Italy 82 - our last Italian adventure, a castle, a shopping mall and a walk on the terraces

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First task of the day sorted . We had bought our tickets for the tram the day before in Bergamo and we had watched the trams go by so worked out roughly their times. As we were parked a few hundred yards away we could see them rumbling in and out of the station .

We walked the few hundred yards to the tram stop and within minutes it turned up. It took us right to the heart of the railway station. We bought two single tickets for 10 euros and a few cents and went for a coffee before boarding our green TreNord train leaving at 9.02 for Milan. Sitting upstairs it felt like a cattle wagon full of human beings on their mobile phones or playing with their IPads. The journey took 48 minutes and we arrived in the grand Milan station. Huge, monumental a tribute to Fascist art. Huge pillars, Roman style eagles , the writing all looked as if it was written by an ancient roman. Huge mosaics and shops filling every available inch. Iit is probably the most interesting station we have ever been in. All life goes through it. They say there is a pickpocket problem in Milan and the station but never felt threatened in any way. There were as always a few beggars and tat sellers about but nothing major and nothing any different to any other large city we have been in. The king of Italy Victor Emmanuel III laid the cornerstone of the new station on April 28, 1906, before a blueprint for the station had even been chosen. The last, real, contest for its construction was won in 1912 by the architect Ulisse Stacchini whose design was modelled on Union Station in Washington DC. Work because of the economic crisis in Italy during World War I slowed down and the project moved very slowly. Mussolini when Prime Minister changed the designs for the station as we wanted something more majestic which would represent the power of the Fascist regime. Construction began again in 1925 and it took until 1931 for it to be completed. With a facade of over 200 metres wide the vault soars up to a height of 72 metres and is covered by a huge steel canopy. With 24 platforms it is an amazing space and apparently every day 330,000 people use the station. It is covered with a blend of styles which include Liberty, Art Deco and is covered by statues. A truly artistic building. and an interesting way to enter Milan.

Our second task of the day having mastered the train was to get to the Duomo. It is a long walk and we decided to get the underground. Shouldn’t be difficult. We have been on the London underground and the Rome one. We found where to buy tickets and I picked up 4 x 1 euro 50’s worth which would have taken us from Milan Centrale to the Duomo and back. First mistake we got on the green line and not the yellow one and once we found the yellow line our tickets wouldn’t work. So a journey that should have cost 3 euros for the two of us had cost 6 euros and I needed to buy 2 more tickets for the return journey. Not an easy system to work out.

We got out into the sunlight and the first thing you see is the Duomo The gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the fifth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian state territory We thought it a lot smaller and squat that we imagined but beautiful nevertheless covered in its statues. We tried to photograph as much of the front as we could but the light was bright and my camera still had the blob on its lens.

Construction started in the 1300's and reactions to it have been mixed. Inside we paid our 2 euro fee to photograph and were given a yellow band to attach to said offending camera. How many people did we see inside without yellow bands – hundreds. Where were the security checking for transgressors ? Nowhere to be seen. We could have slipped by and not botherered to pay our fee. No-one would have noticed. We didn’t like the interior. It was far less impressive than the outside. Very dark and gloomy so we didn’t stay long before we moved out into the sunlight for a hot chocolate and ham and cheese toastie from a small café at the back of the Duomo. I wanted to go on the terraces. Glenn wasn’t sure due to his vertigo so I planned to go on my own catching the lift to the top for 12 euros. In the end he decided to come up with me and we paid instead 7 euros to climb the steps which wasn’t really that bad. A bit narrow in parts but an easy climb. We reached the first terraces and it was odd being half way up a cathedral. The vaulting and ribbing and arches soaring above, beneath and to the sides of us. Up close and personal with the statues and the carving. In the distance on a clear day you can see the Alps. Today although hazy gave us that clear snowy view of them. More steps take you higher until you are on the roof. The very top of the cathedral where you can look down on the square below, up at the very topmost of the carved saints. There is nothing between you and the sky. Walking on the lead felt odd and even more strange people were sunbathing up there. Was it worth the climb? Most definitely. AT least now I can say I have walked amongst the saints on the top of Milan cathedral. How many can say that? I stood amongst the statues, the pillars, the buttresses. If you ever go to the cathedral miss the inside just go climbing on the terraces.

Our next walk was through the most expensive shopping mall in the world where you find all the designer and expensive shops and leave your credit card at home. are. I am not much of a window shopper. The floors were exquisite and the wall decoration although some of it was covered with scaffolding. Il Salotto di Milano or the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel II is in the heart of the city and close to the Duomo. Designed by Guiseppe Mengoni in the 1860's, it is the worlds oldest mall full of high end shops Prada and Gucci.

Back onto the underground this time to Castello. I bought another six tickets. Two to take us to the castle , two to come back to Duomo and two for the station. This was slightly easier. There was only the red line and we found it straightaway.

Time for an icecream. Vanilla and limone ate whilst sitting in the sun outside the castle the castello Sforzesco built in the 15th century. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Largely remade by Luca Beltrami 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections. It was free entry and we decided to just wander around aimlessly rather than pay for the museums. A nice diversion before we set off for the underground.

Red line easy again and this time didn’t need the extra two tickets as you could walk from the red line to the yellow without leaving the platforms. We had an hour to wait for our train home and spent it in a heaving Milan station. Not a pleasant place to be when it is heaving as there were no seats, smoking is still allowed on the platforms and the restaurants were all full. We managed to find a seat at BurgerKing . Well you can rely on a Big Mac, a BurgerKing or a KFC. The train arrived on platform 10 and we boarded it. An hour later after passing through spaghetti junction of railway lines , graffiti lined buildings, dull and drab apartment blocks and run down signal boxes we arrived back at Bergamo. How peaceful it felt after the hustle and bustle of Milan.

Our tram took us home and we pondered. Did we enjoy it? Yes to a certain extent. We are not city lovers and it was mad and hectic. Were we pleased we had been? Of course you can’t miss things like this when they are on your doorstep. Would we go again? Probably not. Once seen, never forgotten. But those terraces - well they were worth every minute of the visit. Close to God if you believe in him, and if not well at least close to the sky and the clouds. What other church gives you the opportunity to climb to the very top and admire the architecture close up and personal.

Tomorrow we are moving towards home and plan to travel through Switzerland - a route we had not imagined we would have been taking when we started the trip. Clean tidy and pretty Switzerland.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Wow
Stunning

[JenGog]

milan
Make sure you go on the roof of the cathedral it is truly a stunning experience