Milan

Everyone knows that Milan is a fashion capital. But did you know that Milan has a castle?
Going to Milan was originally for this reason

But it turned out that going to Milan was even better then I though. Milan is the second largest city in Italy and I believe it. It took me an hour to walk from my hostel to the Duomo and it had looked so close on the map. But it was good exercise. Even thought my hostel wasn’t close to city centre it was only 15 minutes from the bus station and as I had to catch a bus at 4h30 it was an added bonus.
Thanks to wikipedia I did a little research on Milan and the history is just about as cool as walking around the city. How about a small dose of cool Milan facts in….*drum roll*… list form!! Lol
-founded by the Insubres, a Celtic people
-captured by the Romans in 222 BC
- It was the capitol of a lot of places through out history to name only a few: Western Roman Empire, Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Italy (under Napoleon), Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
-42nd most important global city
-Milan contributes almost 9 percent of the national GDP of Italy
-Was part of the holy Roman Empire after Milan surrendered to Charlemagne/ the Franks in 774 
-war of conquest by Frederick I Barbarossa against the Lombard cities brought the destruction of much of Milan in 1162
-In 1943, anti-German resistance in occupied Italy increased and as the war came to an end, the American 1st Armored Division advanced on Milan but even before they arrived, members of the Italian resistance movement rose up in open revolt in Milan and liberated the city
There’s a wee bit about the city of Milan itself. Now onto to the fun stuff… or as much fun as I could have in the rain.
First though I will admit a great mistake. You see I got off the bus from the airport and it was raining… and I just wanted to get to my hostel so I mapped it on my phone and started walking. I walked past of Santa Maria delle Grazie. At that moment I just thought it was a really pretty looking church but I was too cold and wet to take a picture. It was only after I’d done some looking into sights that I found out it houses Di Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ painting. I wanted to see the painting but it’s like a lot of famous things I suppose and you have to book tickets ahead since the next free day to see it was in December. But I shalln’t weep over it since I saw a lot of other cool things.
The first place I wandered upon was the Scala. It’s Milan’s Opera House and one of the most prestigious ones in the world. I must say that I don’t think any Opera House will ever compare to the Paris Opera House..

The Scala

Is at least prettier then the Madrid one.

And right there in Piazza Scala is the entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It’s a  covered passage that connects Piazza del Duomo, Milan to the square opposite of La Scala. The galleria was built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877 to celebrate Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of united Italy. It was really cool to walk through. And it’s so huge! It was weird it was sort of like being outside but you were inside… and it was a nice respite from the rain.

So obviously the next place I saw was Piazza Duomo and the Duomo itself. I think this was one of the prettiest cathedrals I’d seen on my travels. 

Impressive right? And it took nearly six centuries to build. They broke ground for it in 1386 and it was completed in 1965. Which is weird because going in there I totally thought it was older then being completed in the 60s.
-with streets either radiating from the Duomo or circling it, reveals the Duomo occupies what was the most central site in Roman Mediolanum, that of the public basilica facing the forum
-It has the 4th highest nave in the world
-it has135 spires and 3,500 statues
-Saint Ambrose's 'New Basilica' was built on this site at the beginning of the 5th century, with an adjoining basilica added in 836 (They were later damaged in a fire and replaced by the Duomo)
-The construction program was strictly regulated under the "Fabbrica del Duomo", which had 300 employees led by first chief engineer Simone da Orsenigo (they also delt with collecting donations for the building)
-In 1500 to 1510, under Ludovico Sforza, the octagonal cupola was completed, and decorated in the interior with four series of 15 statues each
-1552 Giacomo Antegnati was commissioned to build a large organ for the north side of the choir
-1762 one of the main features of the cathedral, the Madonnina's spire, was erected at the height of 108.5 m
-On May 20, 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte, about to be crowned King of Italy, ordered the façade to be finished. He assured that all expenses would fall to the French treasurer, who would reimburse the Fabbrica for the real estate it had to sell (this reimbursement was never paid). Within seven years, the Cathedral had its façade completed. 
- After 1805 most of the missing arches and spires were constructed, the statues on the southern wall were also finished
-in 1829-1858, new stained glass windows replaced the old ones, 
-the last gate was inaugurated on January 6, 1965
-The Duomo's main façade went under renovation from 2003 to early 2009
Now I think that’s also got to be the coolest history to go with the cathedral. It took all that time and so many engineers and architects to finish it. 

