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By the time that we arrived in Italy we were basically already in love with the country, and as we travelled from Rome to the Amalfi Coast, to Tuscany and then on to Cinque Terre, we just fell in love with Italy even more. The beautiful natural and historical sights were amazing, but what truly captured us was the culture. The people and their laid back way of life, the old feel of the towns and cities and the way that good food and wine is such an important part of life.

View of Vernazza from above in Cinque terre, Italy

View of Vernazza in Cinque Terre

We had just spent several days exploring Cinque Terre, where tiny 13th century villages cling to the cliffs of some spectacular coastline, where we sat by the sea and ate paninis, hiked between villages with spectacular views and rewarding ourselves with delicious gelato, and at night eating the famous pesto pasta and drinking good wine. We really didn’t want to leave, but it was now time to visit Milan.

We caught the train from Monterosso al Mare which took around 3 hours to reach Milan. By the time that we had stepped out of the train station, we were already just not feeling the city at all. Our hotel was close to the train station as we were only staying for two days before moving on to Venice, and the neighbourhood around the area didn’t capture as at all.

Milano Centrale Milan train station in Milan, Italy

Milano Centrale Train Station

The main reason that we had come to Milan is because it is one of the fashion capitals of the world, meaning great shopping, which after all is my wife’s favourite hobby. As we ventured into the city we explored several shopping districts and couldn’t find much that we could really afford. The food that we sampled was expensive and nowhere near as good as what we had tried elsewhere.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

There was a few nice sights in the city including the huge Milan Cathedral, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the exquisite opera house, but the city seemed to be lacking the culture that we had come to love over the past couple of weeks. Although Milano is obviously an Italian city, it has a much more cosmopolitan feel to it, and so we just weren’t connecting with the city at all.

Milan Cathedral Duomo di Milano in Milan, Italy

Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)

Since Milan is the fashion capital of Italy, Veronika ended up with a few great buys, and as a honeymoon present I bought her a real Louis Vuitton. So she still left the city with a big smile on her face, but as our train pulled away from the station bound for Venice, we found ourselves not wanting to return to Milan, which was a first so far in Italy. Milan just wasn’t for us.

Buying Louis Vuitton bag in Milan, Italy

Happy wife with her new Louis Vuitton

Have you been to Milan? What did you think of the city? Did I just visit the wrong places? Do you think that it deserves another go?