From the Italian mountains to fashionable Milan





The Cuccaro (cuckoo) Club



This morning we left the Cuccaro Club chalet in the mountains, our wonderful mountain home for the last two days, and traveled north to Milan. It was a big change from listening to the cuckoo bird quietly “cuckooing” (is that even a word?) this morning from our window to the very big, noisy and fashion-conscious city of Milan.

Milan's Duomo





McDonald's in the center of
the world's first
shopping "galleria"

 

The bus parked as close as possible to the center of town and we were free for a couple of hours to wander around the central piazza. What we saw was that Milan is a major player in the economic success for Italy. Although the Duomo (the city’s central church which is also nicknamed “the wedding cake“) is at the center of the city, it’s the shops selling the very high ticket items that really bring the people out. Names like Gucci, Ferrari, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Armani and McDonalds (yep - the American export) occupy the very expensive storefronts.



La Scala - the world's most famous

opera house









Tomorrow we’re off on a city tour and then given the afternoon to stroll and shop. However, most of us have reached our weight limits for the flight home, so we’ll probably be strolling more than shopping.





Castello Sforzesco



Lori and us at the fountain in
front of the castle

Day 2 - Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to post our first day in Milan because the entire Google blog site was having technical difficulties, so I’m hoping it will be fixed this evening. (Deb H. - I wish I had had you design a quick website after all!) Today we toured the Duomo, which is the third largest cathedral in Europe (St. Peter’s Basilica is the first, so we’ve done 2 out of 3 this trip J ). We also spent a good part of the day at Castello Sforzesco, a 15^th century castle housing several museums as well as Michelangelo’s last and unfinished sculpture, the Pieta Rondanini done in 1564.

Denna taking a picture of
the castle's prisons - the large
rounded structures at either end

Tonight is our last night in Italy and we are all sorry to go. But tomorrow is a boat ride on Lake Como before entering Switzerland. Most folks are hoping that George Clooney, who has a home on the lake, may make an appearance…..