Arrevederci Roma


Advertisement
Italy's flag
Europe » Italy
August 28th 2010
Published: August 28th 2010
Edit Blog Post

We left Rome today and took the train to Milan. The train ride was very nice and efficient. Amtrak could learn a few things!! We travelled through both 'Florence and Bologna and saw lots of vineyards, hay fields and even some orchards--looked alot like Eastern Washington!
We found our hotel fairly quickly since it's located quite close to the station. We went up, checked in and left almost immediately for our quick tour of Milan. We were halfway to the subway when Ted realized we had left the deck door open and since it is connected to other rooms, he headed back to close it. Since we only had this afternoon to "see" Milan, we went to the two biggest draws: the Duomo and the Galleria. Fortunately they are right next to each other.
The Duomo is in a word, incredible. It took about 500 YEARS to complete and when you see it, you think it should've taken another 500. It's amazing what not having to beg for money every 2 years can accomplish--are you listening WA state legislature???
The facade of the Duomo has 140 pinnacles and a million tiers of statuary. The interior is fairly uncluttered, and there is a dress code that is actually enforced. They had people at the entrance turning away women whose skirts were too short or were sleeveless or showing any cleavage. This turned back most woeman under about 30. They made a mother and child stay out because the kid had an open can of pop or something.
There were probably 6 huge side altars, very detailed, and the stained glass windows had to have been 50' tall. Each pane was probably 4x5'--and also very detailed. They do celebrate Mass there and that was blocked off. Since it is a cathedral, the bishop's chair was incredibly ornate complete with a dome as well. The whole thing was jaw-dropping.
Now on to the secular!! The Galleria here is the first of all malls. Built in 1829-77. It is open air and pigeons fly in and out. Prada, Luis Vuitton and Gucci were there. Right nexct to a McDonald's--how horrid is that? Anyway, we went to the big three looking for just the right purses. The only one that came close to the right size and shape was in Prada's bargain basement and the "sale" price was 1250 euros--about 1500USD! So I figured since Tony wanted a tie, I'd pick one out for him there---the cheapest one I could find was 190 euros! Sorry Tony. We'll keep looking!
When we returned to our hotel, all the heat and lack of sleep had finally caught up with us. We just needed to sleep. I smelled smoke when we got in our room, but I was so tired that I just opened the window and fell asleep. Actually Ted fell asleep before me--a real rarity! and we slept about 3 hours. When my brain was functioning, I looked at the hotel reservation and sure enough, I had requested a non-smoking room. Ted even found an ashtray in our room. He went out to talk to the desk person and they wouldn't give us a different room and since the room "had been discounted 50% already", no discount was allowed. Even though smoking in hotels has been banned in Italy since 2005. Hotels.com will hear about our review!
After dinner, in the elevator on the way up to the hotel, Ted and I were comparing just how dehyrated we are--his wrists are too big for his watch to move and my ankles are swollen like some pregnant person! We've had about 2 liters each today and it's just a drop in the bucket!! Next we'll be discussing our arthritis symptoms....stay tuned😊
Tomorrow we leave early to take the train to Luxembourg--finally we get to see Serge and Chantal!


Advertisement



Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 8; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0369s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb