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Published: October 27th 2007
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The Might Duomo
Getting little face-lift Surprisingly, we got up at a reasonable time and caught the Metro into Milan’s city centre. The first stop was the Castello Sforzesco, originally started in 1368, but torn down to use the bricks for the city walls in 1447. It was rebuilt over the years with help from Da Vinci. Personally I think one of my favourite features is the fountain out the front!
We walked through the Castle to the park on the other side which houses the Peace Arch, Milan's equivalent to the Arc De Triomph. We walked down the main street, Via Dante, lined with exquisitely old buildings, which lead us straight to the city centre and the magnificent Duomo Cathedral.
The Duomo captivates the whole city, sitting centre stage in the large piazza. The pinky-white marble structure took over six centuries to build, and required an early form of canal locks, thanks to Leonardo again, to transport the large marble slabs to the site of the Duomo.
The exterior is overflowing with literally thousands of sculptures and spires which takes you awhile just to digest. Inside, the cathedral is massive. It’s lined with numerous stained-glass windows, spectacular artwork and even an eerie crypt.
Next to the Duomo and leading onto its plaza, is the famous Galleria - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II - home to every shop I will never be able to afford to shop in. Out of curiosity, we had a wander through Louis Vuitton and Prada before Leah and I headed off to get an ice-cream on our very own! And as soon as the waiter said something, we both look at each other, and then behind us and said ‘CARLO!’
We did manage to sort it out and walked away with what we wanted - another yummy gelato ice-cream - while the others waited for Francesca to arrive.
We walked through The Galleria to La Scala theatre, another famous landmark over looked by the state of Leonardo Da Vinci in the adjacent piazza. We walked up Via Manzoni and Via Monte Napolenoe, two of the most famous shopping streets in Milan, and the world of fashion, in the Quadrilatero D’oro (the Golden Quad).
We had a look through Emporio Armani and a number of other boutique stores along the way. However both Leah and I felt so out of place in our travelling casual jeans and shirt, and
Laki & Carlo
Castello Sforzesco not just in the elite shops, but almost in the city as whole! It doesn’t matter if you are going to the supermarket or a fancy restaurant, student or successful businessman, everyone here is in dressed in expensive designer clothes. That’s Milan.
Laki got in the vibe and got some fancy shoes for I’d-hate-to-know-how-much, although they were pretty cool shoes. Personally, I waited until I managed to convince them to take me somewhere more within my price range before I parted with my hard-earned cash.
All that shopping - window or otherwise - got us hungry, and so headed off to the bakery to try a ‘Panzerotti’ that Carlo said we had to try. Not long after we got there, a bunch of Carlo’s friends that he had not seen in years arrived at the same central city bakery! They came and sat with us as we ate our snack on the steeps of the Duomo.
Carlo was keen to show off his Italian teaching skills and told me to tell them what he had taught me. Caught a little off hand, the last thing I remember him teaching me was ‘Vaffanculo’ … after an eruption of
laughter, I realised what Carlo was looking for was ‘ahhh, San Siro, San Siro!’
We had a little look at the outside of the Palazzo Reale, the old royal place, before doing a last little bit of retail therapy and saying good bye to our new friends and Francesca. We headed back to Carlo’s house, collected out things then headed back to Malpensa airport where our adventure began.
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Stephanie
non-member comment
Love this Picture!
Hello! I love this photo of the candle light in the Duomo. I would like to use this image on my blog, www.fortheloveofkunmabo.blogspot.com I am going to put it on the post I am working on and if you would not like it to be on there, just let me know. Thanks!! -Stephanie