I’ve joined my daughter on her doctoral research trip to Milan and Bergamo, Italy for a couple of weeks. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

I just had one day in Milan before hopping on a train to Bergamo. It was a holiday weekend and Italy was on the move: Italians love to be tourists in their own country. So, I wasn’t able to get into the Duomo, Milan’s premier tourist attraction. But I enjoyed coffee with a fellow expat blogger, and just not being in gloomy Warsaw wandering around the city for a few hours.

Milan will never be my favorite Italian city. It’s just too grandiose. Much of it dates from the 19th century, Mussolini left his mark, then it was heavily bombed in WWII. So, while impressive, Milan lacks the considerable charm of other, older, Italian cities. But, there are hidden gems.

The Chiesa San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore is one of the jewels. Behind a relatively plain facade, the interior of the building is covered with some of the most gorgeous frescoes I’ve ever seen, all dating from the 16th century.

We’ll probably make a day trip back to Milan from Bergamo later in the week. I’ll try once again to visit the Duomo, but I doubt it will impress me more than San Maurizio did.