January 6 - Sunday in Milan

Ron was off to the Stazione Centrale about 8 AM, having agreed to take the train, and making arrangements for Dennis or Rosa to meet him in Conegliano.  It was about 2-1/2 hours to Venice (Mestre) with a transfer there and another 40-minutes or so to Conegliano. 

Mike and Pat had a morning on their own enjoying the shops, cafes, and people-watching. I stayed in to catch up on projects. We met at 1 PM, and I had discovered that La Rinascente (huge department store) was open on Sunday, and on the top (7th) floor was an enormous food hall with numerous eateries. We agreed it would be fun to see it and try something new. The store was extremely crowded, and we made our way up nine or ten escalators (as there were mezzanines). At each floor was a guard with an ear-piece. The one thing missing was any indication of the floor number - nor was there a directory other than on the ground floor. La Rinascente is important in Milan history, as Milan was considered the "city of tailors" and in 1865 the Bocconi brothers started a new business selling ready-to-wear garments. This new idea took off, and the store grew rapidly - and today sells almost anything one can think of.

We wandered through the seventh floor reading menus at various cafes and bistros, and settled on De Santis, a casual spot that featured paninis and salads. We all had paninis which hit the spot for a change from pasta and pizza.

De Santis - 7th floor in La Rinascente

Our waitress Anastasia - very friendly

Mike's Belgian Zoogami Eight Beer (8%) - .75 liter

Moet Champagne Bar - 7th Floor La Rinascente

Duomo seen from the roof terrace of La Rinascente

Roof terrace - La Rinascente

These shoes and bags are edible (chocolate)

Marzipan

Pat stopped to browse through the extensive shoe department while Mike and I sat to wait.

These shoes are the real thing

From La Rinascente we walked along Via Santa Randagonda to the apex where it met Via Raffaele. At this corner was the CiocolatItaliani shop I had noticed earlier, and then read that it is famous for gelatos, especially chocolate. We were not sure of the protocol - but learned that you tell the cashier what you want, pay him and are given a receipt. You then present the receipt to the server and tell him what flavor you want. This is all more difficult than it sounds due to the crowds of people.

Nearby to ciocolatItaliani is another famous Milan eatery - Panzerotti Luini. It has been in business since 1940 serving panzerotti (rounds of dough filled with tomato and mozzarella then folded and fried). The line of people never ends, and people stand in the street eating the panzerotti, and many also eating gelato.

People eating panzerotti and gelato on Via Santa Randegonda

Window display of flowing chocolate

We walked down the Via Raffaele, and stopped into Pat and Mike's Hotel Straf. We went up to the room to "sit a spell". Their room was most interesting - very modern. Mike wanted to have a little rest, and Pat and I walked over to La Scala and visited the museum where we also were able to have a look into the theater. 

Pat and I went to our hotels, and I spent an hour packing and an hour "blogging". The amount of "stuff" to fit into the luggage seems to grow at each stop.

Mike and Pat came to the Hyatt about 7:30 PM. We all waited in our room for Ron, who arrived about 7:45. He didn't feel like a big dinner, so I canceled the dinner reservations the concierge had made. We walked over to La Rinascente and found the entrance to the elevator direct to the 7th floor. We found seats on sofas outside under heaters with views of the Duomo. The "nibbles" served with drinks were enough for a meal, but we didn't realize that and Pat ordered lasagna and Ron a Caesar salad with chicken. The nibbles included small ham and cheese sandwiches, potato cakes with chilis, buffalo mozzarella with cherry tomatoes, black and green olives, potato chips, tuna with barley, and many kinds of bread.

The free "happy hour" nibbles

View of Duomo at night from La Rinascente roof terrace

We were snuggled up under blankets and heaters, listening to "Buddha Bar" kind of music and taking in the beauty of the Duomo. A good and relaxing evening.