Milan
6:56 PM
From Lyon, I took a 7 hour train (connecting in Geneva) to go over to Milan as part of my mini tour of Italy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the trains had an eletrical outlet which enabled me to be thoroughly entertained by my video ipod for the full journey. My second day in Milan, i took a city tour of Milan. One of the main stops we made was at the Castello Sforzesco, a castle that used to be the seat and residence of the ruling family of Milan and now houses several of the city's museums and art collections. Photos below:
Milan train station
Old city map of Milan
Front facade of the castello
City walls.. the castello was much bigger than it is seen today. When Napoleon conquered the city during the Napoleonic wars, he demolished much of the wars to make way for the many buildings that can be seen in front of the facade today.
Milan crest/symbol
House which belonged to the Italian Prime Minister, in a prime district of Milan.
Santa Maria delle Grazie, famous for the mural of the Last supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the refectory of the covent.
Sorry, not the real one, just a copy. The real one is already deterioating at a really fast pace so photos are an absolute no go in there.
Typical streets of Milan. Interestingly, Milan is the only italian city which chose to retain the 1930 tram cars and not upgrade them to the more modern ones... so you'll still see them today in the city.... (small yellow boxes with hardly any ventiliation)
Scarla Opera house
City Town Hall
The Galleria that connects the opera house to the Duomo. Many luxury brands have their stores here, including the first Gucci coffee cafe, where visitors can sip coffee even if they're not planning to go inside the store at all. Had the most expensive lunch in one of the cafes.... 20 Euros for a course of risotto!!
There is a saying here that if you put the heel of your foot into the hole and turn a 360 degree turn, luck will come to you.... so bulls are lucky animals here :)
This is probably the one building that most people come to Milan to see, the Duomo, constructed of white marble and is like the 4th largest church in the world?
Piazza Duomo
Thus was my sightseeing in Milan. I spent quite a bit of time shopping here too as when I was there, the year end sales were on and they were awesome! To me, it was an ok city, though not the nicest in Italy, and I definitely was very cautious when walking around due to all the gypsies that were always lurking around the touristy areas.
Milan train station
Old city map of Milan
Front facade of the castello
City walls.. the castello was much bigger than it is seen today. When Napoleon conquered the city during the Napoleonic wars, he demolished much of the wars to make way for the many buildings that can be seen in front of the facade today.
Milan crest/symbol
House which belonged to the Italian Prime Minister, in a prime district of Milan.
Santa Maria delle Grazie, famous for the mural of the Last supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the refectory of the covent.
Sorry, not the real one, just a copy. The real one is already deterioating at a really fast pace so photos are an absolute no go in there.
Typical streets of Milan. Interestingly, Milan is the only italian city which chose to retain the 1930 tram cars and not upgrade them to the more modern ones... so you'll still see them today in the city.... (small yellow boxes with hardly any ventiliation)
Scarla Opera house
City Town Hall
The Galleria that connects the opera house to the Duomo. Many luxury brands have their stores here, including the first Gucci coffee cafe, where visitors can sip coffee even if they're not planning to go inside the store at all. Had the most expensive lunch in one of the cafes.... 20 Euros for a course of risotto!!
There is a saying here that if you put the heel of your foot into the hole and turn a 360 degree turn, luck will come to you.... so bulls are lucky animals here :)
This is probably the one building that most people come to Milan to see, the Duomo, constructed of white marble and is like the 4th largest church in the world?
Piazza Duomo
Thus was my sightseeing in Milan. I spent quite a bit of time shopping here too as when I was there, the year end sales were on and they were awesome! To me, it was an ok city, though not the nicest in Italy, and I definitely was very cautious when walking around due to all the gypsies that were always lurking around the touristy areas.