Image by Alessandra Gesuelli

Fish is important in the Italian cuisine. During summer it is really popular to go out for dinner and have spaghetti alle vongole or allo scoglio, with different seashells. But I love to cook fish at home, to be accompanied by a good glass of cold white wine. In Milan I love to go Pescheria Da Claudio (fish shop) just 15 minutes walk from the Duomo. It’s famous in the city and after 50 years of activity is also the oldest in town.

The fish here is not cheap but the freshest I’ve ever had. Here you can find also mussels, lobsters, cooked fish snacks and raw fish tasteful aperitivi. You can stop here for a lunch at the bistro inside the shop.

Pescheria Da Claudio also provide catering services for parties, and they deliver to your home. Sometimes I ask for suggestions about my recipes, because cooking fish is a delicate business! They also suggest which is the best white wine to drink with your fish.

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Pescheria Da Claudio | Shopping, Restaurants (Seafood) | Little fish dishes € 3.50
Via Cusani 1 | Centro | +39028056857
Mon 11:00 – 20:00, Tue – Sat 09:00 – 21:30

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Image by Alessandra Gesuelli

This English-language bookshop is located near the Castle, in piazza Cairoli. It’s very popular among expats and Italians, like me, who want to read English books. This friendly shop is great for modern fiction and children’s books. If you ask they suggest you a good one, just tell them what do you prefer. They have also Art books and history publications as well. There are shelves dedicated to poetry and classics.

It’s not easy for a specialized little bookshop to survive in the market but they succeeded with a high quality service. The interiors are so charming! You feel like in a traditional English bookshop. The windows always change depending on the season: during festivities are full of Christmas related publications, calendars and greetings cards, during spring or summer there is a good selection of book to read while on vacation.

I have some English friends, so I like going there to buy some gifts.

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American Bookstore | Art & culture, Shopping | Book € 10.00
via Camperio 16 | Centro | +3902878920
Mon 13:30 – 19:00, Tue – Sat 10:30 – 19:00

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Image by Alessandra Gesuelli

The Civico Planetario Ulrico Hoepli is hosted in a neoclassical building inside the beautiful Giardini Indro Montanelli in Porta Venezia. They say it is the biggest in Italy. When I went there for the first time, there was an event dedicated to the “Summer Sky” and I had the chance to see a variety of films shown on the projector about the earth and the solar system and the exploration of the stars during summer and galaxies of our universe. During the show I sat on a Tonnet chair, most of which have been designed in the Thirties.

They also have a calendar of events for kids and families and during winter they host concerts as well. I was there on Sunday, but for such events it’s opened on Saturdays too. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings they have conferences with national and international experts. It’s not possible to book, I queued half an hour, because it’s more busy on Sundays. I subscribed to their newsletter online to receive updates and news.

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Planetario | Art & culture | Admission € 3.00
corso Venezia 57 | Centro | +390288463340
Varies check website

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Image by Alessandra Gesuelli

In the center of Milan there is a special place. It’s called Antica Focacceria San Francesco and takes its name from a similar deli and bistrot in Palermo. I knew the Sicilian branch so when it opened in Milan I immediately went there.

The reason why it is so special is not just for the obvious good quality of their Sicilian food but because that deli in Palermo, run for five generations by the Conticello Family, was one of the first to say no to pizzo, the protection money that hundreds of businesses throughout Sicily have had to pay to the mafia clans.

Antica Focacceria San Francesco soon became a symbol of this fight against the mafia and was an example for others to do the same, together with organizations like Libera and Addio Pizzo.

If you don’t have the chance to go to Palermo, this shop in Milan offers all the best from Sicilian food tradition. It’s open from breakfast to dinner. Here you can find pasta con le sarde, sfincione, panelle and crocchè, cannoli and cassate.

I love cannoli, and here I found the right place to taste them. The secret is that they fill the cannoli with the ricotta cheese cream when they serve it, so the tube-shaped fried pastry remains crunchy! Inside there is also the corner Spirit of Sicily where it’s possible to buy products from Pizzo Free and Libera, grown on land liberated from the mafia. They host regularly some art exhibitions.

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Antica focacceria San Francesco | Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants (Sicilian) | Cassata € 5.00
via San Paolo 15 | Centro | +390245071057
07:00 – 00:00 daily

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Image by Alessandra Gesuelli

Milan doesn’t show off its beauty. The best places I’ve ever seen in this city were hidden in some courtyards of historical buildings. This is what happened when I first visited Teatro Grassi, the new space of Piccolo Teatro Strehler in via Rovello near piazza Cordusio, 5 minutes walk from the Duomo.

One year ago they reopened the Teatro Grassi as a new space of the famous Milan Cultural Institution Piccolo Teatro. The entrance is near the wonderful courtyard of Palazzo Carmignola.

Palazzo Carmignola’s courtyard has a cafeteria inside where I like to have a coffee or a snack before a show, a bookshop, rooms for meetings, and workshops with famous actors or directors. They also host art exhibitions. The cafè has recently launched an aperitivo from 18:00 every day, if you want to go is better to book, if you just show up and ask for a table, you won’t find one. Trust me! This place is really becoming very popular now.

