Milan, Italy
January, 2012
Saturday, January 14 Milan
As predicted, it was chaos this morning. We had to be out of our room by 7:30am, yet we did not dock in Venice until 9:30am. The breakfast buffet was so crowded, there was no room to stand let alone sit. We eventually found a table and had some breakfast. We stayed there until we were kicked out, as our luggage tag colour was one of the last to be called.
By 10:30, we were fed up waiting, so we walked off the ship. We collected our luggage after 15 minutes, and took the people mover to Roma Piazzale. We then had to make that tough trip over the bridge toward the station with our luggage. This is the fourth time that we have done it, and it has not gotten any easier.
Once at the station, it was easy to purchase four tickets to Milan. The train was due to depart five minutes after we bought the tickets. This was a fast train. We were due in Milan in 2.5 hours, unlike three months ago, when the journey from Milan to Venice took four hours. In our haste, we jumped into the wrong carriage, and we had to get off and walk down the platform another four carriages. Luckily the conductor waited for us to get all of our luggage aboard the train.
The train ride was smooth, and we were able to buy lunch on the train. Gwen slept while the kids caught up on their diaries. We arrived in Milan at 2:30pm,and took a taxi to our hoitel, the Acca Palace. The city was buzzing, because everyone was talking about the big local derby tomorrow between AC Milan and Inter Milan. The stadium holds 78,000 people but unfortunately it is already sold out.
Sunday, January 15 Milan
Breakfast today was sensational, perhaps the best we’ve had in 16 weeks. We took the train directly to Duomo De Milano, an impressive cathedral built in the 1300s. It is huge and can fit 40,000 people. There are 3500 statues on the building and 135 spars on the roof.
Next door was Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II, Milan’s most famous shopping arcade, `1housing famous shops like Louis Vitton and Prada. On the floor are depictions of the military symbols of four Italian cities. Many people place their heel on the bull’s picture and spin around for good luck.
We walked to Castello Sforzesco which is an enormous fortress built in the 1300s. Just outside, there were people everywhere. It was the world cross-country skiing championships, so we had a quick look at one of the races. We found a pizza shop for lunch, then walked to Santa Maria delle Grazie. This is the church that contains the Last Supper by Da Vinci. Unfortunately, they were sold out, so we could not go inside.
We walked along the via Montenapoleone, famous for its shopping district. Half way down the street, we saw a parked Ferrari, so we took many photos. We visited the Museo di Milano, which had a permanent fashion exhibit. It also was the headquarters for the Gestapo during WWII.
We found a huge shopping arcade but it was very crowded and very expensive. Jamaica found 20 Euro on the ground. We had a coffee before jumping on the metro back to our hotel. We had Turkish kebabs for dinner.
As predicted, it was chaos this morning. We had to be out of our room by 7:30am, yet we did not dock in Venice until 9:30am. The breakfast buffet was so crowded, there was no room to stand let alone sit. We eventually found a table and had some breakfast. We stayed there until we were kicked out, as our luggage tag colour was one of the last to be called.
By 10:30, we were fed up waiting, so we walked off the ship. We collected our luggage after 15 minutes, and took the people mover to Roma Piazzale. We then had to make that tough trip over the bridge toward the station with our luggage. This is the fourth time that we have done it, and it has not gotten any easier.
Once at the station, it was easy to purchase four tickets to Milan. The train was due to depart five minutes after we bought the tickets. This was a fast train. We were due in Milan in 2.5 hours, unlike three months ago, when the journey from Milan to Venice took four hours. In our haste, we jumped into the wrong carriage, and we had to get off and walk down the platform another four carriages. Luckily the conductor waited for us to get all of our luggage aboard the train.
The train ride was smooth, and we were able to buy lunch on the train. Gwen slept while the kids caught up on their diaries. We arrived in Milan at 2:30pm,and took a taxi to our hoitel, the Acca Palace. The city was buzzing, because everyone was talking about the big local derby tomorrow between AC Milan and Inter Milan. The stadium holds 78,000 people but unfortunately it is already sold out.
Sunday, January 15 Milan
Breakfast today was sensational, perhaps the best we’ve had in 16 weeks. We took the train directly to Duomo De Milano, an impressive cathedral built in the 1300s. It is huge and can fit 40,000 people. There are 3500 statues on the building and 135 spars on the roof.
Next door was Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II, Milan’s most famous shopping arcade, `1housing famous shops like Louis Vitton and Prada. On the floor are depictions of the military symbols of four Italian cities. Many people place their heel on the bull’s picture and spin around for good luck.
We walked to Castello Sforzesco which is an enormous fortress built in the 1300s. Just outside, there were people everywhere. It was the world cross-country skiing championships, so we had a quick look at one of the races. We found a pizza shop for lunch, then walked to Santa Maria delle Grazie. This is the church that contains the Last Supper by Da Vinci. Unfortunately, they were sold out, so we could not go inside.
We walked along the via Montenapoleone, famous for its shopping district. Half way down the street, we saw a parked Ferrari, so we took many photos. We visited the Museo di Milano, which had a permanent fashion exhibit. It also was the headquarters for the Gestapo during WWII.
We found a huge shopping arcade but it was very crowded and very expensive. Jamaica found 20 Euro on the ground. We had a coffee before jumping on the metro back to our hotel. We had Turkish kebabs for dinner.