Trip to Milan, Italy Day 1
The Don Lisander outdoor restaurant, across from the Mandarin Oriental, Milan, Italy. Classic Italian in a beautiful garden setting. With Italian hospitality that one would expect.
Our time in London ends just as the Royal Wedding begins. I did not witness "Royal Wedding Fever", maybe because the events are in Windsor, some 40 minutes away. But congrats, you two crazy kids!! Time to go to Italy. We land in Milan after a short (1.5 hour) but scenic flight which takes us over the Swiss Alps. They are beautiful, distinctive and capped in snow.
The snow-capped Swiss Alps as seen from our flight from London to Milan.
We get through customs and baggage claim quicky and hop in a van which will take us to the hotel. The Milan airport is one hour from the city. We drive along and I first spot a motocross racing track with dirtbikes jumping through the air and spraying dirt around the corners. Shortly thereafter we pass the Alpha Romeo automobile factory which has antique Alpha Romeos racing around a track on their facility. When we reach Milan, we have to take the long way, as there is a classic car parade downtown. There was a 1,000 mile race, the "Mille Miglia", featuring these cars over the past two days. The race starts in Brescia and goes to Rome, round trip in a loop. Starting in 1927 and ending in 1957, it was revived in 1977 and runs to this day. I was able to catch a shot or two of some of the participating vehicles. Totally cool! From my two trips to Italy, I am sure the Italians love several things: food, wine, gelato, clothing and anything with a motor. And famiglia, of course. Here is more info on the Mille Miglia. And a few photos of the cars I saw. I think I have been out of our vehicle for 20 minutes and have seen all of this.
A parade of cars that participate in the Mille Miglia make their way through Milan on Saturday.
Our rooms are not yet ready, but conveniently it is lunchtime, and right across from the Mandarin Oriental, where we are staying, is a lovely little garden restaurant called Don Lisander. We get a table for three and recieve some Italian style hospitality right away. After a glass of prosecco and a toast to Milano, it is time to check the menu. It is filled with Italian classics such as prosciutto and melon, caprese salad, pastas, risotto, fish and veal Milanese. I choose the caprese salad and seafood linguine. Bob gets all adventurous and gets the octopus (polpo) with yellow and green squash and a mustard sauce. He and Dean share. For mains Bob goes with risotto Milanese topped with a red prawn tartare while Dean gets fettucine with a Bolognese. We are off to a great start! Bob eats around the prawn tartare, not a fan, but the risotto is great! For dessert I order a lemon semi-freddo with a fresh berry sauce to share. It is light and refreshing. The hotel calls and tells us our rooms are ready. Time to check in.
Scenes from an Italian restaurant. The Don Lisander in Milan, Italy. Old school service and charm, plus classic Italian food.
The Mandarin Oriental in Milan is composed of 4 separate buildings that have been fashioned into one cohesive space. The lobby is modern yet tasteful and brimming with beautiful floral arrangements. There is a lounge, two restaurants and several outdoor spaces for congregating, a fitness room and full service spa. Our room is on the third of five floors. The room is small compared to our London hotel room but well-appointed and comfortable. We settle in. Time to take a stroll around town.
The lobby and lounge at the Mandarin Oriental, Milan, Italy.
We are in the heart of the fashion district. Nicknamed the "Golden Triangle", it contains both high end and more accessible labels. Let’s do a little window shopping and see what the beautiful people are wearing this season. Click along the right hand side of the picture to advance the slide show. Ladies, I do believe the platform shoe is coming back!
Window shopping in Milan, Italy. Sorry about the glass glare, it is a part of window shopping by definition. Anybody see anything you would wear? Leave a comment below!
Since it is a travel day, it is soon naptime for Ann. I cut out while Bob and Dean do more strolling around, which is code for shopping. I join them two hours later and Dean tags out for some rest. Bob remains invigorated so we shop some more. There is a pair of shoes I must see, as he cannot make up his mind whether he likes them or not! I can see he clearly wants them, so I tell him I love them and he buys them. Now he is looking at a jacket. I am all kinds of bored. Not a shopping gal. So I duck out and head a few doors down to Sant Ambroeus, where it is apertivo time. I love this concept. Sometime between 4 and 6 you wander into a cafe and grab an espresso, prosecco or negroni. Something to stimulate the appetite. They put some small bites out in front of you. When you are done they tell the cashier your total and ring you out. There are all kinds of pastries and sweets, too. I have a prosecco and Bob joins me. I check out and we press on. Sant Ambroeus also has a full lunch and dinner menu. Be advised they close early (8:30pm), check the web site for hours.
The apertivo scene at Sant Ambroeus on a Sunday afternoon. Family friendly and delicious.
There are lots of advertisements on the streets, mostly for cars and yachts. Dealers will park the car on the street with an informational billboard of sorts. Since you can’t really park a yacht on the street, the billboards suffice. One yacht measures 180 meters, so I do a quick conversion. 590 feet. Yowsa! There is a helipad on the front of it. We don’t travel by copter so I would say this one is a little too much yacht for us. I do, however, see several that could work well. #aspirationvacation.
We head back to the hotel to freshen up and enjoy a glass of wine before dinner. The concierge sends us to Paper Moon, another traditional Italian restaurant serving the usual suspects located a short walk from the hotel. Dean joins us almost immediately. We order some wine and our dinners. I know immediately where I am going. I order a shaved artichoke salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing before the meal. Not how the locals do it, but they tolerate me. Bob gets a Caesar salad and Dean gets an amazing looking melon and prosciutto. All great, and the color of the melon is something else! For the main course I order spaghetti con Cacio e Pepe - spaghetti with cheese and pepper. Yes, I am eating pasta twice in one day, don't judge me. It is sublime. I will make this one day and share the recipe. Cheesy and delicious. Bob gets a pizza with pepperoni, and Dean gets some spinach gnocchi swimming in butter and fresh herbs. We eat to our heart’s content. No dessert tonight. We head back to the hotel and retire to our rooms. Tomorrow is Sunday and we have an epic sight-seeing day ahead of us. I will be sure to tell you all about it.
A delicious dinner at Paper Moon in Milan, Italy.