Ciao ciao, Milan

Oh, no...final day of our holiday...time to repack those suitcases for the last time (can't say I'm sorry about that!)

A wee sleep-in this morning, breakfast of pastries and coffee, and then a visit to the Orto Botanico di Brera (Brera Botanical Garden). The garden is managed by the Università Degli Studi di Milano (University of Milan) and you can walk through the garden to the Palazzo Brera, which houses the Pinacoteca di Brera (gallery of art from the 13th to 20th centuries). Unfortunately, the Pinacoteca is closed today, but the garden is shady and peaceful, and the guide booklet takes you on an Arte Orto walk, linking plants in the garden to works of art in the Pinacoteca that feature them. Next best thing to viewing the actual art work!

Milan has been a fun, long weekend. It may not have won our hearts as did Florence and Rome, but it certainly lives up to its reputation of street style and glamour (mixed with us everyday folk as well!). It's fast, crowded, noisy and plays its life out in the streets...everything we love about Italy, just amplified!

In the final photo below you can see our street, Via San Carpoforo, the apartment tucked away in a building on the left. A perfect place for our weekend stay.

Ciao, ciao Milan...Romeo, we're on our way!

Buongiorno, Milan

Friday

We arrived in Milan on Friday night, after a morning of transport connections followed by an 8-hour train trip. This is how it all slotted together...

Ferry from Lipari to Milazzo. Taxi to Milazzo train station. Train to Messina station. Walk to the port. Ferry to Villa San Giovanni on mainland Italy. Walk to the station. Train to Milan. We left Lipari at 8am and arrived in Milan at 9.30pm. Phew, what a day! Amazingly, we made all the connections - testament to Brent's planning - despite the ferry in Messina being delayed by half an hour, leaving us 15 minutes to find the station and platform in Villa San Giovanni! 

We were on our way to Milan just before 1pm. The train was comfortable and the first half of the trip was really scenic, travelling along the coast - the Mediterranean sea on one side, alternating rocky mountains and farmland on the other. 

From Milano Centrale station, we made our way to the taxi stand for the trip to the apartment. The apartment is in a pedestrian section of the Brera district, so the taxi dropped us on a nearby road and we headed into the narrow, cobble-stoned streets to find our address, rolling our cases behind us (in between the restaurant diners seated at sidewalk tables - I'm sure if I knew more Italian I would have heard some annoyed comments!) A brief stop to refer to Google maps and we were there...picked up the key from the tapas bar next door and two weary travellers had arrived...happy to see a tiny elevator to bring our cases up to the first floor!

The apartment is quite beautiful and very comfortable for a few days stay.

Saturday

We slept till almost 10am on Saturday! Spent the day wandering the Brera district, beginning with scrumptious pastries and coffee, sitting in the shade at a sidewalk table, and a walk through the Parco Sempione gardens, adjacent to Castello Sforzesco (the local castle!). We did head down to the Duomo cathedral, but the area was chaotic and crowded with weekend visitors, luxury shoppers at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and winding queues of patient young things, all waiting for Milan Beauty Week giveaways at various pop-ups and events. We made a beeline through the crowds to a quieter side street and agreed the Duomo would have to wait for another visit.

The Brera area is really hopping, with lots of restaurants, bars, cafes and bakeries, and people everywhere! There are many pedestrian-only areas, interesting shops and architecture, and we came across a couple of street markets with vintage and handmade items. After Lipari, it feels like another world!

Sunday

We spent the day in the Navigli district...centred along the Naviglio Grande man-made canal. Originally the district was a network of canals for transport and irrigation, but most have been built over to enable modern modes of transport. These days, the Navigli district is known for its young creatives and artisans, abundance of bars and restaurants, and for the early architecture still evident along the canal. The market stalls along the canal were in full swing today and we had a great time browsing and wandering. 

Ciao, Lipari

Our final days in Lipari were without internet, but here's a quick catch-up (I'm writing this from Milan).

The weather was perfect and we were able to catch the ferry to the island of Salina, the greenest of the islands that make up the Isole Eolie group and the second in size to Lipari. Spent a few hours wandering the Santa Marina beachfront area, with views out to the islands of Panarea and Stromboli. There are a number of villages around the island and hopefully we will return and spend a day or two visiting and dipping in the beaches.

Back in Lipari, we spent the last couple of days indulging in our favourite island activities - walking, eating, swimming! - and we shared a wonderful dinner with Nicole and Armando (who own the apartments where we stayed) and their daughter Chloe. The morning we left, there was a parcel on our doorstep...biscotti treats from our favourite pasticceria for the long train ride to Milan...that just-baked-biscuit scent made me smile every time I opened my backpack!

And so, it's 'Ciao, Lipari'...but only till next time...

A cool change

The past two days have seen the temperature drop to the low 20s and we've had some dark clouds, wind and a little rain, interspersed with bursts of sunshine...autumn is creeping into Lipari.

We had planned to take a ferry to one of the other islands, but held off as we were unsure how dramatic the forecast thunderstorms would be. As it turns out, we could have gone...but hindsight is better than the possibility of seasickness! We hope to make the ferry trip in the next day or two.

So, staying close to home has continued our relaxed days of eating, walking, swimming. Bliss!

We have a favourite pasticceria for breakfast - Pino D'Ambra's tiny Arte e Sapori - oh, and we see him again for afternoon caffè and cannoli, or cassata, or one of his handmade biscuits (which he often wraps in paper and hands to you, warm from the oven, as you're leaving!) Below you will see our breakfast sfogli marmellata (sfogliatelle), paper thin leaves of pastry filled with our choice of marmalade, and my afternoon cannolo filled with sweetened ricotta and ricotta with pistachio (mi dispiace, I took a bite before the photograph!) The pastries are chosen unfilled, and it is only when you order them that they're completed with your choice of filling...a pre-filled cannolo? Sicuramente no!