.
I can tell that the rain isn’t going to stop, so I continue on until the street opens up into a plaza. There is a round opening with several streets merging into the center. Each building is rounded to outline the circular plaza. On one corner is the fanciest Starbucks Reserve I have ever seen. Across from it is the Palazzo del Credito Italiano, another intricately detailed building.
Starbucks Reserve 
Palazzo del Credito Italiano
From here, I round the corner where Starbucks Reserve is located and follow the street along shops like Zara and Ray-Ban. One of the buildings has a huge Ray-Ban sign on top. I see the shoe store I’ve grown to like – Bata – so I pop in to see if they have any cute sandals that I can buy for my sister, but I don’t find any.
I round the corner to left, and there it is – the Duomo di Milano, in all of its majesty.
To the right of the Duomo is City Hall and the Palazzo Reale Milano.
On the left side is the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a shopping mall filled with designer stores.
It’s so beautiful inside, especially in the middle where the four glass-covered hallways meet under a glass dome held up over four murals. Don’t forget to look down at the stunning mosaic floors. The only store that I venture into is the bookstore, Mondadori Bookstore.
At this point, I am starving for lunch, so I search for a restaurant. I settle for Granaio, a cafe located on Via Torino. Now that I’m more familiar with Milan, I know that Via Torino is a main street full of stores that is pretty much a straight shot from Ostello Bello to the Duomo.
After I eat and pay, I head back out and it is pouring down rain so I take refuge in the stores and try on some clothes. At Alcott, I buy a pair of flowery, flowy pants with a tie at the waist and a pair of shorts that are the same style. Then I continue on, popping in and out of stores, until I spot a Mango store. I’ve become obsessed with this store since being in Europe. I splurge on another pair of flowy flower pants, a crochet top, and an olive green long-sleeve cargo dress. After this, I decide to head back towards the hostel to drop off my purchases and wait out the rain. I cross the street so that I can check out stores on the opposite side on my way back. I stop in a few, and I buy my sister a cute top from Pull & Bear.
Once I’m back at the hostel, I put away my new clothes and change into dry socks and pants. Then I research if I can tour the inside of the Duomo, and I learn that I just need to purchase a ticket from the museum for €3. I also look up bookstores because I’ve finished my copy of Little Women only to realize that it is missing the second book!
When I leave Ostello Bello, I follow the narrow cobblestone street to the left, and soon come to that main road, Via Torino. I follow the road to the left where I pass la Chiesa di San Giorgio al Palazzo.
It’s closed, so I continue up Via Torino until I’m back at the Duomo. I find the museum lobby where I can purchase my ticket. The ticket is for 5 pm, so I have half of an hour to kill. I decide to go to the bookstore I picked out at the hostel, Hoepli International Bookshop. It is just a short walk from the Duomo, and it is supposedly one of the largest bookstores in Milan. I find the English section, but it is tiny and they don’t have Little Women.
I don’t stay very long, so I wander around outside of the shop to kill more time. I find a square with a church, Chiesa di San Fedele, and a statue in the middle of the square of Alessandro Manzoni, a famous 19th century Italian poet.
It’s almost time to go inside the Duomo, so I head back. There are hardly any tourists around, probably because of the rainy weather, which is a welcome change to the overcrowded Italy I have come to know over the past few weeks. There are only a handful of visitors inside of the Duomo when I enter, so I can take my time to walk around and take in the vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, altars, and floral patterned floor tiles.
The Duomo di Milano is the 5th largest Christian church in the world, which is not surprising. Once I take everything in, I head back outside and snap some pictures of the exterior, which is just as impressive as the interior if not more.
Once I’ve seen everything there is to see at the Duomo, I still have 2 hours to kill before dinner is served at 7:30. I consult Google Maps and see that there is a castle, which is a straight shot from the Duomo down another main street called Via Dante. I head in that direction, and I soon find myself back at the circular square where Starbucks Reserve is. I continue on until I reach the castle, Castello Sforzesco, a medieval-renaissance fortress that is now an art museum. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk here from the Duomo.
Once you enter through the archway below this tower, the fortress opens up into a large courtyard. If you continue straight across to the other side of the fortress, it exits into a huge park with extensive grass lawns. I see the concert tent that my dinner mates were talking about last night when I declined their invitation. The ground is wet with puddles, so I don’t explore much. I do want to come back tomorrow if the weather is nicer. At this point, my feet are hurting like crazy, so I decide to call it a day and head back to the hostel. I look at the map to see if I can take a different route back to the hostel so that I can see other parts of Milan.
The route isn’t as clear cut, so I wind down streets, passing by Chiesa Santa Maria Podone on the way. I love this walk back because it goes through neighborhoods and less touristy parts of town, and everything is so beautiful. I find myself imagining that I could live in this city and be very happy.
By the time I get back to Ostello Bello, I still have almost an hour until dinner, so I shower and relax in my bunk. Pretty soon a new roommate arrives named Arturo. He’s originally from Peru but goes to college in D.C., and he’s just finished studying abroad. We get along immediately and find that we have a lot in common, including our love of musicals. The introvert inside of me feels relieved to have a friend to go down to dinner with so that I can avoid the whole “Can I join you?” and small talk. We eat dinner and talk for a while before heading back upstairs. We talk for a while longer before going to sleep – I walked SO much today!!!
Madi's World 