Milan has seen a makeover for Expo 2015. Susie Boulton visits the city as it gears up for the great global fair, and discovers the nearby delights of Lombardy.
Undisputed city of fashion and design, Milan is now turning its attention on two of its other great strengths: food and art. From May to October the city is hosting EXPO 2015 (www.expo2015.org) whose theme is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. This mammoth exhibition will feature a record 140 participating nations, 50 cutting-edge pavilions, many designed by top international architects, and receive an expected 20 million visitors.

Taking place on a million square metre site north-west of the city, the fair will celebrate food cultures around the world, including of course those of Italy and its host city, but more importantly will focus on sustainable food production and how we might feed a world population of 9 billion by 2050. On the less serious side there will be activities for youngsters, DJ sets, cooking shows, concerts, a 12,000-seater open-air theatre and the famous Cirque du Soleil performing an exclusive nightly show. Not to mention the tasting of some of the best dishes in the world.
To coincide with Expo the city of Milan and surrounding regions (Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria) are offering a rich programme of cultural events. Milan has seen a makeover, not only with major urban development projects (still in progress), but with new and revamped museums, creative new shopping hubs, luxury hotels, night spots and cultural centres.

The trendsetting Triennale Design Museum will be mounting the Expo-linked exhibition ‘Arts and Food: Rituals since 1951’, while the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) is to host the largest ever Leonardo da Vinci retrospective with over 100 original drawings along with manuscripts and paintings. For Leonardo's iconic Last Supper, hidden away in the refectory of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, book as far in advance as you can on www.cenacolovinciano.net. Models of the ever-inventive genius can be seen at the Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci while the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana will be displaying 12 chapters – one a month during 2015 - of Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus, the vast collection of his notes and drawings. The manuscripts, normally only accessible to scholars, span almost the entire life of Leonardo and provide evidence of how his studies anticipated great scientific discoveries ahead of time.

During Expo numerous other musical events will take place throughout the city, including jazz, dance and free concerts in Piazza Duomo in the heart of the city. The dazzling Duomo (cathedral), third largest church in Europe, provides sensational views of the city from its roof terraces, stretching as far as the Matterhorn on a really clear day. The renowned La Scala opera house (www.teatroallascala.org) will be hosting 140 events during Expo, including recitals, opera and ballet, many aimed at families. If you don’t get to a performance at the opera house you can usually get a peek into the fabulously opulent auditorium on a visit to the La Scala museum.

The city has also seen the opening of culinary hotspots, inspired by Expo, such as the innovative Carlo e Camilla restaurant (www.carloecamillainsegheria.it) converted from a sawmill and part-owned by top Chef Carlo Cracco or the four-storey food concept store, Eataly (www.eatily.it) occupying the site of the former Smeraldo Theatre, with 19 eateries (one Michelin-starred), top-of-the range delis, food workshops and free music, from pop to opera.

Beyond Milan

Food-themed Expo is spreading its tentacles beyond Milan. The city is capital of Lombardy, a land of infinite variety embracing great lakes, art and culture, wine and gastronomy - all within easy reach of the Milan.

The underrated city of Brescia, 45 minutes from Milan by train, is hosting an Expo-linked exhibition on Food in Art, Masterpieces from the great masters from 17th century to Warhol at Palazzo Martinengo. This takes you on a culinary journey from still lives of the Old Masters to Andy Warhol’s interpretation of The Last Supper and shows how artists, at least up until the 19th century, used to love painting the dishes of their native regions.

If this foodie exhibition whets the appetite head for La Sosta (www.lasosta.it ) in the beautiful Palazzo Martinengo delle Palle, a five minute walk away. Try their fabulous Casoncelli, pasta parcels resembling perfectly-wrapped sweets, which are stuffed with cheese and herbs and served oozing with sage-flavoured butter.
Brescia’s modern outskirts are pretty grim but the city has outstanding art and architecture, an attractive old centre, good food and fashion boutiques with far cheaper price tags than those of Milan. The not-to-be-missed cultural site is the Santa Giulia City Museum, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.
Converted from the 8th century Benedictine convent of San Salvatore it was turned into a church and convent complex and covers Brescia’s history from Roman to Renaissance times. Exhibits number 11,000 and include the exquisite 8th cross of Desiderio, encrusted with 212 jewels. You would need a couple of days at least to absorb it all.

Beguiling Bergamo is a walled medieval city in the foothills of the Alps, rich in culture, strong on gastronomy and liberally endowed with stylish shops – Bergamo has it all. What’s more it is only two miles from Orio al Serio, Ryanair’s ‘Milan’ airport (www.ryanair.com). While summer tourists make a bee-line for Milan the Milanese make for to Bergamo for a weekend break in the cool hills – it’s just 45 minutes by train from the city.

Seen from a distance the city is a mass of bell towers and domes, silhouetted against the mountains. It is in fact two towns, the more modern Città Bassa (Lower Town) and the Città Alta (Upper Town) which is bound by a circle of 16th century walls, built by the Venetians after the city expanded beyond its medieval ramparts and fortresses. A funicular links the two, trundling up through terraced gardens, and bringing you to a medieval quarter far removed from the bustle below.

