Made in milano

39 insta posts later and you probably realised that I spent the last few days in Milan. What you probably didn't realise is that it only cost £99! I love wowcher and use it quite regularly for spa days and adrenaline-type activities. I'd seen on there before a 'mystery holiday for £99' deal and thought that would be quite exciting to book. There were loads of options on there including Dubai, Las Vegas, city breaks to Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Eastern Europe and beach breaks to loads of different places in Spain. I thought that maybe it was a con in some way (ever the sceptic) but the break that was the closest to us was Dublin which I'd still really love to go to so I paid the £99 and then waited to be rang and told where I was going. I was a little nervous that I'd end up with Paris or Venice, both of which are amazing but I've been recently so wouldn't really want to go back again so soon. I was so excited when the guy said it was Milan! I love Italy and Milan was on my list of places I wanted to visit. The dates were really flexible too, as were the airport options (I paid an extra £40 to go from East Midlands because otherwise it'd be the expense and hassle of getting to and from London). I also got breakfast thrown in for free too because the guy on the phone added it to our booking by accident! Me and my mum had two amazing city breaks together last year and so I was really excited for some mother daughter time on this one too. So on Thursday, we made our way to the airport for ciders at 9 in the morning and a big hearty breakfast. As is my usual travelling outfit, I went with culottes. I paired my striped ones with taupe top and black espadrilles and finished the look with my rose gold world necklace (apt, I thought). And then we were off!

Because we'd got such a cheap deal on the holiday, we knew we wouldn't be in a city centre hotel. But actually the location on this one was better than I thought it would be! We were on the same metro line as all the major areas (the Duomo cathedral, the central station) and so we just had to catch the M1 for about 20 minutes. We got a 48 hour travel pass too for only €8 so travel worked out super cheaply! The hotel was the iH St John and it was lovely. Really nice and spacious with a massive mirror across the back (what is it with hotels and never normally putting big mirrors anywhere?!) and a little balcony with a perfect view of the sunset.

Then once we'd unpacked (which obviously didn't take very long with 2 nights worth of stuff), we got ready and headed out for dinner. The weather had been nice in the day but cooled down at night so I wore purple culottes with black lace bodysuit and black lace up sandals. We weren't really sure where would be best to eat but we figured that the Duomo was a good bet so we headed there and oh my god, seeing it for the first time was amazing. It was an amazing building, much more stunning than the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) or the Notre Dame (Paris). The detail was amazing and I loved how it was all lit up at night. It didn't take us long to find a lovely restaurant either, although there didn't seem to be any kind of touristy centre; no big lines of restaurants with promoters outside or crazy deals, so it felt quite authentic. We found a really cute restaurant just down a side street which had oil lamps on the tables, sawed off wine bottles as water glasses and free prosecco on arrival (which is always a bonus). Mum got pasta and I got gnocchi, we shared a bottle of wine and had a gossip and a catch up. We were pleasantly surprised by the prices of everything too. We were expecting London/Paris prices (considering it's another fashion capital of the world) but our meals were only €10 each and the bottle of wine was only €20! Plus, it's not like you can get bad pasta or bad wine in Italy so there was no need to look for somewhere more expensive.

Then we had the most full-on day on Friday ever - we packed so much in! We started with breakfast at our hotel, which was lovely (even better since it was free) and then headed off for a day of exploring. When I was packing, I wanted a daytime outfit that would be good in the sun without being too summery, and wasn't too exposed since I knew we'd be going in a church. I had been looking for a leopard print midi skirt for ages and this SheIn one was perfect with an asymmetric length and thin crepe fabric. I wore it with this 3/4 length sleeve cardigan-style top with a couple of the buttons undone and then added my trusty espadrilles; my must-have shoes for a day of exploring. We hadn't really done much research before we went as to what to do while there (which we probably should have) but we had a quick look the night before and came up with a list. We started at the Monumentale which is a massive Catholic memorial site with incredible statues and architecture. It may seem a bit morbid but it was worth seeing! And we got to see the equivalent to The City in London, with pretty glass high rise buildings. Although my favourite buildings were all the rest of them. I was literally mesmerised by how pretty Milan was. Every building had wrought iron balconies, stone columns and rooftop gardens in pretty terracotta and yellow colours. We kept expecting to find a dingy part but there didn't seem to be one. It very much reminded me of the prettiest parts of Paris and my favourite part of New York (greenwich village where the Friends building and Carrie Bradshaw house are), with tree-lined streets and gorgeous buildings in every direction.

Our next stop was the Sforza castle, which used to house the entire city of Milan within its city walls. The place was beautiful and there were plenty of museums and galleries there which we may have done if we were there longer. The prettiest part though was the water fountains, which were on the city side of the castle; the other side is the one we had walked through which was like Milan's answer to central park.

Neither me nor mum are really coffee drinkers but we figured that when in Rome (or Milan), we should try one of the countries specialities. So we enjoyed a coffee in the morning sunshine (with a dose of people watching thrown in) before setting off for our next stop, which was the Santa Maria Delle Grazie, where Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper lives. We were both of the opinion that we should walk everywhere that we could because you get to see and experience so much more than if you're going underground for the metro every 5 minutes. If we had got the Metro, we would've missed a funny Marilyn Monroe moment when my skirt got blown up walking over one of the vents. So basically, I'm now waiting for my call about starring in a The Seven Year Itch remake - should be any day now. Anyway, everywhere was so pretty that it made for a lovely walk. Plus the weather was gorgeous; we had 27 degree sunshine! Although when we arrived at the Santa Maria Delle Grazie, it turns out that you have to book tickets to see The Last Supper painting weeks in advance (which is where more research would've served us well) but we only wanted to see it because it was famous and we were there, rather than because we were actually into art so we weren't too bothered about missing it.

