Ahh finally, the Milan update. Hopefully no one in the other group reads this because I don't want to spoil the fun for them.
Milan started out as another early morning and high speed train ride. Instead of having a bus take us to our hotel, we got to use Milan's fantastic metro system. It looks relatively similar to New York's subways, but it was definitely cleaner looking and smelled a lot less like urine. Over the next few days, I would become very familiar with this metro, because Milan has a totally different urban fabric than the other cities we've been to before.
So after arriving and dumping our stuff at the hotel we headed off for the city center, which was only about 20 minutes away from our hotel.
The first thing that I had noticed when we were walking to the center was that there is a lot of foliage happening on the buildings in Milan. And it's purposeful, as can be seen in the picture above (no, not Eugenio's beard, behind that) and it's wonderful.
Then as we continued to walk down a street filled with shops (much to expensive for me to ever dream about entering) I could suddenly see the outlines of an airy, enormous structure. And then it clicked, that was the Cathedral of Milan.
Even the back (apse) was gorgeous, with its flowery stained-glass windows.
Since it wasn't raining we were able to do our scheduled visit to the terraces. After about 200 loving steps.
Fortunately the view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and more than rewarding. So now I will just spam you all with snip-its of the beauty atop this Gothic masterpiece.
After we spent a very sufficient amount of time on top of the Cathedral we actually went inside. Unfortunately they don't allow pictures unless you pay and get a wristband, so since I'm a struggling college student I think you can all forgive me for not having any pictures of the interior. You all know how to use Google anyways.
Following the Cathedral, our next stop was the building just next to it called the Museum of the 20th Century. It was once a Fascist building that was transformed into a museum. It houses contemporary art, and well as being renovated in a contemporary style. I very much enjoyed the renovations done, but the art...well that's a completely different story.
Although some of the art was useful for selfies. *walks away in shame for this picture*
We took a lunch break after the museum, and then reconvened for our tour of the city center. It started by visiting the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Even if you don't recognize the name, you'd recognize it through images. It's filled with shops even more expensive than I saw before the Cathedral, but surprisingly it also houses a lot of charitable organizations, though those are on the top floors.
The architecture of this space is stunning, and if it wasn't so cold, I'm sure my senses would have been tricked into thinking that I was actually inside a building, instead of an outdoor space.
From here, our guide took us to many different locations, some simply on busy street corners. These chaotic locations and the added fact that it was raining pretty heavily didn't allow me to take copious notes or photographically note all of the places that we visited. But it was still an incredibly informative tour. When we initially stepped out of the Galleria we immediately entered another piazza that was explained to have just recent been pedestrianized, that is to say that no cars can drive on the road-like areas. Our guide then posed us the question: how much of a city can be pedestrianized before you kill it? Just something to think upon.
Another interesting point that he brought up had to do with the bombing of Milan during WWII. Although it is a somber thought, the fact that parts were bombed brought about great opportunities for architects. This really made more and more sense as I spent time in Milan, since it is a much more modern city than any in Italy that I had been to yet. And I couldn't help but also be glad for the modern buildings and what they have done for the feel of the city.
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