Am back after a very brief but absolutely amazing trip to Milan.

We stayed at Principe de Savoia which was lovely though mega bucks. The location right on the Republicca metro stop was great.

Sat morning after we checked in we went for lunch to Giulio Pana e Ojo at Via Muratori 10. The concierge tried hard to dissuade us showing us on the map how far it was but when I took a closer look at the map I realized it was right near the metro stop so we bought a Carnet booklet at the newsstand near the Republicca metro and hopped on. (I should tell you all it was Sat evening and 2 metro tickets wasted before we realized the booklet comprises 10 because both sides can be used!). The food was good tho not outstanding but quite reasonable.

From there we walked down to the Duomo stopping for gelato and to buy x-mas tree ornaments en route. We also wandered thru the Sat market opp Duomo before going into the cathedral around 3:30. We were in luck and caught the last half hour of lovely choral singing for which the cathedral was packed. We went out intending to take the elevtaor up to the roof but were informed it closed at 4 so had to postpone that to Sun. Our booking at Santa Maria to see the Last Supper was at 5:45 so we strolled towards there in a leisurely fashion, stopping en route to admire Castello Sforzesco from the outside. At 5:15 at Santa Maria after we bought our admission tickets we strolled through the church and bought another (bear with me as many pit stops for these everywhere!) ornament in the gift shop. At 5:45 armed with the English audio guide for 2 we went in for our viewing of the Last Supper. Everyone around us had also read the Da Vinci Code and was busy spotting the allusions made by Dan Brown! The work is breathtaking and we were among the last 2 shooed out at 6 when the next group entered.

Our dinner reservation at Hostaria Borromei was at 7:30 so we wandered into Marchesi on Via Santa Maria all Porta for an espresso and people watched the fashionable Milanese at the bar order cocktails. I also enjoyed feasting my eyes on the gorgeous x-mas display of sweets, chocolates, confectionery and the like.

Dinner was one of the high spots of the trip. The restaurant is charming - as it was winter open seating in the courtyard was closed but I can imagine that beign quite a draw in warmer months. From the complimentary glass of champagne when we entered to our starters and main course everything was par excellence including the champagne we ordered to go with the meal ( we were celebrating!). I would HIGHLY reco this restaurant to anyone visiting Milan. Prices are incredibly reasonable for the quality and quantity of food and our bill was 90 euro.

We retired to our room at Principe completely sated with our first day.

Second day follows.

And some people here keep harping that there is "nothing to do in Milan..." Please keep the info coming and thanks for reporting.

My feelings exactly Intrepid1!!

Thanks for sharing, Hobbes.

Enjoying your report! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to more!

Sally

Returning to Milan next year. Love that city. Please share more. I'm putting that restaurant on my to-do list.

Hobbes, I am so interested in your report because as other posters are stating so many people claim there is nothing to do in Milan, that it is a gray boring city etc.

I love Milan and have always had the most beautiful times there, and I have been there many times.

I sure sounds like you enjoyed your visit also. Will look forward to the rest of your report!

Day 2 we awoke and were ready by about 9 jet lag notwithstanding. We decided to go to Sant Ambroeus on Corso Matteo for breakfast as the concierge advised us it opened bright and early. From Republicca we caught the metro to Via Montenapoleone and wandered down twards Corsa Matteo stoppng en route to admire Valentino and other store windows. As we passed Cova I suddenly realized it was open so we changed our breakfast destination - I had originally feared we may miss it as it is not open Sundays. Turns out Cova opens 3 Sats in Dec pre x-mas to cope with xmas rush. So, we managed to enjoy croissants and cappucino and some more people watching at Cova before we wandered towards Corsa Matteo and the Alessi showroom. At Alessi I made various purchases then we looked into the windows at Sant Ambroseus our original desitnation. We wandered some more home stores, bought sunglasses and glasses at at a huge optical store on the corner, admired Saint Babila from outside, looked into a completely packed H&M and finally reached Duomo to ascend to the roof of the cathedral in the elevator for a 5e charge. The roof of the cathedral was buzzing with tourists despite scaffolding and some parts being out of bounds. After half an hour spent enjoying the roof we came down and decided to walk to the Four Seasons on Via Gesu for a "cuppa". On Via Montenapoleone I disovered another shop with amazing colourful glass ornaments then we looked at Museo Bagatti Valsecchi from the outside (with its 1-5 opening hours we had unfortunately missed the opportunity to go in) and went into the Four Seasons. We enjoyed the history of the hotel and the fact that it was a convent before hte nuns were thrown out to allow some nobleman to construct a fancy home over a great cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream. We dined in our hotel. Day 3 follows.

