Italia Day 31 & 32 - Milano Take 2

Here we are at the end of my 2011 Italian adventure. I spent the last 2 days of my holiday back in Milano, hanging out with my friend C. I didn't do much in those 2 days - just some of this - enjoying birre at Capetown Cafe.

And a fair bit of wandering around the shops, taking photos of monuments where I saw them - like the Porta Sempione.

I kept coming across elephant sculptures all across the city. Turns out they are part of an art project raising awareness of the Asian Elephant.

Finally I came full circle and ended up back at the Duomo.

I got so into the swing of the city of those last 2 days I even bought some ridiculously oversized sunglasses.

Grazie, bella Italia, for a wonderful, at times chaotic, sometimes magical, but always unique, vacanza. You got under my skin in a way I never expected and I will see you again soon, that's a promise.

Italia Day 2 - Milano

Day 2 in Milano started bright & early with a power walk around Zara. This graffiti caught my eye - the sporty little number in front of it isn't bad either.

Dressed more conservatively, we headed back to Duomo to check out the inside of the cathedral. When we came out of the metro we walked right into some kind of film-set. Suddenly dozens of people started dancing - over and over again to the same song. It was really fun to watch, but we still don't know what they were filming.

Before we went into the cathedral I was desperate for my first fix of authentic Italian espresso. It didn't disappoint, as you can probably tell by my goofy grin.

There was no flash photography allowed inside the cathedral, so only a couple of my photos turned out. This stained glass window was spectacular.

This is the best shot I could manage to convey the cathedral's grand scale.

This guy was a bit creepy, but very interesting - almost like an anatomical sculpture.

After soaking up as much as we could inside, we headed outside & climbed the one hundred & something steps to the roof. Words cannot describe the beauty. I took dozens of photos, these are just a few.

View from the lower terrace.

Gargoyle.

View across the roof from the middle terrace. This is my favourite photo - I love the pigeon in flight.

Through the flying buttresses.

The marble walls.

Piazza del Duomo from the top terrace.

One of the statues, surveying the sights below.

Madonnina, surrounded by scaffolding. Tradition dictates that no building in Milan can be higher than this statue. There are a couple of modern buildings that broke this tradition, but apparently they have smaller replicas of Madonnina atop them.

Looking back across the top terrace.

Detail of a tile.

A clocktower opposite Duomo.

Another gargoyle.

And another one - this time with a modern twist - anti-pigeon spikes.

Eventually we were able to drag ourselves away from the Duomo rooftop. On the way to our next destination we came across some more library porn. This is the oldest public library in Milan - Biblioteca Ambrosiana. It now houses an art gallery.

Next we stumbled across San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore. The interior of this church was covered with 16th century Milanese art. It took my breath away. I'll share just a few photos here, starting with the magnificent roof.

My favourite painting was this triptych of the Noahs Ark story.

What was really amazing here was there were absolutely no barriers anywhere. You can get as close as you like to the art. I only saw one small 'no touching' sign.

Looking back across the Hall of the Nuns.

Last stop on day 2 was Castello Sforzesco. The castle was built in the 14th century and now houses a number of museums.

There were a few of these structures dotted around the outside of the castle - we think they could be guardhouses or barracks.

One of the exterior walls.

The castle courtyard. It's impossible to do this place justice with a small point & shoot digital camera.

Outside the castello is Parco Sempione - the perfect place to lie back & digest everything we had seen. The steel structure to the left is Torre Branca - a 97m high tower which I plan on climbing when I get back to Milan. In the distance to the right is the Arco Della Pace - the Arch of Peace.

Next stop - Sicilia!

Italia Day 1 - Milano

After a long long flight from Sydney-Singapore-London-Milan I finally arrived in Italia on Tuesday. My gorgeous girlfriend C met me at the airport & helped me navigate the public transport system back to her flat in Zara. After a shower & a bit to eat (check Eat More Vegies soon for a report on my food adventures), we headed into town for the afternoon to do some exploring.

The definite highlight of Milano is the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral). This is the largest cathedral in Italy, around 700 years old & completely faced with marble.

I will never forget the feeling of ascending the steps from the Metro to have this amazing structure revealed to me in all its glory.

We weren't dressed appropriately to go inside the cathedral (with knees & shoulders uncovered), so we just wandered around the outside admiring the intricate detail, like this window:

and these faces:

Down a narrow laneway near the cathedral we spotted this tower peeking through.

It turned out to be the bell tower of San Gottardo in Corte, a 700 year old church. Just beautiful.

From the tower we looped back around to Piazza del Duomo and wandered through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II arcade.

This is the stunning glass dome covering the octagonal roof at the centre of the arcade.

Tragically, the architect who designed the galleria (Giuseppe Mengoni) died just months before its completion by falling off the roof. Apparently visitors can avoid Mengoni's bad luck by spinning around on the testicles of a bull in the mosaic floor. I was pretty keen to avoid bad luck so here I am spinning around. The floor here is completely worn down.

I don't remember exactly where this statue was, but I was quite taken with the arrangement of the pigeons on him.

I honestly can't remember the name of this square but it was extremely old.

Each column had the names of what we presumed were soldiers, so it may be some kind of war memorial.

Finally, to finish day 1 of my Italian adventure, here is some library porn. This is the Biblioteca Zara - the public library of Zara, Milan. Unfortunately it was closed.