October 8 - Milan

Today we travelled west to the Italian financial and fashion centre Milan.  The highway to Milan reminded me of the Trans Canada highway west of Montreal.  The traffic was very busy and on the service roads parallel to the highway you can find a mix of factories and office buildings.

Milan is a modern city that was rebuilt after it was heavily damaged in the Second World War.  We went on a walking tour of the downtown that started at the La Scala opera house.  This is where the elite opera singers are invited to perform.

La Scala Opera House

Across the street is one of the most famous shopping districts, known as the Galleria.   Here you can find Gucci and Pravda.  People on our tour told us of finding 900€ sandals.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

High end fashion in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" resides in Milan at the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie.  Unfortunately it was a half hour walk to get there and a long wait without reservations.  So we decided to skip this attraction.

I found Milan to be dirty and boring.  Every inch of wall and each garage entrance is covered in graffiti. I can't figure out how these idiots can think that is art! Even the tour to the Opera house didn’t offer anything special.

The women here in Italy seem to be very fashion conscious.  Shoes, handbags and scarves seem to be very important to the well dressed Italian lady. Many of the men wear smartly cut suits.   Of course you can find the knockoff vendors for these accessories around each town square.

We stayed at the Novotel Milan North hotel. This hotel is new but in a seedy part of town, so there was nothing to do during the evening.