In order to attend the European Society for Human Genetics conference, I spent a weekend in Milan (Italy) with my wife.

The European Society for Human Genetics is the largest Human Genetics gathering in Europe. Our new Head of BioInformatics suggested we should attend in order to learn, share and network. So my wife and I planned a weekend in Milan.

After a VERY early flight, we arrived and went straight to the Château Monfort Hotel, a Palazzo part of the Relais & Chateaux network. Like a jewelry box, everything was tiny and precious, with an ‘Old Europe’ style and charm to it.

Saturday was my day off, so we walked all around town. Via Vittorio Emanuele II we strolled into downtown in 5 minutes, and visited The Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and Teatro Scala (unfortunately they did not have any show scheduled for that night). Then, via Via Dante we walked to the Castello Sforzesco, where we watched the Milan Rally cars go by, and then went to the Sta. Maria delle Grazie church (home of ‘The Last Supper’ masterpiece).

After the Leonardo Davinci Science Museum and the S. Ambroglio church, we went to have typical Italian antipasti lunch at Peck. Right after lunch I had to (like my wife said) visit the “Middle Finger” statue, which is appropriately pointed at the Stock Exchange in the Piazza dei Affari.

The statue bears the title of L.O.V.E., which stands for Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità (Freedom, Hate, Vengeance, Eternity) and was created in 2010 by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, known for his provocative works. The statue was supposed to stay in Piazza Affari for just a couple of weeks, but the city government decided to keep it there indefinitely.

After that we went to visit one of my new favorite museums: The Novecento Museum, with a great selection of XIX Century works, in particular Futurists. As there was a concert in Piazza Duomo, it was not easy to get to the main door, but it was completely worth it, and I assume that was the reason why there were not that many people visiting.

Since we had gotten up really early and I had to work the following day, we decided not to have dinner and go straight to bed.

The next day we had a lovely breakfast in the hotel, and my wife went shopping in Corso Buenos Aires, while I headed to the Milano Congressi for the ESHG show, where I met my team (Pablo and Jose). We visited booths, attended presentations, and read many posters and papers.

With my head full of ideas, and my pocket full of business cards, I took the subway to meet my wife downtown. We had dinner, pasta this time, at a very traditional Italian restaurant, Osteria Mamma Rossa, in Piazza Cincinnato, before going to bed. The following day we got up at 3am to get to the airport in time for our early flight to Malaga.