Meaux's Adventures: Milan Cathedral Day

Hello from us tired and achy twins -

Yesterday kicked our butts and I have unlocked a new pain - both hips hurt!

Today we spent most of our time at the Milan Cathedral. Took a rooftop tour and then toured the church.

In the entrance we passed the baptistery of Santo Stefano alli Fonti - which was built in 313 toward the end of the Roman Empire. Most everything on the site was demolished in 1386 to build the Cathedral. This bit of history was discovered in 1899.

So, we were prepared for a few stairs after the elevator ride to the roof - but it was 90 steep steps. Everyone in the group was moaning and groaning.

Being on the roof was really cool. There is a lot of scaffolding, as they are in a continuous state of cleaning. Our guide, Simone, who is a boy with a girls name told us to clean one section takes about 4 years - see a section below

Simone also pointed out the first tour guide with his flag - (a joke)

Being on the roof you can see all of Milan and even the Alps - but it was too cloudy today to see the Alps.

Here are other pics of the roof and the 150 stairs down…no, that part wasn’t in the tour description!

If you look closely on the top of this carving you will see 2 wires wrapping around the top portion - these wires disrupt the pigeons magnetic ability or something so they don’t perch and poop all over the cathedral!

The church was beautiful - has 4 organs - they are huge!

The above picture shows a part of the stone that has been cleaned - bright and airy - the dark part to the right has not been cleaned.

After this tour, we took a break sitting on the steps of the square. We had just walked about 1.3 miles inside the church -

People watching is so much fun!

We then walked over to FAO Schwartz to look around.

Then lunch at Burger King - we wanted something quick and didn’t want to have a sit down 2 hour lunch.

Shan did some more people watching from the dining area of our hotel -

If you notice there is a bull in one of the squares. It is supposed to be good luck and a certain return to Milan if you place your heel on the bull’s balls and spin 3 times. As and aside - the ‘balls’ have been worn away of the years and now its just a big indention.