How did you book for the Santa Maria to view the Last Supper? We are going in March. Thanks

Day 2 I almost forgot - we went to see Teatra Scala reaching at 4:45 just before they sell their last tickets at 5. We had dawdled en route to admire the
very smart hats in the Borsalino window. The museum is also back in the same re opened premises so we were eager to see this. When we entered we were forewarned that some light testing was already underway in the main theater hall so we might not get a complete view - this was a high spot of my trip. We had been unable to get tickets to see a performance but just standing in the boxes watching people on the stage while lights were tested made me decide we HAD to come back to see something here. The adjoining museum is ok and we spent about 20 mins there but the theater had history oozing out of every corner!

Day 3 my husband was working so my plans were to embark open another important aspect of the trip - shopping! Armed with my strolly hand luggage I set off to Peck on Via Spadari. At Peck I first went down to the wine cellar. I requested help from an Eng speaking assistant and proceeded to select 10 bottles of wine including a Barolo, 2 Montepulcianos, a Terra Alta - I was armed with notes by an expert from a Vintaly tasting earlier in 2004. I left the bottles downstairs while I went up to the cafe to eat a ham and cheese croissant with a cappucino (I had been forewarned that in Italy cappucino is consumed primarily at breakfast time so I ensured a daily fix in the morning to avoid looking like the completely ignoramus tourist when ordering it later in the day!). I contemplated my purchases then went back down to the basement where I regretfully decided not to take the Barolo and 1 of the whites (my budget of 150 euro for wine was completely busted by now - including the Barolo was breaking the bank).

An aside on Peck. I had the names of 3 wine shops in Milan - Peck, Eotecca Cotti and Ricerca Vini. Peck is probably the most "touristy" of the 3 for buying wine. I was unable to find any of the mid priced wines I had names of and generally found while their selection is great the prices are too. On a future trip I will make the effort to try one of the other shops. However, I thoroughly enjoyed shopping at Peck which is VERY well stocked and for this trip the convenience of the one stop (coming later) was high.

I then ascended to the ground floor where I again requested English speaking assistance to make my selection of cheeses and cold cuts. I had already selected olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pesto. I got a great salesperson who assisted me to select 4 cheeses and a parma ham and beef cold cuts which would travel well back to HK. My strolly was full so after completing VAT formalities I left Peck.

My next stop was Rinascente. I wanted to stock up on some cosmetics I needed and this seemed a convenient one stop shop for various brands. I was disappointed to learn they do not carry Stila but bought my MAC, Lancome, YSL, Kenzo stuff before going to the home floor to buy more - you guessed it! - x-mas tree ornaments (no, my tree is not humungous or anything - I just love to collect them!).

Armed with the receipts from Alessi, the optical store, Peck and Rinascente I went up to the top floor of Rinscente to finish my VAT refund. Please factor in that processing is SLOW and I spent 40 mins here due to some calculation errors (on cold cuts and cheeses refundable percent is lower than on wine so the Peck refund was quite complex and the woman at the counter made an error the first time). Also, at Rinascente refunds are available only in US dollars or yen so if you want a euro refund wait till you go to the airport.

I caught the metro back to Principe to drop off my bulging strolly bag and various other purchases. My afternoon agenda was Il Salvagente which opens at 3!

As I reached Duomo again by the now completely familiar metro at 1:30 I decided to stroll to Il Salvagente via the home stores at Via Durini and Via Cerva. Bear in mind that it is Monday so lots of things are closed. I window shopped a bit, stopped at a small corner pizzeria with just counter top seating for a great slice of margherita pizza with arugula and walked purposefully towards Il Salvagente - designer surplus mecca I had been told. It is a LONG walk and I had my trusted strolly with me to stuff all my shopping in but I enjoyed the architecture and little curving roads. I reached Il Salvagente just before 3 - about half a dozen women were already waiting in the courtyard. I later discovered why - Mon afternoon the store is at its neatest as it is strightened out while it has its annual off on Sun and half Mon. The shopping was STUPENDOUS and exceeded my expectations. I bought my husband 2 sweaters and myself 2, a denim jacket, walking shoes, Patrizia Pepe boots and before I knew it (a) it was 6 PM and (b) I did not have cash to shop any more. After paying I loaded my strolly and went out to the road - I had barely reached when I saw a bus #60 so I quickly hopped on, alighting at San Babila to take the metro back to the hotel. I was too tired to do anything more than room service for dinner but I spent a lovely couple hours admiring my various purchases!

Nlingenfel I called up Milan. The official website address is http://www.cenacolovinciano.org/english/index.html and this says you can also book on the net but after watsing 1 precious day trying to do so I finally called them on Thurs to request a Sat booking. I was too late to get the second English guided tour at 3:30 and we would not be landing in time for the first one at 9:30 (which was still available). We were there in Dec which is not peak season - for March suggest you book a couple of days in advance. As we were unable to do the guided tour we bought the audio English guide for 2 which was just a couple of euro per head and well worth it.

Sorry - that should read couple weeks in advance! I booked couple days in advance and as mentioned had little choice of times!

