How you should spend 36 hours in Milan

Ciao a tutti!
I have been in Milan the last time surely 7 years ago, so I it was definetly time to go again. And, oh boy, I spent one of the best weekends of this season! Being one of Italy's biggest cities, Milan belongs automatically to the epicentre of happening. There's a lot of sightseeing and culture in here, but as we know, the time on a weekend can be quite limited. So if you're planning to be in North Italy you might be glad to have some tips for a big city like Milan. So let's start this mini survival guide: Milan in 36 hours.

1. Live Central

That doesn't exactly mean to live right next to the Dome, believe me, go local! One of the best spots you could live at is the lovely Zona Tortona. Located obviously in and around Via Tortona, next to the Metro Station Porta Genova. The former industrial and working class quarter left loads of space for little alternative boutiques, traditional and trendy Restaurants. The cute canal oasis Navigli is just 10 minutes away by walk and there's a good Connection through Metro line M2 from central station, Milano Linate is the closest airport from here.

We spent our night in Milan at the Hotel Mercure Milano Solari, in a two stories room with balcony, for a fair Price of EUR 74.

2. Celebrate Food <3

My arrival in Milan was around midday, perfect for brunch. I decided to make a reservation at God Save the Food, where you can get the very best of the american (Burgers, Eggs) or the italian (classic cornetto with coffee or other sweets like cake) breakfast. Ideally accompained by one of their delicious homemade smoothies, everything tastes delicious. The restaurant offers a sitting space outside and is very bright and friendly inside. Even if it's good sized, I would reccommend a reservation for brunch on weekends.

Egg Benedict with smoked salmon

We went to Milan because of a concert. The show start was communicated for 9 pm, basically no chance to have proper dinner. But lucky us, we were in the city that invented one of the best afterwork events ever: Aperitivo! Usually starting at 6 pm until 10pm at night, almost every bar offers a buffet of warm dishes and cold appetizers that are included in the price of the first drink you'll have (around 10 EUR). Being the perfect solution for us, I opted to visit the beautiful Navigli area and go to Spritz to have our aperitivo. Spritz Navigli is perfectly located on the water, which can be very suggestive on summer nights. In our case it was pouring outside, so we had to sit inside, which wasn't bad either. Spritz offers 20 different kinds of the italian classic "Aperol Spritz", besides different cocktails, or national liquors like Sambuca. They have a huge buffet and they serve good sized drinks; definetly a must!

Navigli - photo by Metropolischt

On our last day we decided to go more traditional and visited the very nice decorated Ristorante Boccino. Besides the nice interior, they have very attentive waiters. We were informed that they had fresh truffle avalaible, so it was clear that we were going to order dishes based on that. My friends had some beef sashimi and I had tagliatelle, both with truffle on top. They also serve mouthwatering desserts, homemade as well. We had lunch there, I would make a reservation for dinner, because of the romantic vibe of this place, I really can imagine it perfect as a packed dating spot.

Truffle Tagliatelle

Photo by Metropolischt

If you'll find yourself travelling through Milano Centrale, you totally should enjoy some coffee, aperitivo or buy some italian food at Bistrot Centrale. A very welcoming spot into the madness of the train station. Coffee is the best start you can have for your Italian trip and their focaccia was my delight on my way home.

Photo by Metropolischt

3. Culture

Admitted, in 36 hours (trip included), there's not a lot left for sightseeing. I just decided to bring my friends to the world famous Duomo, beautiful inside and outside. In Addition we had a walk with another ton of people throug Corso Vittorio Emanuele for some Shopping. If you have one more day to spend I'd reccomend for sure to visit the Scala Theatre and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele as well.

