We arrived in Milan early on a Wednesday morning.  We couldn’t get into our hotel room until much later, so with little to no sleep the night before, we stored our luggage and headed out into the city.  The hotel was very close to the Duomo di MIlano (Cathedral of Milan) so we thought we should check it out.  My husband bought tickets online for us to go up to the terraces. They were around 20 euro each.    Even though our online ticket said 11:30, the guy at the gate let us go up as soon as we bought them, around 10:30. There was no one in line at the time. 

I couldn’t believe we climbed that many stairs when we were so exhausted.  The view is very much worth it though.  You can really see all the details of the spires and the flying buttresses from the rooftops.  They are working on a good portion of the Cathedral so there is a lot of scaffolding and areas that are blocked off with plywood.  I think that we still got to see a good portion of what we needed to see and the views of the city are also phenomenal.  The only minus of being up there was getting around all the dressed up amateur models taking a million pictures.  The first side we climbed up was definitely better than the second side.  It is a one way only staircase, which I really appreciated because it’s not very wide. For this reason, you would have to take the same route every time.  They also have elevators, but you have to go down the stairs.  It doesn’t cost a lot more, but the line was definitely longer. 

The stairs down put you into the Cathedral itself. You have to show someone your ticket if you want to wander around inside.  The sheer size of the space makes you feel minuscule.  The columns are massive.  The Duomo di MIlano is the third largest cathedral in the world.  It also claims to have one of the nails of the cross that held Jesus.  Apparently it looks nothing like a nail, but they house it in one of the lanterns that are near the altar.  Therefore you can tell everyone that you saw if, without really seeing it. 

Around the corner from the Duomo was a very tasty quick service panini shop.  I had a delicious mozzarella with tomato and basil pesto on fresh bread.  We checked out another church nearby that had a neat rounded dome. Since we were exhausted, we headed back to the hotel to see if we could take a much needed nap. 

Before we headed out to dinner, we walked through the fashion district.  We went into a few stores.  In the Gucci store, they have someone follow you the entire time.  It’s helpful if you see something you like and have questions because they are not intrusive.  In the Louis Vuitton store however, I tried to look a purse and got yelled at for touching it.  I was not the only person this happened to while we were there.  It did not make me want to buy anything. We headed out to dinner for some fresh pasta and on the way back to hotel I stopped for a gelato. 

On our next day in Milan, we took the metro (subway) over to the castle.  We used the metro for most of our travels in Milan if we were not walking.  It was quick and efficient.  The cars were clean and it felt quite safe.  Some of the cars were jam packed with people depending on the time of day.  We wandered around the inside of the castle and checked out the gardens, but did not enter the museum area.  It was too crowded for our taste.  Instead we headed out to see a Villa and could use our metro passes again because they last for 90 minutes.  

Villa Necchi Chesecchi was on a side street a little tucked away.  The gardens there are free and they have a cafeteria that was quite busy.  You have to pay about 10 euros to enter the villa itself.  There were not many people exploring the villa or the gardens.  The Necchi family is probably most well known for the old black enameled sewing machines.  The house itself was also featured in a few movies, most recently The House of Gucci.  It was built in the 1930s and I felt like it was a really home (not like other houses we have toured that seem more like museums).  There is a lot of notable artwork including drawings by Picasso and Matisse, but they were donated later and not owned by the family. 

We also visited a home right in the middle of the fashion district.  It is called the Bugatti Valsecchi Museum which was the home of two brothers who collected Renaissance era furniture and art.  The home was built in the 1700s and the family was famous nobility until the 1900s. This home was definitely more of a museum.  I loved the ceilings, the intricate carved doorframes, and incredible wooden furniture.  My husband’s favorite was the hall of arms. He thinks we need one in our home now.  

We tried to go into the Gucci store after visiting the home, but they wouldn’t let us in. They were waiting to find someone to follow us around and apparently everyone was busy.  We left and got some pastries instead.  

After eating some tasty treats and resting at the hotel, we went out to see the canal area of Milan.  It was an interesting area.  We took the tram to get there and I had the best time people watching since it was a Friday night.  Everyone was dressed to the nines.  The pizza that we had that night was unbelievable.  The crust was so fluffy and tasty.  

Milan was a very busy city. It reminded me a lot of New York City.  If you want to explore, you really need to get up early in the morning before all the rush.  I much preferred our side trips, but it was fun to check out the famous stores and people watch there.  Milan is a good spot to stay to see a lot of different places.