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Piccolo Teatro Grassi | Bars | Coffee € 0.90
via Rovello 2 | Centro | +390242411889
Courtyard 08:00 – 22:00 daily

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Image by Audrey Smith

This bar is just a few minutes away from Piazza Duomo but as it is tucked away in a small street you may not find it. Although, I must say I’m always surprised by how many do!

A good place for a post shopping or Scala drink without the exorbitant prices you can find around the Duomo. It’s not a place that gets really busy later during week days so it’s a great place to enjoy a quiet drink and chat with friends. Although it can get full with the banking crowd from 19:00 – 21:00.

On the weekends it can get a little more interesting with a DJ playing Top 40 music and very strong cocktails. These strong cocktails have seen some people getting a little excited and getting up and dancing on the bar! It generally kicks on till 02:00 – 03:00 depending on the owner’s mood!

It’s a great place if you want to organize a big group get together such as a birthday.

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Victoria Cafè | Bars, Music | Drink € 6.00
Via Clerici 1 | Centro | +39028053598
18:00 – late daily

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Image by Audrey Smith

This is a good basic place to get a good serve of hearty food to warm your stomach in these chilly temperatures! What’s more it’s cosy and welcoming place, “Crota” is actually Piedmont dialect for “cave”.

The menu changes regularly but it is guaranteed to have hearty favorites from the Piedmont region, generally varying according to the season. Some examples: ravioli cooked with butter and sage, sausages and potatoes, risotto, polenta, roast meats and stews. Yes, the menu isn’t that light but usually there is a pasta with broccoli or something green that should satisfy the stomach looking for something a little lighter!

The prices are great and the portions are generous. Fine dining it ain’t but with a group of friends and the wine flowing you should enjoy the cosy atmosphere and the friendly staff. It’s close to lots of bars so you kick on after dinner. I haven’t tried it for lunch but I hear it’s good for a basic pasta to keep your energy going!

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La Crota Piemunteisa | Restaurants (Italian) | Wine bottle +/- € 15.00
Via Gian Giacomo Mora, 9 | Centro | +39028395992
Tue – Sat 12:00 – 14:00 & 19:00 – 23:00, Sun 12:00 – 14:00

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Image by chiara anselmo

Cantine Isola is a little gem in the hearth of Chinatown.

It is one of the few authentic wine bars in Milan. Cantina Islo is always very crowded (there is only one little table but I’ve never spotted it free) Everybody here stand in front of the counter, drinking excellent wine and eating (for free) very tasty snacks (olives, cheese, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes..)

In summer there is a nice patio in front of the bar in the pedestrian street. Ask the bartenders to advice you the best red/white wine of the day.

Since it is situated in the middle of Chinatown, if you come here to have “aperitivo” before you can have a nice walk across Via Paolo Sarpi (full of Chinese little shops).

If, after one, two or more glasses or wine and a few olives, your belly will ask for real food I would advice to go to the one of the best Chinese restaurant in Milan: Jubin, just 3 minutes walk away on the same street.

On Wednesday nights they do poetry reading: the owner will jump on a chair and will declare a poem and at the end he will ask for the author.

Wine + poetry: who’s asking for more?

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Cantine Isola | Art & culture, Bars, Relaxing | Glass of wine from € 5
Via Paolo Sarpi, 30 | Centro | +39023315249
Tue – Sun 08:30 – 21:30

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Image by Chiara Anselmo

The amazing Chiara Anselmo “museum house” is only five minutes away from Montenapoleone street. If you are in Porta Venezia, or San Babila area for shopping I strongly recommend you to have a stop in this peacefully place.

The house is a superb example of rationalism architecture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism_(architecture)) It was built in 1930 and it is at the moment a museum. It is very well preserved (even the swimming pool and tennis court) and there is a nice café in the garden where you can have a snack or light lunch.

The garden is fantastic and to visit the interior you can join a guided tour or ask for audio guide.

I came here the first time to visit a Japanese exhibition that took part in a area of the house and I try to come back every now and then, in different part of the year to admire the beautiful garden in different seasons. I think it is amazing to find such a relaxing atmosphere in the city center of Milan.

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Villa Necchi Campiglio | Art & culture | Adults admission € 8
Via Mozart, 14 | Centro | +390276340121
Wed – Sun 10:00 – 18:00 (last entrance 17:30), Tue only groups

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Image by Arianna Malacrida

Are you addicted to high heels like Carrie Bradshaw, the main character of Sex and the city? If your answer is yes, I would recommend you to visit this shop.

I don’t wear high heels every day but I bought the few pairs I have in this shop, because the quality is really high and the choice is large. Unfortunately prices are not small either, but I must say these shoes are really comfortable and last a long time. You can choose among different refined brands, styles and “heights”. They have from thin and embarrassing high heels to thicker and smaller ones until flat and sober shoes. From extravagant models and colours to more classical shapes.

There are two Guja shops, one is more central, next to red line Cairoli stop, and the other one in the shopping street Corso Vercelli 23 (red line Pagano stop).

Going back to Carrie Bradshaw, in one episode she just said that “the fact is, sometimes it’s hard to walk in a single woman’s shoes. That’s why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun”.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Guja | Shopping
Via San Giovanni sul Muro 13 | Centro | +3902874344
Mon 15:30 – 19:30, Tue – Sat 10:00 – 19:30

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