On Wednesday Greg and I flew into Milan, Italy to start our 2 week stint around Italy. Mindrey flew in from Georgia to meet us, so we were ecstatic. We landed and found her, even though she had been waiting a bit, and then immediately got on the bus to Central Milan. We searched around in the train station for a bit and found a place to drop off our luggage so we could do some things around Milan. That was a nightmare in itself. They will only accept up to 20 Kg per piece of luggage, as to where the planes take 32 kg so we had to do some maneuvering around (luckily I always pack an extra bag and Mindrey had some free room as well).
We then took the metro to Duomo station and had lunch at Zucca. It wa a bit pricey but right in front of the Duomo in Milan, so had a spectacular view. When we were done with lunch and Greg and Mindrey had their cappuccinos (this will be a recurring theme) we headed to the Duomo. We walked around inside and marveled it but the outside is what makes it so spectacular. There are over 3500 statues on the exterior alone.
The Duomo:
Stained Glass window inside:
St. Bartholomew Flayed statue:
You can also walk up to the roof, so we did. While the rest of Milan does not offer many attractions the view of the top and from the top of Duoma made up for. It was unbelievable, the pictures will speak for itself. After spending quite a while up there we headed back down and to the train station. We grabbed some gelato, it was hot outside, and then grabbed our seats on the train to make the journey to Verona.
From the roof of Duomo:
Madonnina Statue:
Looking straight across the roof:
3 of the hundres of spires on the Duomo:
All 3 of us with the Duomo tracery:
When we got to Verona we headed to our hotel to check in, Hotel Scalzi. It was a great hotel, we got a 3 person room and it was almost as big as our last flat (just kidding but it was big) and was newly remodeled. We them walked towards the main part of Verona to see the Roman Arena in Piazza Bra and grabbing some dinner at Le Cantine de L'Arena. We thoroughly enjoyed our pastas, cheeses, and red wine before walking back to the hotel for some sleep. Mindrey was starting feel the effects of jet lag.
Roman Arena in Verona:
Wearing our crowns from Ippopatamo:
Thursday, June 4, 2009
We all woke up and took some much needed showers and then headed down for breakfast in the hotel, it was just okay. We walked to Piazza Erbe to wander through the market stalls and then onto Giulietta's Casa, balcony, and statue. This is the balcony that inspired the balcony in Romey & Juliet by William Shakespeare. We took our pictures and wrote on the wall before continuing our journey. We were glad we went early since it became very packed through the rest of the day, and you couldn't take pictures hardly at all.
The balcony & Juliet statue:
Tami with Juliet:
Mindrey with Juliet (you rub the boob for good luck):
Wall and gate where love notes are written:
Our love note:
We walked by the Dante statue by Palazzo del Capitano and by Sata Maria Antica church. We continued walking by Santa Anastasia, San Pietro Martire, into some art shops, over Ponte Pietra, and then to the Teatro Romano and museum. The ruins and the theatre were great to see, and the views from inside the museum made the walk over completely worth it. Verona has some amazing city scenes.
At Teatro Romano:
Views over Verona from Teatre Romano:
We had lunch at Ristorante Della Ragione on the square and then some gelato from Ippapatamo before jumping onto a train to head to Venice, which was 46 minutes late. Oh well. We got to Venice and grabbed a taxi to our hotel, Alla Bianca. We couldn't figure out where our hotel was and with all the luggage we just figured it would be easier. Good thing as it wasn't easy to get to. We aren't staying IN Venice, just right over the bridge, since the places are way too expensive there.
We had some time when we got to the hotel so we found out how to get into Venice and went to the bus stop. We walked around for a couple of hours, ducking into shops and admiring the canals before going into Brek for dinner. We had read about Brek in our guidebooks. It is essentially the equivalent of a fast food Italian restaurant, but the food is good and cheap. Once we were done eating we decided it was time to catch the bus and head back to the hotel for the night.
A few shots around Venice:
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