Hopped off a Plane at BGY With A Dream And My Cardigan
- Jessie Shen
- May 5
- 3 min read
Inspired by our legendary pop star Miley Cyrus, I hopped off a plane, not at LAX but at Milan Bergamo (BGY) on a random Wednesday. Who needs to party in the U.S.A. when you can party in Italy instead? And oh boy did I have a great time!
(Note: I wrote this in mid-April but just got around to editing it, so this is a pretty delayed update to when I did a solo day trip to Milan.)
I didn’t have any field studies (which is what Wednesdays are reserved for) and the flight was only maybe $40 so it seemed like a great deal. Three of my five classes don’t have field studies (this seems odd to me though…) so I often find myself having the day off on Wednesdays. Which means more time for me to explore Copenhagen and around Europe!
A Foodie’s Guide to Milan
According to the the TasteAtlas Awards for 25/26, Milan was ranked the #2 food city in the world (which I didn’t know about until writing this). And I’m not surprised! There’s a lot of incredible traditional Lombard restaurants, and I (obviously) did research on where to eat before coming here.
I took a bus ride from the Bergamo airport to Milan, making my way to the city centre by 11am. I was up at 4am for my flight out of Copenhagen so I was incredibly tired (tbh I’ve been running low on sleep for the past couple weeks due to traveling…) and hungry. I heard good things about Pasticceria Marchesi, which was founded in 1824 (the original location is by the Sforzesco Castle), so I made a pit stop in their Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II location. I ordered their bestselling Veneziana, a traditional Lombardy sweet similar to panettone but topped with a crunchy meringue grain of sorts, and a latte macchiato (caffeine was absolutely needed to carry me through this long long day). The Veneziana was not what I was expecting at all…it was both airy and dry, and I didn’t love how the little meringue bits on top would fall off every time I took a bite.
I made a reservation for Trattoria La Pesa dal 1902, a gem of a restaurant in Milan (slightly out of the city centre) serving up traditional Milanese food. I ordered the ossobuco with risotto milanese (a slow-braised veal shank with saffron risotto) which was soooo tender and paired perfectly with the creamy & cheesy risotto. I would highly recommend coming here!
Of course while in Italy, I had to get gelato! I wasn’t sure where to go since I couldn’t get a unanimous answer on the best artisan gelateria in Milan, but I heard good things about a chain called Artico Gelateria that has won various awards across the years. The gelato was delicious! It was so creamy and not overly sweet; it was €4 for the smallest size (2 scoops!!) so a win for my wallet :)
Because tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert, I wanted to have some while I was visiting. I got the classic (a classic cream, coffee soak, & cocoa) at Spun Tiramisu. The packaging was perfect for a traveler like me — it was in a little box that I took with me through the airport and back to Copenhagen which I had as a sweet treat today and YUMMM.
I’ve been craving a sandwich for a while now and I had an INSANELY GOOD one at All’Antico Vinaio. It was right by where my bus was so it was perfect for me to have on-the-go. It’s a chain and you can buy them in the U.S. now too, but it’s double the price. The sandwiches are made from schiacciata bread, which is a Tuscan flatbread similar to focaccia but flatter, a bit denser, and crispier. The sandwich was incredibly massive and served as 2-3 of my meals; and it was only $11!!!!
Overall, I had such an incredible time in Milan and it’s definitely one of my favorite cities I’ve visited while studying abroad. I love a good day trip because I didn’t have to carry much with me — just a purse with my passport, water bottle, and Lena’s camera (thank you Lena!!). After 30k steps, walking on the roof of the Duomo, seeing flamingos in a villa, wandering around Chinatown, visiting the botanical gardens, and lots of good Italian food, I was a very very happy (and extremely tired) gal.
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