MILAN

Milan was a pleasant surprise. I arrived with very low expectations (despite my well-documented undying love of all things Italian) because a few of my friends who'd been in the past hadn't been huge fans, and left rawther converted indeed. I don't know whether it was the fact that we started the day off on a fab foot with a very enjoyable breakfast at Ca'puccino (ft. blueberries, king of the AM fruits) or the happy coincidence that the entire city perfectly matches my aesthetic, but I had an absolute ripper of a day, and my instagram is also looking great.

As far as the vibe of the city is concerned, it reminded me quite a lot of Berlin. Not necessarily in terms of the city centres, but more so the slightly quieter, more leafy areas where you'd pop in for a leisurely brunch and pretend you actually understand what the people around you are saying. I will admit that my friends and I do tend to naturally seek out these areas when traveling, which I won't apologise for because time and time again we are rewarded with decent coffee and a pleasant ambiance, and I don't know what more you can really ask for on a Friday morning.

Two of the most prominent observations of the day were that 1. all the men are ridiculously attractive on a level that is statistically improbable so if I'm still single in two years I'm just gonna mosey on back and hang out near the Duomo til I capture a husband and 2. everybody has german shepherds. Like everybody. I think we saw one french bulldog and one Scooby Doo looking concoction while we were there but literally every single other dog was a german shepherd to the point where for the first half of the day I just thought we were seeing the same man everywhere we went. Nope. Just many, many different german shepherds. Is there a law? Are the crime rates high? No judgment, just a natural curiosity for a boy of my age.

It's also noticeably different from pretty much every other italian city I've visited in that it doesn't feel like somewhere you would really go to relax and bury your stresses in a mound of carbs (did have a bloody miraculous pizza but that's a separate matter entirely), more a place to be swept up in a whirlwind of productivity, espresso and absolutely bangin' instagram pics. It really does have an atmosphere of the hustle if ya get me, like even sitting at a cafe having some mid-afternoon bevz I felt as though I should be figuring out how to make the Big Bucks. I don't feel that in Rome. In Rome I just stare at ruins trying to picture the past and in Venice I do the same thing but with my love life ha ha jk great gag though. I was going to write "in Venice I mainly stand on the deck of various boats and weep tears of great joy" but that joke just came to me and I had to run with it I am actually fine I swear. Back to Milan, first and foremost it definitely seems like a place to get things done, which I found most evident in the fact that the side streets were full of industrial spaces and offices, rather than cafes and restaurants like they are in a lot of other Italian cities. We did have a mild struggle with this adjustment but luckily where there is a spritz, Alessia will find it.

Similarly, where there is a plant I will apparently stop to take a photo and say the phrase "love it" six or seven times. I have an issue with plants right now. I just really love a specific shade of green. And how it looks next to white or light grey. And all the flowers in Milan are apparently white or red or very convenient shades of pink that make my heart sing with joy and you know what ironically one of my plants at home is now semi-dead a a result of me obviously not watering it whilst away but honestly the flora in Milano was so baller it's almost worth it. Love plants, love Milan, will definitely be going back to get my life in order and possibly find a husband. Enjoy 100 photos below, and tune in next time for 'What Did We Actually Do In Florence'. xx

You can watch the video I filmed in Milan here.