Milano

Unlike Amsterdam and the thousands of bicyclists, the first thing you notice about Milan is the urban density, the traffic and the preponderance of SmartCars!

 
Everyone seems to have one - that or a tiny Fiat to negotiate the many narrow streets and alleys that lace the historic downtown. Arriving late in the morning, I found my hotel, took a power nap - jet lag still an issue - and then wandered the streets past ancient Roman arches, parks built back in the Renaissance and monumental buildings, statues and churches on every corner.

As anyone who has heard or read of Milan knows, the sightseeing highlight is the Duomo, famous for its grandeur, scale and gothic appearance. This 'little' chiesa (church) was built by the city fathers long ago when they wanted to impress (and eventually conquer) all the other surrounding city states such as Venice, Verona, Florence, etc. To that end they built BIG and spared no expense; tricking it out with all kinds of rococo adornments on the marble walls, bronze doors and rooftop buttresses.  

Of course it took nearly six hundred years to complete, but when you're thinking big, time appears to be no issue. Can you imagine such a thing in the U.S.? The inside of the church is as opulent and grand as the outside, but unfortunately they weren't allowing photos due to a service being conducted. Therefore, I plunked down my €5 and climbed the 170 steps up a dark, narrow tower to the roof where there was an inspiring view of the plaza and surrounding cityscape. 

Apparently these days, every ancient church, building and statue is being refurbished. From the lowliest pension to the greatest cathedral, everything has its attendant scaffolding and workers reinforcing, painting and sanding. So it was here in Milan - one could be disappointed but that would be overlooking the very real need that something be done to protect these works of art from the incessant decay of age and pollution.

  

You can probably see from the photos that it was quite cold and windy the day I was there - it is winter here in Italy, after all.  But that didn't seem to stop tourists and students alike from enjoying this spectacular monument to what humankind has, and can achieve.

It's strange to say, but sightseeing like this can be exhausting - as probably most travelers know. So late in the day I descended the stairs and made my way back through the rush hour crush to my hotel where I thankfully took a hot shower and sacked out early in anticipation of my next day's sojourn to Venice.