Moving on to Milan

I have a number of items to post that I’m running behind on. This is one of them, so just pretend it isn’t already the end of October, okay? Our June vacation in Europe included Vienna, Austria (which I shared in posts in July, August and September) and Milan, Italy. Milan is magnificent. It is a large city, but so much of what you need to see is in the center of the city. We arrived late at night and checked into a fabulous hotel – Magna Pars Suites. This hotel is located in an old perfume factory that has undergone a fantastic renovation into a sleek, modern upscale space. There are only 28 suites and some beautiful event spaces. It is ultramodern with a touch screen control in each room to handle all the lighting and window controls. It was fairly simple to master. The breakfast area courtyard was peaceful and relaxing. The staff was pleasant and helpful. It was an excellent place to stay. Not inexpensive, but excellent. The website has some great photos of the space, but here are a couple of mine: We had to walk over the train tracks to reach the underground station, and there was always lots of graffiti to enjoy. Here’s a typical Italian coffee stop. Don’t sit down unless you want to pay a premium price for your beverage. I didn’t drink a lot of coffee in Italy – too hard to find a soy latte!

One afternoon we spent time with daughter, Christine, and her friend, Penny. Such fashionistas! We had lunch at this outstanding Parma restaurant – simple and delicious food. The rest of the afternoon we wandered and ate gelato and generally enjoyed the city’s ambience. Milano – magnifico!