Milan Travel 04: From the Duomo on Easter Morning to 74,742 Fans at San Siro, Visited Twice

Let me get the verdict out of the way first. The best country on this whole trip was Italy.

For food and cheese, no other country came close. Italy is also the country I want to go back to.

Milan is where the Italy stretch begins. And I actually went to Milan twice. I spent Easter Sunday, April 9, walking the city, then two days in Venice, then came back on April 12 to see the Duomo once more and spend the night at San Siro. Strictly by date, Venice belongs in the middle, but this post bundles both Milan days together. The Venice days in between get the next post.

The route in this post

Date	Where	In a line
Apr 9, morning	Duomo → Galleria → Cordusio	Easter Mass, the bull mosaic, Starbucks Reserve
Apr 9, afternoon	Sforza Castle → Piazzale Cadorna → Naviglio Grande	Grass moat, the needle sculpture, canal-side aperitivo
Apr 10–11	Venice (next post)	Grand Canal, San Giorgio Maggiore, Burano
Apr 12	The Duomo again → a pizzeria off the square	Spires under a grey sky, a seafood grill
Apr 12, night	San Siro	AC Milan vs Napoli, Champions League quarter-final, first leg

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April 9: The Duomo on Easter Sunday

My first day was Easter Sunday 2023, and Mass was underway inside the Duomo. Tourists or not, it is still a church where Mass is said. So with the Duomo, think about when before where. Construction began in 1386 and ran until the last door went on in 1965, and it is the largest church within the Italian Republic.

Within 400 meters of the Duomo: the Galleria and Cordusio

From the Duomo through the Galleria to Cordusio is a little over 400 meters as the crow flies, an easy half-day loop. I walked this stretch on both visits. The Cordusio photos, with their bright blue sky, are probably from day one.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is an arcade designed by Mengoni and finished in 1877, linking the Duomo and La Scala. Tradition says spinning three times on the bull mosaic in the floor brings luck, and so many people have done it that the spot wore into a hole and had to be restored again in 2017.

Head out toward Cordusio and there is the statue of Parini, with a pigeon perched on his head.

At Cordusio I spent about an hour in the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. It opened in September 2018 inside a 1901 building that once housed the stock exchange and post office. A line carved into the wall begins DEDICATO A MILANO, "dedicated to Milan." It's well placed for a break between walks.

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April 9, afternoon: Sforza Castle and its waterless moat

In the afternoon I went from Sforza Castle to the Navigli canals.

Look down into the moat of Sforza Castle and you see grass where the water should be. On the courtyard lawn people were sitting or lying on their stomachs, and there were even strollers. On Easter afternoon, the ground below the gun slits was being used as a park.

Look up from the middle of the courtyard and there is the Filarete Tower. It's about 70 meters tall, and its current form was rebuilt between 1900 and 1905 based on the old plans. The blue serpent crest on a white panel high on the wall stands out from far away, and people stream nonstop through the arch at its base.

Walk around the outside of the walls and, at the end of the red brick, the round corner tower switches to grey stone, every block jutting out so the surface is all bumps. This texture stayed with me longer than the tower in the courtyard. I spent over an hour just around the castle. Inside are the civic museums, including Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà and the Sala delle Asse with its ceiling painting that Leonardo had a hand in.

A needle stuck in the square

Leave the castle for Piazzale Cadorna and you find a giant needle stuck in the ground. It's Oldenburg and van Bruggen's sculpture "Needle, Thread and Knot", unveiled in February 2000. The red, green and yellow of the thread are the metro line colors, and the idea is that the thread passes through the needle, runs underground and comes back up as a knot on the far side of the square. Shared bikes stand in a row at its foot. From here I took the green line, metro M2, down to the canals.

An afternoon on the Naviglio Grande

The Naviglio Grande is a straight canal running between yellow and pink buildings. Both banks were packed solid with people and umbrellas.

Under a bridge railing covered in graffiti, stickers and a bundle of padlocks, a NAVIGAMI tour boat slid past. But the original job of this waterway, begun in the 12th century, was hauling cargo, and the Duomo's marble is said to have come in through a dock here.

The canal-side bars had their boards out in time for aperitivo. Aperitivo is the Italian ritual of a drink and some snacks before dinner, and the Village Cafe board read unlimited buffet plus a drink for €12, second drink €5. Everyone was at the outdoor tables, except a few who stood with their backs to the food, watching football on the TV inside.

A courtyard and a church by the canal

Between the canal-side buildings there is a passage. A sign for the Associazione del Naviglio Grande says "visitate il secondo cortile," come see the second courtyard. Step inside and wisteria covers red walls, with flowerpots hanging from every railing. ENTRATA LIBERA: free to enter. It is quieter in here than on the canal.

Walking along the canal, I ducked into Santa Maria delle Grazie al Naviglio, a relatively young church designed by Cesare Nava in 1899 and consecrated in 1909. White Easter flowers sat beneath the altar, and stained-glass light spilled across the brick-patterned walls. Easter Mass at the Duomo in the morning, Easter flowers in a canal-side church in the afternoon.

One aperitivo plate and the 7:36 p.m. tram

Dinner was at an outdoor table on the west side of the canal. In front of a bottle of Amarcord beer came six pieces of grilled flatbread in a circle, charred here and there, topped with shellfish and mayo and a sprinkle of red powder.

At 7:36 p.m. the sky was still bright as a yellow tram squeezed down a narrow street. Milan was more of an outdoor city than I'd expected. The next two days were Venice, which is the next post. Here, we skip straight ahead three days.

