Milano (Milan)

As you already know, my family and I went to see Europe on 17-31 December 2009. I shall attempt to post entries and photographs in a chronological order, with descriptions of a city in each entry. Let's begin with Milano.

We flew on Emirates from Singapore to Milano, transiting at Dubai, during the wee hours of 18 December 2009. Upon arrival at about 2pm, we checked into our hotels and took a public bus to the city centre for sight-seeing.

I was floored when I saw the Duomo, which means cathedral or church in Italian. In my opinion, this Gothic-styled building was the most beautiful church we saw in Europe, even better than St Peter's in Rome.


The world's tallest Christmas tree stood before the Duomo.


Fortunately or not, we arrived in Milan just in time for the Big Freeze of Europe. We were freezing in the square as we beheld the beauty of the Duomo. Perhaps, the snow made it even more enchanting.


Here's the Duomo during daytime.





The interior of the Duomo, however, wasn't comparable to St Peter's. There was more to see in Rome. Here's the marble floor of the Duomo, made from red, white and black marble contributed by the people.




I've read about the symbolic tradition of hanging a cardinal's hat over his grave, and was pleasantly surprised to see one in real life. It is supposed to remind us of the temporal value of earthly glories. You can see the angels holding up the hat if you enlarge the following image. Cool~


This is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele which sat beside the Duomo. It is an open-air shopping mall.



My aunt's family at Castello Sforzesco.


And of course, as stupid Singaporean tourists, we embraced the snow while the Italians hid indoors.