Today was reserved mainly to view the cathedral in the centre of Milan, one of the most magnificent structures developed during the second 1000 years BC. The importance of this structure transcends its primary purpose, and for centuries has driven the economy of Milan. Right from the beginning of this building when the decision was made to construct this structure from marble quarried hundreds of kilometres away, in the Lake District, the economic decisions made have cascaded to this day. In order to progress the movement of the quarried blocks to the cathedral they developed a series of canals and locks from the lakes to the centre of Milan. The canals were gifted to the cathedral along with the quarry and the organisation running the quarry and cathedral build. This allowed the church to claim taxes on the use of the canal to raise funds to develop the cathedral. The organisation running the development process still operates the quarry, and still continues repair and maintenance work, which has not stopped for 700 years. This continuous endeavour is as impressive as the structure they maintain.

The scale of this building is impressive, and the detail in sculptures throughout the inside and out. Details such as the role-call of presiding bishops and cardinals from 1100 to today's Cardinal, sculptured in stone. The view into the crypt holding the "relic" (Age of Empires terminology) which was an impressive gold and blue box, standing alone in a large room below the main alter, was impressive. The highlight though was the trip to the terraces.

Not until you stand up on the roof do you really appreciate the scale of what has been achieved, the immense loading that travels through the marble pillars to the earth far below. The roof tiles are marble and you can walk freely across the roof, which without thought of what is below is very easy; but pause a moment and reflect on the weight you are standing on and what you are standing over - you can't help but think twice about the next step. The knowledge it has been like this for almost a thousand years reassures you; but at the same time you wonder how did they know it would work when they started to build it? Ken Follets Pillars of the Earth comes to mind at this point. Standing on the edge of the roof so high above the streets below, then turning and looking up at the spire even higher again above us, and wondering how did they do this? Admiring the marble hand rails and balustrades, how thin they are, and wondering how do they stay attached, they seem to defy the laws of construction. They were designed and built at a time before tourism.

Today thousands travel these roof terraces everyday, yet they still function as designed. We were lucky, arriving early before the crowds enabled us to see more of the roof terraces. We walked three quarters of the roof area, with the final quarter reserved for the construction/restoration team. On returning back to the elevator, we found they had closed off the first quarter of the roof, which by this time was becoming very busy.

The photos from today are dominated by this visit. The rest of the day deviated from yesterday's plan. It became a recovery day with shopping thrown in. At one point after we had returned to the hotel, we planned a major mission to buy an additional bag for our return trip. The planning started via Google, which had us hoping on trams and travelling across the city. Tram tickets purchased, we headed off to the tram stop with steely resolve to get the job done. We never made the tram. Right opposite the tram stop was a bag shop which Google hadn't highlighted. The perfect cabin sized bag on wheels was procured. The rest of the day was walking local streets, eating in and packing bags. Reflecting back to our first brief encounter of Milan at the start of this journey, and our thoughts now after two days living in the city, not just passing through as day trippers, we were probably a little harsh on Milan.

Milan like most cities has several sides to it. It's not an attractive city, it's not a city we would choose to live in, and it has some depressing to the soul suburbs, but it is orderly and functional, and has moments of inspiration and wonder. It has many elements that makes for a great city like Paris, but somehow it just doesn't pull these together to make as compelling a city to the tourist. It's role as a city for finance and fashion, was only partially on show, with the banks being the most obvious with old fashioned retail branches evident every few blocks. When financial institutions shift their business model, Milan will be very reliant on its service industry. It's a city that will be transforming and struggling for a while, but one thing won't change, it's history and its cathedral. These are its true draw cards for the visitor. Its a shame Christchurch can't take a lesson from Milan and build its Cathedral again.

Tomorrow we head home with a three day stop in Singapore. Time to reflect on Italy.