There are several reasons why anyone would want to visit a big city like Milan.  First, there is the third largest—some say the fifth largest– church in the world, Duomo di Milano.  Only St. Peters in Rome and a Brazilian church are larger. 

Secondly, there is Leonard’s masterpiece artwork of “The Last Supper.”  And, then too, Milan is the gateway to Lake Como, an hour by train north; and, Cinque Terre a region about four hours south by train.  Both places covered in other Bielicki travel exposes. 

Malpensa Airport is the final destination for many international flights.  Malpensa is a modern convenient airport about 31 miles from the center of Milan.  We would recommend that you take the Express Train into Milan.  We took the bus and it took over an hour and a half before we were let off by the train station.  The train takes 52 minutes.

Most people end up at Milan’s Central train station.  At first, it can seem to be overwhelming.  It is a huge place. It is estimated that 120 million people use this train station yearly.  

The first train station came on line in 1864.  It was transformed in the 1920’s by the dictator, Benito Mussolini.  He wanted a station that would represent the strength of the Fascist regime. 

We actually met an Italian who liked Benito.  Born in Italy in 1932, Amadeo said “Benito brought education for everyone.  He transformed society.”  Unfortunately, for Benito, he aligned himself with Adolf Hitler during WWII.  He was killed with his mistress in Milan and hanged by their feet. 

We did miss seeing Track 21.  A place where 1200 Italian Jews were sent to their death at Auschwitz.

There is a combination of architectural designs at the Central Train Station.  That are 24 tracks, huge decorative ceilings and various walkways.  There is today even a popular supermarket on the basement floor.

Outside is the grandiose sculptures.

On top of the train station there is the statue of Roman mythology of the wolf who feed—suckled– two young boys, Romulus and Remus.  This myth was written back in third century BC.

In 2015, an 11-ton apple sculpture was placed in front of the train station. 

Using the Apple as our reference point, we could spot our hotel down the street, Starhotel Anderson. 

An updated pleasant hotel greeted us from our long flight.  We were upgraded to a larger room.

And with a very nice bathroom.

Even though a bit older, there is a modern motif vibe with the black and red colors.  We were in Italy. 

Outside of our window we could see the classic train station.

Breakfast started at 6:00AM if you so desired to get up that early.  We found the staff to be extremely friendly.  You are greeted with the words, “Buongiorno,” meaning “Good Morning” in Italian. Always love hearing that word. 

 

The Greater Milan area has over eight million people.  Milan is considered to be the financial center of Italy.  The Italian Stock Exchange is located here.  Also, Milan is considered to be the four fashion capitals of the world.  You will spot well dress women and men wearing suits all over.  There were enough tourists that we blended in well with our shorts and tee-shirts.

There were a great number of scooters and motorcycles.

We got into the hotel late.  We had just one full day of exploration.  We decided to leave Leonardo “Last Super” for a future travel.  You have to join a guided group to go inside.  Also, pictures inside are not allowed.  Just don’t like that photo policy.  My dad, though, was able to click a fuzzy picture back in 1953.

Early the next morning we took the metro to the famous Duomo di Milano.  We learned you can buy metro tickets by the small kiosks that deck the walkways.  The Metro is friendly and clean.

A large square will greet you outside.  The city was celebrating football (soccer) championships. 

Like most churches these days, there is a price to get in. Well worth any price.

 

There was an office behind the church. We opted for the cheapest ticket—just to get in to see this beautiful place.  Many decided to take tours and even to take the lift up to the rooftop.   

The church is huge.

It took over six centuries to build from 1386. Some say it is still not finished. 

The stain glass windows are spectacular.

Milan’s Duomo has over 3,000 statues.  We eventually came to the Marco d’Agrate’s statue of St. Bartholomew “Flayed Alive.” 

This apostle had his skin flayed off.  It is rather a freakish statue sculptured back in 1562. It is rather remarkable when you think about what it took to make such a statue. 

If you climb the stairs or take the lift of the rooftop, you can see some of the 135 gargoyles. 

 

There are also a number of Popes buried in this famous Cathedral.

When we visit a Cathedral, we always try to light a candle or two for family and friends.

Diagonally across a people’s street is the Galleria—Victorio Emanuele II. This major landmark is Italy’s oldest active shopping mall.  It was finally completed in 1877 and named after Italy’s first king of the “Kingdom of Italy.”

The glass vaulted arcades designed in an octagon fashion is extremely impressive. We had to walk through it several times to gather in all the ambiance.

 

Outside there were a number of statues we noted.

Just down the street is a Ferrari store.  We had to take a look.

After walking through the Duomo and the Galleria we settled on a pizzeria that was recommend by a local, Dogana Ristorante. It was situated off the main streets and a bit quieter.

We were seated in the patio area. 

Kathie and I decided to split a very delicious home-made pizza. 

We did notice walking back a few areas that had awful graffiti.  Typical of many cities today. And, then there was some well done and interesting art-work.

After a full day we got back to the hotel and this note was on our door.

A strike forced many trains not to operate the next day.  This development made us lose one of our five days in the Cinque Terre region.   Also, the hotel had no available rooms for the next night.  Luckily, we booked its sister hotel across the street, Starhotel E.c.ho. 

More modern than Anderson, our regular eco-friendly room was just as pleasant as Anderson. 

Next to our hotel was an authentic small monastic building—Cascina Pozzobonelli– from 1498—created six years after the discovery of America. 

After an early breakfast and saying our usual “Buongiorno’s” to all the waiters, we went over to reschedule our train tickets.  The day before we were assisted by—whom we thought was an official looking person—who showed us how to use the machine to acquire train tickets.  I gave the guy a few dollars for a tip.

This time we decided to wait in a very long line to see an authentic official.  By doing so, we paid the difference for first class travel to Cinque Terre.  First class in Italy is maybe second class in Switzerland.

We had an extra day in Milan.  Too late for guided tours to the “Last Supper.”  Tickets sold out months ago.  We decided just to walk around the city. 

Around the corner from our hotel is an interesting bakery shop.  Authentic Italian bakeries are marvelous.

We came across this unusual looking skyscraper. 

Each of the twenty or so floors of this apartment building had trees and bushes.  “Bosco Verticale” was awarded “The Most Beautiful Skyscrapper in the World in 2015.” Designed by the inventive architect Stefano Boeri, the building is surely different. 

 

We saw buildings in Vancouver, British Columbia that had trees on ledges.  The Bosco Verticale beats everything though.

Our walk took us to the “Piazza Gae Aulenti.”  It is a modern plaza unlike the Duomo area. 

Walking further we came to the City Gate of “Porta Garibaldi” which was made in 1828.

Inside the gate was a list of names of proud Italians who died in WWI.  We did not see any names from WWII.

Adjacent to the City Gate is the popular ristorante and store called Eataly.

 We have been to the two Eataly’s in NYC and the one in Chicago.  Eataly are high end places with plenty of ambiance.

One of the owners was Mario Batali until he got himself into a bit of trouble. He was also famous on the food show called “The Chew.”  We happen to see Mario at EPCOT in 2015. He actually said hello to me as Kathie was in the restroom.  I should have taken his picture! 

We always enjoy visiting Eataly. We had a snack on one of the several floors. 

Later that afternoon we went back to the hotel to take a nap, and made a night visit to see the Duomo and Galleria. Walking around the Duomo, a Priest showed us where the Cathedral was hit by a bomb during WWII.

We personally like Milan over Rome.  Both cities, though, need to be visited. The Vatican in Rome is a must see. 

Our next journey was to visit beautiful Cinque Terre.  Later, we traveled north into Switzerland via Lake Como.