Milan - take two

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We didn’t get to see much during the Contiki pit stop in Milan so we decided to go back ourselves. Some things were much the same as our first visit - bad weather, rowdy people in the streets when we’re trying to sleep, good pizza and more live music in the square! Although Milan hasn’t become one of our favourite cities we were glad to come back and see more of it. This time Lysh was dressed appropriately to go into the Duomo and we also went up onto the rooftop. It was really strange to be amongst the spires and gargoyles on top of the world largest Gothic Cathedral! We had a great view over the square. We only just had time to take in the view before the heavens opened.

We ducked in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (a very fancy shopping arcade) so Lysh could spin on the bull’s balls. We know this sounds strange but apparently it’s good luck if you spin on the delicate area of the bull mosaiac on the floor in the centre of the galleria. There is a well worn hole and a crowd of people watching so it’s pretty popular ! Richie opted not to spin but hopefully Lysh will get enough good luck to share!

It was definitely a museum afternoon because of the rain so we went to Sforza Castle. We heard there was another Michelangelo piece here, so we went hunting for it. We found Rondanini Pieta near the end of one of the many different museums they had. The Pieta represents a unique event in the artistic life of Michelangelo, particularly because he worked on the sculpture for many long years and according to the literature, was engaged in sculpting the Pieta up to a few days before his death. It was really incredible to see another piece of work by Michelangelo - we have definitely become fans of his!

We had hoped to see the Last Supper whilst in Milan but reservations are generally booked out months ahead! It has become especially popular after the Da Vinci Code was released. Seeing this will be another thing to add to our list for next time!

We have taken many metros in our travels so far however the one in Milan was the first time we had seen a dog on there! Not a guide dog - people just take their dogs everywhere here! The other thing we like about the metros is the buskers. There are some really talented musicians (and also some not so good ones like really bad karaoke style singers) and it makes the ride more interesting!

We were informed on our Contiki trip that Milan’s speciatlity dishes include Risotto Giallo (rice with saffron and parmesan) and Cotoletta alla Milanese (Veal schnitzel). We started hunting around for places to eat but ended up finding an awesome pizza shop where we they make the awesome large pizzas, it was great to see them making the dough for this one, it sure is an art!!!! Mmmmmmm!

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