Tips and recommendations from a local corporate girly living in the city.
Some people loathe the rain, some people revel in it.
Myself, I stand on a middle ground where my level of appreciation for these heavenly tears solely depends on my mood of the day and the amount of stress I am under.
On the days when my mental condition veers towards a quiet appreciation for this melancholic weather, I have a set of things that I love doing to max out on the rain while it lasts.
1. Have A Coffee Date (With Myself) at Ditta Artigianale
How absolutely fantastic and therapeutic is sipping a cup of coffee at a bar, watching the world go by as the droplets rhythmically hit the windowpane? To me, this is like real life poetry.
On rainy days, I love to pick a spot that is relatively close to my place — often an opportunity to try one of the myriad coffee places I have saved on Google and never visited — pack up a book, a notebook or my laptop, and set off on a little adventure on my own.
Some of my favourite ones in my area are:
- Ditta Artigianale
- Cafezal (Cadorna)
- Caffe Roncaglia
While it can also be nice to use this opportunity to catch up with friends and have a cosy moment together, frankly I love just taking this time for myself. In fact, I love using these opportunities to work on things I care about but I feel like I never have time for — such as today, where I am using it to write this very blog post.
Rainy days truly feel like a moment to stop and breathe, to catch our breath in between stretches of highly demanding and draining periods.
P.S. For more coffee recommendations, I am working on a public Google Maps list with all of my favourite ones. Let me know in the comments if you’d like that and I’ll share it with you!
2. Sip A Cup Of Hot Tea While I Read By The Window
If I do not even feel like going out, perhaps because the rain has quickly turned into a storm, my alternative is a hot cup of tea at home. I hardly order tea outside because, quite frankly, in most places it is a waste of money. Being charged 3–4 EUR for a tea sachet I could have bought for about 0.10 EUR is insanity, and I live by the principle of never giving in to this legalised robbery.
Rant aside — enjoying the rhythmic sound of rain while reading a book, sipping my tea and — to truly complete the picture — perhaps a lit candle next to me, is absolutely divine. Bonus points if the candle is scented.
Not only does this feel cosy, but I feel it regulates my nervous system without me even trying, and I end up feeling so refreshed and at peace after these sessions.
3. Go To La Triennale / Or Any Museum
The chances of me staying home for the whole day are pretty slim though, because I just love being outside whenever I can. So if the rain hits, you’ll most likely find me at a museum — La Triennale, to be precise.
Why this one, you might ask? To be honest, it’s really up to you. But for me, this is my favourite museum in the city for multiple reasons: first of all, it’s relatively close to my place, and the walk there is beautiful, so for me going there is an experience that starts from the very moment I leave my flat and accompanies me all the way through to the end.
Secondly, it’s an interesting museum of contemporary art with rotating exhibitions, meaning you often discover new artists depending on the week or month you visit. The exhibitions are, in my opinion, extremely well selected and curated, so whenever I go, there is always something for my taste.
Thirdly, part of it is always free — while some of the exhibitions require purchasing a ticket, there is an area of the museum that is always open and free to the public, meaning that even if you’re on a budget, or you simply don’t feel like spending, you can still spend an enjoyable time here.
Lastly, it’s open until 8PM, which for a lazy person like me is great as I’m always running late to things.
In general though, Milan offers so many amazing museums, and on the first Sunday of the month, most of them should be free. So on your next rainy day in the city, I highly recommend it!
4. Go To Cinemino / Or Any Cinema D’Essai
Another thing I love about Milan is the crazy number of cinemas d’essai that it offers.
For those unfamiliar with the term — a cinema d’essai is basically the opposite of your typical blockbuster cinema around the block serving all the latest releases.
According to the Collins Dictionary,
“Cinema d’essai (borrowed from the French cinéma d’art et d’essai, meaning “art and trial cinema”) is most commonly translated as arthouse cinema, experimental cinema, or avant-garde cinema.”
It either refers to non-commercial films that prioritise artistic expression, formal experimentation, and storytelling over blockbuster appeal, or physical movie theatres dedicated to screening these types of specialised, non-mainstream, classic, or indie films rather than big-budget Hollywood studio releases.
While I have never been a fan of blockbuster cinemas, I absolutely adore spending hours in the smaller venues screening indie or older films that you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
My favourite one is Cinemino, in Porta Romana, a cosy and edgy bar offering a tiny room to screen films in their basement. To access, you need to have a yearly membership card, but it’s only 5 EUR and to me it is absolutely worth it. As it is mainly a bar, you can easily order a drink or even food and take it downstairs to munch on while you watch the film — just as you would at home.
Again, for more recommendations on the best cinemas d’essai in the city, let me know! I haven’t put this together yet, but I can.
That’s it — all of these activities usually take me multiple hours as I love to live and experience things extremely slowly. So by the time I am done, the day is usually over and I can go home and relax with a nice hot drink, a blanket and some music in the background.
How about you? How do you spend your rainy days normally, and do you enjoy them or prefer the sunny ones?
As always, wishing you all a lovely day,
Elena
