Duomo d’Milano

Before getting into today’s adventure, here’s a clip from last night (Thursday) I took from our back balcony. This is what we love about staying in Airbnb flats versus hotels. We were in a regular neighborhood, listening to the local kids playing. It totally flashed me back to when I lived in Sicily 30 years ago as I used to watch the kids play in our courtyard. Of course those kids are now approaching 40 years old, but…

We had a very short drive today, only about 90 minutes, but it rained all the way. Not terribly hard, just enough to have the wipers on. As I didn’t want to drive into Milano and deal with trying to park the car in the city, we found a park and ride. It was at the end of one of the metro lines and, once on the train, we were at the Duomo in less than 20 minutes. Perfect.

The official name of the Duomo (Italian for Cathedral) is The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s quite the mouthful so it’s no surprise everyone just calls it the Duomo. It is the largest church in Italy, 2nd largest (after St. Peter’s in the Vatican) on the Italian peninsula, and 3rd largest in the world after St. Peter’s and Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady Aparecida in Brasil.

Construction began in 1387, was consecrated in 1418 but took 600 years to complete, with the final touches being done in 1963. There are more statues on this gothic-style cathedral than any other building in the world. There are 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles and 700 figures, and that’s just on the outside. There are hundreds more on the inside.

It was heavily damaged in WW2. Luckily the incredible stained glass windows had been removed so those were saved.

The last time we were in Milano in 2016, we didn’t go inside because the line was crazy long and it was crazy hot outside. Seeing the inside was the main reason we came back this year. Because of our handicap placard, we didn’t have to wait in line and we didn’t have to pay. I’m so glad we came back because the inside of this remarkable building really takes your breath away. The carvings and windows are beyond belief. You almost don’t know where to look first. Here are just a few of the many pictures we took.

There is an archeological museum in the basement of the Duomo, but there were too many stairs and there was no handrail so it wasn’t safe enough for us to go down. Instead we went to the Duomo Museum, which was phenomenal. It contained many of the original windows, carvings and spires that are too old to expose to the elements. There were also original tapestries, chalices, and molds used to make the components of the Duomo. I took about a zillion pictures but here are some we (Peter helped pick them out) think are representative of what we saw.

I could go on and on, but I won’t. I think you get the idea that both the Duomo and Museum were well worth the trip.

Here’s a short video of the Piazza from the front of the Duomo.

Then it was time for lunch. We wanted to eat at the restaurant we visited in 2016 that specialized in Risotto, but we couldn’t find it. If it hadn’t been raining (just drizzle but enough to get wet), I would have left Peter on a bench and looked a little harder for it, but I didn’t want to drag him through the streets without even knowing if the place was still open. So, we ate at a restaurant just behind the Duomo. They had outside seating under a large canopy and heaters so we were perfectly comfortable.

Today we switched it up. Peter had pizza and I had Risotto alla Milanese.

Our last stop of the day was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is on one side of the Piazza Duomo. Factoid: Every city in Italy has dozens of things named Vittorio Emanuele II. Why you ask? He was the first king of the unified Italy.

Anyhoo….the galleria is 4 stories and is meant to look like a covered pedestrian street. It was built between 1865 and 1877 and is Italy’s oldest active shopping mall.

One of the mosaics on the floor is of a bull.

Legend has it that spinning 3 times on your heel in this exact spot will bring good luck. Well, Peter needs all the good luck he can get right now so it gave it a whirl.

Here are some yummy looking pastries we found a few steps from the bull.

If Milano is on your bucket list, there are many more things to see/do than we did today. We spent 4 days here in 2016 and didn’t feel the need to repeat those adventures. But if you come be sure to…

Then, of course, there’s the shopping. Milan is the fashion capital of Europe so there are more than a few shops for you to browse. Depending on what you like to do, you could easily spend several days enjoying Italy’s 2nd largest city.

Tomorrow we have a long drive (about 5 1/2 hours) through northern Italy and Switzerland to Colmar, France. I looked at places to stop along the way but we’ve already been to Lugano and there wasn’t much to see/do in Bern or Basel, so we’re going to power through to Colmar. Besides, weather is still rainy and we’re driving through the Alps, so I’d rather get it over with before snow starts.

Hopefully we’ll get to Colmar in time to actually enjoy some of the city before checking into our flat. It will be sad to leave Italy but we’ll be back next year. Buona notte cari amici.