A Rocking December Weekend In Milan

For the last swipe this year, we headed to Milan. The Hard Rock Cafe Milan was my 228th UNITY visit. The weekend trip from 2nd to 4th Decemeber I got from my girlfriend as a birthday surprise. How she handed me the “gift”, was quite funny. Our flight to Milan took off on time from Düsseldorf airport at 12:05. The flight time was 1:20h and so we landed on time at Milan Bergamo airport. Since we had only hand luggage with us, it went for us quickly to the exit. With the bus for 12 € per person we drove into the city to our hotel. More about this below under tips.

Visit No. 228 – Hard Rock Cafe Milan

We booked a table a few days before arriving at the Hard Rock Cafe for 6:15 pm on Friday evening, our first day. We had a table downstairs near the Hard Rock logo on the left. The cafe has a modern decor and spans two floors. Downstairs we found it a bit garish and cold, as the chill from outside moved to the back of the cafe. The Rock Shop was located in front of the restaurant entrance. There is a variety of merchandise for men and women. The Shop has a large selection of different pins, shirts and keychains. Pint glasses and shot glasses are currently sold out.

Grand Opening Pins

The two over-the-counter Grand Opening pins were also no longer available. Since they both only have an edition of 300 each, that’s not surprising for a popular big city like Milan. Thank goodness I took care of the two pins in time before the visit and was able to get them early from Marco Della Valle, an Italian pin collector. Thank you very much for your help. I will come back to Marco later.
My personal highlight of the evening: I am very happy to have been able to grab a Hard Rock Cafe Milan Grand Opening TEAM Pin on the spot, which completes my collection from Milan. As a gift we were very happy about the Hard Rock Cafe Milan Classic White T-Shirt with personal dedication. Thank you so much! We really appreciate it!

For dinner we ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich, a caesar salad and mashed potatoes as a side order. It was delicious as always and we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the food was ready. Of course, since we were already hungry, this was great on a long day!

After the meal, I took a group photo with the staff on the stage upstairs where the second logo hangs! This is fun every time and I am very happy that everyone wants to be in the photo. Even two chefs came out of the kitchen and were there! Mega!

Hard Rock Cafe Milan facts

Opening Date: 4th July 2022
Address: Via Dante, 5 Milano, Lombardia 20121 IT
Mail: info@hrcmilan.com

Meeting With Italian Pincollector

The next day we went to the Hard Rock Cafe again for lunch. We arranged to meet Marco Della Valle, who had made a stopover in Milan. He was on his way to a pin meeting at the Hard Rock Cafe Venice. We already met by chance at the Christmas market and then walked together towards the cafe. I’ve known Marco for quite some time on Facebook and Instagram, so I was excited to finally meet him in person.

We checked and looked through our pin bags once on site before I bought pins and magnets in the store for friends and acquaintances. Again, note that you get 10% off your purchase when you show your AAA card. If you are a member of ADAC, this is printed on their membership card. I was able to save just under 12€.

UNITY unfortunately does not yet work smoothly in Milan. The points for purchases (restaurant and store) are booked, but in the app or on the website (UNITYbyHardRock) the visit to Milan is displayed as “undefined”. I have already forwarded the error to Customer Care and hope that it will soon be displayed correctly.

As a conclusion, I can say that the cafe was a great visit. The food was great, the staff was all very nice. We had a good time and a lot of conversation. You could tell everyone was interested in the hobby. I hope to see you again and wish you all the best for the future. Rock on!

Christmas Booths in Milan

What is absolutely typical for a December weekend in Milan? Of course a Christmas Market. One was at the Cathedral in the city centre. HRC Milan has two Christmas booths there, selling some nice Hard Rock stuff like Christmas huts, scarves, coffee mugs, jute bags and Panettone, typical Italian Christmas cake.

 

Hard Rock Cafe Napoli coming soon!

The next new HRC to open in Italy could be Hard Rock Cafe Napoli. According to initial estimates, it could open as early as Q2 2023. The exact location is not yet known. As soon as there are any news about this new location, you will find it here on my page.

Sightseeing in Milan

There is a lot to see in Milan. Of course, the focus is on fashion. But apart from expensive boutiques, there is much to discover in this beautiful. Here is a small selection:

The Milan Cathedral

The first sight we visited was the Milan Cathedral. We bought the tickets a week before via GetYourGuide and paid online. The entrance fee (without queuing) for the cathedral (without terraces) was 10€ per person. The tickets are available as online vouchers in the GetYourGuide app.
You simply must have seen the cathedral, it is considered a landmark of the city and is extremely impressive both from the outside and from the inside. We especially liked the huge paintings that were hung along the nave and gave a bit of an impression as if they were floating in space.

Flamingos in the center of Milan?

A little unusual, but why not? In a garden complex in the center there are about 10 flamingos, which can be observed from the street and well photographed. The pink birds can be found in the garden annex of Villa Invernizzi (Via Cappuccini). The walk from the cathedral takes about 10 minutes.

 

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano

We really liked the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano near the Hard Rock Cafe.
If you like coffee, you should definitely take the time and drink one here in peace. In addition to coffee, tea, wine and delicious pastries (sweet and savory), there are also many souvenirs for coffee enjoyment at home.

 

Useful Tips

1. We decided to take the bus from the airport to the city. After you come out of the airport building, you will find several bus providers that will quickly take you to the center of Milan. The price is between 8 and 12 € per way. Providers are for example Flixbus, Terravision and Autostradale).

2. A 24-hour ticket for the Tram and Metro costs 7 € per person. It’s definitely worth it, as it gets you from A to B as quickly as possible. We never had to wait long for the Metro. Feels like every 2 minutes came one, which drove us to the desired destination.

Travel Facts

Outbound flight: Düsseldorf (DUS) – Milan Bergamo (BGY) 2nd December 2022, 12:05 pm
Return flight: Milan Bergamo (BGY) – Düsseldorf (DUS) 4th December 2022, 4:05 pm
Hotel: Ibis Milano Centro