One thing is absolutely true: those who love variety cannot help but love Milan. There is no other place in Italy that can boast such a high number of ethnic restaurants, Tuscan trattorie, Chinese-cum-Japanese fusions, piadinerie, Irish pubs, Mexican bars, Bella Napoli pizzerias, steak houses, kebab joints and so on. The reason? An extraordinary open mindedness towards others, together with the knack of adapting to new situations and playing by the rules learnt over the duration of millenniums.

It must be added that it is not rare to hear that certain dishes taste better in Milan than in their homeland; take the case of the panzerotti di Luini, for example, transplanted into the northern city by grandmother Giuseppina , God rest her soul , entrepreneur from Puglia who moved up to Milan with her entire family in tow.

This is because decent hard-working intelligent people have always come to the Lombardian capital in search of a fortune; many have carved out their own niches and carried on turning their dreams into successes for so many years that they are more Milanese than the Milanese themselves. A bit like in New York: the best of the best, at its best.

What more can you ask of a city?