Miland of Fashion and Gelato

We arrived in the beautiful Milan late at night and had a little trouble finding our hotel. Perhaps the fact that our Italian vocabulary between the four of us consists of around four phrases will be an issue after all. All was made well when we found the cute, clean Hotel Sabatino and indulged in some authentic cheese pizza before hitting the sack.

In the morning we woke up and began the trek through downtown Milan toward the famous Duomo. Each of the buildings was like it’s own work of art as they were topped with marble statues, covered in mosaics, or decorated with wraught iron or flower boxes. We even stopped in a garden with an enormous stone observatory. On the way we stopped at a small take-away restaurant and managed to communicate our desire to purchase some fresh vegetables, olive bread, and cheese pastries before continuing down the main road.

Out of nowhere the literally breathtaking marble Duomo appeared. The sheer number of carvings and statues paired with its extreme size was enough to keep us staring in the middle of the piazza for half an hour.


We then made our way through Milan’s fashion district and couldn’t resist stopping in a few stores. We each tried on a few items, but no one found any winner’s in Europe’s fashion capital meaning that Ray’s hunt for a trendy Euro trench coat is still on.


We spent the rest of the afternoon traversing the entire city. We walked through the charming Old Milan spotted with hodgepodge street vendors and took a rest in the beautiful gardens of the Castello Sforzesco. The afternoon ended with a late lunch of pizza and gelato at an outdoor café before heading back to the hotel to pack for Switzerland. Our first train ride is hours away!