As a lot of European cities do, Milan also had their version of an Arch de Triumph (called Arco della Pace, which means arch of peace) and so we had another 15 minute walk over to see it. I actually preferred it to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; it may have been smaller but it was surrounded by a park rather than a death-defying road and it was much quieter so you could get some really nice photos. Although me and mum basically blinded ourselves getting a selfie infront of it. We were also pleased with ourselves for the way we'd planned our day because we knew where we wanted to eat lunch and going from the Arco della Pace meant getting on one of the old fashioned trams which were so cute. They reminded me of San Francisco but you got to sit inside instead of hanging off of the outside. Plus our travel passes worked on them too so no extra travel cost either.

The place we'd earmarked for lunch was a district I'd read about online called the Navigli district, a place surrounded by canals. It was so pretty and reminded me of Amsterdam or Venice - I love being surrounded by water. We had a walk along the main canal, the Naviglio Grande, hoping to find a restaurant but weirdly there weren't any. It was a super pretty walk though and we ended up finding a row of restaurants along one of the smaller canals. The most popular one was actually a Greek place but we figured that we should eat Italian while in Italy so we chose a pizzeria and I had the nicest spicy salami pizza ever, with a white wine overlooking the canal.

If I had thought the Duomo was pretty the night before, it didn't have anything on seeing it set against a perfect blue sky. The building was so incredible and we paid €16 for a combined ticket that gained us access to the church and the rooftop terrace by lift (forget walking up and down hundreds of stairs). The rooftop walk was definitely worth doing; you get such a different perspective from seeing the building high up and up close. There's so much detail that goes into every nook and cranny and we were just in awe at how beautiful it was. Although the 'roof terrace' was less of a terrace and more just a roof. You were essentially just allowed to walk across the roof tiles, there were no modifications to it or anything. Then once we'd walked round the whole thing, we got the lift back down to go in the church. The church was just as pretty inside, with loads of stained glass windows and ornate carvings. We lit a candle and sent some nice thoughts (I won't say 'prayer' because it wasn't necessarily to God) and then left on a hunt for some gelato. And we were definitely not disappointed. We found a lovely place just across the square; I got coconut and melon and mum got coconut and pistachio. I don't know the technical difference between ice cream and gelato, but I know that ice cream is served using a rounded scoop and gelato is served using a kind of flat spatula.

Then we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our second night. This time, I wore my trusty blush pink bodysuit with flared sleeves, with new embroidered skirt and lace up sandals. And me and mum were very well co-ordinated as we were both in florals (I am slowly teaching her the art of posing for outfit photos, as well as taking them). Then we headed to the Duomo again, as we figured it had been a good place to eat. The night before, we'd noticed these rooftop terrace bars which were connected to the Galleria and decided to go for a drink at one before dinner. One was linked to a hotel and the other was an Aperol one and we chose the latter (again, for the Italian roots). The whole place was so cool with orange furniture, orange lights, and quirky signs. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table outside but the view was so worth it. Deciding we should probably get the local speciality, we both went for an Aperol Spritz, which were €15 each. Seems kind of expensive, but we figured that you're paying for the views and experience too so it wasn't that bad. But it turned out you got a big plate of tapas each included in that price too! It was a bit of a random mix and we sent one back because we were going out for dinner after and knew we wouldn't managed it all. But it was such a lovely thing to do and the drinks were amazing.

We were obviously feeling wanderlust because we ventured a whole one street over from the one we ate at the night before! It was definitely a city for finding cute one-off restaurants and hidden gems. Once we'd chosen one, mum got a beer and I got a red wine and then we ordered a local speciality. 'Milanese style' refers to something that's been flattened and breaded and we both got the Milanese veal (which was lovely; I'd never tried it before) with seasoned wedges. Although, the table was ridiculously small and we could barely fit our plates on there! The restaurant should definitely consider sizing them up a bit.

The next morning, we checked out of our hotel, found a luggage storage shop near central station (where we were due to get our bus to the airport) and then explored the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (the building opposite the Duomo). It was so gorgeous and filled with lovely looking cafes and restaurants, plus some shops way out of our price range (the best kind). For day two in Milan, I wore bright red trousers and poppy print blouse, which I later realised were the colours of the Italian flag (which was a cute coincidence).

Then we spent the rest of the morning shopping! We looked round Zara, Mango, Victoria's Secret, Stradivarius and Kiko (of course, with it being from Milan originally). I also stocked up on 2 of my favourites from MAC which was a great way to use my leftover euros, considering I needed them anway. I got Velvet Teddy and Taupe and I also got myself a new purse, pretty silk scarf and some new nail varnishes which worked out at only €1 each! Then once we'd shopped, we dropped at a little cafe along the main shopping street. We'd had breakfast at our hotel so we didn't really need a meal but we treated ourself to a dessert instead; I got tiramisu and mum got the cheesecake.

Then we headed to the airport for our 3:45 flight, which didn't end up taking off until 5:45! Damn Ryanair and their strikes and cancellations from the day before. Although a 2 hour delay is much better than a cancelled flight so we were trying to look on the bright side. I needed to get back though because it was Katie's birthday night out so I went from the airport runway at East Midlands at 6:45, to night out ready at 8:30 - I did pretty well. Me and mum had the most amazing holiday though and I would recommend Milan to anyone and everyone; it was pretty and there was plenty to do. It may actually be my new favourite European city (with New York still taking the worldwide top spot). Thanks for an amazing holiday momma bear! We walked 21 miles, ate like queens and sampled all of the greatest things that Italy has to offer. And for only £99! I'd get myself over to wowcher if I were you...