I got up rather early on our first morning in Milan. We had done a bit of shopping before heading to dinner the night before, so we had breakfast and lunch covered. After a light breakfast, I was ready to head on out. The Missus just wanted to relax, so I went in search of something I'd read about before our trip. This walk had me going down Via Mercato, which we'd walk pass several times a day during our stay; with bakeries and such, it was a fun street to shop and eat. The street eventually turned into Via Broletto and there's a lot to see here as well. Like the Neoclassical designed Church of San Tomaso in Terramara.
Via Broletto ends at the very busy and picturesque Piazza Cordusio.
From here, there was an interesting public art piece I was looking for. A bit further west lies Piazza Affari where the Milan Stock Exchange is located. It is quite busy.
As for me, I was more interested in the sculpture right across the way; which seems to send a message to the bankers and financiers of Milan, considered to be the "economic" capital of Italy.
Yep, for real. You gotta love it! The name of this sculpture is L.O.V.E, which stands for Liberta, Odio, Vendetta, Eternita (Freedom, Hate, Vengeance, Eternity).
Could you imagine something like this standing outside the stock exchange in the states?
From here I took a now familiar route back to the apartment. I noticed that the Instagrammers were out in full force in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
On the way back, I stopped at this bakery.
And got the Missus some cannoli to have with lunch.
She especially enjoyed the pistachio version; saying that it was not overly sweet.
Panetteria Mercato
Via Mercato 24
20121 Milan, Italy
After lunch we headed on out. To do a some exploring and shopping. As we passed this church for the fourth time, seeing that it was open, we decided to check it out.
This is the Chiesa del Carmine (Santa Maria del Carmine Church).
The church dates back to 15th century. And the chapel, which dates back to the Baroque period is considered a masterpiece.
And if to really display the contrasts between the ancient and modern; right in front of the church is this sculpture.
Named the "Great Toscano" by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj.
As we strolled down Via Broletto, the Missus stopped at this sneaker/shoe shop. The brand was Golden Goose?
Looking at the prices, I jokingly told the Missus that She was limited to one pair. Her response; "no, I already have the one's I want at home." !!!!!!
We enjoyed wandering the streets of Milan.
Walking thru places that now seemed quite familiar to us.
As we headed a bit further afield and headed past the Duomo.
That's the Chiesa di Santa Maria presso San Satiro, a church that dates back to the 15th century!
That's San Giovanni in Conca above. The remnants of a church which dates back to the 4th century. What remains of the church is the crypt! I've always thought of Milan as being so modern, so hip, but what I saw really gave me a better appreciation of the city!
And yet, there were places we walked past that just brought on a smile….
Heading back to the apartment, we strolled thru Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II once again.
No matter how many times we walked thru the shopping center; there always seemed to be something we'd notice that we hadn't paid attention to before.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at this shop.
Where the Missus found a small purse She loved. Heck, this was Milan, you want a purse….well go for it, right?
We got back to apartment and took a break. I had dinner reservations nearby. But first, we decided to do the Milanese thing…. Yes, it was Aperitivo time! There was a Chinese restaurant that was recommended to us that we decided to try. It was located close by; in fact less than a block from where we'd had dinner the night before. So, we decided what the heck and went to Rosso Brera for Aperitivo. It was really funny; the same young man who waited on us the night before came on out. He smiled and I told him we were here for Aperitvo. He cracked up and we were served with a smile! So yes, a Negroni for me; Prosecco for the Missus, and some typical snacks.
Before heading off to dinner.
Rosso Brera
Via Marco Formentini 7
20121 Milan, Italy
We were really enjoying the Milanese lifestyle. You could say that we were falling in L.O.V.E. with Milan!
This was as expected, the broken rice was hard, not fragrant. Well, if you think about it, it probably fills the traditional definition of broken rice; the damaged, "inferior" rice. The thit nuong, the char grilled pork was flavorful, but quite chewy, the bi, the shredded pork and skin was cold, though it had a decent amount of roasted rice powder and a nice stretchy texture. The "cha" the egg-pork "loaf" was also cold, mushy, and bland. The bean curd with shrimp paste wasn't crisp, but at least it tasted quite good; a nice savory flavor.
The shrimp were actually decently grilled, fairly plump, and not rubbery. The flavor was quite muddy-fishy though. The pork was the same as what the Missus had. The bun looked like it had been sliced up and were short strands.
 The bone had been really roasted, which was different form what we’d had in Old Town. The marrow was oh-so-buttery. The birria was beefy, with nice pungent-smoky-earthy tones. It’s still not quite what I recall from the San Ysidro days, but a bit better than 
I'm glad I ordered my dish in this fashion as it was a heck of a lot of JaJang! While it still has a bit of that greasy mouthfeel, this wasn't overly sweet, had some decent umami tones, and some interesting pungency. It was definitely better than what I had experienced at Hong Kong BanJum in the Zion Food Court.
My goodness, this was pretty bad; the soup lacked richness, it tasted like salty "shoyu-water". The thin broth was terrible.
The curry was so rich, buttery, complex, perhaps again a bit shy in spice, but the prawns were so tender. The curry just went so well with the Naan.
