A trip I had been looking forward to since I saw it on my roster was a multi sector trip to Milan in Italy and New York in the US. It had been over 6 months since my last multi sector trip and I was excited to get out of Dubai for an extended period. Beginning the trip was our flight over to Milan with a pleasant 6 hours and 35 minutes to Milano-Malpensa Airport. Touching down at 14:25, we completed our post landing duties and went over to the hotel. I quickly changed and made my over to the train station to head into central Milan. Being the only person who’s first time it was in Milan, no one was overly fussed to join me venturing into the city. So I grabbed a map, and with some guidance from the Italian crew members I paid €20 for a return train ticket and managed to just make the next train by the skin of my teeth.

Jumping off the train at Cadorna station, it was a 30 minute walk over to Duomo di Milano. Upon walking up to the cathedral I was immediately impressed. This was the sort of wow factor I was expecting when I saw the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, except I didn’t. Here however I was blown away by the sheer size of the cathedral and also the intricate detailing and architecture. I can see why it is a huge tourist attraction here.

However, what I did find gross was there were a lot of pigeons around the area. I don’t find them awful to be around, however they do keep me on edge a little. It was the fact people were getting bird feed in their hands and having the pigeons fly onto their arms and feed out of their palms!! A more common phrase for pigeons is rats with wings, and when someone approached me asking if I wanted to do it? It was a big fat no from me.

My friend had recommended that I go to the Terazzo Aperol which is just next to the Duomo. When I was in Venice with my family on holiday, me and my Mum fell in love with Aperol Spritz, and what better place to drink Aperol Sprtiz than in the birth place at an official bar.

Grabbing an outdoor table on the terrace I had a beautiful view of the Duomo and scoured the menu of all the Aperol cocktails, before deciding on just your standard Aperol Spritz. At €9 I didn’t think it was massively over priced and they also came around with hand cut crisps which were so thick and salty. The perfect accompaniment for a Sprtiz!

I wandered around the city and called in at some of the shops. Sadly I had just missed  out on Milan Fashion Week by ONE DAY. I was honestly gutted, but what was great was that, as a tall girl myself, I have never felt more averagely heighted as I did in Milan. It was amazing! I don’t know whether this is the after effects of Fashion Week or whether this what Milan is like, but if it is, I think this is a place I should be living!

I sauntered through the delightful streets of Milan making the most of the glorious sunny day even though it was the end of September and searched for a place to eat. I’d been recommended a place called Piz, however it was empty when I got there. Not fancying eating solo in a restaurant that was empty, I continued on my search and stopped by a place in the Galleria Vittorio Emanule II.

Opting for another Aperol Spritz, when in Italy and all that, and a pizza covered in proscuitto, I sat enjoying people watching with an abundance of bread, olives and dips brought out for me to enjoy. It was a carb overload but thoroughly enjoyable and I finished my meal feeling very content and walked through the warm summer night streets back to the station.

I woke the next morning an hour or so before the wake up call and ordered some room service ready for the day ahead of me as we flew to JFK. Choosing the “healthy breakfast” option, a huge table was wheeled into my bed side filled with granola, juice, tea, fruit and breads and spreads. It was delightful and I got ready for work feeling super full.

For our third leg of our trip (I’ll write on what I got up to in New York in another post) we landed back into Milan in the late morning, and with the majority of people being absolutely exhausted. I passed up on heading to Lake Como and went to bed feeling the effects of jet lag and an overnight flight from NYC to Milan. I woke up around 18:30 and got changed and met the crew downstairs for dinner.

Many of the crew always head to a place called Osteria which come and pick us up from our hotel to eat there. With 12 of us dining for dinner (most people wanted to do nothing else other than eat) we piled round a big table and ordered local sparkling wine and decided on what we were having to eat. I started with the mussels with lemon.

Before moving onto the seafood pasta…

And finishing off with one of my favourites, profiteroles!

If I’m honest, I’m not sure why the crew rave about this place. The food is okay, and overpriced to say its in the middle of nowhere. €50 was a little excessive and hadn’t paid nowhere near this much eating right by the Duomo in central Milan. I wouldn’t be in a rush back. Still feeling exhausted, we went back to the hotel and I passed out right up until the wake up call. I slept for 16 and a half hours in total on this layover. I’d forgotten how truly exhausting multi sectors are.

All in all a great trip, and it was so nice to break up the length of a US flight with a stop in Milan, Grazi Milano you’re a beautiful city. If only we could do that all the time!

I would definitely do this trip again despite how exhausted I felt after it. Stay posted to see what I got up to in New York City! As always, feel free to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more daily updates:
http://www.twitter.com/Jessicaaahhh
http://www.instagram.com/Jessicaaahhh
http://www.facebook.com/JessicasJourneyWithEK