A great restaurant and wine bar in Milano

Skye and I met a nice man on the train from Venice to Milan.  As it turned out he was also heading to Lake Como, but not as far up as we were going.  Not only did he help us out with the trains but he also gave us a restaurant suggestion that was fantastic!  It was definitely a little out of the center (we will call it the “Brooklyn” of Milan) but well worth the trek.  We got to the neighborhood before the restaurant opened at 7:30, and we found a great wine diagonally across the street called Ross and Bianch (Via Pasquale Sottocorno, 11).  

It was a local wine bar that felt a little reminscent of "Cheers" where everyone seemed to know each other.  It was definitely a neighborhood hangout.   The bartender was extremely knowledgeable and recommended a great glass of wine for us.  We saw several people eating meat & cheese plates that looked scrumptious.  We had a drink and moved on to dinner.  In the future I would definitely stay for a small plate before heading over to Il Nodo.

Il Nodo was the place that our friend from the train recommended.  Il Nodo is all seafood, so if you like seafood you will be in for a treat.   Apparently all seafood that isn’t going directly from the boat to the store (as we saw so much of on the Amalfi Coast) goes through Milan the day it is caught before it goes to any other destination in Italy (this is what our friend from the train told us), so what you get in Milan is the freshest available.   The decor was quaint and charming and the service was impecable.  All in all, a great find.  This was a case of the off the beaten track being well worth the trip!

Il Nodo – Via P. Calvi, 5   Tel:  02 738 4589

Oh the Duomo!.....and La Scala

The Duomo in Milano is the 4th largest church in the world and took over 430 years to build.  When you see the gothic spires and the detail work on the façade you can see why. 

It was one of the most beautiful things we saw in Milan.  Inside the church is pretty amazing.  The marble floors and the stained glass windows are beautiful beyond compare.   However the trip to the roof where you can walk around the building and be eye to eye with all the craftsmanship is spectacular.  

I really recommend going to the top.  The view of Milan is not so bad either.  We opted for the 8 Euro elevator ride to the top instead of the 5 Euro walk to the top.  I don’t imagine the walk is all that strenuous, (or at least not as long as the trip to the top of the Basilica in Rome) but it seemed like a nice little treat since we were going to have to pay anyway.  Unlike many of the other churches we visited in Italy there was no real wait to get inside or onto the roof.  You cannot enter with bare shoulders or short skirts so make sure you bring a shawl or sweater and gents, don’t wear shorts or tank tops.

La Scala


We were only in Milan for a day so we decided not to see an opera, but I imagine it to be quite spectacular.  We had just missed the costume exhibit, which was very disappointing, but the theatre itself is really something special.  From the ornate gold work on the walls and ceilings to the actual stage itself it whisks you back to a time where only the rich went to the opera and everything about it was opulent.   It is worth the trip even if you are not going to see an opera.  The upstairs museum has many incredible musical instruments of every kind, as well as oil paintings of some of the great opera singers of all time.  I do wish they had some costumes on display though.  I think those must be a sight to see!

Tales from The Last Supper

While Milan will not go down as one of my favorite cities in Italy, there are some very noteworthy things to do and see there.  For the rest of the week I will be sharing my tips for Milan with you.


When you think of Milan, one of the things that probably pops into your head is Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.  

If you are like me you were probably thinking, we will see the last supper, maybe have to wait in line and then we will hop over to La Scala.  Sadly, if you were like me, you were wrong!  Apparently you need to make reservations 3 to 4 months in advance.  I know that some of you are skeptically reading this thinking:  “that is crazy!  No way!”  Let’s put it this way:  we walked in and there was a young man in a wheel chair trying to explain that this may be the last time he would ever be in Italy, could they please make an exception, it took him a lot to be able to get here in the wheel chair and have someone with him.  They were having none of it.  No budging, no sympathy.  Not a chance of him getting in.  They told him that reservations were required 3 to 4 months in advance and that was the only way that he could gain entrance.  So the moral of this story is:  if you are going to be in Milan and you wish to see The Last Supper, make sure that the first thing you do is make a reservation because not even the handicapped get in without one.

When to buy your airline ticket

In this economy we are all looking to get the best price on our travel tickets.  But most of us are at a loss as to exactly how to do that.  I am not going to say that I have always gotten the best price, but I have found some great guidelines.

Rick Seaney has a great site all about airline tickets called Fare Compare. FareCompare.com is an airline ticket comparison shopping website.  Rick is an air-travel expert and has been on CNN, ABC (with his own weekly news column) & more.  His information is updated continuously and is a great place to start.  It is not a good place for multi-destination trips though.  They don’t currently have that search option.

