My friends and I had our sights set on a trip to Italy’s fashion capital for several months, so we were quite excited when we found a weekend that worked with all of three of our schedules for a ladies getaway. We piled into the car early Saturday morning and less than four hours later — after my first (slightly nerve-racking) experience driving through the Mont Blanc tunnel — we were searching for a parking spot in the packed streets of downtown Milan.

Unfortunately for us, Saturday turned out to be ridiculously hot. And by ridiculously hot, I’m talking 95 degrees of steamy city heat with a bonus of intense humidity. Somehow, we managed to get through several hours of sightseeing and shopping before becoming total zombies — likely thanks to a very necessary gelato break and a good half-hour spent soaking our feet in a giant Italian fountain alongside other heat-stricken tourists and locals. By early evening, however, we had crashed, so we dragged ourselves to the Navigli district for dinner and drinks before calling it a day. Not to be missed no matter the weather is the white, gothic masterpiece that is the Duomo di Milano. I was quite awed when I laid eyes on it, though I think Florence’s Duomo remains my favorite church exterior from my travels thus far.

Anxious to escape the heat, we drove up to Lake Como on Sunday morning and spent a lovely day exploring the cute town of Como and strolling along the boardwalk lining the lake’s shore. The weather was overcast and considerably cooler, so we were very happy campers — even if our photos might not be as pretty as they would have been on a sunny, blue-sky day. Highlights included stumbling upon the sandals that my friend and I had been admiring in Milan in our sizes and on sale (hooray!) and feasting on giant gelato sundaes near the lake (see photo below). It was a wonderful weekend, despite the heat, with my only regret being that I didn’t find the time to drink more Aperol Spritz 🙂

Enjoy the photos, and I’ll be back sometime in the next few days with my final posts on our Balkans road trip. Ciao!

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