You don’t have to be rich and famous to stay at the Hotel Palace in Milan, Italy, although many guests are. Simply put, if you want a luxurious, classical, relaxing, safe, discreet retreat from worldly preoccupations, you’ll find it at the Hotel Palace. Many people from the world of fashion, music and Italian soccer, people who are always in the limelight stay at this Five Star luxurious hotel. Whether in Milan for leisure or corporate activities, the Hotel Palace provides.

My first morning in Europe, after an absence of 35 years, was lost to jet lag. My second morning, though, was memorable. I sat quietly in my beautiful suite of rooms looking out between the "L" and the "A" of the large Hotel Palace signage, and ate a European breakfast served with a beautiful, single red rose.

Milan is the economic hub of Italy, but it’s also steeped in culture. Just think, La Scala! And you conjure up a tradition of opera unparalleled in the world. Maria Callas, born Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos in New York City in 1923, moved to Athens at age 13 and became one of the premiere sopranos in the world. She sang principally at La Scala in Milan, plus the Rome and Paris operas, Covent Garden, London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. La Scala, known officially as Teatro alla Scala, was built in 1776 on the site of the former church Santa Maria della Scala, by a member of the della Scala family, once controversial rulers of Verona. The famous Duomo, Italy’s largest Gothic cathedral, is in Milan’s central piazza, not far from the Hotel Palace. And at a monastery next to Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo da Vinci painted the Last Supper.

On my final morning in Milan, I walked for the second time to the Duomo. It is open early in the morning, and dozens of worshipers were already there when I arrived. Once inside, I passed a small line of Catholics, waiting to confess. I sat in a pew and reflected passionately on the magnificence and scale of the cathedral, organ pipes, paintings and architectural detail; love of God and pride in work were reverently everywhere. I exited the Duomo, crossed the large piazza, had my last look at La Scala, then headed back to my hotel. I would have stayed longer, but I had a ship to catch in Pireaus, Greece, and I planned to travel south by train.

If you are traveling to Italy in mid-summer, Milan should be the southernmost point of Italy you plan to visit, unless you have extraordinary resistance to heat and tourism. Everywhere I went south of Milan was packed with tourists, and the heat was nearly unbearable. South of Milan, drinking a liter and a half of water once or twice a day is almost mandatory for survival. I was happy to return to Milan at the end of my six-week trip through the Mediterranean, and to relax once more before returning home.

This was the first time in my traveling history I wanted to "bookend" my trip with a Five Star hotel. Here was my plan: after a long international flight from San Francisco I wanted to treat myself to a safe, luxurious, comfortable two nights to pass through jet lag before launching my European excursion. Then, after six weeks of intensive Mediterranean travel, I would relax and feel pampered before the long international flight home. It worked.