Chuck and I took the train to Milan, a two hour train ride west of Maranello. It felt really deserted and calm as there weren't as many people milling about the city as I expected. I guess everyone headed for the nearby sea and lakes to escape to heat.
We took the metro, the underground rail, to the Duomo. The Duomo is the third largest cathedral in Europe after St. Peter's in Rome and Seville's cathedral. Building began in 1386 and was not finished until 1813. The exterior has 135 pinnacles and over 3,4000 marble statues from all time periods, being the world's largest collection of marble statues.
Luckily, there's wasn't a very long line to explore inside. And there is no entrance fee as its a church. As with every other churches in Rome, modesty is mandatory. No uncovered shoulders or very short shorts or mini-skirts....or else, they'll turn you away.
Aptly named, the Duomo is located at the Piazza del Duomo as is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the entrance shown below. It is Italy's oldest and most elegant shopping mall. Like the stores, be forewarned: the cafés are pricey. But its a great spot to people-watch. Stores such as Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton are home to the Galeria.
We walked east of the Piazza del Duomo to the Castello Sforzesco. The Castello was the residence of the Sforza family, the despotic rulers of Milan in the 15th century. Forza means strength in Italian.
Next, we walked to the church Santa Maria delle Grazie. Next door is the Cenacola Vinciano which was once a refectory for Dominican friars and now is home to Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. Unfortunately, they have limited visitors with visits and have limited visits to 15 minutes. It was sold out and thus, weren't able to visit the famous painting.
After a lot of sightseeing, we ate at a sidewalk café. We really wanted to eat sushi, but they were not open until dinner. We found a sushi place that served hamachi and will definitely head back to Milan again to get our sushi fix. I've been craving hamachi! And sushi in general. But we had a good lunch. We shared caprese, shown above, and I had Parma ham with cantaloupe (actually, a good combination of sweet and salty). Chuck had spaghetti alla carbonara which he said wasn't as good as mine!
After lunch, we went shopping. Actually, I went shopping while Chuck waited patiently for me and gave his opinions. He did buy one shirt, but I was the shopping queen buying 2 dresses, 2 shirts, a cardigan, and a pair of shorts.
We hopped back onto the underground rail to the train station and headed back to Maranello.
When Chuck and I got off the metro at the Piazza del Duomo, we were bombarded by African sellers of the bracelets above. They were very aggressive and deceiving. Initially, he placed the bracelets on our wrists and saying they were free. I wanted to give them a little money, maybe like a euro, but they were like 10 euros. What!?! For this bracelet! So, we finally settled on 3 euros and we weren't backing down....despite their very strongly aggressive behavior.
We made it in time, half an hour early for the last bus back to Maranello.
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