Thanks for your report. I will be spending only one day in Milan and haven't yet done very much research or planning for it.

I am always interested in good places for lunch and dinner. Hostaria Borromei sounds very nice.

I am never sure in different cities how far ahead to make restaurant reservations.

How far in advance did you need to make the reservation for HOstaria Borromei? Did the hotel make the reservation for you?

Thanks again.

Suntravlr we booked on Sat itself. My original plan had been Aimo e Nadia but I could not reach them by phone from HK. I asked the hotel conierge to book that for us after we checked in Sat morning and he advised me that even off season a 1 week advance notice for a Sat night would have been required - he still tried but we could not get a table. We went into Hostaria (I had the address) around 6:30 as no-one was picking up the phone - seems they open only for dinner. The friendly owner agreed to give us a table at 7:30 i.e. opening time. By 8 it was packed. I would suggest a couple days notice - their phone number is 39 02 8645 3760.

Day 4 - Today I wanted to go to the Bruno Magli outlet on Via Manzoni, the Maxmara outlet at Galleria San Carlo 6, the Brera art gallery and I planned lunch at Bice on Via Borgopresso. My day turned out a little different to what I had planned!

I started on Via Manzoni and loctaed number 14 with some difficulty only to learn the Bruno Magli outlet had moved. The concierge was unable to give me a new address. I walked thru some bylanes to the Maxmara outlet (again stopping to buy x-mas tree ornaments on the way!) but did not buy anything there - prices while good are not rock bottom and I had tasted blood - Il Salvagente had spoiled me! I grabbed a coffee and proceeded to amble towards Bice. I was there at noon to find it opened at 12:30 and peering inside I decided it did not seem like a place to be lunching alone. So, I decided to wander to the Brera district to see the gallery, look for a pizzeria someone had recoed, Le Daunia and wander the home stores. I could not find the pizzeria and was hungry by now so darted into a corner cafe which was quite busy for an excellent plate of ravioli. Then I went to the Pinacoteca de Brera gallery. After enjoying the art and the ambience I emerged into the sunshine (for the gallery is quite dark) around 1:30 and wandered in the general direction of Via Montenapoleone to get a train back to the hotel where I had a late check out. En route I saw a teensy boutique having a liquidation sale and walked in. The owner spoke very little Eng and I speak no Italian but I managed to buy 4 sweaters! By now the danger that my bags (which were brought with a short 4 day trip in mind so were unfortunately small) would not close began to loom large and I immediately headed towards the hotel before more x-mas tree ornaments could tempt me!

My last impression of Milan was the very friendly, very fluent in English taxi driver who drove me from the Principe to Cadonza to take the Malpensa Express to the airport. After trying to negotiate a rate with me for a ride all the way to the airport he cheerfully acquiesced that he could not match the 25e the taxi-train combo would take. Then we discussed wine (he advised me that Peck is too luxury end and next time I should buy excellent wines at a neighbourhood wine shop - he did agree though that Barolo is expensive wherever it is bought!), the Last Supper (he said that he had heard the rush for the church in Ireland described in Da Vinci Code is unprecedented and he has been unable himself to see the Last Supper ever since the book was published) and finally the advantages of living in Milan over Florence or Siena - we both agreed that Mialn is far superior to work in though he said he finds it a bit gray as he originally hails from the Tuscany region. It was a fitting end to a wonderful trip!

Nice report, I love Milano! Sounds like you found a lot of great places to shop and certainly stocked up. I admire your diligence in taking the time to complete the VAT paperwork. Every time I am in Italy, I never bother with doing that since most of what I bring back are gifts (from my fiance's family to me, etc). However, maybe that is something I should start doing with all the purchases I make for myself, friends, etc.

The weather sounds like it was tolerable. Italian winters don't really get bad until late December/January so fortunately, you weren't caught in any major snow storms. I'm glad that you had a nice time there!

Hobbes: Thank you again for this very helpful information.

Nice report hobbes it's been several years since my trip to Milan - brings back memories.

Hobbes, I mentioned before but will repeat again. I so enjoyed your report. And hope those that have heard nothing but negative comments about Milan read this interesting visit you had as Milan has so much to offer. Have never understood why so negative comments going on for decades.

Happy holidays!

Thank you to all of you who have replied and happy holidays to all of you and your famlies. As I am sure you have gathered from my trip report it was a fabulos, fun filled, PACKED 4 days. Our original intent after reading posts on this forum and elsewhere was to leave early Sun morning for Como and return in the evening. We even got advice to land and embark immediately for Venice. I am SO gkad we didn't. I intend to visit those places on future trips to Italy and do find Rome, Florence, Siena and other places I have visited in Italy incredibly beautiful but the simple truth is Milan was GREAT in its own way. There is loads to see, restaurants are good, shopping is fabulos - I enjoyed walking around the streets of Milan enjoying the architecture, the history, the general feel of the city...so, I wish you all happy future travels to Milan!