Milano is our first Italian stop where we feel tourists are not the majority. I shouldn’t be surprised that in a city of 1.4 million people, the average of 8.5 million tourists a year with an average of 3.5 nights stay, the city has an average of 0.08 million visitor a day, a literal rounding error in the population.
We booked breakfast at 📍Obicà, a chain of mozzarella bars we enjoy. Their “gran collazione” comes with different ways the mozzarella buffala can be made, from the strachiatella (the gooey inside of a burrata) all the way to smoked buffala. Add some bread and a vegetable in the form of a caponata on the side and you have quite the breakfast. To add to the ambiance, we booked the Obica on the top floor of the shopping center next to the Duomo, the big church in Milan.
While Karine and I debate if that specific Obicà was our first Obicà or if Florence was our first, we both agreed that it’s the only one that leaves the feeling that we’re not entirely welcome. Nobody said anything close to it. But the subtle mix of Milanese tradition of dressing very fashionably and the service being extra professional, thus removing some of the casual friendliness we get elsewhere, probably gives us the feeling. What ever the source, we didn't let a feeling stand in our way of a good meal, specially not a feeling of exclusion, we both survived the tribalism of high school after all.
Our first stop was the 📍Santuario di San Bernardino alle Ossa. A much smaller church than the Duomo but with a an ossuary that, rather than having a pile of bones in a room, used the bones in the wall and arranged them to make patterns (mostly large crosses).
The ossuary being a small room, we didn't spend much time there and soon were on our way to the 📍Parco Sempione, located behind the 📍Castello Sforzesco. While the 15th century castle that served as a major military citadel in Europe for many centuries and now houses many museums and exhibitions might have beem tempting, we wanted to be outside and what we read on it didn’t excite us enough to give it a try. The park itself was undergoing preparations for a music festival that starts over the weekend. The many plastic fences made for a less ideal decor but nature and many birds made up for it.
If you are going to get Aperol Spritz, you might as well get it straight from the maker of the bright orange bitter (not made from oranges). On our way home we stopped for Apéro at the 📍Aperol Terrazza, right next to the Duomo, its popular spot with the expensive drink. Very well made our Aperol Spritz came with a plate of bite-size mini sandwiches and fried food for Karine and a green salad (no dressing) for the nut allergic guest. While the view was beautiful, the morning Mozzarella bar was much better.
After some rest from walking the city, we headed to the 📍Cantina Piemontese, which turned out to be not a canteen like in Star Wars, nor a canteen like you had in school. That restaurant is to a canteen as an electric bike is to a sports car. All that to say, it’s a fancy…ish restaurant and not what we expected. Also… no osso buco on the menu, leaving Karine with a single opportunity to get the meat and risotto she’s hoping for. Nevertheless, the fancy…ish restaurant did know how to make its food! Of all the dinners we’ve had up to now on our trip, the duck leg and the lamb chops and their sauce really took it to the top of our list for this trip, dethroning CoVino from Venice.