so Italian!

This past weekend, I popped over to Milano, Italia to visit an old friend and her family. It's amazing how easy it is to travel between countries in Europe... it was only a 1 hour 5 minute flight to Linate... that's like flying from Boston to New York.

So, when you walk off the plane, you literally walk off the plane, onto the tarmac... and hop a bus to the terminal. Then a quick bus into the city center (just 1 Euro) and this is what I found... THE DUOMO!


The Duomo is considered one of the most outstanding example of Gothic-Lombard architecture, the Duomo dates back to 1300. This imposing religious building, second only to St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, houses almost 3500 statues that are spread over an area of almost 12,000 square meters. The tallest spire, which has the famous “Madonnina” on top of it, is 108 meters high. The statue of the Virgin Mary, the “Madonnina”, is covered in 3900 pieces of gold leaf.





Then there is the Castillo Sforzesco. The castle was the center, and the city was built spiraling around it. There are still some remnants from the city wall and the gates.



But to top off my day, as I sat in the sun (yes, there was so much sun there... almost 70 degrees) on the steps of the Duomo, waiting to meet up with my friend, and this is what I saw...


The most Italian scene. A girl in a nice outfit, on a bike, cell phone in one hand, cigarette in the other. How Italian! And to top it off, some greezy Italian man sneaking a photo of her. Ahhhh... so Italian!