We started off the day with a lovely breakfast in the restaurant of the hotel.  It was a buffet style affair, but had a nice choice of pastries, fruit, yoghurt, meat, cheese and various drinks including coffee and fresh juices.  After picking up some items from our room and getting directions for the tram from the friendly receptionist, we headed down the road to buy tickets for the tram.  This was easy to do at a local convenience store and was very reasonable at 3 EUR each for a return ticket to the city centre (about a fifteen minute journey).

Upon arriving in the city centre, we were greeted with the magnificent Duomo in the central square.  We took a few pictures from outside and then headed in, passing through armed forces security guards checking bags!  As all we had in ours was some water and leftover pizza, we were allowed in, hehe.

As soon as we entered the interior of the Duomo, we were both blown away by the height of the ceiling and the grandness of it all.  It was quite dark inside and strangely warm, but the amount of sculpture work and stained glass on show was enough to keep us hooked.  We circled around the interior before heading out to pay for the lift up to the terraces of the Duomo.  Through more security checks and up the lift we went.

The terraces were not what we expected at all (possibly a small viewing area crammed with tourists taking awkward photos through railings).  We couldn’t have been more wrong!  You basically had access across most of the pathways around the roof of the Duomo along with being able to explore the many ancient tunnels that had been constructed as part of the terraces.  There were so many photo opportunities and the sun started to come out, which helped with the photos.  After we had enjoyed all of the views, we made our exit, after a slightly nervous descent down the main stairs from the high roof terrace (with Lois clinging to the back of my rucksack!).

When we got back down to ground level, we decided to go and see the baptistery and treasures in the underground vault of the Duomo, which meant entering the grand hall once more.  Lois decided to purchase a photo pass this time, which gave her a great opportunity to get some nice photographs.  We did find time to laugh at people ridiculously taking photos on their iPads!

After the Duomo, we pottered through the main shopping street, a beautiful indoor affair.  We’d been surprised that the shops hadn’t seemed that expensive, but had obviously been looking in the wrong places before (see the Louis Vuitton suitcase with its price tag in the photos)!  We then had a brief sit down near some other impressive sculptures and before treating ourselves to a proper Gelato ice-cream each.  Lois went for a chocolate mousse flavour and I got a bit greedy and had nutella, coffee and mango scoops, all of which were amazingly tasty.

Following the ice-creams, we headed to the famous castle of Milan, attempting to dodge the street sellers trying to trap tourists by tying decorated strings around their wrists and then demanding money – not something that does the city any favours.  We found that the castle was mostly public access, which was a really nice thing to have in the city.  We ended up having a nap in sun on the grass in the grounds of the castle and many other people were doing the same.  After awakening and watching some beautiful (and actually quite healthy looking) feral cats playing in the tall grasses, in what we think used to be the moat system around the castle, we headed towards an arch monument at the bottom of some lovely flowing green gardens.

We leisurely headed back through the park and the grounds of the castle and went in search of somewhere for tea.  A smart restaurant within sight of the castle and fountains took our fancy and we enjoyed a pasta dish each along with a lovely ricotta mousse and nougat desert – washed down with a surprisingly nice bottle of house white.

After finishing the meal, we headed back to the tram stop and caught the number 2 tram back to the hotel, where we spent the last few hours of the evening relaxing and chatting about all that we’d experienced in Milan (with Back to the Future II in Italian on in the background!).  I also treated myself and opened one of the bottles of cider that I’d bought in Honfleur, which was fantastic.

We’re off to the Stelvio Pass tomorrow, which we’re very excited about!

Enjoy the pictures!

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