Milan, Italy

Most people I have talked to about traveling to Italy told me to skip this city altogether, but I really enjoyed it! I traveled here on a whim--I was feeling restless in Spain and so the week before a 3 day weekend decided to look up cheap flights with Ryanair (I seriously should be a spokesman for how many of their flights I have taken, but then again they are so cost-cutting they probably don't even have a PR or Marketing Department). Anyways, I was deciding between Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain or Milan. I decided to go to Milan so I could hit up Cinque Terre as well.

I really liked the town! I didn't stray too much from the center, but it felt like a nice, relaxing visit because it didn't have any of the pressure of having to visit a ton of sites like Rome or Florence. The Duomo is also amazing; I have never seen such a cool rooftop! Plus the Italian food needless to say was delicious and carb-laden, and the aperitivo was a wonderful discovery. Here are some pictures:

Duomo di Milano at night, taken right when I arrived.

Entrance to the indoor shops on one side of the square.

Daylight view of the Duomo 

I climbed up all the stairs to reach the roof of the Dumo! I loved all the stone carving on the many pinnacles and spires. You are going to see several more of these pictures...

Views of the square from the roof of the Duomo. 

The perils of having strangers take your photograph when you are traveling alone is that they will awkwardly frame you in windows instead of catching the beautiful stone detail right above your head.

Banca Popolare di Milano with an interesting sculpture in front. 

Another interesting discovery in Milan was the Negroni cocktail. From wikipedia: The Negroni cocktail is made of one part gin, one part vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet), and one part bitters, traditionally Campari. I wish I had known how strong it was before I ordered it! I really enjoyed it, but won't be ordering one again anytime soon.

Ciao!