Italy - Milan

I've been here since Monday, but it's been all work. :( Though doing a fare had been kind of fun, but since I also have a cooking blog, I would obviously rather attend a fare of kitchen or cooking related things, than building related ones.

However, today was finally fun. I started the morning the usual way. I dragged myself out of my really comfy bed, convincing myself that working out is a good way to start a day. It is, but if I could get away with it, I'd rather snuggle under the covers and watch TV, than lift weights. However, my body needs weights more than a bed, so working out it was.

After a shower, I went down to breakfast. It was interesting, as it was really busy. They do have good breakfast here. I saw some black men in those dress things. There's probably a proper name for them, but oh well. I'm not sure if I've seen people dressed like that in real life, so I tried not to stare. Funny thing, there was a kind of single people's corner where I sat down, as pretty much everyone sat alone.

So finally, we were off to Milan! It's not that hard to get to in a car. In Milan there is much need for GPS, as a lot of streets are one way. It can also sometimes get confusing, and you may end up on the tram lane. It's more common than you'd think. We quickly found a car park not too far from the Duomo. A few turns, and there it was. It's massive. Sadly, we couldn't get in, as there were so many people, and such a long line, I just didn't want to spend hours standing there. At least I have a reason to go to Milan again.

I did go to the Gallery, which is a kind of posh mall. I wanted to take a picture of this Prada window display, but there was a weird man standing in front of it. He was looking down in front of himself, and his hand was moving in his pocket. Thoroughly grossed out, I went to take pictures of other things and return to the window once he was gone.

Next was the square where the Scala is. In front there is a statue of Leonardo. We went into the Scala museum, but they said they were having a rehearsal, so come back between 4-5pm. Okay, plenty more to see. So on the list next was the Sforza castle.

It's a nice walk there. You take Via Dante, which is part pedestrian. Of course, in front there are plenty of people selling roses, selfie sticks, the usual. I wonder if anyone actually buys. They sometimes annoy me.

So we checked out the castle. Pretty cool, though only checked out one museum. There are actually several, but frankly, unless a museum has something really cool or special, they just blend together after a while. This one didn't prove to be that special, though it did have some lovely things that you can see in the video.

Afterwards we had a walk in the park. It was such a lovely, sunny day, people were laying about everywhere. I loved the little lake with all the birds and turtles. So we walked all the way to the Arco della Pace. I went picture crazy on it. A really nice couple asked me to take some pictures, and they really seemed to love what I did. I sometimes wish I had models to take fun pictures of.

We started back to the Scala, but stopped for a sandwich on the way. There was a fun park in the actual park, and at the house of monsters ride the woman who sold the tickets looked just like the zombies.

We hurried back to the Scala. Sadly, the theatre itself was still a bit dark, but very pretty. I wish I could go to an opera there. I also checked out the museum portion. It was very nice, with a special exhibition on Maria Callas. Her dresses were so tiny! I also took a picture of a wonderful bust of Caruso. Oh, and they had figurines of the old theatre characters. Pierrot and Pierretta, Scaramouche. I know them from Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche novel. Which, by the way, is a fun novel that is very underappreciated. The movie is also great.

Anyway, afterwards we started back to the Duomo. I did the spin on your heel thing in the Gallery. I also went inside of a very pretty bookshop, where I could take pictures of the Gallery from the upper floor. The Duomo ticket office was closed, sadly. By then, I was exhausted and ready to return to the hotel. The day was great, but the pace was a bit forced. The bottom of my feet was feeling it.

Overall, I enjoyed Milan a lot. It's a very nice Italian city, with a good feel to it. Still, Florence stays my favourite Italian city, with Lucca a close second.