Just a short walk from the madness on Via Monte Napoleone of clammering fashionistas & the…read morePaparazzi of Milan fashion week lies a national treasure. OK, so my cultural compass is not always true but on the odd occasion it will align and this was one of those moments. My normal mode is alcoholautopilot and on this flight I was navigating between the Centro Historico backstreet Cafe Bars in my quest for Alicia Lini 910 and happened to notice a rather magnificent arch to my right. As i glanced over, i saw a courtyard within. Curiosity beckoned and i strolled through to see what was thither and lo and behold ... I had wandered in to a place oozing history and magnificence combined with art and horticulture and knowledge. This is a location you will have to revisit many times in order to see everything that resides here. For those seeking a snort of culture then this is a 'Four-fer'....You have; Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense (One of Italy's largest state libraries) c1770 Pinacoteca di Brera (Brera Art Gallery) c1776 Accademia de Belle Arti c1776 Orto Botanico di Brera (historic botanical garden) c1774 As for me, trying to describe what you will see here well .... erm .... in this case a picture is definitely worth a million words so let the camera speak ....

cozy little Italian bookshop and cafe, with friendly service and free wifi, on a nice square near…read morethe Moscava subway.

From the owner: Libreria indipendente specializzata in letteratura italiana del '900 e contemporanea. Vasto…read moreassortimento letteratura straniera, classici, bambini, teatro e illustrati... con annesso bar bistrot.

This tiny bookstore is chock full of books and if you're dazzled by Prada and Versace, you'd miss…read morethis place. That would be a mistake. The Bocca bookstore opened in Turin in 1775. Yes, that 1775. It is likely one of the oldest bookstores anywhere. It was originally a chain of bookstores with others in Paris and Florence and Rome and Turin, but today only the Milan location remains. And in fact is only here in the Galleria Victtorio Emmanuele II because the people petitioned the government for it to remain. Thank you, Milanese, for recognizing how important books and reading are to humanity! This is a small shop and it is quite full. Some of the custom art is very expensive (look through the glass in the floor tiles) but there are many books here that are quite normally priced. And yes, some even in English. How cool is that! [Review 10691 overall, 459 of 2019.]

I stood there and wished that I could read Italian. So many…read morebooks in this tiny bookshop. Only in business for 250 years. Amazing.