Tuesday 6th Jan - Milan is the second largest city of Italy, badly affected by WWII and after Nazi occupation the city became the main center of Italian resistance. It's the financial centre of Italy and no need to mention, a major in world fashion and design. Also not to forget it's the home for two of the worlds major football (soccer) teams - AC Milan and F.C. International Milano.

Only a short train ride from Torino so we took it easy arriving about 13.00. January 6th is a holiday in Italy, the feast of the Epiphany, or in Italy known as La Befana. Its part of the Christmas celebrations representing when the 3 wise men presented the gifts to Jesus 12 days after Christmas. Befana is a "good" witch who flies around looking for baby Jesus but gets lost, children hang up socks hoping they will get lollies and gifts if they have been good - sounds like Christmas all over again to me! So Milan was fairly quite when we arrived with most places closed, apparently there is a parade in the morning for celebrations. To kill a bit of time we wandered around the central train station which is like a small airport. I think it's the largest train station we have been to.

Wednesday 7th Jan - walking through the streets of Milan, I hardly felt like I was in Italy, there are many modern high rise business buildings and you pass older building that have been converted into schools or institutes so they don't stand out. When we got into the old part of the city our first stop was the "Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II" which is one of the oldest shopping malls in Italy and houses all the luxury retail stores of Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Amarni. Rob asked - would you like to spend a few thousand dollars in a couple of hours, I said I wouldn't need that long, so he took back the offer - damn! It's an amazing arcade (much like one in Naples). The floor is mosaic tiles which has a pattern of a bull near the center. Tradition has it if you wish too return to Milan you must spin with your heel on the bulls "balls". Once it meant to ward off evil, it's such a part of Milanese tradition that a deep hole has been worn into the floor from people spinning. Its quite funny standing off to the side and watch how many people have a go. There was a MacDonalds situated inside the galleria however in 2012 they moved out after they were refused renewal of their lease after 20 years. They sued the Milan city for €24 million for loss of profits, later dropping charges when they were offered premises close by.During its last few hours of opening they served over 5000 customers with free food & drinks.
Once you step outside the arcade you are hit with the magnificent site of the Milan Duomo dedicated to Santa Maria Nasente. Very ornate and eye catching the gothic cathedral took six centuries to complete from 1386 to1965, it's the largest in Italy and 5th largest in the world. Liam and I climbed the 200+ steps to the top, a great experience walking amongst the spires. Inside once again the floors are ornate marble mosaic patterns and large stain glass windows.
Our next venture was on to the Sforza Castle built in the 15th century by the Duke of Milan, with fort like walls it's massive, and today is a place for multiple museums. Walking through the castle you come to a huge open park area with the arch - Arco della Pace at the end which is lovely to walk around in away from the traffic and city bustle.
Before we headed back to the hotel room - on the metro (Liam's insistence) not that I complained, I wanted to see a shopping center named after my Dad and his brother which I saw in an advertisement - "The Brian & Barry Building", so funny. It's a 12 floor shopping experience which didn't impress Rob, it was time to work out the subway and head back to the hotel.
I was keen to get some photos of the Cathedral at night, but the others weren't going anywhere so I waited for dark, which was only 5.30pm and headed off to the underground on my own. It actually felt quietly confident wondering around by myself not having to look out for each other, or being hurried to take my photos, I even had a browse through some shops and made it back with a boost of confidence.