Day 59 - Discovering the Duomo

I will start with an update from last night. As you may have picked up, I had been rather disappointed by the atmosphere in the San Siro. Having been to a Roma match before, I had been expecting a lot more. It turns out that the Ultras were doing a silent protest last night, because of something to do with some ultras not being able to get tickets amid investigations into mafia links, or something…. Anyway, that all makes more sense now!

Today was my planned Milan ‘tourist day’ so, after a bit of a lie-in after yesterday’s late night, I caught the metro into the city centre - it was all very straight forward and the metro took me right to the Duomo.

I had a quick wander around the outside of the cathedral, and was fairly impressed!

I then found a lovely little cafe for a quick drink and croissant. Was it breakfast? Was it brunch? Was it elevenses? Who knows. But it then gave me the energy to start my proper tour of the cathedral. I had purchased a combo ticket that gave me access to the roof and terraces, inside, and then to the museum.

It was up to the terraces first. I had taken the lift option, but it was then still 90 stairs to the top. It was an amazing view, both of the architecture of the cathedral itself, and of the city more widely.

It was then back downstairs to the cathedral itself. My visit coincided with Mass, so I could not see it all, but again - it would be fair to say that it is impressive!

After the cathedral, I walked across the road to the Galleria Vitoria Emanuele II. I think calling it a shopping centre does not really do it justice! I did particularly enjoy that there is a mosaic of a bull on the floor, and the story goes that you have to put your right heel on its testicles, and spin three times to ensure that you come back to Milan again! Everyone was doing it, so it seemed rude not to, and doing so was also part of a virtual geocache!

I decided to then treat myself to a proper Italian lunch, and stopped at one of the restaurants nearby. What a lunch it was! I had tagliatelle al ragú and it was gooooooooood! There was some yummy tomato and garlic bread too, and some small sweet treats with the bill (which was actually very reasonable!).

My next stop was the Duomo museum. I thought it would be quite a small museum, but it very much was not! There were twenty rooms of artefacts from the cathedral, and lots of insights on its construction and maintenance. I could have spent a long time there, but did scoot round a bit as I had other things in the city I also wanted to see.

Using AdLabs to guide me, I gave myself a quick highlights tour of some sights in the Duomo area, including a statue of Leonardo, the Teatro allá Scala, and then onto Via Dante - one of the main shopping streets and, it turns out, home of an excellent ice cream shop!

I was also reminded both near the Duomo and then on Via Dante that Milan is hosting the Winter Olympics next year. I was very excited to see all the merch and the mascot (and by the prospect of getting excited by curling again!), although frustrated, as I was in Paris last year, that you can only buy Olympics merch with a Visa card, and I only have Mastercard. My bank account is probably happy though.

Next, I went to the castle - Castello Sforzesco, and had a great explore. I didn’t have the time (or energy!) to go into the museums, but it is great how much of the castle you can wander around.

With the castle explored, it was then time to hop back on the metro to my apartment in Fort Knox for an evening of laundry and admin ahead of my journey into the Alps tomorrow.