We followed our street (Tadino) in a south west direction through several parks and continued up Via Manzini till we reached La Scala.
The opera tonight was Carmen, which we saw on the QM2 (Covent Garden film) so we saved a lot by not going for that.
We saw opposite this statue of Leonardo da Vinci, clearly the local favourite son.
We passed through the most elaborate covered shopping mall we have seen and came out in the Piazza of the Duomo. We had hoped to beat the crowds, but we did not. The first view is very striking as the cathedral is polished like new and every part of the visible structure is covered with the most intricate carving.
We decided that climbing up to the terraces was our thing, as recommended by the Bendreys, so we paid 8 euros each and had our bags searched by a nice young girl who was wearing military clothes and guns. She passed our water bottle to a lady who impressed upon us not to forget it when we emerged later.
We could see that the granite and marble had stood up with time better than York Minster which was made of sandstone. We climbed 160 steps to the first roof level and could see up close the statues and carvings. Quite amazing.
There are dozens of small towers reaching heavenwards and each one is decorated and has a statue on top.
We went up another thirty or more steps to the next level, where we saw what a large city Milan is.
There were a lot of cherubs featured and their nakedness prompted the question "are all cherubs male?"
Two parts were covered with scaffolding but the missing walls were printed on a cloth covering so that the building still looked complete. A huge TV screen covered part of one. There were plenty of workers using power tools and we saw a group come up to the top in a special lift on the scaffolding. The church was built as a place of worship but it needs the income from tourists like us to keep it as an inspiring place to meditate. This is an example of the detail.
After retrieving our suspicious bottle we went to the Gran Caffe for morning tea of waffles, coffee and milk (no shakes available).
We chose this place for its outlook.
We found our way to the Booking Office for tours, as there was a three hour da Vinci tour at 4pm, but it was booked out several days ahead. That saved us 140 euros. A big storm caught us as we walked back and water was gushing out of downpipes and 100 umbrella salesmen appeared out of thin air. We were slow finding our way home because we tried to take shortcuts across the radiating main roads and spent a lot of time map reading.
In the afternoon we watched an opera "The Puritans" by Bellini. The lovesick Elvira is finally united with her errant man Arturo when he is told he has been sentenced to death for treason. It has a quick, happy ending as Oliver Cromwell sends a pardon note and they all giggle their way through their bows. There is no English available on the TV but there were Italian subtitles which helped a bit.
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