Arriving back in Milan on the May the third was the first time I could really call it hot here. We arrived on the Tuesday and we're excused from class on the Thursday due to the May bank holidays so chose to spend the day in Parco Sempione which is the huge park sandwiched between the arch of peace and castello. Although I've visited castello many times I've never put any pictures up so feast your eyes on the fresh shots below! Castello literally means castle in Italian and is a landmark viewable from just beyond the Duomo Plaza so it's central to the city. The castle can be walked through to get the park and has an enormous courtyard, various exhibitions are on in the castle itself in relational to it's historical reference but I haven't been to any so can't comment what they are like.
The area is very busy with both tourists, street traders and occasionally as I've seen brass bands. On the day we visited it was glorious sunshine and the park was completely heaving. It is a lovely environment to spend the day at and many traders constantly circle with drinks and ice cream so your constantly refreshed without moving. in a particular area of the park near the pond there is a monument much like a small seating part of a Colosseum where on two of the occasions I've been including my latest visit drummers sit to play in time. They are actually very good. At the pond you can see lots of tortoise like creatures that I think are terrapins sunbathing and around the park it's not uncommon to see lizards scurrying. If you do walk all the way through the park you then reach the arch of peace which is a huge monument. One piece of advice, if you burn ensure you remember suncream, Emily did not and has suffered greatly for this mistake as the picture below illustrates.
So now I'm going to start with telling you about Madrid. Oh my god the place is amazing. In my April post I mentioned that a friend from my home university is also doing Erasmus in the city so last week I went to visit and I've simply fallen in love with the place. I hate to say it as of course Milan is a fantastic city with wonderful culture and lots to do but in terms of doing Erasmus Madrid kicks it into the ground. The issue with Milan is that as a young person studying abroad it is very expensive so unless you have a lot of financial support you can't do something all the time. Madrid was completely different and so, so cheap. Madrid also has an awful lot more options in terms of bars, restaurants and shopping and is far more like London in terms of never sleeping. Milan is obviously smaller but lacks the bustle of these competing cities.
Once in Madrid it was the lovely Imogen Wall who myself and Emily Land had a tour guide, Imogens blog is linked to mine so look at it if you are at all interested in Erasmus in Madrid. On the first day we arrived early and caught the metro straight from the airport to Plaza de Espana which is a very central part of the city linking directly to Grand Via which is the main street for shopping where we met Immy as her apartment was close.
After dropping our bags off we we had 3 days to enjoy Madrid and see all we could. One of the places we went was to a chain store of Madrid called El Tigre where we we're literally and I mean literally bombarded with free tapas. If you buy a drink the waiters then continuously bring different forms of tapas to your table and with a beer only be 2,50 euros this was the cheapest and best lunch I've ever had. Being a complete tapas virgin I didn't know what to expect but there is so much to choose from. Just on our table we had a selection of roasted potatoes, bread, chorizo, ham, cheese, Spanish omelette, risotto and potato croquettes and about 10 minutes into eating we actually had to turn away a further two plates.
Another cool chain bar we visited that was full of young people was called La Sureña where bottles of beer are purchased by the bucket. For 5 bottles of beer in a bucket it's 4 euros so it is entirely understandable why the bar was swamped with students. For eating we went to the most amazing burger bar in the area of Malasana called Zombie Bar. If the burgers themselves were not enough the bar itself also had incredible cool decor in terms of art and even the menus were interesting being in the middle of individual comic books, I strongly advise if in Madrid you give this place a go.
In terms of sight seeing we hit all the big destinations such as the parks and palace as well as going over to casa di campo via cable car. Casa di campo means house of the county in spanish and is huge. When in the cable car to get to one side of the park you get a panoramic view of Madrid which is cool and less cool but helpfully the cable car talks to you in a strange voice at certain points pointing out landmarks and points of interest so it's great to go to.
Other places we visited whilst on the trip are San Miguel market and the rooftop bar Gymnage. San Miguel is not really what you call a market, it's way more than that! It is a food hall full of different stalls selling tapas size or bigger portions to try all the different tastes of Spain and is delicious. I had some astounding Sangria at this place. The Gymnage restaurant is a roof top terrace wine bar and restaurant that is simply beautiful so between the two I couldn't pick a favourite place but instead am incredibly jealous we don't have any form of equivalent in Milan.
In Ritiro park we went to had an amazing glass house called Palacio di Cristal, cystal palace that was stunning. Inside the building which is free entry they have rocking chairs and books for you to read, it is the sort of place you could spend days in at not get bored. In the same park we were even brave enough to hire a rowing boat and went onto the lake where of course we we're all naturals. Of course.
The entire experience of being in Madrid has really encouraged my want to travel more and it is certainly somewhere I plan on returning to and would love to work.
With this new found want to travel on our return from Madrid we went to Centrale FS which is the central station of Milan and have finally booked some train tickets to see glorious Italy starting with Venice before then going to Genoa. We leave for Venice this Friday the 16th of May which is actually deadline day for this blog and my international enhancement year module. This does mean you may not be seeing the photos but I can assure and make the promise that I will be enjoying myself greatly, roll on Friday. Just for a random comment check out how big the train tickets are here in the picture below, I thought this country was mad on recycling?!
