Milano

Happy International Womens’ Day!!  Hallelujah!!  We woke up to blue skies this morning!!  Wow!!  The sun was shining on beautiful Lake Como as we said farewell and loaded the bus, headed for Milano.  It was only a 1.5 hour trip and we caught some views of the snow covered Alps.  Getting into the centre of Milan was a bit of a slow process due to the traffic.

We met our guide, Valentino, for our city tour.  The architecture of the old part of Milan is spectacular.  Our first stop was the 15th Century Sforza Castle, an immense structure with endless courtyards.  We viewed the fourth sculpture of “The Pieta” by Michelangelo.  We walked along the pedestrian zone, past endless shops, as Milan is Italy’s fashion capital. We visited the Gothic style Milan Cathedral.  The outside of the cathedral is breathtaking, made up of sculptured marble.  It is impossible to even imagine how this cathedral was even built!!  The security was very tight for entering the church and there were guards checking bags all around the square outside of the cathedral.

We continued on through the beautiful Galleria, a very “High end” shopping plaza and we ended up in the Piazza Della Scalia, Milan’s famous opera house.

After the tour we had the afternoon free to explore on our own.  We split up into small groups to check out Milan.  Some people went up to the top of the cathedral for a better view of Milan, most everyone checked out the shops but I don’t think much spending happened as the prices were very high!!  I am quite certain that most everyone indulged in gelato, beer or wine at some point through the afternoon.

We regrouped at 5:30 to travel to our hotel.  We are staying at a lovely Marriott hotel for just one night.  We all crowded into Denise’s room to have a shot of local spirits....Lemoncello and Sambuca! The evening ended on a fairly low key with drinks and snacks downstairs in the hotel.