Some Italian cities feel like they’ve been beautifully embalmed – preserved to be admired by the tourists who consume the gelatos, Aperol spritzes, refrigerator magnets, and rainbow-hued leather goods that support the local economies.

Milan, on the other hand, is a working city – and the wealthiest one in Italy. It’s the home of Italy’s fashion industry, as well as its stock market.

At the center of Milan is the Duomo, the Gothic church that’s either 639 years old (counting from when it was started in 1386) or 60 years old (counting from when it was “finished” in 1965).

My first hotel, the Radisson Collection Palazzo Touring Club (see sidebar), was just a short walk away.

The Duomo is adorned with more than 3,400 statues and carvings, more than any other building in the world. Everything is made from a rare pinkish marble that comes from a single quarry in the nearby Alps (which you can see from the roof if the weather is clear). But the marble is fragile and sometimes shatters, so the building is covered in scaffolding and needs constant repairs.

THE DUOMO in Milan. (credit: LAURI DONAHUE)
THE DUOMO in Milan. (credit: LAURI DONAHUE)
The ascent to the roof is not for the faint of heart or weak of knee. Reaching the peak requires climbing an additional 60 steps after the elevator ride, and the descent is via a steep stone staircase that often lacks handrails. 

Just across from the Duomo’s spacious piazza is Milan’s temple of fashion: the four-story Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, built between 1865 and 18777 and considered the world’s first shopping mall.

Milan’s museums

Milan has dozens of museums, including ones devoted to children, fashion, cinema, and industrial design.

The Villa Necchi Campiglio is an art deco mansion completed in 1935, surrounded by a large private garden with a tennis court and swimming pool. Until October 12, the top-floor gallery is hosting an exhibit on Jewish-Hungarian portrait photographer Ghitta Carell, who survived World War II in hiding and died in Haifa in 1972.

The Biblioteca Ambrosiana (founded 1609) is one of the oldest public libraries in Europe. It also houses the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana art gallery, where paintings (including a Caravaggio still life) are displayed in dark rooms with brilliant lighting that makes the colors glow like stained glass.

Shoah Memorial

At Milan’s central train station, I visited the city’s Shoah Memorial. On a sub-level originally used for mail wagons, 1,200 Italian Jews were packed into cattle cars and deported – most of them to die at Auschwitz. Overhead in the dark and brooding space, trains still rumble like echoes of memory.

Outside the museum, a mural created by Italian pop artist Alexsandro Palombo shows The Simpsons cartoon characters as Jewish deportees. Just days after I visited, the mural was defaced with blood-red paint and the words “Free Pal.” The artist told The Jerusalem Post it was the sixth time the work had been vandalized in two years.

Lake Como

A short train ride from Milan is Lake Como. Located at the foot of the Alps, its shores are lined with villas and palaces that have long served as summer retreats for wealthy families from Milan, as well as for celebrities. George Clooney has had a villa on the lake since Ocean’s Twelve was filmed there in 2003.

Many tourists come to see locations from their favorite movies and TV shows that were filmed at the lake, including Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, the James Bond film Casino Royale, and the HBO series Succession.

Influencers line up in gowns and makeup to have their pictures taken on highly Instagrammable villa balconies. From the main city of Como, you can reach anyplace else on the lake by ferry (or, less romantically, by bus). The express ferry from Como to Bellagio takes only 40 minutes but can sell out fast. The slowest ferry on the same route takes two hours and 35 minutes. Tickets are only sold for the same day, so to ensure I got a seat, I was in line at the ticket office before 7 a.m.

Bellagio

Bellagio is called the “Pearl of Lake Como,” with its flower-lined waterfront promenade.I prebooked a two-hour hiking tour of the Villa Serbelloni park, once owned by American heiress Ella Walker (a.k.a. the Princess Della Torre e Tasso, thanks to her third husband), who bequeathed it to the Rockefeller Foundation, which now uses it as a conference and retreat center.

The grounds are dotted with tiny cottages just big enough to hold a desk and chair, where visiting leaders, artists, and scholars can work in peace. Guests have included economist Milton Friedman, US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and author Maya Angelou.

The fashion district

Having feasted on art, history, culture, and nature, I returned to Milan for some retail therapy; see sidebar for details.My second hotel, the palatial Portrait Milano (see sidebar), is in the heart of Milan’s fashion district, called the “Quadrilatero della moda.” The night I was there, the hotel hosted a party for Dolce & Gabbana, which has a home design store just outside the entrance.

Kosher food in Milan

Milan has several kosher restaurants: Ba’Ghetto (Jewish-Roman), Carmel (Italian/Pizza), Denzel (burgers), Snubar (Middle Eastern), and My Kafe (coffee/gelato). There are also kosher bakeries and supermarkets: Tuv Taam, Eretz, Kosher Paradise, and Denzel Bakery.

How and when to visit Milan and Lake Como

El Al flies non-stop from Tel Aviv to Milan in around four hours, and two train lines travel from Milan to Como in about an hour.

Milan and Como are the hottest and most crowded with tourists in the summer, so spring and fall may be better times to visit.

However, during Milan Fashion Week (held in February/March and September/October of each year) and Milan Design Week (April), many hotels and restaurants are completely booked.