After the epicness of the cathedral I thought it would be cool to see the castl, Castello Sforzesco to be exact. Honestly I didn’t see a lot of it. At this point in my travels I was low on cash and decided to opt out of going inside (which was just a museum) I put the six euro toward dinner instead. But it was cool to walk through the courtyards and to take a few pictures of it. I mean it’s a freaking castle! It was begun in the 14th century and by the 1450s Francesco Sforza decided it already needed reconstruction done. Under the Spanish rule (between 15th and 16th century), the castle was developed and protected by 1000 to 3000 men, and was one of the biggest citadels in Europe. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25,9 hectares (aka 10,000 meters). In 1943 the castle was severely damaged from allied bombings but it has been restored and reconstructed for museum purposes.

Behind the castle is Parco Sempione. Which I got the pleasure of walking through while it rained.

And at the far end of the park is The Peace Arch, erected in 1807 by Napoleon in Neoclassical style. I guess this dude really like arches. When I saw it in the park I didn’t know it was built by Napoleon, all I thought was that someone ripped off the Arch de Triumph. Now reading into it, it wasn’t ripped off it was another of Napoleon’s great ideas.

As it decided to rain a little harder I asked myself ‘Should I go back to the hostel?’ and I said no. I’m nearly to the Cimitero Monumentale, it’s only a stone’s throw away and I’m wet already. So I walked for about 20 minutes to see this epic cemetery. Here’s the write up from the website
“The Cimitero Monumentale is therefore a complex architectural landscape whose contents can be interpreted at different levels. The cemetery not only offers a means of witnessing the passage of various artistic phases, but also provides a window on the history of the city and the forms of self-representation adopted by its inhabitants. Studying the names engraved on the tombs is like checking up a sort of Milanese Who 's Who of those times, since to be buried in the Cimitero Monumentale was proof of economic stability and social status”
Sounds really cool right? And I wish I could tell you it was really cool. But just my luck it’s closed for restoration work. Wooo!! All I could do was take a few pictures from outside the gate and make my way back toward city centre. 

The day was growing late and I was growing hungry. So on my hour and a half hike back to my hostel I stopped by a grocery store picked up a baguette, meat (that tasted like bologna), cheese and seafood pasta. The baguette, meat and cheese were to make a sandwich so I would have something to eat at the airport. I’m really glad I thought ahead because I spent less then 3 euros on everything and the sandwiches at the airport were at least 5 euros. And I spent the 6 euros that would have been for the castle museum on my food for the night. 
The seafood pasta was just one of those packages that you mix up. So I went up to the kitchen in my hostel and was all ready to cook. Thank goodness there was a guy there who had been using the pan I needed and he cleaned it for me and since the sink wasn’t giving out hot water he put the pan on the stove. Why is this a blessing? Because the stove was so retarded! You had to light the gas stove with a lighter. I joke you not! It was so shitty and I’m so glad I didn’t have to do it. The guy had been there for a few nights I think because he had no problem doing it.
I ate an early dinner and was in bed by 22h00. It was a wee bit hard to sleep good because people were moving around in the room. But I managed some sleep before my alarm went off at 3h30. I threw on some clothes gathered my stuff packed my backpack nicely. Then I donned my rain gear as it was pouring outside.
I saw 3 people on the street while I walked. I was very careful to walk around puddles and I kept my feet dry. That is till I crossed the road to the bus stop. I step down into the street and my left foot sinks into a puddle. I curse a lot at my soggy shoe but I continue on and catch the bus. I got a nice nap in on the hour bus ride to the airport since Ryanair never flies out of somewhere convenient. 
Security was a breeze. I didn’t get weighed, thank god, I was almost 3 kilos over then limit. And I was off to Frankfurt Hahn. 
It was sort of cool my journey home. I was awake for less then 12 hours and I was in 4 countries. I started in Italy, left at 7h15. I landed in Germany at 10h00. I caught my bus which dropped me in Luxembourg at noon. And from Luxembourg a connecting bus brought me to France. An epic journey home but so worth it. To get back and see Damien and be able to relax was wonderful.
It was amazing to travel but sleeping in hostels will never be one of my favorite things. To be able to relax and really sleep and not have to cuddle with a hard backpack was the most welcome thing. 
I still have one more blog on Milan to bore you with. It’s about the elephants I saw in the city. So stay tuned.
Cheers,