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April 12: A second Duomo under a grey sky

Back from Venice, I stood in front of the Duomo again. This time the sky was grey, and the white marble façade actually shows every single spire more clearly on a day like that. No need to wait for sunshine. To fit the whole front in one shot you have to back up a long way, and that spot was crowded with pigeons and tourists.

A pizzeria off the square, and the asterisk on the menu

That day's meal was under a PIZZERIA awning next to the Duomo. A Heineken glass and a Poretti glass sat side by side on an orange tablecloth. The Duomo was printed on the menu cover too.

I ordered the GRIGLIATA DI PESCE, a mixed seafood grill: €48 for two (per the menu at the time), listing swordfish, salmon, scampi and squid. It arrived as fish and salmon with sharp grill marks and halved scampi on a bed of arugula. The thing worth noticing is the asterisk next to the dish name. The edge of the menu carried a "frozen product" note, which I read as meaning frozen ingredients. If you eat right on the square, look for that asterisk.

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April 12, night: San Siro, one of 74,742

That night's destination was San Siro, for AC Milan vs Napoli in the Champions League quarter-final, first leg. Outside the stadium I held up a half-and-half scarf with the date printed on it. It joins Milan's red and black to Napoli's blue, half and half. The stalls outside had even teddy bears in Milan kits, and about the only thing in the away team's colors was this scarf.

Before going in, I had a bottle of Poretti BOCK ROSSA in hand and wore the scarf Napoli side out. The whole forecourt was red and black.

Up close, the first thing you see at San Siro is its coiled concrete spiral towers. They went up when the third tier was added for the 1990 World Cup, and 11 of them hold up that weight. Past the STEWARD vests at gate 13, you're in.

I set a Pepsi cup and a beer on the sill of a round window in the top-tier concourse. Below it are the pitch and the stands.

How empty seats turned into words

Step into the stands and the steel roof spreads overhead like a net, with Milan's high-rises visible past the red trusses. When the countdown read 01:21:49, there were still gaps all over. By the warm-ups every empty seat had filled. From the top tier I could see the whole formation laid out like a map rather than the players' faces.

The highlight of the night came before kickoff. Those same seats that had been empty turned into cards, and THIS IS MILAN rose out of the stands. The red plastic blocking my view was one piece of the picture, held up from the top tier. In the middle of the pitch, a Champions League ball banner was spread out.

The scoreboard flashed 74,742, with WE THE MANY above and GRAZIE ROSSONERI below. I was one of them.

The match ended 1-0 to AC Milan. Bennacer's goal in the 40th minute was the winner, and Napoli finished with ten men after Anguissa was sent off for a second yellow in the 74th. It was a rematch ten days after Milan had won 4-0 in the league, and after the second leg on April 18, Milan went through to the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate.

At 11:37 p.m., the road outside was still full of cars. That's it for my two visits to Milan.

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Visiting info

📍 Milan Duomo · Piazza del Duomo, Milano

• 🚇 Getting there: Duomo station (M1, M3). You come up right in the square.
• 🎟️ Entry: Ticket required. Rooftop terrace access and hours change by season, so go by the official website.
• 🗺️ Map: Open in Google Maps

📍 Sforza Castle · Naviglio Grande

• 🏰 Route: Cordusio → Sforza Castle → the needle sculpture in Piazzale Cadorna right next door → M2 → the Navigli. One afternoon.
• 🗺️ Map: Sforza Castle · Naviglio Grande

📍 San Siro · Piazzale Angelo Moratti, Milano

• 🚇 Getting there: San Siro Stadio station (M5) is right in front of the stadium.
• 🎟️ Tickets: Through the club's official sellers; check fixtures on the club's official schedule.
• 🗺️ Map: Open in Google Maps

How to get lost a little less

• ⛪ With the Duomo, start with "when." On Sundays and holy days, Mass may be underway.
• 📸 On the Navigli, take your bridge photos before sunset. In early April, around 6 p.m., the light fell nicely on the façades. If it's too crowded, slip into the courtyard passage or the canal-side church.
• ⭐ On menus right by the square, look for an asterisk (*) and a "frozen product" note.
• 🏟️ San Siro's card display happens just before kickoff. The seats were still patchy 1 hour 20 minutes out, but you need to be in yours before it starts.
• 🎫 Check your tier/color zone (like "3 BLU") and gate number on your ticket first. If you post a ticket photo, cover the QR code, seat and personal details.
• 🚗 After the match, the roads were still jammed past 11:30 p.m. Sort out your way back beforehand.

Jayden's verdict

Italy was the best. Nowhere beats it for food and cheese. I want to go again.

• Highlight: Easter Mass at the Duomo, aperitivo on the Navigli, and the THIS IS MILAN card display before kickoff at San Siro
• Would I go back?: Yes. Italy is the country I want to go back to.
• Tip: check Mass times before the Duomo, and be in your seat at San Siro before kickoff.
• Pair it with: the courtyard passage between the canal-side buildings and Santa Maria delle Grazie al Naviglio

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Next up is the two days in Venice between my two Milan visits: evening light on the Rialto Bridge, the bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore, and Burano by way of Murano.

19 Days After Quitting series

1. The UK, part 1: via Dubai, back to my Bournemouth homestay
2. The UK, part 2: a day in London, from Big Ben to a Soho pub
3. France: Nice and Saint-Paul-de-Vence
4. Italy, part 1: Milan's Duomo and San Siro (you are here)
5. Italy, part 2: Venice, San Giorgio and Burano
6. Italy, part 3: Florence, Pompeii and Positano
7. Egypt: Escaping the rain to Sharm El Sheikh
8. Rome again: Italian food and the way home