The days are flying past now! Today Julie, Sean, Griffin and I braved the crowds to spend the day over in Milano (1 hour away on the fast train, a little under 2 hours on the regular train). I'm glad we boarded the train early as it filled up completely with people and their weekend luggage appearing to be heading home for Easter. We arrived at Milano Centrale and made the quick transfer to the M3 Metro line towards San Donato, exiting at Duomo. Although it was absolutely bucketing rain when we arrived, the imposing sight of the Duomo as you emerge from the Metro station remains a simply amazing sight.
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| First sight out of the Metro at Duomo. |
Just as I recalled from my last visit here in 2006, the interior of the Duomo was simply stunning. I could tell that Julie was moved by the site and the scale. It's hard to imagine in this day and age the funds, work, and faith that built such a place over the course of 400 years!
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| Griffin and Sean with "Putti" in front of a chapel inside the Duomo. |
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| Inlaid marble floors. |
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| Griffin demonstrating the scale of the columns...think Redwood sized! |
We strolled through the Galleria Vittoria Emmanuel II amongst the throngs of people--remembering that this is the world's oldest and perhaps most posh shopping center (built around 1867 and now containing the likes of Prada, Gucci and others), so yes, even with crowds it's amazing--and a quick peak at the Scala (yes THE Scala Opera house) and the obligatory heel spin on the famous bull's um...bullocks, we made our way around the back side of the Duomo for a little lunch (while Torino's own Juventus topped Inter-Milan on the TV at the restaurant).
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| Galleria Emmanuel Vittorio II--the world's oldest shopping center! |
After lunch, we made Sean's day with a visit to the Ferrari store--he was in absolute heaven. The crowning jewel was an opportunity to sit in one a car once driven by Ferrari's pride and joy (German) driver Michael Schumacher's F1 car for a photo op!
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Pure happiness behind the wheel.
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On the way out was a treat for me...that I did not take up this time! I noticed that a Ferrari Daytona had pulled up alongside a Lamborghini that was already parked outside the store. As I admired the cars, a woman walked up and asked if I wanted to drive one! They had a set price to drive around Milan in one of these two Italian icons (with a "co-pilot"). She had what amounted to a menu of fees based on length/time, etc. Maybe next time...
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| Which one would you pick? |
Leaving Milano I took one last (panoramic) shot of the Piazza del Duomo:
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| Piazza del Duomo with Duomo in the center, entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel II on the left. |
Finally, after an interesting train ride home (including a band of teens up to no good...perhaps a story for another time), we stopped by our favorite gelato shop so that Julie could keep up her promise on gelato every day for the week she's here.
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| This time I had a concoction that was Gelato over mint-chocolate chip Gelato! (Affagati da Passegio) |
And finally...going to catch up on the news coverage of the Shroud of Turin coverage! It was broadcast today (along with the launch of a new Shroud App) as a sign of faith and hope on this Easter weekend.
Very tired now...
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