Mehmet Salih Taylan Our journey began on Saturday, February 3rd, with our departure to Sabiha Gökçen Airport, marking the first steps of an endless adventure. The process started with our heavy travel bags, putting us into travel mode right from our arrival at the airport. We took off with a 2:00 PM flight. By 3:00 PM Italian time, we would have landed in Milan. The magic of the Apennine Mountains enveloped us even while we were in the air. Since we were traveling in winter, the mountains were quite snowy; the rows of mountains presented an incredible portrait from the plane window.
Around 3:00 PM, we landed at Milan Bergamo Airport. As soon as we got off the plane, we reached the destination of the trip we had prepared for intensively and with limited resources over four months of Zoom meetings. A sweet excitement and happiness filled us. We joined a long queue for passport control. Standing in line with a heavy backpack on our backs was quite tiring. Finally, after passing passport control, we quickly left the airport and stepped onto Italian soil. We had three days to explore Milan.
As soon as we stepped outside the airport, many buses were waiting to take us to the center of Milan. However, due to our previous research, we knew it would be cheaper to take a local bus and then a train. Using this route, we first took the local bus. Then we went to Bergamo Train Station and bought our first train ticket to Milano Centrale. Train lines are very extensive in Italy; you can find a train to almost every district, every city. It was around 7 PM when we arrived at Milano Centrale. We arrived at a station unlike any we had seen before. There were trains going to various regions from Switzerland to Rome, Venice. Como Chronicles
Como Diaries
The weather had darkened. We were going to a place in Como, which we had determined for accommodation three months in advance. If I remember correctly, the last train to Como was around 11 PM. We took this opportunity and found ourselves in the streets of Milan. There was a large square at the exit of Centrale. We walked straight from the square and entered the main avenue, but as soon as we entered, we felt a great unease. There were many African immigrants on the streets, and they didn’t give a sense of security. After a long walk on the avenue, we stopped by a shopping mall and made our first purchase. Then we returned to Centrale and bought our tickets to Como. We arrived in Como late at night.
In Como, especially in the evenings, refugees seem to take over the city. There were almost no Italian citizens on the streets. When we got off at Como Camerlata, we were supposed to transfer, but the train station was very large and complex. We asked the first person we saw for directions. He was probably someone from Africa, and his first sentence to us was, “This area is a criminal zone, do not spend so much time,” which made our faces turn white. 🙂 After making the transfer, we walked incredibly fast until we reached the place we would stay.
The streets were deserted and empty, which scared us quite a bit. Then we went to our room, had a deep sleep, and started a new day early in the morning. Our travel plan was clear. In the early hours of the morning, we started our day with the food we bought from the market the night before, then got ready and began the first long day of our Italy trip.
Tasting Gelato for the First Time
We left the place we were staying and started walking through the streets of Como. The anxiety we felt the previous night was gone, and I can say that for the first time, we were mingling with the Italian people. After checking the Milan train schedules, we decided to spend the day around Lake Como without wasting much time. We took many photos with the scenery on the bridge around and in the middle of the lake.
After touring the lake for a while, we looked around the shops. Then I learned that Ömer had a long-standing interest in ice cream. When Ömer saw an Italian gelato shop, he immediately pushed me into that shop. I received a long briefing about gelato from Ömer. There were no additives in the ice creams; this was probably the most important information that stuck with me. :)Then we immediately went into the shop and started to try it. It really was as good as he praised; it was one of the best ice creams I had ever eaten. Then we set off to the train station to go back to Milan. There were many places to visit, and in the evening we would pick up our friend Melih because he could only get his ticket for the next day.
Traces of Milan
After arriving in Milan, we immediately checked the map and decided to visit the Sforzesco Castle as our first stop. When we reached the gates of the castle, we felt the moment when we arrived at the old feudal lord’s palace told in history lessons. The castle was enormous. Before entering its garden, we took some nice photos and took our first step into the garden to explore the castle. The castle’s width and immense length were endless. As we entered, the doors kept opening, and we delved into different realms within the castle
After exploring for a while, we found a large and beautiful museum inside the castle, but it was a bit expensive. After hesitating about whether to enter, the attendant told us it was free on Sundays. Actually, we had the information that museums were free on the first Sunday of each month, but apparently, we forgot at that moment. Then we entered the museum and opened different realms. There were many works. I had read many things about the Renaissance before, but witnessing the live works filled my heart with a unique sense of awe. But one sculpture really affected me a lot. I even took a photo with it; I will put this photo below. This sculpture was of the Virgin Mary, and it looked very realistic. It might be one of the most impressive sculptures I’ve seen in Italy.
