Bright and early, we left Padua for Milan! On the way, as per usual, our bus stops at a rest stop. Unlike America, Italian rest-stops (at least the ones we’ve been too) have a coffee counter where you can get made to order cappuccinos and fresh espresso. It’s amazing. They also sell a lot of jumbo, Coscto-esque sizes of snacks such as giant tubes of Pringles, giant bars of chocolate, and multi-pack bottles of wine. We then finished our final leg of the trip and arrived in Milan.
Once we arrived, we met with our walking tour guide Simon to show us the highlights of the city, including The Duomo and the Castle of the Dukes. First was the guided tour of the Duomo. The outside and inside of this church is amazing. Outside, the church has 35 different spirals, the highest one being topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary, which is duplicated inside the church. The stained glass windows of the church told different biblical stories and were absolutely stunning. Pictures could not do them justice in comparison to seeing the sun shine through them in person.
A cool feature of the church was a ‘zodiac sun dial’ that at a certain time of day would shine on the symbol (which was tiled on the floor) of whatever corresponding month it was. Here’s my sign: Virgo.
We stopped for lunch via recommendation from Simon at a place called Luini’s, which serves delicious fried pockets of fried meat and cheese called Panzerotti. The had dessert panzerotti as well, but I’m saving up for more gelato.
During the remainder of our free time, some group members (Emma F, Megan Thorne, Lindsay S and Haley B ) went to check out Milan’s 7 floor department store. After being sprayed by some Gucci perfume (I mean this in a good way, but I swear it smelled like a garden), we ventured to the designer shoe department which was beautiful and strange all at once.
We ended the day with our tour of the castle. In what used to be the castle moat, we saw a bunch of cats relaxing amoung the old cannon balls. Simon told us they are the only ones who live there now and the only person allowed into that area is the woman who feeds them.
Finally we headed back on our bus to the hotel. We had to say goodbye to Matteo, as he has a trip to Barcelona to guide. He was so great to us and became a good friend to everyone. We’ll definitely miss him.
After cleaning up at the hotel, we headed out for a group dinner at Ristorante Doge Di Amalfi Pizzeria. We enjoyed lots of bread, even more pasta, and what I can only describe as a really flat chicken patty with fries.
Now, we rest up for a day of media visits in the fashion capital of the world. Until then, ciao!