Is Milan overrated?

…or was I just too tired?

The last stop of this Italian, one-week-long wild ride (or rather wild walk) was Milan. We’d changed the trains there previously, but we hadn’t seen any of the city. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of greenery, which I hadn’t expected in such a bug city. but it was very much needed, for otherwise it would’ve been boiling hot there (which it was anyway, so just imagine).

Again, on the first day, I refused to do anything at all. Even talking to me was difficult. I was tired of being the one responsible for anything and everything. I had to make the programme, I was the one to deal with navigation (mind you, my sense of direction is still non-existent), the one who had to resolve any issues with the transport of accommodation. It’s fine when it’s just you, but when you have other people to take care of, it can be quite a lot. That’s how I know I’m not ready to have kids.

Anyway, enough about me. The next day I chose two interestingly looking museums – the Milan Natural History Museum and Castello Sforzesco, both of which were inexpensive, huge and maybe a little underrated and unpopular with foreign tourist, perhaps because of the scarcity of English explanations, so yes, with my poor Italian, I had to play the translator.

The Natural History Museum was really intriguing, with sections dedicated to minerals, insects, animals (a huge portion and it was surprisingly well-made too! And my mom loved it), fossils and dinosaurs. Did you know that not everything we think of as a dinosaur, actually is one? If I understood correctly, only the prehistoric lizards that had their hind limbs in a certain position in their body are considered dinosaurs. So for instance, a pterodactyl is not a real dinosaur. What a shocker.

The Castello Sforzesco wasn’t too far from the museum, though I was getting a bit tired at this point, only to find out that there were multiple museums in that castle and what’s more, it was confusing. I just couldn’t find the ticket office. When we finally found it, we discovered that in the next room there was an exhibition of the last Michelangelo’s artwork – an unfinished pieta. But the other museums, oh my… it took ages to get through it and I couldn’t even finish the tour. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting, but I was just overwhelmed, tired and hungry, just like a little baby and I wanted to just go back to the hotel room and that’s what we did. In all honesty, I did feel unwell.

The following day was my brother’s turn to lead us, at last. I didn’t care where he’d take me, I just wanted to lay back and relax. But he took us to the city centre, where you can’t simply relax just because of the pure number of people there. On the bright side, we went to see the cathedral, Duomo di Milano, which was really impressive. I couldn’t believe how massive and stunning it was. That’s why I was disappointed when we got in, especially after all I’d gone through.

Not only do you have to buy a 7€ ticket, indeed (a tip – pay by card and don’t wait in the looong queue for cash payment), but also you have to go through several checks before they let you in. the first one is the clothes. In general, in Italy you have to have your shoulders and knees covered to be able to enter. (A hot take – if the church is being used for solely touristic purposes at that given moment, it shouldn’t be as strict.) And I was wearing a dress. We could even say a mini dress. But what was I supposed to do? It was over 35°C! and the security guy told me I needed to cover my knees (I know they’re ugly but this was a little bit mean, don’t you think…). So I was like “my knees, sure…” and tried to pull the dress down as much as possible, as I really wasn’t in a mood to pay for an overpriced cover. He wasn’t expecting that and after a while, he let me through with a laughter. Then, there was another control where they scanned you and another one to look inside your bag (no alcohol allowed). And then you get in and… there are few to no frescoes! Can you imagine? Just sculptures. And in the Cathedral Museum the same. I’m sure that if you’re interested in sculptures, you’ll have the time of your life but it’s not what I came for.

After that we walked through the Gallery of Victor Emanuel to remind ourselves how poor we are and spent some time on the La Scala square thinking about where to get food. And Too good to go saved me once again.

I can’t say I’ve seen everything in Milan, hey, I didn’t even finish the museums if Castello Sforzesco (and the last museum there is an Egyptian one – IYKYK). But at the same time, I don’t feel the need to come back. I’d much rather go to Bergamo. So is it overrated? For me, at least the most touristic places are a little bit, but it was still a nice place to stay and to explore.