We began our trip in Milan, where we crawled in and on the Duomo, saw the Last Supper and couldn't spend enough time at the Sforza Castle.
Milan: We arrived in Milan via bus from the airport, which dropped us off at the Train station, where we bought our tickets for the trip to Varenna two days later. This is looking up at the ceiling of the train station.
Milan: Outside the Duomo is this statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, uniter of Italy. When we arrived the sky was overcast and grey, and we were there early enough that we had a lot of Piazza dell Duomo to ourselves.
Milan: The Duomo, in Piazza dell Duomo, is astounding, huge and in its own way grotesque. It's littered with statues (3100 of them!), arches and scaffolding, the latter because it's always in a state of restoration.
Milan: Here's a side of the Duomo where scaffolding is obvious. At the highest point is Milan's patron saint, Perego's Madonna.
Milan: A closeup of the Madonna, the highest point of the church. The statue is covered with 3900 gilded leaves.
Milan: Some of the statuary rising up from the Duomo's roof.
Milan: Many of the Duomo's statues--and each one is unique--had spiky tendrils coming out of the heads and hands to ward off pigeons!
Milan: An example of the Duomo's statuary that must have meant something personal to the sculptor. Is it a significant religious figure, or the sculptor's wife?
Milan: Anyone know the religious significance of this piece? I'm not familiar with a knife in the neck story in the Bible...
Milan: Another amazing sculpture. Many are set in their own bay within the sides of the Duomo.
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