Ciao’ Milan; What Up Doe!

First things first, in Italy the greeting Ciao’ is used interchangeably meaning hello or goodbye. In the same fashion What Up Doe is also used interchangeably by native Detroiters, it can be a greeting, statement, or question. For the purposes of this post Ciao is being used to say farewell to Milan and What Up Doe is representing my DETROIT roots!

From the start our journey to Italy was different from all of our other European travels. I guess the best way to explain this would be there was a sense of KNOWING and Peace about the entire journey even before it started. For instance, before we could explore Italy last year while our 90-day passport travel was about to expire, so we postponed Italy.

Even though I wrote in my Journal while in France on October 27th, 2026 “Italy is Calling…”

It would be nearly 7months later before we would answer that call and land in Milan, Italy. The word that permeated in my soul as we embarked upon our Italian adventure was “Differently” I kept feeling do it differently in my soul. The journey to Italy required a tremendous leap of faith, so that sure wasn’t different. However, the overwhelming peace was different. “Alrighty than let the journey begin” was my feelings as we touched down in Milan.

From the time our plane landed in Milan things were different. First of all, we were held on the plane along with others needing wheelchair assistance because there had been an incident in flight which called for local authorities. Oh My! This was definitely different.

We finally made it off the plane and was able to move through customs with ease and flow. Our trip from the airport to the city center was also navigated in ease. However, it got a bit tricky with our journey from Milan City Center’s Train Station to the Tram #5 which would take us to our apartment. However, with persistence and experience with European public transportation found our tram. Once on our tram we were easily navigated our way to the apartment the would become our Milan homebase.

Silvia and her sister Donetella were there to greet us and even helped take our bags up to the apartment; oh yeah there were stairs; 62 to be exact! Silvia and her partner Niccolo’ so graciously leased their apartment to us via Airbnb. The apartment was perfect and located very central with public transportation just steps away.

We flew into Milan on an overnight flight and although Charles slept like a baby, I stayed awake like a baby (haha) so the first thing I did once settled into our apartment was take a nap. Our host Silvia gave us excellent recommendations for local restaurants within walking distance of the apartment.

We decided to eat at Corner 58. We enjoyed a spectacular dining experience, after which we discovered the place had a Michelin star. SAY WHAT?! Now that was different, our Milan adventure was starting out lovely indeed.

I also experienced jetlag differently, actually sleeping 14hours straight my first night in Milan. Since I had plans to take advantage of the free entry to as many museums as possible, because it was the FIRST Sunday; I was a bit disappointed for sleeping so long. Side Note: Museums are FREE on the First Sunday. in many European Countries.

My plans were overruled by my body’s need to REST and honestly that was totally fine with me. We did enjoy one museum and was able to get our first look at the magnificent Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) officially named Cattedrale Metropolitana della Nativita’ della Beata Vergine Maria (Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) “Santa Maria Nascente” Check out our shorts on Love Drops Podcast YouTube Channel for a glimpse into the adventures!

Doing it differently would be our theme and flow throughout our one month stay in Milan, Our amazing hosts allowed us to extend our time at the apartment which allowed us to use the apartment as our homebase to explore different areas. In the spirit of doing it differently we took several bus tours which was different to say the least and mostly enjoyable. By the end of our last tour to Positano/Amalfi I was cool with calling it on bus tours. The trip was wonderful and we met a lovely couple along the way however I am more of a free-flowing soul, and all the structure and time restrictions were a bit to stifling for me. We did in fact go to some incredible places with the tours and it was different and expansive for us.

Como, Bellagio, & Lugano (Switzerland), Venice, Verona, Sirmione and Lake Garda, Rome, Positano, and Amalfi. We also took tours that included viewing Leonardo Divici’s Last Supper, Duomo di Milano including Rooftop views, Milan: La Scala Theater & Museum and many self-explorations to beautiful places in Milan including the Multisala Colosseo Cinema to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, which was a wonderful experience!

Our tours from Milan were to the following places all featured shorts on the Love Drops Podcast YouTube Channel

The taste of Milan is next level and I am pleased to say the deliciousness continues throughout Italy. I recently saw this saying: “Italy is Eatly” which has definitely been the case for us! As the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s a pictorial glimpse of our eating experiences thus far in Italy or Eatly!

Our journeys often align us with the most amazing Cathedrals. Our apartment in Milan has allowed us to hear church bells like when we were in Tarragona Spain. The view from our balacony in Milan looks out on the most beautiful catherdal like when we were in Paris with views of the Sacre Coeur Basilica from our apartment balcony. During our time in Milan we explored with delight many cathedrals including those we encountered during our day excursions to places like: Como, Bellagio, Venice, Rome, and Amalfi! Our explorations of these amazing Cathedral’s often including lighting candles and offering meditations of gratitude all in the spirit of One Love for the world! Side note: Check out Love Drops Podcast YouTube (shorts) for up close and personal glimpse!

Milan has been an extraordinary welcome to Italy and what we witnessed and are currently aligning with is the simple phrase:

“il dolce far niente” (The sweetness of doing nothing)

I am currently sharing this blog post from the most enchanting place that I have ever experienced; Pistoia (Pee-stoy-ah)! To hear more about the journey here and the adventures, stay tuned for the blog coming out in July! In the meantime and in between time I invite you to check in for more posts and check out the shorts on the Love Drops Podcast YouTube for live glimpses of our adventures!

Thank you for reading and sharing the love! ~One Love Diane