A Boilermaker among the Danes: My adventure in Milano

This past weekend I had a very busy, very incredible, weekend in Milan.

I landed in Bergamo because it was a cheap flight and took a one hour bus ride to Milan's central station.

Narrow, cobbled roads of Milan

I walked from Central Station for 40 minutes to what I thought was my hostel, Ostello Bello. It turns out, my actual hostel was Ostello Bello Grande and was all the way back at Central Station! Lesson definitely learned: always triple check your reservations before you start walking.

Cute little sign in hostel's cafe

Once I got there, I found my hostel to be quite nice. It wasn't too expensive, they gave me a free welcome drink, and they had free breakfast and dinner. Most importantly, it was clean and had secure lockers. I would definitely suggest it to anyone who needs somewhere to stay in Milan.

A Botticelli painting

I visited the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, which was a large art museum that also had a collection of Da Vinci sketches, and the Bramante Sancristy, which had more of Da Vinci's sketches.

Gorgeous stained glass depiction of Dante

A tiny, hand-illustrated book

Marble sculpture with tiny detail

Outside the Bramante Sancristy

Seeing the sketches was incredible! Looking into a mind like his is just indescribably amazing. I did notice I couldn't read his handwriting despite knowing Italian. It turns out that's because he wrote everything as a mirror image!

Modern art, ladies and gentlemen

I also went to the 20th Century Art Museum (which is free if you are under 25) to enjoy some modern art and get out of the rain.

And, of course, I visited the Duomo do Milano, which is breathtaking. It is absolutely massive, covered in sculpture on the outside, and being inside made me feel tiny.

Random modern art inside

The Duomo doors were gorgeous

I also saw the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Lots of Prada and good restaurants. There was actually a communist protest going on at one of the entrances while I was there, too!