We didn’t have high hopes for Milan.  It was basically just a convenient place to stopover on our way from Alba to Venice.  I had heard stories from other travelers about it being a big, expensive, soulless city.  As it turned out though, we actually really enjoyed our brief stay there.  The city is surrounded by parks and beautiful architecture, the Duomo cathedral has one of the most grand and elaborate designs that I have ever seen and best of all: we discovered a unique eating system in Milan that I wish would make its way around the world.

The Milanese “Aperitivo” is pretty simple in theory.  You go into a restaurant or bar after work (varies by venue between 5:00 and about 9:00) and order a drink.  The drink may be slightly more expensive than normal, but the goal — even among locals — is to sip it slowly and make it last for an hour or two.  Now here’s the key:  included with the drink is access to a buffet.  The buffets are generally pretty elaborate affairs consisting of things like 2 foot wide wheels of fresh parmesan, cured meat and cheese trays, quiches, assorted fresh pastas and salads, etc…  For locals it seemed to pretty much be a daily affair, and for travelers like us, it was an economical way to have a drink and eat some delicious food.

Our only real disappointment in Milan was that we didn’t get to see the famous “Last Supper” painting by Da Vinci.  Apparently access is limited to extremely small numbers to help preserve what’s left of it and you typically need to book 2-3 months in advance, even in the slow season.  After our overnight stopover in Milan, we departed on a train to Venice with our bellies full and out spirits high!