The Fast Train to Milan

Having three days of holidays in less than a week and a weekend in between is perfect for a trip.

I love Slovenia's position in the heart of Europe. It is on the crossroad of the South and the West and of the East and the West placing it in the proximity of some amazing places and Milan was our destination this time. 

Well, actually we choose the second largest Italian city by chance. 

I must confess it isn't one of my favourite places in the world as I have some not so pleasant memories from it, mainly connected to countless transfers I had to make at its central train station while travelling Europe.

I was somewhat different experience this time around. And Milan may have been our destination but the real journey was the way getting there. 

We didn't know when planning the trip that it was quite an ambitious one. When planning a trip we usually try to make it an experience rather just a trip to see a new place. And always try to incorporate our wishes with children's needs as the trip is much more fun (and smoothly going) that way. 

Boys love riding a train. It is always a great fun and we have been planning a night ride for quite some time just to experience sleeping on the train but haven't completely decided on it yet. But there are other ways to experience train ride in a new way like riding on a very fast train that can reach speed up to 360 km/h - the Italian Frecciarossa.

We booked our tickets and on Sutarday morning, really early too, we headed to Trieste where we hop on board of a Red Arrow that took us to Milan.

We didn't quite hit the 360 km/m mark but it was close, hitting 295 km/h. The boys were excited and so were we. But the disappointing bit is that you don't feel how fast the train is going.

Still, less than 4 hours later we were already strolling the streets of Milan. As our return train wasn't due until the evening we had the whole day to spend in the city.

So what to do in this bustling city, with two kids and deprived of sleep as we woke up at three in the morning as we still needed to get to Trieste first to catch the train?

We visited the Science and Culture Museum where you can find the replicas of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions, discover space, even make a satellite... Boys were still most impressed with the old trains section and didn't want to leave. They still don't get tired of seeing them over and over again.

After the museum we strolled towards the Duomo, stopping for gelato on the way to keep them motivated for some more walk. We didn't get to see it from inside or to walk on to the roof to get a glimpse of the city from above as the wait was too long and we rather set down in a restaurant to eat a pizza before heading back to the station.

We just had a little time left to visit a city park to finish the day off at the playground, always and still the boosting point for boys to get some energy back.

What else to do in Milan? The visit to famous Teatro Scala is a great chose. Not as remarkable from the outside, the inside makes it up for it as it is startling.

In the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazia Church you can visit the Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, but note that you need to book the visit well in advance.

It was a perfect day. Even more so as we only realized already on the train to Milan that we didn't think the whole thing through. We didn't think about getting up early and returning late the next day and that the boys wouldn't sleep enough and... But it all turned out great. Better as expected and I would do it all over again. It was a real adventure.