ItaLondon

Hi All,
My wife and I (together with our 18 months old daughter) are both Italian but we have lived for over 10 years in London.
As a life of expat you are always with one foot on your home country and another foot on your host country. We recently both received an good job offer in Milan.
We don't complain about the monies (also in Milan we will be working in the banking sector), but we are scared that Milan is not a great city to live in (ps. we are not from that part of Italy).
We currently live in a nice and leafy suburbs in Surrey (still London as it is still served by the tube), and we are scared we may miss the great green areas which are around us, the proms, the long summer days etc...
We took the job in Milan because we wanted to 'give it a go', to see if we could live slightly closer to our family.
As British, what is your experience in Milan? Do you find it difficult to live?
Do you know if there are English nursery (0 to 3 years of age) in Milan? Are there any green areas to live in Milan?
Thanks in advance!

Lorna at Vicenza

Hi and welcome to the forum. Don't know much about Milan and a lot of our regular members will probably be on holiday now, but you'll hopefully get some answers soon.

ItaLondon

Hi Lorna! Thank you very much! It would be nice to hear from other people who live in Milan area. After living 10 years in the UK, we are quite used to this style of life and scared we may not like anymore to live back in Italy. It would be great to hear from out British people who live there. Thank you again

sunnysider

Hi italondon (from London)

I hesitate to give you any advice, particularly as your decision is already made and, though I have been a couple of times, my knowledge of Milan is somewhat limited.

I guess you already know a fair bit about Milan anyway.

Not as green as London I think and it's always been my understanding that the climate is pretty awful. But as I say I guess you know this.

One thing that maybe of some use - I believe that the (British) author of the excellent blog "Italy chronicles" lives in Milan.

Amongst the many articles there on italy good and bad I think there are a few which deal with Milan specifically. As an "anglo Italian" the author may also be in a position to give you some help/advice. I believe he has a child.

ItaLondon

Hi Sunnysider, thank you for your comments. Unfortunately, neither me or my wife know Milan well. We have only been there a couple of time. That is why, we are worried that we may have taken the wrong decision.
It seems that there is no positive in living in Milan compared to London/Surrey....

Bluemoon10

Hi ItaLondon,
I know Milan fairly well and I live near there. It's probably the least Italian of the Italian big cities but it's not bad. It all depends what you are after and what you are used to it. Clearly is not going to be the quiete and sheltered life style of Surrey (which in my opinion can be quite septic and uneventful), but it has its perks - not too far from the alps and Ligurian sea, decent level of culture, music and diversity, (obviously) good food, ok access to sporting facilities.
Of course the weather is not mediterranean but it's still warmer than London.
I think that with a bit of getting used to it, you'll have a good life there

ItaLondon

Hi Bluemoon,
Thank you very much for your comments. Do you know if there is any British community/regular meetup in Milan?
Do you have any recommendation on schools? British/International schools are better than the Italian public school?
Thanks a lot

Bluemoon10

Hi ItaLondon,

The most popular English Speaking (primary and secondary) school for expats is the International School of Milan: http://www.ism-ac.it/home.asp

Expats parents and teacher have a good social network there and they are a great source of information and support for the newly arrived.
Another good source of social networking can be found through Internations:
Milan expat Community for Milan expats | InterNations.org
Through the site you can join the expat community who live nearby. I found Internation a good way of integrating in a new place and you can just pick and choose the events and activities you want to partecipate to, without feeling you must attend or take part.

Once you know where you are going to be based within Milan let me know and I might be able to advise you further.

LivingHere

Depending on where you will be working in Milan it might be worth your while to look at Varese. Its commutable, greener and a bit cheaper than Milan. There is a European School and I think that one of the Italian private schools was planning to become bi-lingual. Although I'm not sure how that would work in reality.
My children were at the European School and were very happy there. Your child(ren) could be in the Italian section with second language English.

ItaLondon

Thank you all!
We will initially be living near the duomo, while we explore the city in order to find a greener/clean area.
How easy is to meet other English speaking families in Milan? Is there an organisation arranging meetings etc..?
Thanks

Bluemoon10

Yes, I agree that the Scuola Europea has a good reputation but I would not advise Varese. It's VERY provincial with hardly any decent services. If you must commute, I'd sooner go to Bergamo or Como than Varese.
On the whole, I think it's best to commute out of town at weekend and holidays (visiting various destination around Norther Italy) than commute into the city every week day.

All the best!

ItaLondon

Hi Bluemoon, in Milan centre, do you know of any expat meetup? Our family would like to meet people as we are new to the city.

Bluemoon10

Hello,
I am personally no longer involved with the expat life in Milan as I travel quite a bit for my work.
My best advice is to join InterNations and you'll soon have the opportunity to meet up with folks in Milan.

BM10