Parting with Euros in Milano

So after our last breakfast at Casa Nini in Como, accompanied by Daniele's anecdotes and mild complaining about various issues, I asked Ryan "How fast can you have your bags packed for Milan?". In no time at all we hit the road in our little Twingo, and less than a couple of hours later we reached Malpensa Airport to return the car. We were meant to return the car full, but the last petrol station we saw was self service and wouldn't take our cards. It was 3/4 full though, and when we returned it, they didn't care - as the Italians say "It's no problem".

Duomo by day

We then got the Malpensa Express train straight into the city of Milan, which was surprisingly quick and easy considering the distance, and then hopped a quick cab ride from the station to the doorstep (quite literally) of our hotel. We dumped our bags and hit the streets straight away, stopping first for a quick panini and birra for lunch nearby. Then we set off for the famous Duomo, which is quite grandiose I must say. A few chunks of it was under construction as well, which seems to often happen with these large old buildings in Europe. The piazza around the Duomo was swarming with tourists and dodgy guys trying to rip off said tourists, so we shared a hazelnut and pistachio gelati and people-watched for a bit. After a circuit of the area, we discovered a place called Signorvino around the back of the piazza. So according to my near-fluent Italian, Signorvino means Mr Wine, which is coincidentally a term of endearment I use for Ryan. So Ryan/Mr Wine looked very much at home at Signorvino indeed.

Mr Wine enjoying a drink at Signorvino

We meandered around the streets of Milan, which is quite a metropolitan city peppered with some amazing buildings, but to be honest it is the towns of Italy which I adore, not the cities (Rome excluded, and Florence - if you are indeed considered a city). My point being that Milan was a bit like Sydney but without the harbour and 1000 times more history. We eventually reached Vertical wine bar which we had picked out for dinner, courtesy of Tripadvisor. What a little find! A small wine bar run by one lovely young guy who apologised for his lack of fluent English - we responded with our normal "Hey your English is better than our Italian" - yawn, I hereby VOW to do a language course before I return to Europe. At Vertical, for 8 Euros you get a glass of wine and 2 courses of accompanying appetisers which this guys puts together himself. It was delicious and such good value, plus we tried some new and interesting wines that were tipico della regione. We then meandered back home, past the Duomo at night, and back to the hotel to catch the match where Uruguay beat England. That result didnt bother me at the time. In hindsight I would have been backing England.

Duomo by night

The next morning we woke to lovely blue Milano skies and headed out for breakfast around the corner at a place which Ryan had spied on his run that morning (!). His first run of the holiday I should add..... So we ordered our normal espresso/macchiato combination and some "toast with butter and jam". The coffee was good but the toast was like those pre-packaged hard mini French toast things but in maxi form. Wat?! That is not toast. And I think it was like 5 euros each. Hands down the worst meal of all time. We didn't worry too much though, as we knew we had a good lunch lined up ahead of us. Now I'll just let you all know that Ryan makes a pretty mean risotto Milanese and osso bucco, so Ryan thought it suitable to google where the best of these dishes were in Milan so that he could perfect his craft. He found one which was apparently the best, and even Michelin starred, so decided on a whim to book it. After our disappointing breakfast, we wandered around the nearby streets, through some amazingly historical areas with cathedrals like Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio which was built a lazy 1600 years ago, and on to the area near the Duomo where we would be having lunch.

Wandering around Milano's cathedrals

Ryan soon brought to my attention that in fact this restaurant was 2 Michelin starred.... I hesitated and asked what kind of price tag we were looking at but he assured me it would be around 100 Euros total (*note - I just reconfirmed this, and he said he had no idea, he just wanted to go). No problem I guess - we were on holidays, I had actually just finally finished doing the work that I needed to get done (while on holidays!) so I thought it was well earned. We were slightly early (very unfashionable, especially in Milano) so we went to Peck, just around the corner, which is like David Jones Food Hall but on steroids. There were jars of truffles, caviar, whatever your hearts desire available for purchase. And not cheap - over 200 Euros for each jar of the white truffles they had a bountiful supply of! The visit to Peck at least set the scene for our lunch - at Cracco, named after the chef.

Cracco - the dark low key entrance behind the Fiat

Thank God I was decently dressed, as I had not prepared to be thrown into what turned out to be one of the best (and definitely most expensive) meals of our lives. This is what you call, surprise 5 star dining! So we opened the door, were greeted by a man pretty much wearing a tux who escorted us to the elevator, and I suddenly knew this was pretty high end.

Welcome appetiser from the chef #1

We were actually the first ones in the restaurant, so set ourselves down. It was hilarious - they even gave my crappy little handbag its own stool. There were 2 waiters who were very eager to please us, and I realised the price of the meal would be fairly high. When they brought out the menu (which looked amazing), there were no prices listed, and I realised we must have entered into a world where money does not matter.

Slow cooked pork cheeks with scampi

I was just going along with it all, because hey I do like a good fine dining experience, and there was not much I could do at that point. Even when the waiters brought out the welcome appetizer #3 I didn't freak out too much. Although I was actually full by now, I knew I probably could or should not cancel our order :P

Raw meat! My favourite.

So we had an amazing 7 or so courses. It really was top notch. I thought it was amazing that there were no prices on the menu, and when I mentioned to Ryan that we really had no idea how much it would cost, he was confused. It took about 5 minutes or so before that we realised that my menu had no prices, and Ryan's did. Sometimes I love sexism. Lunch is on you Ryan! Although I do find things so hilarious like when I asked for the bathroom and I was taken to the elevator for the 1/2 a level journey up, while the waiter then races up the stairs to greet me when I the doors open 7 seconds later.

Risotto with scallops

The whole meal was amazing - top notch modern Italian. Normally we would plan such an extravagance several months in advance, but this certainly was a gem of a surprise! After such an amazing lunch, we then wandered the streets again for at least an hour or so to work off at least one course, swung by Signorvino again, and then moved on to a bar to watch Italy play the World Cup which was lots of excitement but a sad result :(

Pan-fried veal Milanese style