Day 15 - Milan, Italy - June 17

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(June 16 arrival) We arrived in Milan after a short plane ride from Malaga. We spent a lot of time in the airport in Milan because the luggage was backed up, approximately an extra hour. We then took a 40 minute train into the city. At the subway station in Milan we met our first group of Americans our age by accident. One of the girls in the group had her credit card eaten by the ticket machine at the station and asked Taylor to watch the machine for her while she went to inform the station of the problem. Soon after we met the rest of the group, all from New York. After chatting for a bit and exchanging recommendations we jumped on the Metro for our hotel. We very much Hotel Sempione, as it was affordable and elegant- and, best of all we had a private bathroom and a king size bed, both luxuries we have gotten used to living without.

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After getting settled into our hotel & showering we decided to have an early dinner (it was about 5 o'clock) since both of us were starving. On our way to the famous pizzeria Grand'Italia, we realized the streets of Milan were completely dead. Pizzeria. We were in the middle of a city and could hear our flip flops echoing off the buildings. The only other noise was an occasional motor, which we'd hear about every 10 minutes- the city was literally shut down. When we got to the pizzeria we found it was closed. A man further down the street informed us that it was too early for dinner- no restaurants openend until 7 except gelato and pastry stores. Since we were starving, we decided to have gelato and a chocolate croissant at the first shop we passed. After snacking we walked around for a few hours exploring the historic part of Milan and seeing the Milanese "happy hour" with all the cafés on the street. We wandered until 7:01- yes, we were the first ones in the restaurant! The wait was, however, definitely worth the wai- we had the best pizza either of us have ever had, bar none.  A great experience. After dinner we decided to head back to the hotel and good to bed. We were exhausted from traveling today.

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(June 17- Day 2 in Milan)

Today we woke up and explored Milan starting at about 11 o'clock from a long sleep. We first took the subway over to the duomo and visited the plaza around the duomo. We ate at a Frommers recommended place which had a selection of sandwiches, pizzas, and deserts for a reasonable price. It was excellent. This was a spectacular site to see, the duomo is breathtaking from the outside. We ran into a situation here because Taylor could not get in without her shoulders and legs covered. We ran around the square trying to find something for Taylor to wear but it was all too expensive. They didn't sell paper clothes. We gave up and went over to a church across town where leonardo da vinci has a work. We waited for it to open, along with a group of other tourists, but for some reason they remained closed. Oh well. We made an executive decision to go back to the hotel, get changed and go over to the duomo because we wanted to see inside so badly. Needless to say, we got into the duomo which was a very spiritual experience for both of us. Being inside this church was spectacular because of the history, the architecture, and the feeling that it gave you. God was present in this building. We explored the massive church, prayed, and admired the beauty that surrounded us. After this, we decided to explore the rooftop which they allowed visitors to access. We climbed the long, winding stairs. When we arrived at the top, we had a view of the entire city which was spectacular. We then came back down and ate at a beautiful cafe near the duomo and had drinks. On the menu, I found the sidecar that I've been dying to have for so long. We enjoyed it so much that it almost caused us to miss our train for Venice. We ran (literally) back to the hotel for our bags and ran to the station in a sweaty mess. We made our train with 3 minutes to spare. Off to Venice!