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Home » Food Tourism » Milano & Varenna (aka Nirvana)

Milano & Varenna (aka Nirvana)

22/05/2012 by Amanda

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After a frenzied few days in the teeming streets of Hong Kong I was more than a little ready for the more sedate pace and milder climate of Milan – mainly for the sake of my already unruly, curly hair which copes very badly with high humidity and had begun to look most peculiar. Milan is the second-largest city in Italy, the capital of the region of Lombardy and the style capital of the world, although that last jewel in it’s crown might have faded just a little during the three days we were there, lowering the general tone of things. The streets of the city throng with the sophisticated and the chic – although how the women can walk in those heels on cobblestones is nothing short of a miracle. They must do a seriously good side-line in orthopaedic surgeons there, to cope with nasty ankle injuries. Of course, The Husband and I are not even vaguely voguish, preferring comfort over style every time, so we tried to keep our heads down and be as discrete as possible – just in case we were asked to leave.

I’ve visited Milano before and, even for those with little interest in the fashion labels, there is still plenty to find fascinating – although you sometimes need to go looking for it.  The world home of opera is in Milan at the famed La Scala theatre.  Completely unremarkable from the outside, the theatre is simply stunning inside and is also possessed of a wonderful collection of historical costumes, art works and instruments, including a piano which belonged to Guiseppe Verdi.  However, they were very strict about not taking photo’s, so you will just have to take my word for it.

Like all Italian towns, in Milan they are very proud of their extravagant cathedral, the Duomo, which looks for all the world like an enormous wedding cake.  It is a very beautiful building, both inside and out, holding 40,000 people and is the largest cathedral in the Italian state territory, but it took a remarkable amount of time to get built.  The construction of the cathedral was begun in the 14th century, but when Napoleon arrived in Milan in the early 1800’s it was nowhere near done, prompting something of a hissy fit on his part as he demanded they pull their collective finger out and get it finished.  Nothing gets things moving quite like a testy dictator and the cathedral’s facade was completed seven years later.  Construction continued slowly from then and the last fiddly bits were finally completed in the 20th century.

The other utterly imposing building in Milan is the Sforza Castle, one of the biggest citadels in Europe and once the Duchal residence.  The castle, which now houses several museums and galleries, was also begun in the 14th century but was developed and extended over the centuries until it eventually reached three kms in length by the 16th century.  It was severely damaged during the bombardments of WWII, but has since been restored.

Like so many cities of Italy, Milan houses a great many important works of art but one of the most significant is tucked away behind a very modest facade indeed.  Leonardo DaVinci’s “Last Supper” is housed in the monks refectory attached to the Sante Maria Delle Grazie and was commissioned by the Sforza family, being completed in just three years.  It began to flake less than 60 years later and has been restored, with varying degrees of success, repeatedly in the past.  A final, major restoration was begun in 1978 and completed in 1999, stabilising the painting and sealing it in strict climate-controlled conditions.  If you get to Milan and want to see it, make sure to book well ahead as there is limited access to the painting.

We also managed to eat lots in Milan – no surprises there, I hear you say.  While we had some very good meals, I have failed utterly as a food blogger in that I managed to take no photo’s at all of our food.  All I can say in my defence is that it is very hungry work being a tourist and the meals were mostly gone before the thought of a camera ever passed through my mind.  We did pay a visit to the noted Milanese food store, Peck, where we spent a blissful half hour wandering about admiring the cheeses, smallgoods, baked goods, meats and fresh produce, but the Peck staff have a fierce reputation so I took seriously their warnings not to photograph the goods.  We left there with several bags bulging with crusty rolls, local cheese, magnificent proscuitto and white fish fillets bathed in olive oil and lemon, taking the haul back to our room for a splendid (if pricey) picnic lunch.

From Milan we made our way by train to a small village north of Como, on the banks of Lake Como, called Varenna.  We had wanted to spend some time on the lake and this spot was suggested by a friend who had heard it was a little bit special.  It is one of  the most heavenly places I have ever been in my life!  It is a very small place perched on the hillside beside the lake, full of picture-book traditional houses and narrow cobbled lanes that lead down to the water.  While there were quite a few tourists there, their numbers were nothing like those across the other side of the lake at Bellagio, a quick ferry ride away.  I’m afraid if I try to describe the loveliness of Varenna I shall simply lapse clumsily into hyperbole so some of my very amateurish photo’s will have to do the talking for me.

