Northern Italy and Switzerland - Second Stop: Milan

Traveling just over an hour and a half north from Genoa by train we reached Milan (Milano for the Italians which, as a sidebar, has always bothered me a bit. Why don't we call places by the names the local residents use? Why do we change them? But I digress...) in the mid afternoon. We spent that afternoon and the next day wandering and enjoying many of the sites Milan had to offer. Rather than a chronological play-by-play, here are a handful of my favorite sites.

Basilica of St. Lorenzo Maggiore
Such a grand building. It was originally a Roman structure built in the 400's and has undergone many changes, additions, and demolitions since then. It was upon going in this church that I realized how spoiled I'm beginning to be by the architecture here. If this building were located just about anywhere in the US, it would have blown my mind. However, compared to many of the buildings I've gotten to visit this year, while amazing on the outside, I found the inside rather plain. Having said that, if you make it to Milan, do stop by. It's worth it just to see the immensity from the outside. Oh, and there's a fun park and playground nearby where the kids found some local children to play with for a bit and Arya got a quick game of Tag in with Mom.

Il Duomo di Milano
Now this is a church. This Gothic beast took almost 600 years to build and is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. When you enter, you feel small. Massive pillars, beautiful stained glass, details everywhere. As beautiful as the inside was, the exterior I believe to be the star of the show. Not only did we get to experience the beauty of this structure from below, we also went on a rooftop tour that allowed us to see how detailed it truly is. I noted many times over how there were intricate sculptures in places on the roof that, at the time of it's building, literally nobody who didn't work at the church would have seen and even those who did work there still might not have noticed. I'll let the pictures try to speak, but do yourself a favor and put this on your bucket list, roof tour included.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Built in the late 1800's and named after the first king of a unified Italy, it is one of the oldest malls in the world. It is a simple crossing of two major hallways with shops on both sides covered by amazing arched glass roofs and above the middle, the arches meet at a glass dome. Oh, and it's lined with the top names in high fashion to boot.

La Scala
Being music people, no stop in Milan would be complete without a trip to the most famous opera house in the world. Truly a magnificent building inside and out. Alas, no performance for us, but a nice walking tour including a peek at scores, costumes, portraits, batons, and various other pieces of memorabilia plus of course a look inside the performance hall. No pictures allowed I'm afraid. Do look some up though.

The Last Supper
I wish I could tell you that we got to see Leonardo's famous painting. It would be cool to tell you we got to go through the humidity control room all visitors have to stand in to be sure it is kept from deteriorating any further. And wouldn't you be jealous if I told you when you're there you can see the expressions of shock on the disciples faces as Jesus announces he is to be betrayed and that Judas's seeming indifference gave me the chills? Unfortunately, even such an off-season time it appears that one needs a reservation to get a chance to visit and we didn't have one. So...here's a picture of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church in which the painting resides. Close enough? :-/

Sforzesco Castle
This imposing edifice was originally the northern entrance to the city wall and served as the governmental hub of the town. Now it serves as a museum of both art and history and is the gateway to Parco Sempione, Milan's version of Central Park. We wandered the castle a bit and spent quite a while roaming the park including another game of Tag, this time with Dad.

Rizzoli Librerie
Readers who have visited Milan probably are surprised by this last entry. Rizzoli is simply a bookstore located in the aforementioned Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. What makes it special, beyond it being a nice bookstore, is the little touching moment that happened here. Stacey and I went to browse the adult section and sent the kids to see what they could find upstairs in the children's department. Several minutes later, I went up to find them and discovered them seated in this super-cool double-seater, double-decker couch. Arya was reading, library-story-time style, the story of Pinocchio to her older sister. They weren't being funny or showing off. They just both love being together and finding little things to enjoy doing together. And, at the risk of sounding a bit overly sentimental, perhaps that is the best site of all.