Milan - Our Arrival and Dinner at Rosso Brera

After London, our next stop was Milan, where we'd be spending three nights before heading to the Cinque Terre, which is was one of those "bucket list" places for the Missus. Now, I had mainly wanted to visit Milan for one reason. But we'd end up really enjoying the city. We loved the walks, the Missus enjoyed the shopping...heck, Milan is considered the fashion capital of Italy! We both took to Aperitivo Culture. And we especially enjoyed where we stayed. Our good friend Candice recommended staying in the Brera District. The lovely cobblestone streets, artsy-bohemian-hipster vibe, and location, still within walking distance of the main sites really won us over. 

And we loved our AirBnB which was located right off the fun and bustling Via Fiori Chiari, yet with a small courtyard the place was quiet and comfortable. It made me feel like we were staying right off Rue Montorgueil in Paris.

Of course we had to go wandering around immediately!

We headed down Via Brera and took a short stop at the Pinacoteca di Brera, a well known art gallery.

There's an interesting statue in the courtyard.

It's a statue of Napoleon, nothing overly strange about that, right? Well, in this statue, Napoleon is cast as Mars the Peacemaker.

Other than some of the basic sights, I really hadn't done much research, so coming across various statues and such was fun. Like this statue of Francesco Hayez, the Italian painter.

Soon enough, the streets started getting much busier.

And then we came upon this iconic entrance.

Yes, it's the oldest and probably the most well known (and expensive) shopping center in Italy, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. We'd be returning to these places, so I'll go into more detail later. For now, I thought I'd just post some photos.

And right across the way is the Duomo, Milan Cathedral.

Busy, huh? Did you know that Milan Cathedral is the largest church in all of Italy? It's even larger than Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican!

We veered off and walked into Piazza Mercanti. Compared to the surroundings it was quite sedate and peaceful. Hard to believe it was once the ruling center of the city.

The piazza is also home to an interesting acoustic phenomenon. We tried it out and it actually works! 

We headed back taking different streets.

And ended at Castello Sforzesco.

Like I said, we'd be visiting these places later on during our stay.

We strolled a few blocks east and voila, we were back at the apartment. We had a nice break and then decided to head on out for dinner. I hadn't made any dinner reservations for our first night. I thought that with all the dining options in the area, we'd easily find a place. And, right across Fiori Chiari, in one of the courtyards, we came across a restaurant named Rosso Brera, which had outdoor seating.

The menu looked interesting, it had some dishes I was interested in. The service was initially very perfunctory, but hey, it wasn't even close to being like Rome! Of course, I got things off on the right foot by ordering an Aperol.

And once I placed my order, our Server warmed up to us. There seemed to be quite a few locals; perhaps he had us pegged as obnoxious tourists?

Anyway, first up was the Crostone Toscano; which featured raw Tuscan Pork Sausage.

Nice seasonings, quite refreshing, excellent salt, there seemed to be a hint of anise flavor. Nice with my Aperol Spritz.

Of course I had to get the Tartare di Manzo; beef tartare.

A bit too mushy for my taste. There was a tinge of metallic going on as well. The raw pork sausage was much better.

The Missus wanted a simple pasta; so I ordered the Garganelli.

Perfectly cooked house made pasta. The ribs in the pasta did a great job of "picking up" the simple tomato sauce, light basil tones, milky cheese. Sometimes, simple is best.

One of the dishes I really wanted to try in Milan was the Risotto a la Milanese. And since it was on the menu.....

The arborio rice was perfectly cooked, great texture. The earthy tones of saffron came thru quite strongly perhaps edging on almost bitter. The Missus, who is not a fan of saffron tried a taste and was done. I was glad to have finally tried this.

Service ended up being quite friendly and warm after an interesting start and we'd end up returning for Aperotivo time the following night.. It was a nice way to start our stay in Milan.

Rosso Brera
Via Marco Formentini 7
20121 Milan, Italy

We went and took a nice walk after dinner.

Under the central dome of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II you'll find four mosaics which depict the coat of arms for Rome, Florence, Milan, and Turin. Turin (Torino) is represented by the bull. Looking at the mosaic you'll quickly notice a dip right where the bull's...well, private parts are. Well, supposedly, placing your heel right on the family jewels of the bull, then spinning clockwise three times will bring you good luck. Folks were lining up to do this when we visited later on.

We were really enjoying Milan! And that's no bull!

Comments

[kat]

lots of things to do & eat:) nice!

[Junichi]

Poor bull! Food looks amazing!

[Kirk]

Yes, we really enjoyed Milan Kat!

I read that they have to replace and repair "the bull" periodically Junichi!