We were ENAMORED by Milan. The richness of the architecture and the beauty in every little detail from the simple designs of homes to intricacies of monuments. I loved that there was color everywhere. Blooming flowers overflowed off windowsills and whether I was looking at the floor, wall or ceilings there was touches of an artist hue in every crevice. Beauty was everywhere. It was mind blowing standing beside structures built in the 1400’s! Mo and I stood in front of the Gothic Duomo di Malano cathedral (the white, pointy, castle looking structure in the pic) overcome by the sheer size of it. Can you imagine what church services must be like in there? I wasn’t able to get a picture of the cathedrals’s stained glass windows that justly show their splender and dimension but they were stunning. The Porta Sempione (the arch bridge like structure with statues on top) is called the arch of peace and can be traced all the way back to a gate of the Roman walls of Milan. Just wow. The only touristy thing we were not able to get in was viewing the original Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie because it required reservations that are usually booked out a month in advance.
Besides art and architecture we had the best food we have ever eaten. Even my low key chef of a husband said the lasagna at the Ristorante Galleria was the best he has tasted. We also discovered that all gelato is not created equally. The gelato at Amorino’s was AMAZING. The flavors where incredible and tasted like they literally blended the fresh ingredients and placed them in a creamy, smoothly delicious cone. We highly recommend the mango and black cherry. Delizioso!
I could not end this post about Milan without talking about the beautiful people of this city. It was like opening up my Vogue magazine and having models step off the pages and walk right in from of me. We seen every style of clothing imaginable and people where very dedicated to the look they chose. From tweed coat riding bicyclist (we know they were hot at 73 degrees) to older ladies in shoulder fur coats to teens in head to toe leather, there was a little of everything. I was also intrigued by the sheer amount of cultural diversity that roamed around us. It was a melting pot of wonderfulness. We did quickly realize that unstated rules about not cutting in line and the “customer is always right” did not cross the shores of the Atlantic with us. We had to make some adjustments in our expectation levels when it came to customer service and outright rude behavior. To be fair, most of the rude exchanges were with other tourists and after a few “woosa” moments it was all good.
A Tribe Called Whitlock 