Milano

Vittorio Emmanuel Galleria

Milan is a large, sprawling city. Some call it ugly and its definitely not a tourist destination, but I think its beautiful in its own urban way. It reminded me of NYC (and we all know how much I love NY) :)

Hot Chocolate Break at Shockolat

Milky Hot Chocolate with very large dollop of whipped cream

Shockolate is a very popular and famous chocolate bar, about a five minute walk from the church holding Da Vinci's Last Supper. The hot chocolate was rich and delicious, but what blew us away was the decadent yet light chocolate cheesecake.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Lunch at Yoshi

I have to say, Milan has amazing sushi. You're thinking "duh, its a super international city", and you're right, but I thought this was still worth mentioning since it was that good.  
 

Bento box: fish filet, salad with hamachi, vegetable tempura, hamachi sashimi, salmon sushi. 

Milan is also the origin of the Aperitivo.

An aperitivo was traditionally meant to be a light drink one has before dinner; however, Milan being the international city it is, took the aperitivo to a whole new level: think crazy cocktails and buffet spreads of pasta, sushi and all the finger foods in between. We also discovered that (at least in Milan), aperitivos come in all sorts of flavors and sizes, as witnessed by the three very different aperitivo experiences we had. 

The "I Just Want to Get Drunk" Aperitvo

B:free Cocktail Bar came highly recommended on TripAdvisor (yes, we use tripadvisor obsessively when traveling), and it wasn't that far from our hotel. The drinks were strong. Normally, I'm all for a hearty cocktail but at 6:30pm, these drinks were just a tad too much. The selection of munchies was fine but wound up mostly being a sideshow to the cocktail concoctions.

Plate of Munchies, Passion fruit Cocktail, "Crazy Roommate" Cocktail

The Classy Aperitivo

This was my favorite aperitivo in Milan. Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I prefer the idea of sitting down to a nice glass of wine (or pint of beer) with a limited but higher quality selection of eats. 

Belgian Pale Ale, Meat Platter, Dark Beer

The "Sceney" Aperitvio 

A good number of popular aperitvo spots actually take place in Milan's major nightclubs. From 7-10, these places are dimly lit lounges, serving up cocktails and offering large buffet spreads of pasta, salad, and sandwiches. One of the most famous and plentiful is Lolopalooza. More well known for being one of the trendiest nightclubs in Milan, it also serves as a pretty relaxing and economical way to pregame and eating your fill at the same time. No surprise, Lolopalooza was swarmed with throngs of glamorously dressed 20 somethings. Unfortunately, it as just way too dark inside for me to get any decent pictures.

Lots and lots of Florence posts to come!