Milan, Italy - Week 4 (Part 2)

Hello Family and Friends,

The heat wave continues in Milan. It's a very interesting experience to be visiting Europe and not want to leave the hotel because you have already showered and you don't want to sweat again. Before even getting to Milan, Brett was done with suffering in the heat. Even so, there were some things that we just had to do. The area we stayed in was called "Lima" which is the shopping district. We did take one afternoon to go shopping. Some stores we just went into to get a little reprieve from the heat. . We did manage to book a tour to Duomo di Milano, which is the largest gothic style church in all of Europe.

This specific photo is from google, because the day we visited there was what looked like a military graduation going and there were stands in front of the church which obstructed the view.

We started our tour on the roof which is referred to as the "terrace".

This is a clock can be seen from the terrace of the Duomo di Milano with Night on the left and Day on the right. I felt like Day even at 9 in the morning.

There are over 3,000 statues featured at the Duomo di Milano.

The view of Milan from the roof top of the Duomo di Milano.

Being able to go on the roof of such a grand church was a very cool experience. Once inside one of the more interesting sites was a statue of St. Bartholomew.

The statue shows St. Bartholomew with his skin being used as a cloak for his body. His skin being off his body is a representation of the way he was martyred.

Brett just suffering the heat even inside the cathedral.

The most comfortable room of the church, because it was the only part air-conditioned, was actually the old ruins that lie under the church.

This is the remains if an old baptism pool that was used once a year. People would enter on the left, be baptized and then exit on the right.

Another interesting little tidbit about the Duomo di Milano is that it is a continious construction project. Our guide told us that there are 150 men continuously working on the Duomo. Fifty of those men are at the quary cutting rocks. I mean it is an absolutely gorgeous church. It took 600 years to build and it requires almost as much effort to maintain the structure.

The next day, even though it was still so hot, Atlas and I just couldn't stay in the hotel for a minute longer. Once evening hit, we found a nice park not too far from our hotel.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c45804_750231320a3040d2b707ecf7df47d0bd/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Atlas going ham on this rocking bike.

Another adventure we took to keep out of the heat but to also get out of the hotel was the Illusion museum. It was more fun and interesting than I expected.

Atlas having an argument with himself.

This room was called "Infinity".

So many Atlas! Oh my!

On our last day in Milan, we finally managed to book a winery tour. I love to visit wineries, mostly because I like the charcuterie board.

The guaranteed best part of a wine tour.

We have done a handful of wine tours throughout our travels and I still feel like I know nothing about wine. I think the consumption of wine does not put my mind in a good place to be in when trying to learn new information.

Terracotta vessels are an older container used for aging wine.

Milan concludes our month long trip around Europe. Paris is a city where it would be difficult to get bored. There is always something new and interesting to see. Rome is the best place for historically preserved architecture. Every where you turn there is another grand, old building.

CeCe and Ian are returning home. Brett, Atlas and I are going to be slowing down. We are going to be transitioning to looking for places to live. Our next location will be Brussels, Belgium. We are both very much looking forward to cooler temperatures where the high is 72F as compared to 100F.

Milan at 7pm.