Following 10 days in Portugal over tuition for an ACA exam (Business Planning: Taxation), I decided to spend a further 10 days in Italy over tuition for another exam: Business, Strategy and Technology. As mentioned in my post about Italy, my family are big fans so I'd already travelled avidly across the country, however my boyfriend hadn't been before and we were spending his birthday there so we wanted to explore as much as possible; the plan was to be based in Milan for the first half of the trip and Genova for the second half and then fit in a couple of day trips over the weekends.
Milan
Despite having been to Milan several times before, I could only truly recall the duomo, the quadrilatero d'oro, and a restaurant that my mum likes (Da Oscar). Therefore, I was excited to explore it properly and form a solid opinion of the city.
On the day that I arrived, we went on a long walk through the city and managed to explore Castello Sforzesco (a castle), Porta Sempione (an arch), the duomo (the main Cathedral), and the Quadrilatero d'oro (a shopping district featuring all of the major designer brands). Luckily it was very sunny so the stroll was lovely, and as we sat down for a glass of wine in front of the arch, a quartet was performing right in front of us, which was the perfect end to the evening. Milan definitely didn't lack musicians and buskers, which I love in a city.
Italy is, of course, renowned for its cuisine and we had no issues finding good food to enjoy. Navigli riverside features a multitude of restaurants and bars and was where I had my favourite pasta dish of the trip. We also dined at Da Oscar (one of my mum's favourite restaurant in Milan, as aforementioned), ate an incredible pizza at Lievito Madre al Duomo on the recommendation of a local, and savoured delicious gelato from Gusto 17. That said, in the first 48 hours we went to five places for meals, four of which messed up our order (despite clarifying with us beforehand) - this was a theme throughout our trip.
On my favourite night in Milan, we visited Bosco Verticale, two residential blocks enshrined in plants, before going on an art tour of Isola (courtesy of my boyfriend). On top of Isola being a nice area, I love seeing artwork in a city and there were various pieces that I enjoyed. On another night we went to a bar which played Reggaeton music and gave us popcorn which was interesting but enjoyable. One thing that did surprise me was how little English was spoken, as although it definitely isn't expected, it's common for big cities to have everything in English alongside the native tongue (although I then learnt that the population of the city was only 3 million).
Other things to see in Milan include Cimitero Monumentale (a cemetery featuring flamboyant tombs) and Leonardo's famous 'The Last Supper' painting in Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Lake Como
My favourite place in Italy is Bellagio, the namesake of the famous Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, although the last time I'd visited I could barely walk due to my motorbike accident. Therefore, I was keen to revisit and show my boyfriend one of my favourite views. We took a train to Como San Giovanni in order to explore the city of Como, which in itself is stunning; the views are beautiful with the turquoise water of the lake and the mountainous backdrop. We then waited at the bus stop for 10 minutes and boarded a bus headed for Bellagio, however there was chaos at the following stop as some people had been waiting for over 2 hours and there wasn't enough space to fit everyone on. After a lot of shouting and swearing, the bus driver threatened to call the police unless he was able to close the bus doors.
After travelling along the lakeside, we arrived at the beautiful Bellagio. We explored the village and enjoyed some bruschetta along the way. We then started walking until we found ourselves in the neighbouring village, Visgnola. After a mishap with the bus timetables, we found a little underground cave that led back to Bellagio and by a miracle just managed to catch a bus towards Lecco train station, allowing us to explore Lake Lecco too (if we'd missed this bus we'd have had to wait a further two hours for the next one).
Genova
On our last day in Milan, we had to check out at 10am, however the train to Genoa was almost two hours long and my lesson started at 10:30am. Therefore, I spent the day working from Centrale train station and when college ended at 4:15pm, we boarded a train headed for Genoa. On arriving at the very central Airbnb, we were told that Genoa had a problem with immigration and it was a very multicultural area, which was great news to my Londoner ears, until we (quickly) learnt that this was a euphemism for prostitution and although I felt safe, there were constantly people lingering on the streets in the area.
I'd only ever passed through Genova so I was excited to explore what the city had to offer and I was not disappointed. I found that people were more approachable than in Milan, especially dog owners as I'd barely been able to pet any dogs whilst in Milan (bar a beautiful husky), whereas in Genova people even called their dogs over and stopped in order to allow me to pet them.
The food in Genoa was delicious; I'd recommend the ravioli with ragù and tiramisu from Cavour Modo 21, traditional pesto or meatballs from Mangiabuono, pizza from Eataly, steak from Tiflis, cannoli from Don gelateria artigianale, gelato from GROM, and the local beer (Maltus Faber) from the food market MOG.
Genova also didn't lack sights to see, and even had signalled tours throughout the city, which would be perfect for a self-guided tour. The harbour offers a calming scene in which you can spot Vascello Neptune (a ship) and Palazzo San Giorgio (a palace). The main square, Piazza del Ferrari, is beautiful and between here and the main arch (Arco della Vittoria) is perfect for a spot of shopping. We also did our own mini tour one day which featured an ascent to Castello d'Albertis (a cool castle), Villa del Principe (an art museum), Spinata di Castelleto (a beautiful viewpoint), and Villetta di Negro (a green space featuring a waterfall).
That said, my favourite spots were all discovered completely by accident, including Palazzo Spinola Angelo Giovanni, which is a palace with stunning paintings on the ceilings and also the location of a Deutsche Bank branch, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, during which we briefly attended an important mass in which large crosses were paraded and red or white cloaks were worn by many, and finally, Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, which is reminiscent of a tribunal with its large columns but in fact is a basilica with stunning artwork on the interior.
Another recommendable attraction would be Boccadasse, which is a small nearby village similar to Cinque Terre with its colourful houses and seaside.
Portofino
The last day trip we went on was to Portofino, a village that I'd wanted to visit since my parents had been a few years ago. On my mum's recommendation, we took a train from Genova to Santa Margherita, where we explored Villa Durazzo and treated ourselves to gelato, and then got a 10-minute bus to Portofino. The road was extremely tight but the driver seemed to know the road to a tee and before we knew it, we had arrived.
Portofino is one of the most picturesque places I've been to in Italy and is well worth the visit. We walked around the village and made our way to the lighthouse, where we enjoyed local beers at Al Faro Bar (which very pleasantly came with peanuts, crisps, and olives). Portofino is very small but extremely beautiful and was without a doubt my favourite part of the trip.
Last thoughts
Despite my frustrations with the country, Italy is the perfect destination for a holiday and we were extremely lucky to have perfect weather, delicious food, and a lot of free time to explore. That said, I was also supposed to be in college so I did have to work during the day for 4 days and on these days my boyfriend made me several meals, including pancakes, mini fry-ups, spaghetti bolognese and a carbonara, which was much appreciated. The one thing that I was in charge of throughout the week was putting the focaccia on the grill, and of course, I managed to burn it to a crisp. The good news is that it is very easy to grab a quick lunch in Italy due to the many cafés and focaccerias.
I'd strongly recommend visiting the north of the country at some point as it is a very different (read: calmer) experience to the south, though both have their pros and cons.
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