Milan

We have finally arrived to our final day in Italy. We packed up the car for the last time and drove about an hour to Milan. We stopped for a late breakfast and checked into the hotel. This is our 3rd NH Hotel. Gabe said we will never stay at another NH hotel again. Ha!
We walked about 8 minutes to the Piazza Duomo and marveled at the enormous gothic cathedral in front of us. We came up from the back and found the Fast Track entrance. Thankfully we have fast track tickets. We got in the elevator and it took us straight to the roof. Wow! Amazing. The statues and detail of the marble facade is so impressive. Parts of the exterior are being restored. Basically they are power washing the marble. That’s what Andrew said. It’s true. Most of the marble has brown or grey stains on it. And then the portions that are done are bright white and pink. We climbed down the stairs and ended up in the main church. It’s the largest interior we have seen so far. There are 5 “naves” or branches off the center of the church. Each one is dedicated to a different female biblical character.
It holds 30,000 people, Only 2nd to St. Peter’s in Rome. 12,000 sq meters. 3,000 statues are on the outside of the church. The holy nail of the cross is kept high above the alter. A red flame is kept lit to signify its presence. It was a gift from Emperor Constantine. The arch bishop of Milan takes the box down to the alter and places it there for everyone to see for only 1 day per year during mass. The St. Barthmelew statue is also a very impressive sculpture. There are 2 organs, one on the left and right of the alter. It’s the largest organ in all of Italy.
After we got some photos, we were starving. So we found the closest restaurant. Which is not always a good idea. Very touristy. But surprisingly we all enjoyed our food. Gabe chose to eat just a little and went to get a sandwich after. He knew about a famous shop here so we split up and he went to go find the shop. I took the kids to the famous “mall” for a quick stroll.
It was raining when we started walking this morning. So we all have our jackets. Around 3pm it got very warm, so we went back to the hotel to rest. I went out to do some last minute shopping. I wondered around and found the Dolce and Gabana home store. It was beautiful! We met Vitto for dinner. The restaurant is one of the most famous in Milan because of the views. We sat outside on the balcony and got to marvel at the duomo at night. It’s all lit up. Our dinner was amazing. It was the perfect end to the trip. We all rode scooters one more time and got gelato of course. Tomorrow we will wake up and go to the airport.Read more