Milan - the pictorial version

Okay, now Milan was a bit of a wild card for me. Ulisse (Victor) seemed like a really nice guy, but apart from fashion (which funnily enough I'm not really into) I really didn't know much about Milan when planning my itinerary.

Looking it up I found that it has a very well known cathedral (with lots of Gothic work). So I planned to have a look at that.

Now, to be fair, when I arrived I was a little overwhelmed by all the options open to me (offered by Victor). However, I decided that the best option was just to take the map provided, head to the Duomo and take things from there. He told me that there was also a good castle in the centre of Milan, with museams in it - well, that sounded like the day all sorted.

That night (that I arrived), after updating some blogs, offloading pictures from my camera to my memory stick and calling Judith, Victor took me out for dinner. We then went on to a bar he goes to regularly and I got to observe Italian night life.

The next day, I headed off into town.

This view of the Duomo (Cathedral) was the first thing I saw when I stepped out of the train station (Duomo station of course). It is very impressive (but undergoing repairs, so the boards get in the way of the full view.

Here you can see the bronze front doors. These are a 19th century addition, this church was built over a period of 500 odd years (due to varying financing concerns by the "city council") but has then had additional works done over following years (including the doors in the late 19th century (I think thats correct). Just to the left of the guy in the blue hat, you can see a bit of the bronze door with its original "sheen".

And here you can see that whilst it is the leg of one of the figures, it is a convenient hand hold for the tourists and is kept nice & shiny by them.

Okay, so next I went looking for some breakfast. Really looking for something cheap but Italian (however really hoping for somewhere I could get a GOOD cup of tea (a problem in Italy).

Well, I wandered in the big fancy shopping centre that comes of Duomo square, and looking at the price lists, it didn't look like the place for me.

Underneath the big dome, appear to be a central shopping point for those with the cash.


Bernascion on one corner



Prada on the next corner



Louis Vuitton on the 3rd corner.



But have no fear, I'd been wrong before and would be this time - of course there was somewhere to get a reasonble cup of tea.

MCDONALDS!!! (Hey, at least the stock English Breakfast tea as standard all around the world) on the 4th corner. Who knew that they were a major fashion industry icon???? I just about needed a toilet when I took these photos. Unfortunately, at this point Milan lost any credibility it might have had with me as being a major fashion location.

It does however have some other nice stuff.

So, off I went to the Castle. Streets were no where near as chaotic as Rome or Naples (This was a good thing). The castle didn't really hold itself to any good photos (from the right distance there were too many things in the way, and up close doesn't do it justice). I wandered through the various museums contained within - nice stuff including some wonderful paintings which have some detailed clothing on them - will investigate when I return home.

Anyway - eventually got kicked out around 1:30pm (didn't do anything wrong, they just close for an hour at lunch). Decided I could be bothered hanging around, so I wandered off (starting to get hungary at this point and keeping my eye open for a good restaurant.

This is the restaurant that I found. The manager didn't speak English, but grabbed the Chef, who did. He then proceeded to serve me & check on me through the 2 course meal.
It was a simple, wholesome meal from a very simple little restaurant. The frontage is only that little awning, and a very basic menu - and yet, a brilliant meal for a reasonable price.

So then I continued wandering through town, towards the graveyard (which jumped out at me on the map). It seemed very big (and it was).

These are just a few of the family shrines in the yard of this massive graveyard.

Some of these individual (or family) shrines, are far bigger than the some small local churches built in Australia around the same time (1800's).

The graveyard continued on, and on, and on. It was a marvel to view and I was just staggered by the size and creativity that went into some of the structures. The picture on the right (with the shrine undergoing repair) is actually from the Jewish corner (separated from the rest of the graveyard interestingly, however it appears to have survived WWII mostly intact).

Anyhow, after walking through this graveyard for many hours, I made my way back to Victor's. This last photo is my favourite piece from this garden - not for the actual artwork but just the work that went into this single shrine - dedicated to one person or family (the door at the bottom is at least 6ft high).

And that my friends, is Milan.

Hopefully I'll be able to cover more in the next couple of days.