Some tips:

Don’t buy your ticket on the weekend.  Actually after 3pm (EST) on Tuesday is the cheapest day.   The reason being is that Monday is the day that sales typically get launched and Tuesday all the other airlines try to follow suit.  I have even found them to be cheaper on Wednesday.  But make sure you start looking on Tuesday after 3pm.

If you have any flexibility in you travel schedule, Rick suggests not flying on Friday and Sunday.  Those are the days everyone wants to fly and since the airlines know that, your trip will be more expensive.  The cheapest day to fly is Wednesday followed by Tuesday and Saturday.   I will sometimes change my dates to see how much cheaper it actually is.

Start looking at prices 3-4 months before you want to go.  Watch what your tickets are doing.  A local travel agent here in Manhattan said to me:  If you notice that one airline has gone up or down, the others will start to follow suit.  They will try to match each other.  If you see something has stayed the same for a couple weeks, the tendency will be for it to go down.  She said in her experience when prices remain the same for an extended period it means that they are not selling at that price so the airlines will try to lower prices for more sales.  So watching things for a few weeks can really pay off!

I also have had really good luck with Orbitz.  They usually offer me the cheapest tickets for the shortest distance.  They also have their price guarantee if you buy your ticket at one price and someone else purchases the same ticket for a lower price, they will refund you the difference up to $250.  

Getting around Lake Como

If you were thinking about renting a car to get around in Lake Como, think again.  You definitely don’t need one.   Getting there from Milan is easily accessible by train and the boat service to and from the various towns is very reliable.  The only drawback is if you want to dine in a town other than the one you are staying in, you will need to eat on the early side as the last boat leaves most ports at 9pm.  That said, many of the towns are not easily accessible to each other by car, so you are actually better off with the boats.  Aside from that, I didn’t see a need for a car, as walking is the best way of getting around.

When coming in from Milan, the trains run frequently and take about ½ hour to an hour depending on where you are staying on the lake.  Part of why we chose Varenna was that it was a direct ride from Milan on the train.  We didn’t need to transfer to a boat.  That was particularly important as we arrived in the evening from Venice and we would have been hard pressed to get there in time for check in if we had had to get a boat as well.  We would have had to leave at least an hour to two hours early if we were staying in a town that required us to transfer to a boat.  Plus Varenna is a spectacular town to stay in!  

Being a Follower

It has been brought to my attention that people have been having difficulting becoming a follower.  If you have had problems becoming a follower for this blog, try again.  The follow button should be working again.  Blogger is working on the problem.

Thanks,

Susan and Skye

Two Restaurants with Spectacular Views and Amazing Food!

Two sunsets to die for and two fantastic meals don’t come easily, however in Varenna we were blessed with both.  We were lucky that we chose well for our two nights in Lake Como and we want to make sure that you don’t miss out.  We arrived from Venice late on the first night and grabbed a quick bite close to where we were staying. It was fine, nothing special.  Average meals do exist in Italy.  The next two nights blew us away.

Vecchia Varenna was the place we chose on our first night in Varenna.  The restaurant is situated right on the lake and the meal was fabulous.  The night we ate there, the sky was the brightest pink I have ever seen.  

It was only while taking pictures did I realize that the color only lasts for about 10 minutes or so before it just gets dark.  We sat there watching with a great bottle of wine and then ordered our food.  We decided to share several dishes so that we could taste a little bit of everything.  We had home made pasta dishes, 

fish that was caught that day from the lake and desserts that were to die for.  

The staff and service were excellent.  Don’t miss out on Vecchia Varenna!

La Vista is the restaurant that I mention in my blog about Lake Como hotels.  Is is connected to the Hotel Albergo Milano and is run by the husband and wife team, Edigio & Bettina Mallone.  The restaurant is up on the hill in Varenna, so when you sit on the deck you have a birds-eye view of the lake and mountains.  It is truly incredible!  

Reservations are recommended, especially if you are there in the nicer weather.  They will not over book so that in the event of rain, they can sit everyone inside.  Every day Edigio creates a different 3 course meal for 35 Euros, which we got.  Edigio was also our sommelier, and ran downstairs to get us the  ‘07 Aglianico that we wanted because the one he had upstairs was too warm for his liking.  It was an amazing bottle all for 21Euros!  We started with a tuna carpaccio and beef carpaccios, 

we then moved on the a filet with a Gorgonzola sauce and a Lake Como bass with a chardonnay sauce

and finished our meal with a cappuccino mouse in a dark cup that was ridiculous 

and a pear stuffed with goat cheese.  It was outstanding! 

These are 2 great restaurants that I would whole-heartedly endorse.  Both nights we had great service, amazing food and wine and views that are unlike any other.  If you find yourself in Varenna, put these restaurants on the top of your list.  You won’t be sorry!