Let’s be honest, when we hear ‘Milan’ we usually think of the overly bourgeoisie lifestyle, where several tourists buy the most expensive things and lack gaining true culture of the city. Not this toutist!

As well as experiencing the touristy side of Milan, I was able to get a local feel and gain historical facts about what is described as “the lab of Italy” – all in just the 48 hours I spent there.

It was a beautiful, hot and enjoyable city break and below are some photos of my time there and what else I got up to during the rest of my wonderful birthday week!

The Milan Cathedral, better known as Duomo di Milano

A mall right beside the Duomo where you can pretty much buy any luxury designer brands.

Milan from above

Apartment view at night and also my first air bnb experience! I’ll be writing about my air bnb experiences soon!

Lovely and friendly bar with great music, LoolaPaloosa. €10 entry and comes with any drink (minus the Moët, that was a gift!)

The best and freshly-made lasagne I’ve EVER tasted and only cost €4? ✔️

Pizzaiolo!

On a tram journey

On a really informative boat tour exploring Milan via the canal

Milan is a gorgeous city with lots of hidden gems. I would definitely revisit..especially for the food! The euro currency works well there too for example when going to the supermarket, a bottle of prosecco, bread, sausages, water and juice all came up to €5!

It was a great way to spend my birthday and kick off the start of an incredible birthday week.

A day after landing and realising that the mosquitos in Milan weren’t so friendly to my legs, my friend Rachel told me to meet her in central at 6pm and to wear white – which I didn’t have, so I sufficed with what I do have a lot of – in red.

We walked just behind Liverpool Street and discovered the beauty of Broadgate and the lovely restaurants surrounded by it.

I then found out that her and my other girls from the faith fellowship group I founded planned a surprise dinner for me – at Gaucho! I was lost for words, so grateful, so happy, and SO IN LOVE WITH THE FOOD. God bless my girls!

Then came festival season! I’m a big lover of live music and have been going to wireless festival for the past 3 years and can happily say this year will be my last, because lovebox WON! Lovebox was so much more spacious than wireless, there was more variety of foods to buy and numerous bar stalls, not to mention the fantastic line up!

A beyond brilliant and perfect 23rd birthday week that I’ll never forget.

Surround yourself with people that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel, energies are contagious.