Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan

Before we called it a day as the forecast storms were rolling in we took a stroll through the galleria. Once again we have been here before but we still find it fascinating and so interesting to photograph with its many angels, curves and intricate wrought iron and glass ceiling. It is a feast for the eyes.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is Italy's oldest active shopping gallery and a major landmark of Milan. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town, it is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by architect Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.

I’m not sure if there were less people here due to the bad weather but I even managed to notice some lovely mosaics on the ground of the central octagonal. There are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the three capitals of the Kingdom of Italy (Turin, Florence and Rome) plus Milan's. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull from Turin coat of arms this will bring good luck. Having done this before we didn’t repeat the process today and you can see the damage caused by this practice with a hole developed on the place of the bull's genitals. To be honest it is a weird custom.

After more photos than necessary were taken we strolled a bit further before calling it a day. While we would have loved to be out and about on our last night of Italy, the forecast storm hit and we are happy to be warm and dry.Read more