Our Italian Christmas: Milan

Restaurant in Settimo Vittone.

Anna and Kate enjoying gnocchi.

This pan disappeared within minutes - note the butter - yumm.

Unique interior - decked-out for the holidays.

Maria's soup - we weren't always sure what we were going to get. No english anywhere! It was amazing.

Milan Duomo - so ornate - not surprised it took 600 years to complete.

View from the roof of the Milan Duomo.

Steve and kids on the roof of the Duomo di Milan.

Kate - happy as always.

The girls taking in the sites.

Lola - 100% love.

Our hosts in Pavia - lovely people.

Family photo on the Duomo.

Milan Duomo and Christmas market.

Lots of photos I know - but this place was amazing.

Finally down in the Christmas market for some last minute shopping.

Right after seeing da Vinci's Last Supper.

Castello in Milan.

Inside the home of Juan Carlo and Gabriella - our hosts in Pavia.

Breakfast Pavia style - delicious.

We have made no secret about how much the family loves Italy. So we decided to combine celebrating our favorite holiday of the year with new adventures in one of our favorite places to visit. We started the journey with a visit to Milan.

As is our tradition when traveling to Italy through Aosta in the evenings, we stop in Settimo Vittone for dinner. This visit we ate at Osteria La Sosta. And like previous stops in Settimo Vittone, nobody spoke english. We ordered gnocchi with burro for the kids - and then re-orderd more because it was so good. Steve and Maria were adventurous and ordered from the menu without really knowing what we ordered. We just waited to see what came out. The food was great; it is always a nice feeling to spend time in the village where Maria's family is from.

Milan is bustling during the holidays and affordable hotel accommodations were hard to come by. So we stayed in Pavia, a city rich with Italian history and known for its universities and being the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards. We didn't have time to explore the culture treasures Pavia had to offer, but we experience the kindness of its people and fantastic cuisine. We stayed at an old farm that has been converted into a bed and breakfast by Gabriella and Gian Carlo Carena, retired architects who now run the B&B. Even Lola the golden retriever was as nice as could be. Though most of the discussion was in French, we enjoyed our time at this retreat from the bustling life in Milan. Juan Carol is an accomplished artist as well. They were wonderful people.

Milan has many attractions. We wanted to see da Vinci's masterpiece,"Last Supper". We learned from other friends that reservations well in advance are a must and thanks to Maria's diligence, we secured tickets. It was an awe-inspiring treat to see the real painting that has been the subject of so many pictures in history books. After that we walked the streets of Milan and the Castillo. We then headed to see the Duomo and see if we could do some last-minute Christmas shopping in Milan's famous shopping districts. The Duomo di Milan was amazing. We purchased tickets (using the elevator to avoid 252 steps) to go the roof. The views of Milan were amazing and we were also able to get close to the ornate sculptures that make-up this beautiful building. We can understand why it took nearly 600 years to finish, beginning in 1386 and finishing only relatively recently in 1965.

A Christmas market was set-up in the square around the Duomo. Kate and Steve went shopping together to find last-minute gifts. Anna and Maria did the same. It was fun to see the different foods and gifts at this market in comparison to Colmar. 

We rewarded our hard days work with dinner at AnticaTrattoria Ferarri in Pavia. The food was great. As we relaxed we enjoyed watching the Italians enjoying their evenings and food. The next morning we said good bye to Juan Carlo, Gabriella and Lola and headed south to Casperia.