Milan Birthday Trip, 8 - 11 September, 2008

This is of course way out of order, but hey ho! My surprise holiday was to Milan. Jim thought I'd enjoy it and he hasn't been there either and of course La Scala is there and we visited that too on a wonderful night out to see 3 ballets. The music, choreography and venue were all fantastic. I am going to do more or less a photo blog with the odd comment, and hope you enjoy them. I had a wonderful time, the weather was glorious and not too hot. The hotel marvellous with great food. Do go there if you get a chance.

Part One:
Me and some local sculpture











One of many cappuccinos I enjoyed


















Couples of all ages kissed and cuddled on any available bench











This is the Natural History Museum. A beautiful building with multiple arches all around. It is within the city park.






























I was taken by the rather fetching bins all around Milan. Much prettier than ours! This little beaver obviously thought so too

































There was also one with a winter scene















The main streets were very hot. Off the side of many of them were blocks of apartments and houses. Most of these had a courtyard which was beautifully cool. Some had fountains and statues. This is one of them.














Grand Central Station. Our hotel was to the right of this. A very imposing building.








Many of the 'ordinary' buildings had beautifully carved stonework. These were mainly towards the centre of Milan
















They were either grey stone or rendered like this one in warm colours. Many had balconies.
















A church bell tower and clock. There were many of these too.













Two stained glass windows in one of the churches we visited




































This is the stunning 'El Duomo', Milan's cathedral. It is set in the centre with a huge square in front of it. This area was always busy and bustling. There were ice cream sellers and other food stalls plus some selling nik-naks and clothing. Here the Duomo is in the evening light. I love this photo.





At the edge of the square, a very handsome man, and Jim!! (Sorry Jim). Jim is facing El Duomo here.




















This is the Victor Emmanuel archway. It leads to many many shops with all the big fashion houses' names. Gucci, Prada, any you can think of have to be here. This is to the left of the cathedral.













We loved the Italian police. They just seemed to hang about in groups, laugh and joke and smoke and watch the women passing by.





This is one of the streets inside the fashion area. These banners were everywhere, advertising a forthcoming music festival. I love the way the light shone on the ground




Council offices overlooked the square. This chap is having a quick ciggy break. One for DK's 'Enchanted Glimpses' blog I think.















These two chaps look really fed up with holding up the columns. This was down a side street.















A close up of one of them. What a wonderful beard



















This is the building they were holding up. A lovely old balcony with a huge door behind and closed curtains. What's happening behind them I wonder?

That's the end of Part One. It's brought back some lovely memories for me and some of very sore feet and tired legs!