Blogs from Milan, Lombardy, Italy, Europe - page 2

Late breakfast today then go out for souvenirs.Rang and changed pickup time tomorrow. Lunch bite at McDonalds then coffee at Panarini's cafe. Back to hotel for rest. On my own walked to San Ambrogio basilica. Rebuilt in Romanesque style using artefacts from 300's. Plain inside except for beautiful gold mosaic tiled dome and several special original pieces. Also original chapel again with gold mosaic dome. On way back came across San Giorgio church with wonderful painting of Passion of Christ. Called into San Sepolcro church again, truly taken by it's simplicity and beautiful sculptured scenes. Lit some candles for our family then walked back to hotel. Straight to dinner.... read more

Up at 7am to get some photos before it gets busy with tourists. Back for breakfast. After breakfast bought some Fast Trak tickets to do the 3 Duomo activities. First the Terraces after catching the lift, spectacular views over the city and piazza. Then down to the inside of the Duomo, again spectacular interior & not too crowded. Then down to the underground archeological digs going back to 3rd century ruins. Spent morning on these activities then good lunch at Spidari cafe. We spent the afternoon at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. Then Church of San Sepolcro and Crypt. We found these very interesting and spent 3.5 hours there. Back for dinner, passegata with gelatos.... read more

Today we leave the beautiful city of Venice and head to the city of fashion, Milan. It was a long day but well worth it. We rose fairly early and hit our private water taxi for a last look at the Grand Canal and the beauty that is St. Marks as we made our way to the ferry landing. Our bus driver, Andreus, drove the bus to the ferry and arrived at the appointed stop just as we landed in our taxi. Perfect timing. Since it was a long ride to Milan, I settled onto the bus for a much-needed nap. Both Cathy and I slept for the first leg of our journey. At about 10 AM we had a “comfort stop” at the Auto Grill. Now for those who have not been to Europe the ... read more

Last entry from Italy!! We’ve taken it easy a bit here in Milan as Florence was quite full on. We are much further out. A 2k walk in to the Duomo which we did yesterday in extremely hot conditions, 28 - 29 degrees. The heat radiates off the pavements and buildings. At least with tall buildings there is always a shady side to the street. On our way we cross a beautiful park filled with people lying on the grass, children playing, and families having picnics or barbecues. No cafes. In a couple of areas there are fun activities for children’s to do, pedal cars and merry-go-rounds As well as the usual playground equipment. One piece we did see that we thought was brilliant - a huge blue bucket-like structure, actually like a cow’s udder, with ... read more

Early morning, left hotel at 8am, trains to Verona very expensive at this time of morning so decided to have breakfast here and get a later train OMG the size of the coffee's thought they were samples didn't realise we were being charged. Arrived in Verona just after 1not a bad train journey, Tonight we're staying in a airb&b, after trying a few wrong doors we finally found the right on, top floor of an apartment block, quite nice and we get the whole place to ourselves, we basically dumped our bags and went exploring, once you get to the centre what a brilliant place after Milan more what I expect from Italy. We had a walk round The Cathedral complex and then went into The Arena Amphitheatre. After a lovely Cannelloni (was nice) we went ... read more