4. Spoil your Soul with Music

As I mentioned before, I went to Milan because of a concert. And yes, there I go again: Paolo Nutini. And I'm absolutely not ashamed of visiting Show #4 this year, because it's totally worth it. His voice might be one of the best of the past couple of years, and it's an everytime confirmation. Paolo's latest record, "Caustic Love", is for sure one of the most acclaimed ones of the year. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased for this amazing Artist to be as successful as he is right now, but I miss him playing in small venues. His concert in Milan was Held at Mediolanum Forum, huge complex for approx. 15000 People, and the Show itself and the vibe in there were so great. I just hope that if he chooses Zurich as a tour destination, he'll Play in a smaller place, just to get the intimacy back that I had when I saw him in Munich in May. It gives a "smokey jazz bar athmosphere" to the whole thing, which I think fits so well to his music!

Photo by Metropolischt

With himself joking about the bad weather ("no pioggia, no arcobaleno" - "no rain, no rainbow") he wrapped the audience easily around his little finger, by speaking italian with that charming accent.
My personal Show Highlights were for sure his single "Iron Sky" played with Chaplin's movie "The great dictator" projected on a wide screen on the back. I still could see this song in a 007 movie. A big surprise was MGMT's cover "Time to Pretend": I think the last time I've heared him singing this song was a couple of years ago. It's one of my favourite tracks ever, talking about how good we are nowadays in faking and pretending to be who we aren't, forgetting about genuine things in life like family or real friends. Funny is, I think Paolo Nutini's version has much more substance and emotion than the original performance!
The italian crowd literally freaked out, and singed the most along the second cover of the evening, which was Fred Buscaglione's "Guarda che Luna", released in 1959, declared to be one of Paolo's favourite Songs. I won't stop telling you: go to one of his Shows! I promise that it won't be the last you wanna see. Confirmation is also the double sold out at SSE Hydro in Glasgow within a couple of hours.

Paolo Nutini just released his new single "One Day" today, watch the offical Video here:

Have a listen to his MGMT Cover "Time to Pretend", here live at Paleo Festival Nyon 2010:

Paolo Nutini will be live on stage between December and January in the UK and hitting his first Australian Tour in March 2015

If there's no Nutini avalaible, I'm pretty sure you'll find loads of other concerts to visit. As I said, Milan is one of the central events spot in Italy, keep yourself informed on Vivi Milano. Buon Divertimento :)

 

 

5. Bring a second pair of shoes

I already mentioned the bad weather on the first day. It was more than bad, it was apocalyptic. I had the pleasure to walk a whole day in my (poor) wet boots. So you won't make a mistake by taking a second pair of shoes with you during the autumn and winter months :)

Thank you to these Darlings for sharing the madness



Rome Sweet Rome - Rock in Roma 2014

Ciao Roma! Oh it was soo great to take a flight to my home country!

It's not a secret that I use to travel around to see a band or a deejay if they're not in my hometown currently. Fact is, if I am warped by a certain beat/lyric/melody I can't help it and I want to see as much as I can live to absorb the energy which that particular kind artist has to offer. For me, there's no more perfect thing to combine concerts and trips together: I have the chance to attend concerts, see different cities (sometimes, Again!) and learn some more on my way.

This time was the turn to go out from my four walls and head to Rome, to attend the summer festival Rock in Roma. Chosen artist: the absolutely very talented Paolo Nutini. I discovered Paolo's music in 2007, where I was passing through less happy days, so I was able to relief my pain by hearing his wonderful voice and discovering other huge artists. Ever since I tried to be there when he played in Switzerland, I think I was able to visit all his Swiss dates actually, wasn't a problem if at the wonderful Montreux Jazz Festival or on a single concert here in Zurich. And: hell yeah, it's totally worth it to hear this soulful babe live! You'll notice that he's a babe by hearing all the chicks around screaming like crazy ;)

I also have to admit, I've missed Mr. Nutini the last two years, even if I really was glad for him taking a break, he really deserved it after months, if not years, of touring around Europe. Since he's back and in an amazing mood, I try to enjoy it as much as I can of course.

