DAY 29 & 30 - Milan

DAY 29 -
Travelling on the Frecciabianco fast train this time to Milan. It is an overcast day but we can still just see the snow capped Dolomite mountain range and to think that Switzerland & Austria are just on the other side, I note to myself that one day we must make another overseas trip and explore this part of Europe as it looks stunning.

Milan Cathedral

We arrive in Milan in the afternoon and walk to our hotel which is not far away. The hotel rooms are very nice, bright and modern, and this time we get complimentary breakfasts. After settling and eating lunch, we take the metro into the Duomo Square to see the Milan Cathedral - another amazing & complex piece of architecture - and the Vittorio Emanuele Arcade. Our main aim in Milan was to get some last minute souvenirs, which there doesn't appear to be many here, unlike Venice.


Entrance to Arcade

Already, I had a feeling about Milan to be careful with my hand bag. Heading back to our hotel rooms meant getting back on the metro, it was pretty packed as it was peak hour and we needed to be extra vigilant looking after our things. I could sense a guy next to me who we are pretty sure was a potential pick pocketer, as Mark could see him eyeing off my bag so he kept his eyes on him the whole time. He would've had a hard time getting into my bag as the zip is clipped but still gives you an uneasy feeling. Not having any luck with us, at the next stop he got off that carriage and hopped onto the next carriage before the doors closed to try his luck with someone else I guess.

We headed back to our hotel rooms after having some dinner.


Glass dome inside Arcade

DAY 30 -
Not a huge lot to report today but in our wanderings yesterday to the metro station, we found that our hotel was about 30 metres away from a cat café, so with all of us missing our cats terribly, that was the first point of call this morning. I have to say the set up was better than the one in Moscow (no offence to Moscow as we still enjoyed this one) but it was more spacious, more tables and they offered

Bowie

proper coffee/snacks (all prepared in a cat free kitchen of course). The cats were really friendly and playful too, our favourite was Bowie - yes named after David Bowie. All six cats were named after famous singers.

Moving on, we continued our search for souvenirs trying some areas known for market stalls, however these were true Italian style markets with fresh fruit & veggies, handbags, scarves, cheeses etc, nothing of which we needed but enjoyed the cultural experience nonetheless.  Not having any luck here, I suggested we head for the Castella Sforzesco, a popular tourist attraction, surely some souvenir shops here. We explored the Castle first, found some more semi-stray cats which kept the kids happy, then continued our souvenir search eventually finding a couple after lunch.

Overall, I wasn't all that impressed with Milan, it just felt like "another city" with graffiti, cigarette butts, traffic, busy-ness and not as clean as some cities we have visited.  Maybe if we had spent more time here and saw more of its highlights, we may have enjoyed it more.  Or perhaps we are at the end of our journey and are ready to go home. We returned to the hotel rooms to start organising for our long flight home tomorrow.  Mark and I enjoyed an hour and a couple of drinks at the bar prior to us all heading out for our last dinner.  I must admit I am a bit tired of eating out and looking forward to having home cooked food again.

This is the last blog I will post for this trip, so "Arrivederci Italia" we have had such a wonderful time here and in Russia and can't thank our friends enough.  We look forward to going home to be in our own beds, seeing family, friends AND our kitty papooses.

Ciao