Day 8, Friday, April 8, 2016: A day in Milan.
Milan at last or as they say in Italy “Milano, Finalmente!” Milan is our last city of our Italian tour and this is our last day before our travel home begins.
Our day began with a short bus ride through the Brera neighborhood where many artists, fashion designers, people of influence in the design/art world, etc. live and then a short walk to Plazza della Scala. From the Plazza we began our guided walking tour where we were able to view the La Scala (The Opera House), Gallerie D’Italia and the entrance to the Victor Emmanuel II Galleria.
We made our way into the impressive Galleria Victor Emmanuel II. This impressive Galleria was this first of the modern era of a unified Italy built by the King, Victor Emmanuel II who either fatally fell or was pushed from the top of 4 Story Glass Dome. Since the beginning of the Galleria it has been home for the luxury shops of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada. Our tour was briefly stopped for a quick limbo contest that some street entertainers were conducting to earn a few Euros, some in our group did an amazing job.
From the Galleria we made our way to Plazza Duomo. This is Milan’s main square and is very large. We made our away around the impressive and very large Duomo. The Duomo is a 14th century church and is the fourth largest church in Europe. The sculptures and the “Lego style” uniquely cut bricks make the structure very unique.
A walk through the Plazza del Duomo to our journey through the Brera Neighborhood ended in the courtyard of the Brera Gallery. The Gallery houses some of the top Italian collection of paintings as well as Napoleon’s looted art. The Gallery is also a very prestigious art college and it was graduation day when we visited. There were many graduates walking with their families in their graduation gowns and a wreath on their head.
From the Gallery we made our way deeper into the Brera neighborhood to get to the Sforza Castle. This brick 13th century military castle is a fortress within a fortress. It has a gate and city walls to protect from foreign enemies with a Renaissance palace inside another fortress to protect the Royals from enemies “within” the city walls. From outside the castle you can see the Branca Tower across the Palazzo Dell’Arte.
Our tour ended back at our original entrance of Sforza Castle at the Piazza Castello. From here we were able to venture out on our own to shop at the high end stores, lunch, or explore more landmarks in detail. This would also be our meeting spot to leave for our last Italian diner at Restaurant Da Cecco.
This was our last day in Italy. We had amazing weather, on a great trip, with a great group of people!! The only bad part of the trip was the air travel and the delays. For more information on the trip visit the previous Italian Day Trips Postings or view more pictures of the trip visit our Flickr Italy Group Page.
Previous Italian Day Trip Postings:
Day1-2: All Roads Lead To Rome
Day 4: Giorno di Viaggio per Firenze
Day 5: La Nostra Giornata a Firenze, Italia
Mona Shores Orchestra Italy Flickr Page
Mona Shores Orchestra 