In the atmospheric streets of the Città Alta you can feast your eyes on home-cured hams, handmade pastas, honeybread and pastries, local wines and liqueurs. Bergamo is also all about polenta, but the bright yellow 'polenta e osei' you see in the shops are polenta only in name. These sugar-coated cakes, topped with little marzipan black birds, hark back to an earlier age when polenta was served with spit-roasted wild birds on top. For eating out, which is one of the great pleasures of Bergamo, look no further than Da Mimmo (www.ristorantemimmo.com) on Via Colleoni 17 where two of the seven Mimmi sons carry on the family tradition producing honest Bergamesque cuisine. Try specialities such as Chisöl from a 17th century recipe: a little polenta antipasto oozing creamy Stracchino cheese from the Orobiche valleys, or the home made casonsèi alla bergamasca, ravioli stuffed with meat, pear, amaretti, cheese and pancetta.

Bergamo’s architectural showpiece is the Piazza Vecchia , often described, despite its medley of buildings, as the most perfect square in Italy. The piazza has an enchanting fountain with marble lions of St Mark, and is overlooked by the Palazzo Ragione and the Campanone (belltower) which chimes 180 times every night at 10pm in memory of the curfew under the Venetians. Beyond the arcades the hybrid Duomo may disappoint but Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Lombardy’s finest Romanesque churches, albeit partly shrouded by later buildings. The renowned Venetian condottiere (mercenary) Bartolomeo Colleoni had no hesitation in demolishing an apse of the basilica to build his own mausoleum, opting for one of the most prestigious locations in the city. Known as the Capella Colleoni, this is a masterpiece of the early Lombard Renaissance, with an interior sheltering ceiling frescoes by Tiepolo and the tomb of the condottiere.

Lago di Como, the Celebrity Favourite. Como city no longer sells fine silk, but it has a glorious Gothic-Renaissance cathedral and makes a great base for boats trips on the lake. From Milan central station you can be by the lakeside in 40 minutes. Ferries for Bellagio, ‘pearl of the lake', stop at lakeside villages en route, and are more fun but far slower than the enclosed hydrofoils. The renowned villas and gardens are on the sunny west bank, among them Villa d’Este, the most luxurious hotel on the lake, hosting royalty, politicians and film stars and Villa Le Fontanelle, favourite home of the late Gianni Versace (he had four), now home to a Russian multimillionaire. If passengers get excited and act like paparazzi as the boat approaches the little village of Laglio, it’s all about the 25-room Villa Oleandra on the waterfront which belongs to George Clooney. The actor fell in love with the mansion while on a motorcycling holiday around the Alps in 2002. House prices in the vicinity have been soaring ever since and the mayor has made Clooney an honorary citizen of Laglio.
Villa del Balbianello
Before you reach Bellagio, you'll see the lovely Villa del Balbianello (www.fondoambiente.it) on the tip of a wooded promontory between Lenno and Sala Comacina. Romance, peace, seclusion, tranquillity and fabulous gardens: this villa has everything you might hope to find in the region. Visitors can be taken across in the private shuttle boat at Lenno (where the public ferry stops) or walk from the village (about half a mile). The villa, which was bequeathed by the last owner to the FAI (the Italian National Trust), has featured in numerous movies set in the region, among them A Month on the Lake (1995), Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Casino Royale (2006).


Lago d’Iseo- The Lakes’ best kept Secret. You won’t find celebrity villas or movie locations on lovely Lake Iseo. This peaceful and atmospheric little lake, tucked between lakes Como and Garda, tends to be neglected in favour of its larger neighbours. Overlooked by mountains it has fine walks and a beautiful central island, Monte Isola, which supports a 200-strong community of fishermen, boat builders and net-makers. The pace of life on the island is palpably slow and the only car belongs to the local vigile (policeman). You can walk or cycle right round the lake promenade (just over 5 miles), stopping for refreshments and fine views from little fishing villages, where salted lake sardine (translated as 'twite shad' on menus) dry out on poles by the lakeside. A steep climb through tiers of olive groves, vineyards and chestnut groves, will bring you to the highest peak (nearly 2000ft), surmounted by the sanctuary of the Madonna della Cerioa, built over a pagan shrine.

Dotted around Lake Iseo are villages worth visiting for their medieval centres and waterside promenades. Lovere has a grandiose basilica and Count Tadini’s palace, full of Old Masters and ceramics collected on his Grand Tour. At Pisogne across the water the fascinating Chiesa di Santa Maria della Neve, dubbed 'The Poor Man's Sistine Chapel', is entirely frescoed with scenes from the Passion of Christ by Girolamo Romanini, a contemporary of Michelangelo. Clusane in the south is famous for restaurants serving tinca ripiena, tench stuffed with cheese, bread and spices, and busy little Iseo retains a medieval core and offers attractive strolls by the lakeside. One of the loveliest place to stay is Riva Lago (www.rivalago.it) at Sulzano, right on the lake and just a ferry hop away from Monte Isola. Order a glass or two of the sparkling Franciacorta, the rolling wine-growing region to the south, and enjoy the views across to Monte Isola from the lakeside terrace. With a car, follow the hairpin bends up to Polveno, high in the hills, for the lovely Ristorante Ginepro (www.gineprofoodwine.it). Try the mouthwatering malfalde verde alla zucca, green pasta with pumpkin flowers, the bagoss cheese from the Brescian valleys or pike or perch from the lake. The views from this rustic restaurant down to the lake have to be seen to be believed.

With the tranquillity of lakes and mountains less than an hour away from their city, it’s little wonder that the Milanese take short breaks year round from the bustle of the metropolis.