Our Blog - Milan Day 1

Our trip to the airport in Toulouse was much easier than the trip from airport to hotel in Milan. The Blagnac Airport bus picks up just around the corner from our apartment, so very quick and easy. Once we landed, we took the Malpensa Express train into Milan and then took 2 different metro lines. The hotel really isn't that far out, either. Instead of staying "right in the middle", we opted for just a couple metro stations away from "right in the middle" (the Duomo). I don't remember why we picked this hotel, but it ended up being quite nice. The Grand Visconti Palace was a bit more up-scale than we normally stay in, and it included a huge (well appointed) breakfast buffet. It was just a block walk to the metro station with a straight-shot up to the Duomo. Mind you ... we basically did nothing other than get to the hotel and settled, and then go to dinner ... I feel guilty calling this "Day 1".

Our first dinner, we went with a recommendation from our friend, Valentina, who is from Genoa. Pisacco is up in the Brera district, which has lots of restaurants. It had an interesting decor with a informal table for drinks as you come in, a large bar with a ham slicer, and unique lighting in the main dining room. Their website says they serve "modern, unadorned Italian cuisine".

They started us with what we think were dried chickpeas as well as marinated olives. Then we started with their signature smoked ham and asiago cheese toasted sandwich. While I didn't really think of a ham and cheese sandwich as "Italian", it was really good! We also went with a nice red wine.

We decided to share a risotto since Milan is more known for risotto than pasta. Similar to Italian pasta, their risotto is a bit more al-dente than in the US. For main courses, I went with an Amberjack (fish) which was served mostly raw (just seared) on top of vegetables. Tom went with a beef, which they served fairly rare on top of a puree.

Then dessert (of course, we are on vacation) ... fresh fruit which seemed to be persimmons with an olive oil ice cream, and then a panne cotta with red berries and ice cream. Then coffee ... so now I totally get the issues that Valentina has getting "proper coffee". While a cafe in France is pretty small, the cafe in Italy is, well, even smaller!

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