Tuesday, September 27, 2022
We were up early as today was a big travel day for our small band of explorers. As often happens on prolonged expeditions like ours, into uncharted lands, pestilence raised its ugly head on us today.
We were out of our
Lyon Air BnB at 7:45 am
After unsuccessful attempts to score an Uber ride to Lyon's Gare Part Dieu train station, we opted to board the Metro at Place Bellecour for the ten minute trip underground.
It was during this time that malaria hit one of our trusty travelers, my bride Laurie. Slowly but surely, the quinine that we lovingly administered to her on the five hour train ride from Lyon to Milano weaved its magic.
Thank goodness that Koreen had several doses of quinine in her back pack today!
Arriving at Milano Centrale's with
huge Facist architecture everywhere
Two of the best people that I know
to be with on an extended road trip
After settling into our spacious Air BnB flat near the Sforza Castle in the heart of historic Milano.
We were hungry, so we opted to eat a late lunch at one of our favorite spots, Peck.
Great pastries at Peck
Multiple raviolis for sale
The snails are always a good choice
Laurie opted for a delicious cheese plate
The rest of us ordered their lasagna and were more than pleased with Peck's delicate, fluffy version of this Italian lunchtime staple.
Much stronger now that we had dined, we started exploring in earnest.
This open air building was being
renovated during all of my time
coaching in nearby Varese
It is now a somber reminder and tribute to the Resistance Movement at the end of World War II in the Milano area.
Brian and Koreen at the Duomo
It was late so we decided to just get an overview of some of the main sights today.
We'll return to the Duomo tomorrow to explore its gorgeous interior.
For today, we'll just check out
the Duomo's exterior
If you are going to get your throat slit, it might as well be by a topless woman I guess.
Is that Stan Musial of the
St. Louis Cardinals at bat?
Construction on the Duomo began in
1386 and ended 579 years later in 1965
Every great European Cathedral
needs an acrobat to entertain the masses
"Please God, don't let her notice
my ulcerated navel."
We kept walking a few more blocks to visit the church known as San Bernardino alle Ossa's to view their ossuary, an unusual display of . . .
. . . human bones and . . .
. . . skulls
You had to be there.
And we were.
The ultra high fashion end
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
I never tire of this view
Just another fashion model
trying to update her portfolio
Brian doing the mandatory
heel in the Torino bull's scrotum
three turn spin
Torino (Turin) translates as the bull. Torino has always been a rival city of Milano's. Thus the ritual of doing this move on the mosaic bull's balls that is found in the Galleria.
Built in 1877, the Galleria's glass
dome is just so darn photogenic
Leonardo da Vinci lived and worked
in Milano from 1482 to 1499
and again from 1508 to 1513
The world's most famous opera house,
Milano's La Scala
I simply liked the natural framing
of this old building
One last view of the Milan Duomo
during Jason Johnson's beloved
"Magic Hour"
Laurie outside of Italy's
first ever Starbuck's
We all entered to look at the fantastic interior inside this renovated Italian Post Office.
True to our word to NEVER buy a Starbuck's coffee in Italy, we only looked.
At the Sforza Castel
It was built in the 15th-century at the behest of Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan. It was meant to be his princely residence.
The same grand entry tower but
this time viewed from the courtyard
Powerful guard turret
A fiery orator I'm sure, located
in the Sforza Castle's courtyard
It was closing time so we had to exit much sooner than we desired.
The Sforza Castle at night
is even more enchanting
We got a lot done in a short time today. We'll explore Milano in more depth with a full day tomorrow.
In a final note, the tallest of our group (me) was savagely attacked by a notorious medieval Milanese weapon of subterfuge, the five foot, four inch door frame!
After two blood transfusions and three hours of intense surgery at a local hospital, the bleeding has been staunched and I am on the speedy road to recovery!
The first of the planned 12 skin grafts
appears to be taking root
Even with five hours of train travel today,
we got in more than enough steps to
achieve our goal of
"A sound mind in a sound body"
In a classy move by the Barcelona Dragons, the six expansion teams about to enter the 2023 ELF fray were welcomed in a Facebook post by team owner Bart Iaccarino.
The ELF will be at 18 teams
in their third year of operation
Stay tuned, our Milanese experience will definitely continue tomorrow . . .
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