We left for the airport just as it was beginning to rain in Madrid, so I was definitely happy to leave for Milan! My first time in Italy!
Steve and I sat next to each other on the plane and I have started reading Shadow of the Wind, which takes place in Barcelona and is a beautiful story: I spent the whole ride reading and listening to music and trying to see through the thick clouds.
We got to Milan around 11 and took a train to the center of the city (as a taxi would have cost us 90 Euro!). Wandering around trying to figure out how to get from where we were to our hostel (which in hind sight we should have figured out a long time ago as opposed to after we were already in a country where none of us speak the language) and finally got a taxi to the hostel, as the metro was closed and we didn't understand the tram systems, and didn't have a map of the city yet. Getting to the hostel, we realized we were starving and asked where food was at 1:30 in the morning. Italy is not Spain, guys. Places close at eleven, not 3am! We had to walk about half an hour to a 24 hour street to get some pizza. Sam and I discovered that Pizza Napoli means pizza with anchovies. We were less than pleased about this fact, but it was still some of the most delicious pizza I've had in a long time.
On Friday, we woke up in time for the hostel breakfast (coffee and a plain croissant) and began planning our day. The one thing we all wanted to do in Milan was visit the Duomo, and thankfully there are a lot of other things to do near that. We took the tram to the center of the city 
(yes, Milan uses the cable car system, you can see all the wires on the streets) and had a second breakfast at a cafe directly across from the Duomo. The coffee is much better in Italy than in Spain. I actually got a caprese salad instead of breakfast, and it was delicious!
We stopped for gelatto (which the Italians thought was silly given that it is February and still quite cold) and crossed over to the Duomo. 
This building is one of the ones about which there is zero practicality. It is beautiful and intricate and thankfully the facade is newly cleaned, giving us the whole effect in all its glory.
We went in, looked around, and then went to walk up to the rooftop to see great views of the city. 
Sam and I raced each other and that was painful. We also made it seem like we were incredibly out of shape, since we weren't running by the time we made it to the top, but were panting and wheezing. That rooftop was definitely worth the climb, though! 
We returned to the surface and decided to go to lunch at this restaurant Sam had seen recommended on a blog, so we made our way there and passed through one of the oldest malls in the world, right next to the church, called La Galleria Vitorio Emanuelle II. It's basically a building with four giant arches and intricate design where some of the greatest fashion is displayed, including a huge Prada storefront split into two. We had fun looking at the prices of things and not buying a single item. 
Finally done with that, we actually went to the bar (Bar Brera) and ate some yummy pizza and sandwiches while waiting out a bit of rain. It ended up raining off and on all evening, but it was such a light sprinkling that we never really needed umbrellas (which none of us had anyway). We went back toward the Duomo, stopping to pose with this guy
NB: There are several key differences between Milan and Madrid that we noticed, the most prominent being how much there is to do. There simply aren't as many shops, restaurants, bars, etc, and a lot more fashion shops. But damn, the food is so good.
On Saturday, we wanted to go to a flea market near the canal, and so we went out for coffee and wifi near the hostel to figure out how to get there. We walked to the metro and appreciated how often Madrid updates/cleans metro cars versus how old and dusty the transport in Milan seems to be.
The canal was pretty beautiful but not actually full of much in the way of water within, but it was good for pictures!
The flea market was at a parking lot down the road, and I ended up buying some 1euro clothes, my first real thrifting since I've been in Europe. We walked around the canal some more and found a cute sandwich shop, and ate before deciding to go to Sempione Park further north in the city. 
We took the metro to that and walked around the big castle guarding the entrance (quite an intro to a city park!) and Sam and Hannah played on the bumper cars before Sam and Steve went to an Irish Pub to watch a rugby match while Hannah and I continued walking around. We joined up with the boys about halfway through the game and ate some buffet food with our drinks.
When the game was over (England won, Sam was happy) we went to a cupcake coffee shop and marveled at the beautiful boys working there before walking around to find a place to get our drink on. We wanted to stay where we were but ended up actually going back to the canal area and finding a really awesome hipster wine place that clearly made their own drinks and everything was really cheap and good. We stopped for some pizza on the way home and didn't realize until we were back that Hannah had left her book at the winery, but by then it was too late.
Sunday
Last day! We wanted to have a really nice Italian meal before heading to the airport, so once we packed up and checked out of the hostel, we walked to a restaurant a few blocks away and had wine, pasta, seafood, coffee and just really enjoyed the fantastic food we simply can't get in Spain. Maybe we're not going to the right restaurants. We walked to the train station, stopping for more gelato on the way, and went to the airport to head home.
The main thing I took away from this trip? I am so glad I live in a place where I can at least communicate with the people instead of having to ask if they speak my language! Makes me feel much better about my level of Spanish!
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