The Duomo di Milano, the city’s grand cathedral church, is roughly 40 minutes’ walk from my hotel.
Not wanting to follow the wide and empty-feeling Via Vittor Pisani, I head down Via Fabio Filzi, passing the first of the many churches I will see – San Gioachimo – and the Diamond Tower, Italy’s tallest steel building, which marks the southern corner of Milan’s central business district.
I stop at Milanese Café, on Piazza Cavour, for a tuna baguette and an espresso. Instantly realising the truth in what people say about Italian coffee, I cannot help but order a second.
Continuing south towards the Duomo, I pass the white marble statue dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci (the Italian polymath spent 17 years in Milan) that stands in the Piazza della Scala, opposite the Teatro alla Scala opera house – which since opening in 1778, has hosted some of history’s greatest composers – before finding myself in the heart of the Golden Quadrilateral, one of the world’s most important fashion centres.
Here, the high-domed glass ceilings of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – Italy’s oldest extant shopping gallery – cover walkways of polished marble mosaics and the ornate buildings that house stores belonging to the likes of Louis Vuitton and Versace.
I emerge from the galleria onto the spacious Piazza del Duomo, the city’s main square, and catch sight of the cathedral for the first time.
The largest church in Italy and third largest in the world, it was built over several centuries, from 1386, in a range of contrasting styles. The light of a brilliantly sunny and clear day brings out the cathedral’s pink-white marble exterior to dazzling effect.
I buy a €22 (US$24) ticket that allows me into the Duomo and its museum, and onto the roof, which is where I head after doing a circuit of the cavernous interior.
As well as offering clear views across the city – although strangely, not a good one straight over the main square below – the roof affords a close-up of the forest of intricate pinnacles and spires spread across the top of the building, which cannot be fully appreciated from below.
The Duomo Museum, next to the cathedral in the Royal Palace, reveals the landmark’s more than 600-year history through a range of artefacts, from statues and stained-glass windows to chalices, crosses and terracotta casts.
From the Duomo, it’s just a 15-minute walk down Via Dante, a wide, tourist-friendly pedestrian street flanked by shops and restaurants, to the Sforzesco Castle. I stop for several satisfying yet inexpensive slices of pizza at Rom’Antica, watching customers at La Voglia gelateria opposite happily dig into exquisite gelato creations.
The grounds of the castle, built in the 15th century and once one of the largest citadels in Europe, stretch out before me as I leave the tunnel running under the entrance’s tall clock tower.
As well as several museums, the castle contains the Sala delle Asse, a room that houses a painting in tempera on plaster by Leonardo da Vinci that dates from about 1498.
Next I head to nearby Chinatown, passing through Brera, a maze of narrow streets full of small art galleries and fashion showrooms, although the most popular attractions in the neighbourhood seem to be the restaurants that spill out onto its pavements. I eat more pizza at one, but I don’t feel I’ve got a bargain this time.
Milan’s Chinatown centres on Via Paolo Sarpi, a pedestrianised street that is full of restaurants, many serving dumplings or bubble tea – even Hong Kong-style milk tea.
Other than its signature offering, however, little else on the menu at Laankee Hong Kong Milk Tea cafe will remind Hongkongers of home.
East of Chinatown is the Piazza Gae Aulenti, a commercial centre where glass skyscrapers – including Italy’s tallest, the UniCredit Tower – encircle a large central fountain whose waters gently taper towards ground-floor shops.
The nearby BAM Tree Library Milan (Biblioteca degli Alberi Milano; so named because it’s considered a rich “library” of plant life), a park and botanical garden criss-crossed by paths, seems popular with young people and families. The relaxed atmosphere provides a welcome breather during my frantic tour.
I’m running out of time to get to Milan’s Natural History Museum so I pick up the pace, arriving late enough to gain free entry (an adult ticket is otherwise €5).
As well as the world’s largest sulphur crystal, the downstairs mineralogy section is full of specimens with names such as stibnite, selenite and boulangerite that look as though they belong on alien worlds.
The butterfly, insect and dinosaur displays are informative, but the numerous dioramas of animals and their environments are a tad repetitive.
When I leave, the Giardini Indro Montanelli (Indro Montanelli Gardens), which surround the museum, are full of families and children enjoying the basic fairground-like rides or just playing under the trees.
I head towards the north of the park along more peaceful paths sheltered by tall trees, passing a large play area for dogs full of agility-course equipment that is being used more by owners, as seating, than by their pets.
As evening descends, the streets that run between Corso Buenos Aires and Via Lazzaretto come alive, with trendy-looking folk dining and drinking alfresco at the many restaurants and bars in the area. I breathe in the atmosphere but I’m in the mood for Chinese food, and tempted by a restaurant I spied on Google Maps earlier.
I take the subway back to the main railway station and head to the nearby Impressione Chongqing, stopping briefly at Il Mercato Centrale Milano. The sprawling marketplace is spread over two floors and its seafood stalls, bakeries, barbecue joints and bars are clearly popular with locals and tourists alike.
At Impressione Chongqing, tables full of Asian diners chow down on chilli-laden hotpots, although there’s also plenty of other choices for fans of Sichuan cuisine.I head back to my hotel nearby satisfied with a brief taste of Milan. Tomorrow I will do it again, in Florence.
