A trip to Bellinzona in Switzerland via Milan

It was two months in of my four months in Torino, Italy. My sister, Kirsty, was working for Emirates in Dubai and had a layover in Milan. It was the perfect opportunity to see her. My mum also got roped in and we made a wee trip of it.

We all congregated at the Sheraton Hotel at Milan Malpensa Airport where Kirsty was ‘laying over’. She had just come off of a 12-hour flight to the states so she was exhausted. I hopped on a early bus from Turin that went directly to the airport. Found Kirsty’s room and found my mum and sister both asleep on the two massive double beds in the hotel room. It was such a nice reunion as I hadn’t seen either of them for a few months. Kirsty had brought back so many cool and colourful treats from America, including a slice of Oreo Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! It was a dream.

The three of us sat chatting for hours, catching up on everything that we had missed. We settled on a meal at the hotel restaurant as Kirsty got an Emirates discount and none of us were keen on trekking it to Milan city centre.

Milan:

The next day, Kirsty had to fly back to Dubai so mum and I set out to explore Milan. It was my first time in the cosmopolitan city and I had heard mixed reviews of what to expect but I was excited nonetheless. After saying our farewells to Kirsty, mum and I hopped on a metro from the airport direct to Milan’s central station.

It was a struggle to get to our hotel with our luggage but as soon as we checked in, we dumped our stuff, freshened up then set out to see the town. We got a metro to the main Piazza del Duomo with the famous Duomo di Milano. It was stunning and so detailed! We wandered around the Piazza and into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, looking at the striking architecture and beautiful couture.

We wandered around the streets, stumbling across adorable cafes and boutiques, grand statues, basilicas and monuments. I was impressed with Milan, it wasn’t a busy and fast pace as I had expected it to be and I never experienced any rude encounters. I was frantically looking up good restaurants that weren’t too touristy or pricey. In the end, we stumbled across a cute, little local restaurant where we got a bottles of wine and pasta dishes and desserts.

We headed back towards our hotel near Milano Centrale as we were up early the following morning for our dream trip to Bellinzona in Switzerland to see our relatives.

Bellinzona:

We hopped on a train that took us directly to Bellinzona to Milan. I was so excited. The train ride was the most scenic and picturesque journey that I have ever been on. It took us through valleys and mountains, up past Lago di Como and into the Swiss Alps. It was an absolute dream. We finally arrived in the small town of Bellinzona where my Swiss aunty was there waiting for our arrival. It was so nice as I hadn’t seen her since I was a child! She looked the exact same and so many fond memories came flooding back.

We jumped in her car and she took us to her apartment which was exactly how I remembered it almost twelve years ago. We dumped our stuff then headed out to the town centre.

Bellinzona is a beautiful medieval town. It’s famous for its three castles situated around for protection. I experienced such a wave of nostalgia from my childhood in the main piazza; it felt like yesterday that I was there!

That evening, we went round to my cousin’s house for a barbeque. He had a massive chiminea in his garden and he had prepared the most delicious food. We had beer soaked barbequed ribs, sausages, steak, bean salad, potato salad, gorgonzola with polenta… the list went on. I was stuffed but the food was so delicious that I couldn’t stop. We continued to chat all evening catching up with each other’s lives as the beautifully bright full moon fell behind the mountains surrounding us.

We had a great sleep that night. In the morning, we woke up to an array of breakfast goods set out for us alongside a large pot of coffee. We headed into the centre again for the morning market.

This time round it was a special occasion and there were hundreds of people dressed up in medieval attire with bands playing folk music in the street, selling antiques and fresh goods. It must have been some kind of medieval festival and we were so lucky to experience it.

From there we took the opportunity to walk up to one of the castles and take in the views. Again, I remembered being there as a child and it felt so weird being back as an adult.

We sat in the bar at the top of the castle for a drink and a chat, promising each other that we would all try to visit more. It was a lovely afternoon, well spent, before getting our train back to Milan.

This time round, the journey was a bit sadder as mum and I had to say our goodbyes to one another as I went back to Turin whilst she headed back to Glasgow.

It was the most amazing weekend and it was so nice to have so many reunions with various family members. I love Italy and Switzerland and they will always be on my list for places to revisit.

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