Milan

A city best known for it's fashion, I, myself, could not enjoy such a setting to the fullest. I prefer to think of myself as being anti-fashion fashion (which is, in itself, a contradiction - which is part of the joke). Truly, such things do not particularly interest me.

I got to go on this little outing because Addayme & Nishlank were both doing their internships in Italy. They came to visit me, so I thought it would be nice to go visit them. My friend, Hannes, decided to join in on the fun as well. I think Milan was less than four hours from Antibes, and in that short time - I was only able to learn about two expressions in German. :-)

Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

















Yeah, I have no idea either.




Duomo di Milano (The Milan Cathedral)















According to Wikipedia, it's one of the largest Cathedrals in the world... and I didn't even get to go inside. Note in the picture below that I am wearing a spaghetti-strap shirt... and god-forbid my shoulders were exposed. Apparently, these things are not taken lightly in Italy - one should dress appropriately if they are going to go to a church there. No sleeve-less shirts, no flip flops, etc. Unfortunately, like a typical American tourist - that's all I brought with me.

















I can't remember, but I think I might have paid a couple of euro for that picture to be taken of me. This was against my will, of course... I completely got guilted into it. They have pushy panhandlers that hang out in the piazza with birdseed and they will walk up to you, grab your hand and put the birdseed in it before you can do anything about it. Next thing you know, the guy insists on grabbing your camera and taking a picture of you. So nice, right? Hell no, this guy actually asked me for five euro to do that! Insane! and of course, I was scared to death he was going to run off with my camera. This is what I get for walking away from my group so I could take a picture of that building.

















Anyway, it's one of the greatest and biggest examples of Gothic architecture. The amount of detail on this building is almost "other-worldly."



















So, like I said, the city of fashion....

























Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

These pictures were taken inside of what is reputedly the world's oldest mall... situated just next door to the Duomo. Some of the shops inside here are Gucci, Louis Vitton, Prada... clearly places I go shopping at all the time. But aside from all the gawdy & overly priced goods for sale, the place does have some beautiful frescos and mosaics. There were four mosaics each representing a city in Milan... for the life of me, I can't remember which this one represents...























When you go here, you'll see a crowd of people surrounding it... and you'll see people trying to spin on the heel of their feet. It's either good luck, or a wish will come true (something like that) if you can do a complete circle without using your other foot.























I tried and failed... you try spinning on concrete... it's impossible!

























It was still fun to try though. :-)