Hangovers and Holy Buildings – My Milan Journey #2

I’m running on about 6 hours sleep after my heavy first night in Milan. I can walk and stand fine, but my head is in bits.

I’m surprisingly not comatose, but at the same time I’ve felt better. There is no rush to get downstairs and get the complimentary hotel breakfast, I can’t smell anything that would rid my head of the cobwebs so I take a very long time in the shower to try and gather my thoughts.
2am tequila sessions are never a good idea, regardless of what part of the world you’re in.

This is my first full day in Italy and I’m already a state. Fucking hell, nearly 300 Euros to come over and be hungover.

I need to sober up, so I slowly get dressed, open a window and get ready to go for a walk. Again, it is very warm in Milan so I could probably do with some fluids. I go into a bakery where an elderly Italian man tries to banter with me as he buys bread, but of course, I didn’t prepare so I was hopeless.

“Inghilterra. I’m so sorry, I don’t speak Italian”

He’s a nice man, he says something in Italian with a smile on his face and leaves me to suffer in quiet silence. He clearly got a good night’s sleep. I buy a bottle of Coca-Cola and nearly trip up over a small child as I leave. Again, I apologise and hastily make my exit.

I’ve had better mornings.

There’s a kebab shop/restaurant that’s open so I go inside and spend 3 Euros on a donnar panini, which happened to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It took me a while to get through, but between the greasy ball of glory I had in front of me and MTV’s Top Italian Hits, the hangover was slowly fading away.

Thank you, Laura Pausini. I’ll be sure to have a look on her Wikipedia page when I get my head out my arse.

Milan is very warm, but is also very beautiful in the sun. Even the strip I was on. The roads are very busy and Italian’s love to use the car horn, but I’ve had hangovers in much worse places. I’m in no mood for any tourist stuff at the moment so I’ll just head North in the direction that I was facing and just see where I end up before nearly shitting my pants.

There’s a certain serenity that comes from just walking in Milan. Milan is an expensive city so you have to budget well and kind of make your own fun. I took my time on my little walk just to soak in the city, I must have spent about 5-6 Euros on a can of Red Bull and some weird orange juice stuff though. I came across a couple of little parks so I decided to sit on a bench for a bit and regroup.

I decide to head back to the hotel and plan the day. I also really needed the toilet. The walk really did me some good, it was nice to really take some time out and enjoy the surroundings. I had a quick look on Google for things to do in Milan, and the first thing that always comes up is the Cathedral in Duomo. I’d heard about this at the Bar Gluck too, so it made sense.

READ THE BEGINNING

[contentcards url=”https://culturedvultures.com/cigarettes-tequila-milan-journey-1/” target=”_blank”]

I get the subway to Duomo as it’s a lot cheaper and generally more efficient than the train. On my way to the train station I meet Roberto again, who mocks my slight hangover and I sarcastically wish him a good day as he runs boring errands. We share a laugh and go about our day.

Milan Cathedral is one of the first things that you when you get out of the subway in Duomo, and it is absolutely stunning, especially in the sunlight. Duomo is a bit like Piccadilly Gardens on a good day, a very eclectic mix of people playing music and generally soaking up the atmosphere. The Cathedral is a big deal in Milan, so naturally the square was very busy but the line to get a ticket to go into the Cathedral went down very quickly.

I got a ticket that allowed me to take a lift up to the rooftops at the end of the tour, because I’m lazy and had no intention of walking up the stairs.

Italians take religion fairly seriously, so it was no surprise to military folk checking the tickets and bags, there were also a couple of armed military folk patrolling the square. I would’ve gotten a picture with one of them, but you know, he had a freaking gun. Surely not the people to appreciate a dickhead tourist.

Anyway, I enter the Cathedral and it blew me away instantly. I’m an atheist that has, let’s say, negative views towards religion, but I have always admired the architecture and the decoration in places of worship. Places of worship are beautiful, there is no doubt about it. This particular cathedral took 600 years to build and it was well worth the time. This building is huge and it’s tough to describe the inside of it to someone who hasn’t been in it.

There are statues and the odd corpses of well-respected religious folk, there is also an ode to science in there with a statue of a human body, a reference to the grave digging scientists who were committing a felony by digging up corpses to study the human body. Milan Cathedral also has underground exhibits, which is also definitely worth checking out to add to the history of the place.

It’s time to hit the rooftops, the line was long and went down very slowly but it was worth the wait. The view of the city from the Cathedral rooftop is mind-blowing and simply awe-inspiring, and there is a lot of rooftop to cover. The rooftop is made of a very smooth marble and is home to a lot of beautiful statues. It was time to take another break on the roof, as the walk around is very tiring.

I have understated Milan Cathedral, but it is very difficult to explain it without pictures or visuals.

I still have time to burn, so I take a walk around Duomo and take in more sights, such as the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Eventually I decide it’s time to go back to the hotel for a bit before going out and eating another very underwhelming pizza.

It’s the weekend, so I have to find some Serie A somewhere. Thankfully, there’s a rock and roll bar near the hotel that was showing the AC Milan vs Atalanta match, so I go in, kindly ask if I can watch the football and I spend the rest of the night in there. It was also nice to have a quick chat with the barman about the recent fortunes of AC Milan and Manchester United.

The match itself was pretty boring, it finished 0-0, but being able to watch Serie A in a rock bar is like a personal heaven for me, especially with all the merchandise and posters around the bar. The highlight was being a few feet away from a bass guitar signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I sample more beer and decide to get an early-ish night. I don’t want to be hungover, especially as I will be living one of my own personal dreams…