Welcome to Milan, the fashion capitol of Italy. This is the city where our vacation started. We left Portland, OR at 9:30am and after 14 hours of flying and a 9 hour time change we arrived in Milan 24 hours later. Getting through the airport was fairly simple. We exchanged some money into Lire and figured out which train we needed to take and headed into Milan. After a 40 minute ride on the Malpensa Express we arrived at the train station an we could walk to our hotel from there. We stayed at the Antica Locanda which was located only three blocks from the Duomo (pictured above), the Vittorio Emanuele, and Castello Sforzesco.

Once we settled into our hotel we hit the streets running to see all that was possible. The Duomo was our first stop and a pretty impressive place to begin. This Gothic cathedral was begun in 1386 and finished in 1813. Decorating the exterior are 135 pinnacles and over 2,245 marble statues from all periods. Once inside the Duomo, the grandeur of this cathedral is only magnified. The walls are graced with hundreds of feet of stained glass and the floor is intricately detailed with beautiful tiles of brilliant colors. The center of the Piazza del Duomo is a large equestrian statue in honor of Italy's first king, Victor Emmanuel. On two sides the piazza is lined with porticoes where Milanese of all ages and styles love to gather. On the north side is the entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Italy's oldest and most elegant shopping mall. The four stories are dedicated to boutiques, offices, bars and restaurants. It is a wonderful shopping and dinning experience, however we were disappointed to see that McDonalds had moved in right across from Prada. After lunch at one of the local cafes we headed for fashion avenue, Via Monte Napoleone. The Italians are very talented with display abilities. Even if you never buy a thing, it's great to just stroll the street and window shop. It seemed as though every cafe, seafood shop, and boutique was beautifully laid out like a work of art. Everything is very clean and you can tell they take a lot of pride in what they do.

The next day we steered away from the shopping and spent some time at the Castello Sforzesco stronghold and residence of the Sforza family, the despotic rulers of Milan in the 15th century (forza means strength in Italian). Equipped with a moat to protect the castle, the inside hosts a great collection of sculpture. After taking in the art we headed down Via Dante to check out some of the shops off the beaten path.

We really enjoyed all the great shops and cafes and we were very intrigued by all the "smartcars" that most people seemed to drive. Petrol is very expensive there (about $5 a gallon) so they use scooters or very small cars. The SUV is not to be found in Italy. Milan is a beautiful city and everything shows the pride the Italians have in their work.