Tips and Tricks | How We Traveled to Milan

DSC_6717One thing that I know everyone is looking to figure out is how my fiancée and I pay for our vacations. It seems like every few months we’re trekking out to explore more of the world.

So, I wanted to share with you how we paid for things in Milano! So, here’s everything in pieces from the planes we took, the trains we hopped, the places we stayed, and the things we ate!

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

Traveling

Okay so the first thing is getting there, obviously. In order to get to Milano this time, we flew from Atlanta to Milano Malpensa. That sentence is misleading, however, because we had a total of 3 planes to catch each way.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,Let me explain.

This trip was a rugged, how economically can we actually do this kind of adventure. So I researched and figured out how to get the cheapest international flight. The search engine I use to look for flights is called Skyscanner. It gets information from a lot of flight records and you don’t get pricier flights when you search around a lot, unlike Google which all but requires a browser history clearing for the best flight prices.

Now, for some probably arbitrary reason, the closest city to you will have more expensive prices for international travel than a further city. For example, when I searched flights from Atlanta to Milano today, I found around 1,300 to be the cheapest round trip flight. Now if I search flights from Miami to Milano, I can find tickets for about 1,000. It makes more sense economically to get a flight from your city to another city and then to your other locations.

Some other things to consider are the dates for your flights. It varies from location to location, but the day of the week that you fly affects the price of your flight. That’s why I use Skyscanner. They have a feature that lets you look for the cheapest flight days.

So for us, the best day to leave was a Sunday. We caught an early flight from Atlanta to Orlando. From Orlando, we flew to New York, and from New York, we took an evening flight to Milano. On the way back, it was a little more tricky, because we had an airport change in our London connection from Milano to Orlando.

Since we didn’t check bags and used as much public transportation as we could, the total for 2 people going from Atlanta to Milano was a little shy of $1500.

Getting Around Town

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

Once we got to Milano, we stayed for a few days so we got Metro passes. They are easy to use and get you exactly where you want to go. They aren’t very crowded, and they are definitely worth  the money.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this where I talk about where we stayed in Milano!milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

Milano | The History of One of Italy’s Prettiest Cathedrals

It’s no secret that Italy is my favorite international destination. Milano is definitely in the Top 5 list of cities in Italy for me, and this is one of the reasons why.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

This is Il Duomo di Milano, or The Milan Cathedral. Construction began in 1386 by Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo. It was supposed to commemorate the ascension of the Duke of Milan, and the Archbishop’s cousin, Gian Galeazzo Visconti.

There’s a surprise on the left side of the balcony above the door in the picture above. If the statue looks familiar to you, it’s because the statue is the piece that inspired the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

The first King of Italy, the French Napoleon Bonaparte, ordered the completion of the facade in 1805. It took another 7 years, but the cathedral is said to have actually been fully completed in 1965 when the last of the gates was inaugurated.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

The statue in the Piazza del Duomo, or the cathedral square, is of the first king of a unified Italy Vittorio Emmanuele II. Napoleon was technically a king of Italy, but it had not yet been unified as its own domain. The title that Napoleon officially held was King of Naples.

The statue was created by Ercole Rosa and was completed in 1879 as a monument to the Father of the Fatherland. milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

As you can see, the duomo is covered in statues, spires, and other works of art. It has 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles, and 700 figures that decorate the ornate cathedral. milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

A can’t miss opportunity for this site is to climb to the roof and take a look. Even on a rainy day like when I visited, the view is awesome!

20180522_10441620180522_105510

There is a golden statue that rests at the top of the largest spire on the cathedral. The name of this statue is Madonnina. It is a depiction of the Virgin Mary, as is easily found anywhere in Italy. She is a little too hard to get a good picture of, even from the roof, because of her height, but that doesn’t mean you can’t admire her up close. There is an exact replica that sits behind the altar inside the duomo.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

I highly recommend stopping to see this inspiring work of art.

If you like to study the Bible or adhere to Christian beliefs, you might recognize this last duomo gem that I will talk about.

milano, milan, milano photography, milan photography, milan duomo, milan cathedral, milan castle, Sforza castle, castle in milan, castle in milano, photography, travel photography, travel photographer, travel blog, travel blogger, atlanta photographer, atlanta photography, leonardo, leonardo da vinci, vittorio emanuele iii, san bernardino, ambrosia, ambrosiana, travel blog photographer, traveling, milan at night, milano by night,

This guy is pretty famous by himself, but the reason is because of the character he depicts. This is a statue of the martyr Bartholomew, who was flayed alive.

St. Bartholomew Flayed (1562) is a gruesome piece. It was famously written about by Mark Twain in Innocents Abroad, Chapter 18.

“‘It was a hideous thing, and yet there was a fascination about it somehow. I am very sorry I saw it, because I shall always see it now. I shall dream of it sometimes. I shall dream that it is resting its corded arms on the bed’s head and looking down on me with its dead eyes; I shall dream that it is stretched between the sheets with me and touching me with its exposed muscles and its stringy cold legs. It is hard to forget repulsive things’ 

Bartholomew is a pretty famous character, and is even depicted in my favorite painting, The Last Judgement (Michelangelo) which is the lesser famous painting that calls the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City its home.