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Saturday 9th August;; Day 54! A day in Milan! Irena picked me up in her car in the morning, which was a little painful after a late one the night before; and we headed 20 mins out of the village to a train station. It took about an hour on the train to reach Madrid and upon arrival we were in amazement at how beautiful the station was haha! The ceilings were so high and everything was carved and sculptured to perfection. Things weren't looking so beautiful once we got outside, however, as the weather was a little dismal and dark clouds hovered above. We refused to accept the weather though and walked about 20 minutes towards the centre repeating just how beautiful the wether was and saying 'what clouds? what storm? there's no storm coming!!' Haha maybe a little mad but it seemed to work as a storm never came. As we reached the town square, we walked towards where the famous and humongous Duomo Cathedral stood. As we approached it from the side, I wasn't aware at just how big it was but as we walked around to the front, my jaw dropped and I was taken back by it's size and just how grand it was. We stood back and looked up, along with thousands of other tourists, simply admiring and staring at it's beauty. A truly remarkable sight and I think even if you were not religious; you could appreciate and embrace just how extraordinary it was and just how long it would have taken to build. I read somewhere that still to this day they are making adjustments to it, fixing parts and adding little things so it seems it's completion is more on-going and never-ending! There were 2 very long lines waiting to go into the cathedral; one at the forefront entrance and one slightly to the side where you could walk up to the roof and see the city from above! Something both Irena and I agreed to do! (and something she refrained from telling me until afterwards that she was afraid of heights!!!! Silly billy!) We decided to get lunch first and sit in front of the Duomo before lining up to climb. I must mention how gorgeously handsome the guards were of the cathedral entrances and I think they were actually from of the army. Waiting wasn't so bad thanks to them ;) As we approached the ticket office, we saw that it was €7 to take the stairs, or €12 to get the lift.......so €7 it was haha and so we climbed a million tiny steps before coming out onto a big balcony just before the very top. The views already were stunning as we peaked over the edge and through the statues and by this stage the dark clouds had cleared completely and the weather was perfect. We took some selfies (of course!) and continued up more steps until we reached the very top. People were scattered everywhere; some walking around, some peering over the side looking down, some sitting talking and relaxing, some expressing how scared they were of potentially falling over the edge (I couldn't help but find this amusing despite their distress as there was no way anyone was going to fall over the edge unless they literally climbed up and jumped!) but bless them for the courage to experience it anyway; it's definitely something you don't want to miss doing if you ever visit Milan. The view of the city below was stunning but the feeling of peace and quietness was more attractive as we slowly walked around. The one thing I will say; and it seems anyone from Italy agrees, that Milan itself as a place is a little dirty and shabby and I wouldn't have believed it until I stood looking across it from the top of the Duomo. You could see it was very congested and not designed to be aesthetically pleasing. But that's okay; not everywhere can be paradise I guess! We sat down and I soon found myself laying down and spread out in the very middle haha. I could have laid there looking up at the sky for hours if I could; and probably would have if I was alone. I guess it may have looked weird to other people seeing me laying down but sometimes things look even more beautiful from a different angle!! I then had the idea get a photo of me laying belly-down in the centre and so Irena took some great snaps which I put on Facebook. Not your typical tourist photo but something I would happily like to see in a travel magazine ;)
After absorbing the atmosphere and the beauty of being up so high, we headed back down and joined the line to go inside the cathedral. It was stunning to say the least; and huge. We took our time looking around and taking photos and again I think I would have stayed in there for hours if I was on my own.
The rest of the day, we walked around, ate some amazing ice cream, visited a castle called Castello Sforzesco, stared at some beautiful Italian men working in a coffee shop, bought some €4 flip flops (thongs), and watched a street performance of this Scandinavian girl balancing this clear ball rolling all over her limbs. She had this beautiful angelic music playing too. Not the greatest description but it was truly captivating and there was something about the girl who was performing. Her elegance and the way she moved was so beautiful and she reminded me a little bit of a friend of mine back home called Sasha <3
By now the sun was shining strong and it beamed onto the Duomo completely transforming it into this luminous bright angel-like place that lit up the whole town square. I didn't realise it could look any more beautiful than it did this morning, but I was wrong!
After an amazing day being a couple of tourists, we headed back to the station and on the train to Lake Iseo. I'm happy I got to visit Milan and it's another place I can cross off the list!
In the evening, Mattia, Irena, Irena's boyfriend, Andrea and I headed to Mattia's cousins house where we had been the night before and were wined and dined completely with way too much bread, cheese and meat! I had eaten a lot ever since I landed on Italian soil but I think I definitely overstepped the mark this night as my pants almost exploded!!!! The rest of the evening we spent relaxing outside with the views of the lake and all the night lights on but I soon retreated to a hammock-style chair in the garden and fell asleep laying there for maybe an hour with some cat that had come to make friends with me and decided to lay on my stomach. Apparently it was wild but always hung around the house here but I wasn't going to say no to kitty cuddles!
Around 12 midnight, we packed up our things, said thank you for the beautiful hospitality and headed back down the mountain to a bar just down from the one we had been at the night before. Some of Mattia's friends awaited us and we spent a few hours relaxing and discussing the lack of money the waitresses make here in Italy and how hard it is to save and travel. I guess there are pros and cons in every country when it comes to work, wages and taxes, but it seems that we are quite blessed in Australia and maybe we don't realise how tough other people have it. We don't pay 70% tax and we get paid at least $20 an hour to work. Not bad really.
But as the night drew to a close, it felt a little bitter-sweet as it was my last night in Italy and that meant going home tomorrow. Well home being Spain, so I guess that wasn't so bad!!! Thoroughly exhausted and ready for bed though, we said goodbye to everyone and headed off back to the house.
I wish I could have spent another 5 days in this beautiful part of the world but at the same time I couldn't believe I had actually even been able to visit at all. The initial plans for the weekend here were apparently for us all to go 3 hours North to the border of Switzerland and go rafting together but it didn't work out so at least this gave an excuse to come back again one day soon and make more memories :)
- comments
Sinclair So descriptly written, really enjoyed it
Carlo Hey Chloe how much weight have you put on. Lol now no lying. The food there is too good to refuse. You're making me so jealous. Grrrrr! Ciao for now.