Milan

Finally jumped the ditch to Europe last weekend, very exciting! Amazing views of the ?Swiss alps as we were flying in, and landed in gorgeous sunshine - good start :) Managed to navigate our way into town and then got a bit lost finding the hotel as my reference point was a bit off - whoops - But on the up side had a bit of a walking tour of north Milan haha. First day spent wandering around the city. The Duomo Cathedral was incredible, made of marble, with over 130 spires all with life size statues on top, was started in round 1300 and not finished until 1850s by Napoleon - crazy! But its beautiful. Further down the road is the Costello (castle) which is also amazing, has bit of a Spanish feel to it. Through the other side is a lovely park with a kind of replica to Arc du triumph. Saturday I did some window shopping through the fashion district which was full of all the big names in fashion, gorgeous looking clothes but was too scarred to go inside cause the door men were massive and scary looking! haha. (I will send you some pics bec) Then headed to the public gardens which were pretty. In the afternoon went on a tour of some of the main attractions, and also got to see 'The last supper' painting by Di Vinci, which is in a little church, covering the back wall. It was really interesting to hear all the symbolism behind it. Also went to La Scala - the opera theatre where many of the big name operas were first performed, the theatre has 7 levels of boxes! Sunday I channeled my inner racer and hit the Monza F1, which was very cool. We were sitting at the first turn so got to see some excitement. In the evenings I enjoyed the local cuisine - pizza, pasta, wine and gelato! yum! All in outdoor seating in the lovely warm evenings. I think I could easily live in Italy! Monday headed just south of town to the Navigli district which is made up of a number of canals, was quite cute, but sadly full of graffiti. Was meant to be home Monday night, but the plane was delayed then cancelled, ah well guess you get what you pay for with budget airlines! So had an extra day soaking up the sunshine as had to wait for the following night for a flight home. But a great weekend :)
Still currently unemployed, Jen is back in a week and then we head off on our UK tour for two weeks which will be great fun. And hopefully will have a job sorted for when I come back, cause will need to start earning some money again!