The Last Supper
After leaving the castle, we checked the time; we were a bit hungry. We were waiting for Melih to arrive, and we wanted to eat together. According to the time he landed, Melih was supposed to inform us. We couldn’t reach his phone. Then, going with the flow, I remember we visited several basilicas, churches, and opera houses. We really wanted to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting at the Sante Maria delle Grazie church, but when we arrived, security told us we needed to make a reservation and that the appointments were fully booked for two months.
Then we arrived at the square where the Duomo Cathedral is located. But we didn’t enter the cathedral because we wanted to go in together with all three of us. Therefore, we postponed it to the next day. After touring the oldest mall in Italy, we reached Melih and returned to Centrale to pick him up. It was already getting late, and it was getting dark. We wanted to taste one of Italy’s must-try flavors. We found a pizzeria and started eating. Then we set off from Milano Centrale to the place we were staying in Como.
I remember having a very enjoyable conversation on the train. In fact, we always had very pleasant conversations during train journeys, and because of being abroad, we could openly discuss many topics that we normally wouldn’t talk about loudly in Turkey. After we returned to our place in Como. I made a nice cup of tea, we sat together, drank our tea, ate our food, and prepared the plan for the next day before going to bed. We have a very fun video at this table; maybe we’ll share it on our Instagram account. 🙂
San Siro
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up early. Our first stop was San Siro, one of the stadiums where the heart of football beats. The stadium of two giant clubs like Milan and Inter. After our train journey, we arrived at that giant stadium by metro. Actually, this was Melih’s dream because he is a fanatic Milan supporter. We took great photos around the stadium. It was expensive to enter, so we decided not to. But on the other side of the stadium, there was a store selling both Inter and Milan jerseys and products. We visited it and then left the stadium.
Duomo Cathedral
Now it was time to fully experience the inside and terrace of the Duomo Cathedral, which we only glanced at yesterday. We arrived at the Duomo Cathedral, bought our tickets. Then we set off for the stairs leading to the terrace. As we climbed the stairs, the cathedral enchanted us more and more. There were many sculptures on each rising tower of the cathedral, and we were approaching the top floor of the cathedral. Before reaching the top floor, we took a photo break and talked with many tourists. Then we reached the peak of the cathedral, where there was an incredible viewing show. Then we sat at a nice spot. Afterward, we had a delightful time calling our friends and families via WhatsApp in Turkish style.
As I mentioned earlier, being in a foreign country allowed us to speak out loud about some things comfortably, but there were many Turks around us, and we made many blunders throughout the trip, unfortunately. 🙂 Yes, after sitting at the top of the cathedral for a while, we checked out the inside of the church before leaving the cathedral.
Then, after touring the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II mall, we entered a pizzeria to fill our stomachs. We had the idea of going to Switzerland’s Chiasso town in our minds since it was very close to Como. We thought, “Let’s see one more country while we’re here.” But after leaving the pizzeria, we started wandering aimlessly in the streets of Milan and suddenly found ourselves in the Navigli district of Milan. Actually, we knew this place, but it seemed a bit far on the map. Now we were walking along the illuminated streets around the lake that divided the avenue in two. There were many shops. These shops offered great opportunities to experience the Italian aperitivo culture. You can get a drink and a snack plate for around 10-15 Euros and have something to eat before dinner.
A Short Switzerland Adventure
After touring the Navigli district, we had a dilemma about whether to go to Switzerland or not, but then we made a sudden decision to go to Chiasso, Switzerland. We were in Chiasso around 9 PM, the streets were empty, but we felt very safe. There were no refugees on the streets, and despite being a town, the lighting was excellent. After completing our exploration of the streets, we ended our short Swiss adventure and returned to Como. We made a brief evaluation about our upcoming trip to Venice and went to bed. The first stage of the 10-day Italian dream was now complete. Early in the morning, we set off for Venice. If you have read this far, I extend my gratitude to you. See you in the Venice article…