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Comments

  1. Gina DeVee

    May 22, 2012 at 5:56 am

    THANK YOU for these gorgeous pics…I’m coming to Italy this summer…such a sweet reminder.

  2. Barbara | Creative Culinary

    May 22, 2012 at 6:48 am

    So jealous…everything in my bones wants to make it to Italy…even the one I broke! But I will travel with you yet again it seems so thanks for the lovely photos and travel info. I’m going to close my eyes now and pretend. 🙂

  3. Hotly Spiced

    May 22, 2012 at 11:23 am

    What a great post. Milan just sounds amazing. And yes, I struggle in high heels on a level surface so if the streets were made of cobble stones I would be in my joggers. I didn’t know The Last Supper was housed in such a humble way. And oh to have a 3km long residence! xx

  4. Kate

    May 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    I am grass green with envy – I have just not spent enough time in Italy and I have neither been to Milan or the Lake Como region so more additions for the bucket list !!!

  5. Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul

    May 23, 2012 at 9:50 am

    Sounds brilliant Amanda…I think your post is very stylish and “vogue’!

  6. Lizzy (Good Things)

    May 23, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    Amanda, how wonderful! I look forward to seeing more of your adventure. How about those buildings!! And Lake Como, beautiful!

  7. Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef

    May 24, 2012 at 8:14 am

    I laughed at holding your heads down. The people on the streets in Italy all look like they stepped out of a fashion magazine. The tailoring in their clothes is amazing.

    Continued to laugh when you said you forgot to take photos. I do that all the time then scold myself.

    Fantastic post!! Brings back happy memories.

  8. Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef

    May 24, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    I’m back!

    I was nominated for a storytelling award and I had to choose 5 people I thought deserved it. I like your posts a lot!

    Check it out here http://www.orgasmicchef.com/blog-reviews/food-stories-nominee/ (and see what I said about you) and if you choose to accept, just follow the instructions at the bottom of the post.(and see what I said about you) and if you choose to accept, just follow the instructions at the bottom of the post.

  9. Johanna

    May 25, 2012 at 9:46 am

    Lovely post thankyou. Varenna looks gorgeous, I must spread the word to family who are on their way to Como at the moment 🙂

  10. Jennifer (Delicieux)

    May 28, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    How beautiful Amanda!! I’ve always wanted to go to Italy and your post is just giving me itchy feet. Lake Como is just so beautiful.

  11. The Food Sage

    May 28, 2012 at 7:24 pm

    Looks like you’re having a wonderful time. I suffer from a similar saga on the food photography front when travelling. Never manage to capture the moment, cos i’ve always eaten it! Try harder … i wanna see what you’ve been eating! Have fun, lovely lady.

  12. Anna @The Littlest Anchovy

    May 28, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    What an amazing adventure you are having!
    I am so enjoying these posts Amanda!

  13. Jamie

    May 29, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    Oh Amanda, Amanda… we lived in glorious Milan for almost 7 years and you have brought it all home for me – you have stirred up so many wonderful memories and make me miss this wonderful city all the more. Beautiful!

  14. Barbara

    May 29, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    Lovely to see you enjoying your trip Amanda. I look forward to reading more.

  15. celia

    May 30, 2012 at 6:30 am

    Just gorgeous, A! Thanks for taking us on holidays with you!

  16. Maria

    November 04, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    Thank you Amanda for directing me to your blog.
    I very much enjoyed reading of your travel experiences and especially the photos at Varenna
    Cheers
    Maria

  17. Pete

    February 11, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    Aha! A fellow fan of Varenna! It is a fabulous location, lots of local charm, not overrun by tourists, amazing scenery.

    My wife and I stayed a little out of town, in a hotel divided vertically by a tiny funicular elevator. The view from the upper terrace was magnificent, especially with the help of a single malt we’d smuggled in from Kirkwall.

    A five minute walk into town, ferries everywhere, it was the perfect base. Fully intending to go back for a week and work our way through the restaurants.

Trackbacks

  1. In my (Italian) kitchen says:
    20/06/2012 at 12:20 pm

    […] I mentioned in my post about Milan, we paid a visit to the renowned food hall, Peck.  Of course I could have spent an absolute […]

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