Buon giorno! It looks like I have a bit of catching up to do! We are all settled in at our apartment in Varenna, Lake Como (and now that we are, we don't want to leave!!). This little town is WICKED! It's a hilly little group of homes with narrow cobblestone streets, 500 residents and 15 restaurants! I want to buy an apartment now!
Piazza S. Giorgio in the centre of Varenna.
Leaving the apartment to catch the train to Milano.
On Saturday we forced ourselves to get up so we could catch the first trai to Milano. The train ride from Varenna takes about 50 mins. Once we arrived in Milano we took a few minutes to get sorted and figure out the Metro system. Like all great cities, the Metro system in Milan was fantastic and super easy to use.
First stop in Milano was the stunning Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This is a super posh shopping arcade that has an amazing metal and glass roof that was built in 1877. Sadly, as it seems with all great works of european architectural art, the designer Giuseppe Mengoni never saw the finished product as he fell to his death from the scaffolding shortly before it opened up.
The central part of the cross shaped Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II.
We were starving, so we took a taxi to the bohemian Brera district for a cappuccino and pastry while we waited for a pizzeria to open.
Two handsome fellas having a caffe as we wait for the pizzeria to open up.
Oh, and these two ladies were at our table too.
After a mediocre lunch we walked to the Castello Sforzesco. What I like about this place is that it wasn't the first castle on the site. The new guy in charge Francesco Sforza decided he would tear down the old one and put this one in its place to mark the start of a new reign. Seems reasonable. I wonder why TransCanada Pipelines new CEO Russ Girling didn't tear down the TCPL tower and build a new one when he took over?
Bronwyn has a go at a 15th century soccer ball.
Fin dances to a tune in his head in the Castle courtyard.
Today you can buy anything from fake Prada bags to fake aviators outside the castle. I guess they have to pay for the rebuild somehow...
The crown jewel of Milano is the Gothic masterpiece "the Duomo". As I am just learning Italtian, I thought that Duomo meant "two Moe's". It doesn't. What it really means: it's is a remarkable cathedral that began construction in the 14th century and wasn't completed until 500 years later! That's right, the same amount of time it will take the Calgary Flames to make the playoffs again.
The brilliant Duomo.
The Duomo rebuilt our appetite, so we went on a massive search for a spot that sold gelato. For those of you that haven't been to Italy, that takes about 30 seconds. The gelato lasts about the same amount of time.
The end of the gelato meant that it was time to walk to the Metro so we could make our way to the San Siro to see AC Milan vs Roma! The San Siro is home to both AC Milan and Inter Milan. The stadium opened up in September 1926 and has had two major renovations over the years to get to its current capacity of 80,000.
The Finnybomber gets his game face on during the Metro ride to the San Siro.
I have been to a fair amount of stadiums, and I can tell you that I have never sat in a section quite like the one we sat in at the San Siro. We were literally in a cage. There was a metal gate on each end of the section, and in front of us was a large plexiglass wall that had a mesh net that ran all the way to the ceiling of the stadium. All that was missing was for them to open up the gate at half time and let a couple of lions in... AC ended up winning the game 2-1 on a brace by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Bronwyn scored so many goals this past season that I am now calling her Shebrahimovic.
The cage.
I am standing next to the bathroom in our section for this pic. After making a trip to the bathroom Brownyn said, "That is the grossest place that I have ever seen in my life." No paper, no toilet bowl, no soap.... sweet.
Someone doesn't like being caged in...
We got back to Varenna around 9:30 so the kids and I decided to go to our local for a bite to eat. Enzo and Francesco were happy to see us and hear of our trip to see their team AC.
Albergo - Ristorante Pizzeria in Varenna.
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