tamaranth | Milano! (Reply)

ladymoonray and I have been to Milan! To see my friend Cinzia! Via Ryanair and a punishingly early start time, travel cost less than a trip to Plymouth to see my family. The architecture in Milan is infintely superior, as is the pink drink.

I'd previously visited Milan in January 2000 with

lproven, during which visit we had walked all over the city, enjoyed several excellent meals, and failed to see Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. This time the temperature was about 40^o higher, there were far fewer people (we didn't know, when booking, that most Italian cities are effectively closed during August -- Milan apparently more than many), and due to our wonderful local guide we managed to see The Last Supper after all. I must report that it is still very difficult to actually queue for anything.

Highlights:
- the sheer range of gelati from which I had to choose:
- the basement of Il Duomo (Milan's stupendously large and ornate cathedral), in which Roman and early medieval buildings are being excavated. The archaeologists have carefully sorted mosaic stones by colour. I suppose there is nothing else they can do with them, any more: but once the order meant something.
- the railway station. Gloriously OTT monumental architecture, complete with Zodiac plaques, coloured glass and more statues than you can shake a big stick at.
- glancing down side-streets and alleyways to see collages of ancient and modern, sublime and ridiculous

Captions on mouseover, probably ...

Statuary, Castello Sforzesco