Milano

Continental Europe in mid-January is not everyone’s first choice of vacation spot but polar vortexes in North America easily negate the idea of a stay-cation. Leaving Toronto for Milan, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was to be my transit point. It has an anachronistic Concorde fuselage near a runway to welcome incomers and hint at past glory days of French aviation. At arrivals, a mundane herding off to the side by a machine gun toting soldier explaining it was “à cause d’un colis piegé” pushed me on to make my connection (in a presumably safer terminal). My next flight took off heading west away from Italy but soon banked and passed over central Paris, affording a sunsplashed view of all the sites worth seeing, from the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe to Notre Dame and Rolland Garros (I think). Entry into Milan (host of the World Expo in 2015) from Linate airport was by tram, a great introduction. Meeting up with a Canadian friend at our central boutique hotel, our first thought was food. This was Italy after all. Fresco and Carminis beside the famous shopping mecca Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II was a buoyant and lively joint for the in-crowd looking for an extended Friday afternoon lunch. Just being in line for a table was an experience. Later that day we purchased opera tickets and made a once in a lifetime (perhaps) appearance at La Scala. If this was a bucket list event then the third level balcony box (where we were joined by three Russian visitors of whom one was an opera singer herself), was perfect since it gave directly onto the stage. Next day was to entail a lot of rain and the arrival of further friends from North America who had come all that way for just two days stay. We ate at a highly recommended resto at lunch and upped the ante by going to Milan’s Michelin Star restaurant at night, replete with sommelier! The six course taster menu had a distinct wine for each course. Decadent. To cap off a drenching evening we made a near midnight climb of the stairs to the roof of the Duomo, the cathedral at the heart of the city. Its skywalk offers great views of the intricate towering carvings that adorn the famous structure and of the art gallery and piazza below.