Coming back from Centrale FS on the green line last week we decided randomly to get of at Garibaldi which is the nightclub district and an area we have never visited. We have been missing out. Stepping straight out of Garibaldi station you are instantly at the foot of the Uni Credit banking building which is the tallest point in Milan due to the tall spire on the top. We've seen the building from all over the city but not been at the foot of it before so went for a wander and discovered a very pretty courtyard with a substantial water feature and seating and a lovely looking restaurant/book shop.
Walking on from the Uni Credit building we went down the street Corso Como where there is a substantial number of bars, cafes and restaurants all that look very lovely! As it was Saturday afternoon it was bustling with people and being a pedestrian area was lovely to walk through without the usual drama of nearly being run over every two minutes. About half way down Corso Como is a huge supermarket can Eatily, this is the first time I'd heard of it or seen it so had to go in for a look. The place is huge and is a wealth of different eating stations food and wine. Each floor is dedicated to a different type of food or drink e.g. wine, meat, fish etc. but is not at all like ASDA, this place looks Marks and Spencers look like Aldi. On the top floor there is a station that serve bruscetta type snacks and wine that I HAVE to go back and try because it looked that delicious. Another part of the building that aroused my curiosity is the galleried stage that sits proudly in the middle of the building. With a grand piano and guitars proudly sitting on it I imagine the place must have bands playing frequently, what a fantastic place to eat out in the evening.
After continuing to walk down Corso Como we turned off onto a random side street and wandered until we surprisingly found ourselves in the familiar area of Brera. This is now the third time that we have been walking in an unknown area and suddenly seen something very familiar, Milan is definitely a city you can easily walk around if you know where your going.
As for University work we now only have another two and half weeks of study until we are again in exam period which means there is going to be a lot of work to tackle in the not so far away future. My task now is to decide when to leave and return home and I'll be sadly booking flights within the week.
In terms of sight seeing we hit all the big destinations such as the parks and palace as well as going over to casa di campo via cable car. Casa di campo means house of the county in spanish and is huge. When in the cable car to get to one side of the park you get a panoramic view of Madrid which is cool and less cool but helpfully the cable car talks to you in a strange voice at certain points pointing out landmarks and points of interest so it's great to go to.
Other places we visited whilst on the trip are San Miguel market and the rooftop bar Gymnage. San Miguel is not really what you call a market, it's way more than that! It is a food hall full of different stalls selling tapas size or bigger portions to try all the different tastes of Spain and is delicious. I had some astounding Sangria at this place. The Gymnage restaurant is a roof top terrace wine bar and restaurant that is simply beautiful so between the two I couldn't pick a favourite place but instead am incredibly jealous we don't have any form of equivalent in Milan.
In Ritiro park we went to had an amazing glass house called Palacio di Cristal, cystal palace that was stunning. Inside the building which is free entry they have rocking chairs and books for you to read, it is the sort of place you could spend days in at not get bored. In the same park we were even brave enough to hire a rowing boat and went onto the lake where of course we we're all naturals. Of course.
The entire experience of being in Madrid has really encouraged my want to travel more and it is certainly somewhere I plan on returning to and would love to work.
With this new found want to travel on our return from Madrid we went to Centrale FS which is the central station of Milan and have finally booked some train tickets to see glorious Italy starting with Venice before then going to Genoa. We leave for Venice this Friday the 16th of May which is actually deadline day for this blog and my international enhancement year module. This does mean you may not be seeing the photos but I can assure and make the promise that I will be enjoying myself greatly, roll on Friday. Just for a random comment check out how big the train tickets are here in the picture below, I thought this country was mad on recycling?!
Coming back from Centrale FS on the green line last week we decided randomly to get of at Garibaldi which is the nightclub district and an area we have never visited. We have been missing out. Stepping straight out of Garibaldi station you are instantly at the foot of the Uni Credit banking building which is the tallest point in Milan due to the tall spire on the top. We've seen the building from all over the city but not been at the foot of it before so went for a wander and discovered a very pretty courtyard with a substantial water feature and seating and a lovely looking restaurant/book shop.
Walking on from the Uni Credit building we went down the street Corso Como where there is a substantial number of bars, cafes and restaurants all that look very lovely! As it was Saturday afternoon it was bustling with people and being a pedestrian area was lovely to walk through without the usual drama of nearly being run over every two minutes. About half way down Corso Como is a huge supermarket can Eatily, this is the first time I'd heard of it or seen it so had to go in for a look. The place is huge and is a wealth of different eating stations food and wine. Each floor is dedicated to a different type of food or drink e.g. wine, meat, fish etc. but is not at all like ASDA, this place looks Marks and Spencers look like Aldi. On the top floor there is a station that serve bruscetta type snacks and wine that I HAVE to go back and try because it looked that delicious. Another part of the building that aroused my curiosity is the galleried stage that sits proudly in the middle of the building. With a grand piano and guitars proudly sitting on it I imagine the place must have bands playing frequently, what a fantastic place to eat out in the evening.
After continuing to walk down Corso Como we turned off onto a random side street and wandered until we surprisingly found ourselves in the familiar area of Brera. This is now the third time that we have been walking in an unknown area and suddenly seen something very familiar, Milan is definitely a city you can easily walk around if you know where your going.
As for University work we now only have another two and half weeks of study until we are again in exam period which means there is going to be a lot of work to tackle in the not so far away future. My task now is to decide when to leave and return home and I'll be sadly booking flights within the week.