I like it most when he plays in small venues, like it was in a club called Backstage, in Munich, early this spring: in my opinion his voice fits in this kind of intimate places. At least, it touched me a lot emotionally to be a part of this kind of concerts.
What I love about Paolo Nutini, is his simplicity into telling stories. His songs have the power to touch me deeply and I can totally feel his lyrics. Other than his first album "These Streets", which has more the acoustic touch, "Caustic Love" seems to be more grown up and has a bit of a Retro and Jazzy touch. Something that I call good old music. For me, it could become one of these studio albums that will be heared in many many years, without losing the charme.

Rock in Roma is held in an old hippodrome a little bit out of the city, which is used for different concerts and also as a farmer market during the week. The event starts in May, and has a headliner per week. As you all can imagine, the dimentions are pretty huge, so even if you are a "front rower", your darling artist will be far far away from you ;).

The concert was very relaxed, Paolo seemed to be really happy to sing in Italy, since he's half Italian. He also sang Lucio Dalla's song "Caruso", a classic in Italy for young and old. The atmosphere was a mid summernight's dream: Rome has very warm temperatures this time of the year, so it was simply magical to have some wine, sit down on the grass and listen to this beautiful voice singing. In the actual tour he re-arranged some older songs so that they fit with the vibe of "Caustic Love" - so even up tempo songs like "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" or "Funky Cigarette" have a laid back mood now. What can I say, the show ended and I didn't recongnize that two hours were gone. I enjoyed every minute of it and would rewind it every day!

Being in Rome gave me the chance to refresh my mind into monumental history. I visited Rome two times already, but it's always nice to stand in front of the Colosseum or in Vatican City, places of big stories and architectonically beautiful. Of course, Rome offers great food too! I wouldn't leave the city without having a plate of Bucatini alla Matriciana or some Meat Balls in fresh tomato sauce. A must: a glass of Sambuca after dinner, then, wander around and make a stop in a gelateria to have some homemade ice for dessert (so good, this is summer for me!).

Lucky me, I was in a good period in Rome for exhibitions. At Palazzo Cipolla, I could experience the Andy Warhol Exibition, that will end on September 28th. It's a great journey through all creative periods that Warhol had. Very interesting for me, because I've been studying art in Italy in my hometown, and Pop Art was, with Picasso's Cubism, one of the things that impressed myself the most.

Photo: Courtesy of amointernet.it

Practical Infos:

- Where to stay: Rome has plenty of hotels, but for my frequent traveller budget a bit too pricey. So we decided to take a room at the Ariana Guest House near Termini station. We had a big room with two beds, just nearby the kitchen where breakfast was served. Bathroom is shared with another room, not really a big deal. Another Plus: the owner Sergio is very friendly, gives you a good city overview and some tips.

- Getting around: Termini station is a strategical position. Every Bus starts it's journey from there and you can take both metro lines, A and B. In my case I bought a 3 days pass for 16 Euros, so I was able to get around with everything without bothering.

- Rock in Roma: Tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster, they are around 35 Euros. The venue can be reached by metro and bus. For the return journey I would reccomend to buy a ticket for a private bus on Eventi in Bus (website in italian), since every other public bus will be full of people. Price: 5 Euros, goes directly to Termini station.

- Need a Cab?: Download the App Uber. I got lost once (yeah, it happens sometimes...). I ordered a cab in the middle of nowhere and got a driver that was wearing a suit in a chic Mercedes. It's also only worth it for the VIP experience - and they are cheaper than a cab. ;)

- Where to Eat: In the city centre, I tried the Ristorante da Robertino. I was there twice 'cause it's good valued roman cuisine. They have a little cute patio outside, perfect for summer nights. The night of the concert we opted for L'allegra Fattoria: a typical italian restaurant, with a big outside terrace and genuine kitchen. It was in 20 minutes of walking distance from the hippodrome, totally perfect located!

Ristorante da Robertino

Ristorante da Robertino

Ristorante L'allegra Fattoria

Polpette (classic italian meatballs)