Milan, Italy

Stopped in the port city of Genoa and took a delightful 2:45 drive into Milan

Milan boasts a truly impressive castle (Sforza Castle) with a sick moat, if you're into that type of thing.
We took a tour of the castle, mainly I suspect because it had easily accessible bathrooms. 

                                                    

We then took a brief walking tour down the Main Street towards the original high end shopping mall - the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.  It's basically two Prada stores and a Gucci store.  Who wears Gucci?

The mall is actually incredible.  Even more incredible, it was built while we were mired in Civil War...  The mosaic and details are endless and the glass ceiling is impossible to appreciate in photos.

                  


From there we walked a few steps to the main Cathedral.  It is hard to even see in just a few minutes.  There are 3,000 statues built into the exterior, and even though I am personally not a fan of Gothic style - this one is a must-see. 

                                              
                                     

We picked a café closest to the front for a view during lunch. They took 20 minutes to take our order...then 10 minutes later told us they were out of Gnocchi and some other pasta dish. So they brought pasta with tomato sauce.   In a fit of frustration I went inside, bought a small rice dish and ate it at our table.  The waitress said I was not allowed to eat it here...and I challenged her to bring a manager over to explain how the RAN OUT OF GNOCCHI AT A HUGE RESTAURANT IN ITALY!!!

Anywho, manager never came.  My two drops of coffee were comped and we wandered around.  The best pizza we had all trip came from a fast food restaurant and paired with two Gelatos made Milan quite a stop.

                                         


I type this waiting for our formal photos which Princess lost.  Thanks Princess.  #FML     (Note: They were later found. Princess is lucky; they wouldn't have wanted to mess with my pregnant wife!)