Milano October 2022

Milan, Italy. Saturday 08-October-2022.

Following on from our parkrun tourism to Lucca this time it was the turn of Milan. The motivation wasn't just to do parkrun tourism but visit my nephew, Lorenzo, his mother, Francesca, and his nonna, Carla. Also my cyber-friend Roberta who I originally met online through our mutual liking for Marc Bolan and T.Rex but since met several times in real life.

We flew up on Friday to discover that Carla had graciously moved in with Francesca for the weekend so we could stay in Carla's apartment and have it all to ourselves. That evening, following a recommendation from Roberta, we went for a pizza at Pizzeria Maruzzella where I had the best pizza I think I've ever had. The dough used to make the base was soft and deliciously tasty.

Saturday morning it was a short Metro ride north to the Parco Nord Milano where we picked up a couple of lost English parkrun tourists and guided them in thanks to CityMapper which now includes a number of important cities as well as London.

There were a fair number of visitors from various parts of the globe.

A very flat course through a lovely wooded park.

Risultati di Milano Nord parkrun per l'evento n.235. Il tuo tempo è stato 00:29:07.

Congratulazioni per aver completato il tuo 147° parkrun e il tuo 1° a Milano Nord parkrun oggi. Hai finito in 65° posizione su un totale di 100 parkrunner. Sei stato 53° Maschio e 2° nella categoria VM70-74.

Under 30 minutes so I was happy.

Back to the flat for a shower then out for normal tourism. First lunch. The restaurant we wanted to try described itself as Italian, contemporary, healthy but was closed, despite Google telling us otherwise. We walked on down the street and found ourselves a seafood pasta lunch at Ristorante Napoletano, huge portions but so tasty we had to eat it all. So much for eating "healthy"!

After lunch and full of food, we took the tram as a thing in its own right. The number 10 tram was a traditional design, it reminded us of the streetcars in New Orleans. We admired the neo-classical architecture all along the route and went as far as Bosco Verticale.

Then it was time to head back to the apartment for a siesta. 

Saturday evening was supper with Roberta and her husband Marino in their apartment which turned out to be only 5 minutes walk from Francesca and Carla. An extravagant multi-course meal, wonderful flavours and a very enjoyable evening.

Sunday it was raining so we went down to the Cathedral square for a quick circuit of the Leonardo3 exhibition. A small but fascinating exhibition of around fifty models made to his designs, each with a copy of the original design for reference. There was a high quality digital image of The Last Supper and we benefitted greatly from being there whilst a teacher was explaining it to a group of small children - the language level was about right for us!

After that we met up with the family for delicious Sunday lunch at Fish Dancer. Courtesy of The Fork we got a 50% discount on the food and wine! Back at the apartment it was photo opportunity time.

The massive door had a postern gate so you didn't have to open the whole thing.

After a late siesta following all the eating over the weekend we only needed a light snack for supper and got toasted panini from a jolly lady who ran a local cafe, Bar Oasi, served with a generous measure of wine. While we were there we were introduced to a music student who it turned out came from one of our local towns and knows our friend Mino - un piccolo mondo!

Monday was time pack up, fly back to Brindisi, drive home to recover and go on a diet!