Milan

Our next stop was at the very gothic looking Duomo (Cathedral). It has over 2,245 sculptures on the outside and took over 500 years to build. Initial construction took place between 1366 and 1485. It also is claimed to house one of the nails from Christ's cross. As in most cathedrals here in Italy, flash photography is prohibited. When he can, Dave tries to get a few digitals. There was a mass going on inside while we visited. I decided to cut this short and run across the street to Burger King to get a taste of home. There aren’t many fast food places in Italy, and I certainly didn’t want to pass up a golden opportunity! Dave and I had our picture taken with a group of pigeons on the way over.

We walked across the Piazza del Duomo. This huge square is surrounded by 19th century constructions. The most famous of which is Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle.

	Milan Sunday, June 2nd
	Up at 6:30 today, luggage out by 7:30 and board the bus by 8:00. I guess Kathy knew breakfast here isn’t much, so she gave us an extra ½ hour to sleep.

Our visit to milan was very brief. Our 1st stop was to see Da Vinci’s horse at a cultural park. It was Designed by Da Vinci, but sculpted by an American. It’s a 24 foot bronze sculpture of a horse

Our next stop was at the very gothic looking Duomo (Cathedral). It has over 2,245 sculptures on the outside and took over 500 years to build. Initial construction took place between 1366 and 1485. It also is claimed to house one of the nails from Christ's cross. As in most cathedrals here in Italy, flash photography is prohibited. When he can, Dave tries to get a few digitals. There was a mass going on inside while we visited. I decided to cut this short and run across the street to Burger King to get a taste of home. There aren’t many fast food places in Italy, and I certainly didn’t want to pass up a golden opportunity! Dave and I had our picture taken with a group of pigeons on the way over. We walked across the Piazza del Duomo. This huge square is surrounded by 19th century constructions. The most famous of which is Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle.

After lunch we walked down to Piazza della Scala to see the La Scala Opera House. Unfortunately, they were closed for renovations. This is probably one of the most famous opera houses in the world. I took a snapshot of Dave standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s sculpture, which sits across from La Scala Opera House. On our way back to the bus, we strolled through Galleria. It is similar to our malls, but on a grander scale. They were having a photo shoot with a male model and a baby (a toy doll). The city's international fame derives from names like Armani, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. Keep in mind, Milan has one of the highest models-per-citizen ratios anywhere, raising the beauty bar for everyone. On our way back we saw a man standing in a piazza playing guitar and singing "La Donna e Mobile". He sounded pretty good. While we waited for our group to arrive, I started having a little trouble with my stomach. At first I thought it was Kathy’s Curse for eating at Burger King. (Kathy hates fast food places). I suspect it was from the popcorn I ate at the mountain top restaurant the day before. Marie, a very sweet lady in our group, gave me an antacid in hopes it would help