On my way home from visiting my friend Shelby in Spain, I had an 8-hour layover in Milan, Italy. I knew the short layover wouldn’t give me a lot of time to see the city, but I had to take advantage of the time I had. I flew into the Orio al Serio (BGY) airport around 6pm and had my luggage held at the airport while I took the 40-minute bus ride to Milan Central Train Station.
Check out my Spain blog!
The station is absolutely beautiful, inside and out, and was a sight to see in and of itself. Don’t be fooled by this picture, the station is absolutely HUGE. With several trains and buses coming in and out every few minutes, along with thousands of people, finding where you are going once inside can be pretty confusing and overwhelming.
Unfortunately, the office at the airport could only hold my luggage until 11pm before locking up for the night, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to explore the city. I opted for a restaurant within walking distance of the station called Osteria Fara.
I enjoyed a long, slow and scrumptious dinner to myself in their terraced dining area pictured above before finding my way back to the station to take the bus to the airport. When I am out to dinner by myself, I always make it a point to look live in the moment and not spend the whole time hiding behind my phone. It brings me a little peace of mind to know I can be entertained and comfortable alone without my device distracting me the entire time. My waiter was very kind to me and engaging which made the experience even more memorable. The food was incredibly fresh and I enjoyed every bite!
aperitivo
mussles
black truffle pasta
I was the only one on the return bus ride and it was a strange feeling. I remember thinking to myself that I hoped they were taking me to the right place! I always feel a bit uncomfortable when I am left on my own in a foreign country, but I think it is normal to feel that way sometimes! All was well and I was safely returned to the airport to collect my baggage and find a place to sleep for the rest of the night.
Never in my life have I seen so many people sleeping on the floor/benches inside an airport. I ended up getting very sick for my return flight home and I think it was mainly due to being trapped in the airport with so many people that night! I had one more, thankfully short, layover at the Cologne Bonn airport (CGN) in Germany, but didn’t have time to leave the airport to see any sites.
I had a safe flight home and even caught the sunset before landing in Miami.
Ciao!
July 2017
The architecture, the food, ugh 🤤🤤🤤