Milan

Just to prove I did more than shop, here's the scoop on our Milan trip. The merry throng consisted of Jack, HP, Shaun from Liverpool and we were joined by HP's mum and younger sister. We started off all enthusiastic to go to Venice - I had two travel plans ready; down to the type of wine we'd be drinking, until we found out that planes can't fly when there's fog.

Will Ryanair give us our holiday?

After 2 cancellations that saw us tearing back and forth Liverpool, we finally got on a flight to Milan, arriving in Milan a day earlier than planned. First sight of Milan proper:

It looks like some big historical place but its actually the train station

Our comfy abode for 3 nights

We made our way to the main square, where the huge Duomo, or church, hid shyly behind an equally big advertisement.

Apparently the last one was a reclining lady promoting perfume.

Inside it was suitably huge (the 3rd largest in the world according to Jack) and walking around its huge stone pillars reminded me of the scene of the underground dwarven cavern from the first Lord of The Rings. We went all the way to the top too, where we got a view of the city.

According to Jack, there are over 1000 statues all around the roof

Outside, the square was bounded off the other side by a shopping complex again cunningly disguised as a historical site with a name to match - Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel 2 (in roman numerals, just in case you were wondering).

Hope this place stays this way

Some pretty interesting stuff to see here, apart from all the high street brands. There was a cafe where guidebooks raved about, and where composers and kings alike had visited, so that was our lunchtime settled. No McD's for us in the fashion capital of the world!

Though even the McD here seemed a class above

In the gallery/shopping place, legend had it there was a mural of a bull, which featured a particularly prominent set of testicles, against which people would rub their feet for good luck. Being the nosy bunch of Malaysians that we were, we sought it out and did the necessary.

Wonder where the legend came from anyway

Poor bull - the people who thought this up must be laughing their heads off now

Anyway, a short walk through led us to La Scala, the famed opera house. Inside the museumy bit, we watched an orchestra rehearsing through a box gallery seat and saw clips from a production of Aida, an opera by the composer Verdi. The museum also happened to have the original manuscript written by Verdi himself. Looking at the notes, which were not at all like what you see in modern music manuscripts, I wondered how musicians back then were able to read them.

La Scala by night

The next day saw us wandering around town visiting what seemed like an endless stream of churches. The first visit though, was to a castle, in the middle of Milan. It was easily the biggest castle I've visited so far, housing a museum and an art gallery inside. Unfortunately couldn't get pictures of the garden, which was being replanted or something.

Housing works of Leonardo da Vinci, among others

First off, was a church which was founded in the first few hundred years AD, by this chap Saint Ambrose, who was responsible in bringing Catholiscism to Milan. It was a quaint old church with a courtyard that seemed to echo with the footsteps of the priests of long ago.

The embalmed body of Saint Ambrose is actually on view inside

Another church we visited, contained the famed Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci. However, tickets to see it were all booked up till February, so we had to content ourselves with a replica.

The actual painting covers an entire wall

The Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazie (St Mary's church) housing the Last Supper

We had dinner at a posh restaurant. Trying to be adventurous for a change, I ordered carpaccio, which was on the top of Food To Eat in the guidebook I'd been reading. Out came this glorious creation:

Raw beef sliced thin with cheese slices and rocket

Not to say it wasn't nice, actually it tasted better than I'd expected, just that I probably wouldn't place it on my Top 10 food list anytime soon. The dinner went well for everyone in general though, with Shaun having the Milanese breaded veal cutlet, and others having the saffron risotto. The staff were pretty helpful in planning a song and cake for Jack's upcoming birthday, so the night ended well.

Right before we surprised Jack with the help of the staff

High street in Milan

Where we saw prices for clothes going up to thousands of Euros. Where Shaun got scolded for trying to take photos in a store, and we theorized it was because they didn't want their designs stolen by other people prematurely. Where almost everyone seemed like models and the Hummers sat beside Ferarris and Porsches and Mazeratis on the sidewalk.

The Galleria Vittorio E2 at night

Little Venice - a canal in Milan

On the as-yet unfulfilled quest to eat really great spaghetti in Milan

Traffic - trams in the middle of cars and pedestrians

A walk through a park

Trying to reach the arch - similar to the one in Paris

A spoon embedded in the concrete - weird

Gelati - cinnamon flavour rocks!

Things I'll remember about Milan: Dogs that are small enough to be stepped on walking all over the place, each in their individual clothes, old-fashioned bicycles yet not looking out of place in a town, the disco roller bladers and spray painter street artists, the way shop prices are displayed outside shops so you know whether to go in or not.

Still want to go to Venice though.