Getting to Milan was a breeze. It was just a 20 minute uber to the Porto airport, which to me is hands down the best airport in the world so far. Security only took a few moments, as there was no one in line. The security agents were cheerful and friendly, one recognized the Arch Enemy t-shirt that Mark was wearing and we had a quick chat. You also don’t have to take your shoes off, which is so great especially if you are wearing boots! The airport is beautiful, spacious and clean. There are a ton of bakeries selling delicious food, which I lamented later not getting anything before our flight. We boarded the plane from the tarmac, which is something we had never done before. If you are flying in Europe I highly recommend Easyjet, they are efficient and the plane roomy despite being a budget airline. With our bag fee and priority boarding our tickets were only €40. We arrived to Milan on time and grabbed the train from Malpensa to our new neighborhood.

Our lovely host met us and showed us around our new place which had everything we needed for a long term stay. A few things took getting used to, like crawling through our bedroom portal in the loft area upstairs. A little note above reminding you to “mind your head”, and not being able to stand upright when you were in the bedroom were interesting features. Along with the tomb like shower with barely enough room to raise your arms enough to wash your hair, or the tiny water heater that had just a few minutes of hot water available. Despite all of these minor inconveniences we were still so happy to be in this sprawling city.

We made our plans to come to Milan on the 30th of December to be able to catch the festivities at the Duomo on New Year’s eve. The closest I have been to seeing proper New Years celebration was in Atlanta, so needless to say this was beyond comparison. After having some amazing charcuterie at our new place and a few drinks we were ready to head out. We had purchased some tickets for the tram, but realized that it was going to be past midnight by the time we got there. In reality you can walk as fast as the tram can take you, but having no time for that either we opted for an uber instead. Our efficient driver got us to the square in 15 minutes, just in time for the fireworks to begin. There was a sea of people singing and making merry throughout the streets. Fireworks went off in panorama, alternating from the square and through the surrounding side streets so everyone had a view. Until of course the smoke from all the fireworks displays made your visibility a few feet in front of you. Around 1am when things started to fizzle out, being warm enough we walked back to our place, surprised at everything being quiet once you left the main square.

Being back in Milan after 28 years, there were some stark contrasts from the city I once knew. There is graffiti and garbage everywhere despite the street cleaners coming through a few times a week. There was zero graffiti when I was last here, but there are a ton of incredible murals interspersed with the prolific tagging. Milan has become living art in that aspect.

Piazza del Duomo was a lot more subdued than it is now. Sadly it has become like a huge outdoor mall. Trendy fast fashion shops have taken the place of the major fashion houses. They are still there, but intermixed with cheap retail losing a bit of the specialness it once had. It was disturbing to me to see advertisements on the side of the Duomo, parts that were under construction had scaffolding with enormous billboards on its side, truly cringeworthy. The entire town is full of advertising, losing a bit of its ancient charm. I would recommend Lisbon for a more chic shopping experience. The Portuguese are incredibly well dressed, a bit shocking to me because I expected Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world to be more stylish. The exception being the nonnas in their winter coats and berets, always seen walking arm and arm laughing with a friend.