when i was there at the age of 19 i just wandered into bars and stores, barely consulting the guide book at all. worked for me.

Guides, especially the Rough Guides are a load of crap. Best to cut your own swathe through the forest.

In saying that, Milan I consider over rated and on parr with Manchester for ugly dourness. The Central Station is most impressive in its fascistic glory, if you can avoid being accosted by pickpockets.

A banana republic on the verge of fascist dictatorship I am afraid.

Dita Guenzati.  Not only the oldest store in the world (so they say), but filled to the brim with tartans---fabrics, hats, scarves, and boxes and boxes of Viyella shirts.

Many thanks for the heads up guys. Very useful! I will chip away at them ovet the next few days. Along with a few other recommendations that I've been given. I'm very fortunate in having an Italian friend with me from Genova who speaks very good English, so I can by-pass the language barrier with the locals.

I am currently in Verona today. Stranded in an internet cafe due to the Italian weather doing a very good impersonation of the English weather... (It's pissing down with rain basically). It's even thrown in some thunder just to make me really feel at home. Reminds me of an old crowded House song, "Take the weather with you"

Whilst here I visited a shop that sells those Astroflex dessie boots that Mr Weejun mentioned in another thread. I had a good inspection of them and they seem like a well made boot, imo. There's quite a worthy story that goes with the company that makes them. I'll let you know all about it on my return, if you're interested?

I also purchased a few really nice Italian made shirts from a small local firm based in Verona as well. I'll get back to you about them on my return as well when I've got a bit more time.

Thanks again guys...

First post. Don't miss the ivy/Italian wonderland of Al Bazar. I stumbled into it while looking for real Italian stuff as opposed to the designer crapola around the Galleria. Expensive and great. It's a healthy hike west of the Duomo – coordinates on Google – but worth the walk.

Well I'm back in good ole Blighty and the weather certainly hasn't let me down. Grey, grim, and chucking it down!

I have to say that my time in Milan was well spent and thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks again for the heads up fellas, they were very useful tips and didn't go a miss. I must say that I failed to see the correlation between Milan and Manchester, except that they both begin with an M.

If anyone ever moans to me about how expensive London is, I shall hastily rebuke them and pass on my knowledge on how over priced and expensive Milan can be. You may get free aperitivo with your drinks, but when you're paying 10 euros+ for a glass of wine you deserve it. I even paid 15 euros in one place. I spent a small fortune on wining and dining while I was there, and I was'nt being remotely extravagant. The cheapest drink for me in Milan was a glass of Chardonnay at the airport on the way home.

On the whole though I really dug the place. I also found some really cool places of my own such as the Pasticceria - Confetteria, Via Montenapoleone 8, which was my first port of call every morning for a coffee while I was there. Followed by a visit to Giovanni Gali for some Italian pastry The Il Bar on the top floor of La Rinascente (Via Santa Radegonda 3, Piazza Duomo) was quite nice for some terrace dining in the sunshine.

Aperitivo at Bulgari hotel was an excellent shout Danielle. What a really nice place to spend the afternoon when the sun's shining! I also checked out Ravizza, which was the old gentlemen outfitters in Corso Europa (off Piazza S. Babila), via Hoepli that Danielle also mentioned. In fact it was a breath of fresh air after being bogged down with all the usual run of the mill fashion houses. I just wish there were more shops like that around Milan. There was a nice restaurant a few minutes from Ravizza called Meda Cafe, which is next door to the Baldinini clothes shop which is on Via Danti.

I really enjoyed hopping on and off the old style orange trams to get around. Watching them crawl along the cobble stoned roads around town really made the place seem a tad more romantic, which was nice.

I'll definitely be heading back to Milan if ever I have get the chance in future. I barely skimmed the surface of the place, so next time I'll scratch a bit deeper...