Milan

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On Saturday, nine of us paid 80 francs each, hopped on a train, and rode almost 2 hours to Milano Centrale Station in Italy. The train was comfortable and fast, and it helped to pass the time having 8 other interesting folks to chat with.

When we arrived in Milan about 10:30 in the morning, we were surprised to find that it was not nearly the 42 degrees the forecast said it was going to be. This was quite a dissappointment. We trugged through the station in search of an ATM and a restroom. it seems there were only about one of each. The restroom cost a Euro to use, so a bunch of us regretted using the one on the train before we got off. We finally headed in search of the metro that would take us to Duomo, the "third largest church in Christendom."

We had such trouble trying to purchase our metro tickets. The lines were so long, and there were Gypsies at each station trying to take your money. The Gypsy at my station kept pushing all the buttons for me tried to convince me to give her my money to put in the machine. That wasn't gunna happen. Another girl had her change stolen from the machine as soon as it came out.

We finally all got our tickets and made it to the correct subway. As soon as we arrived in the big plaza in front of Duomo (which was a breathtaking sight to emerge from the subway and see), there were men all over trying to tie frienship bracelets on our wrists so they could as for a "donation" They wanted these donations for feeding the birds too. One of the men shoved birdfood in my hand and I was instantly swarmed by pigeons. He then proceeded to harrass me for "just a small donation" even though I didn't volunteer to feed the birds, and kept telling him I had no money. He was angry and kept following me until I finally made it accross the plaza towards where our group was forming.

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Photos

Caffe Dell'Opera
lunch

Photo 3
pretty sure this is the "rectangle of gold"

Photo 4
McDonalds