Trip to Milan
A Beyoncé and Jay Z On The Run (OTR) II Tour concert in Italy’s biggest concert stadium, a beautiful afternoon brunch spot, a tour around the famous Milan Duomo (Cathedral), and the first weekend of sales in one of the world’s fashion capitals: that was my trip to Milan the weekend before last. It was an almost unbelievable experience, and I am finding it really hard to capture everything well. So, I am going to split this post into the four main events, and detail each to the best of my ability.
Part I: Beyoncé and Jay Z OTR II. Beyoncé is arguably the queen of music of our generation. She has broken multiple Guinness World Records for social media likes and albums sales, and is the most nominated female artist in Grammy history. Jay Z, her husband, is one of the most acclaimed rappers of all-time. Together, they are officially entertainment’s “most influential” and “highest-earning power” couple in Hollywood. So, I was already expecting an amazing concert. It was so much better than I could have imagined.
This concert was the best show (not only concert, but show in the broad sense) I have ever been to in terms of theatrics and overall spectacle. There was not a single moment without singing, dancing, or some sort of visual entertainment. The stage was incredibly designed. At some points the stage literally moved over the middle mosh pit. Not to mention that there were multiple multi-media visuals integrated into their performances, and lives musicians in a grid wall that was probably 50 meters high. It was insane!
Part II: Brunch. The morning after the concert, we wanted to go somewhere nice for brunch. A great tip I’ve learnt, when it comes to looking for places to eat in new cities, is to look on Instagram for places that are commonly tagged. People will only post pictures of restaurants and cafés that have good food, and you get to immediately look at what people think are the best dishes. We found a really quaint café that served filling brunches, and it was the perfect start to the day.
Part III: The Milan Duomo (Cathedral). The cathedral church is the largest church in Italy (larger than St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City) and the third largest in the world. The cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete, and is a beautifully intricate building. I stood outside for a good 20 minutes just looking at the architecture. One of the most famous part of the Duomo (Cathedral) is the Madonnia — a statue of the Virgin Mary atop the church. By tradition, no building in Milan is higher than the Madonnina.
Part IV: Shopping sales. Coincidentally, the weekend we visited Milan was the first weekend of sales. One of the friends I was with loves shopping, and another needed a new pair of sandals, so we decided to go around a few stores. I only stayed for two, because the scene felt too fast-pasted and overwhelming, but I was surprised by how cheap the stores were. The sales probably helped, but there were many stores whose prices were much lower than the same store in other countries, which I was not expecting.
Overall, I had a really good time. The concert was amazing, but walking around the city the next day was also great, and I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what there is to see in Milan. Gavirate is only a €6.10 ($7.20) one and a half hour train ride away from Milan, so I will definitely go back at some point before I leave Italy.
