Milano: A lot of fun, and a little culture!

This week, Sam and I left the boys to head out to Milan for a girls only trip.  The plan had been in the works since November, when Sam got tickets to see One Direction for her birthday.

Finally, the day had come.  We headed to Milan with 2 other families, and 4 girls in total.

 Sam was tired!  She had gotten home around 1 am Saturday from a week long school trip to Germany, and we had an early morning flight on Sunday.  (Sam is going to write a guest blog about her time in Germany, hopefully this weekend).

Waiting at the airport.  These girls were all smiles the whole trip!

We had no plans for the 3 days in Milan, other than to go to the concert.  So after we checked-in to our hotel we hit the metro and headed for the Duomo, and it was impressive!

As we walked up from the metro, the Duomo is the first thing we saw.  It was beautiful and massive.

Milan!  We made it!

The moms!

We headed to dinner and then to what must be the BEST gelato shop in Italy!

Behind the girls in the window was a man stirring up what must be the gelato, or the chocolate sauce.  You got to pick a flavor or 2 of gelato, and then one of the chocolate sauces for the top.  It was perfection!  On the left, Sam is in front of their window with the best looking chocolate fountain ever!












Then we walked into the covered outdoor mall area where there were tons of caribinieri because most people couldn't afford to breathe the air in there, let alone buy anything in the stores!

 We did walk into Louis Vuitton.  The sunglasses were  435 euro, not exactly in our price range!











We continued walking around Milan to see what there was to see.  AKA  a little bit of culture ;)

                       

 

Above is Castello Sforzesco.  They had a nice market inside, and we got some wine, cheese, salami, and fresh buffalo yogurt to snack on back at the hotel.

A little more fun to offset the culture!

Finally, we headed to the fashion square.  Via Della Spiga......

Not sure what this sign means, no carrying big things along this road?  Some of the street signs in Italy crack me up!

 By the end of the evening, the kids were tired!So we headed back to the hotel to get some rest for the BIG DAY!

On our way back to the hotel, the girls spotted some other girls carrying 1D bags.  Turns out they had a temporary store location in Milan for the concert.  Guess what our first order of business was on Monday!

                              Waiting in line to get into the 1D store.  Can't you feel the excitement!?!

 Upstairs, there were large pictures of the band on every wall.  We took at least 1 picture with each of them.  I am going to spare you the whole set, and just give you a little taste.

 Downstairs is where you went to get your gear.  No lines, no organization, just tables and you have to push your way to the front and grab the cashiers to get your stuff.

                                                                          The signing wall

Sam with her gear!

One more stop before going back to get ready......Where else, but Abercrombie and Fitch.  We heard it is the only one in Italy.  They had guys dressed like the models in the pictures greeting you as you walked in.  It was 3 stories of a dimly lit, smelly store, but the girls had fun.

Back to the hotel to get ready.....

Some of the 1D stuff Sam got at their store.

Once everyone was ready, we headed out to get to the forum.

 The metro was filled with kids and their parents heading to the concert.  Some girls asked where we were from, and they were so excited to meet Americans!  One girl said she wanted to be an American.  Some girls were crying because they were so excited be going to see 1D.  It was crazy!
It was a complete mob scene.  There were no lines as we know them, just a mass of people pushing to get in!  Fortunately, everyone got in safely, and Sam said it was the best experience of her life!

















Our last day there, we had a late flight out, so we did a little more exploring.

 We started at this American style cupcake bakery.  It was very cute, and the flavors were promising.  The cupcakes, however, were a little dry.

Next we headed to the aquarium.....

Finally, we went back to the Duomo to find this little restaurant we were told had the best pizza in Milan.  It had been closed Sunday and Monday, but we thought we'd give it a chance.Good thing we did, because it was DELICIOUS!  It isn't exactly pizza, it is panzerotti. Panzerotti is a yeasty kind of dough which is stuffed and then deep fried.  I would have eaten those for every meal had they been open!

We then got a couple more pictures in the Duomo Piazza.....

Finally we got on the train and headed to the airport....

While this is not a great picture, there is a story to go with it.  The train was empty when we first got on, but a couple stops in, a teacher with about 15-20 students around the girls ages got on, and stood right by the girls.  They immediately started talking to the girls and were really in their face, as the Italians don't have the same need for a personal bubble.  They chatted with the girls the entire time they were on the train.  Our girls claimed to have been practicing their Italian, but I think the Italian kids were speaking as much English as they were speaking Italian.

It was a great time.  The 4 girls all got along so well together.  They were silly and sweet and just took in and enjoyed every moment!  I would do another trip with these ladies and girls in a heartbeat!