The day started – early – with us packing up and getting ready to leave.

But first we decided that a bite to eat was in order.
So we headed out, only to discover that 7:00 on Sunday morning was not the time to find anything resembling breakfast.

So it was back to the apartment after dinner- where the uncooperative internet continued to plague us. (The apartment building door has a wi-fi lock. It also has a key lock and our host was kind enough to give us the code for the lockbox hanging on the bike rack across the street.)
Retrieving the keys we were able to open the building door. So we put the keys back, only to discover that the door from the courtyard to the staircase is also locked at that hour on a Sunday morning.
So it was back to the lockbox to retrieve the second key to get us into the staircase.
We were soon back in the apartment and on our way.

We decided to make our way to the Cardona train station (where I had a large locker reserved) to store our bags during our morning tour.
Of course, along the way we passed a bakery that was just opening so we stopped in for a pastry.
Then we caught the streetcar to run us the three blocks to the station (we’re so weak!)

We found the bag checking place, only to discover that its claim to hold 4 carryon bags was a fiction. We put 3 bags in and certainly wouldn’t have had room for a tough

We found the bag checking place, only to discover that its claim to hold 4 carryon bags was a fiction. We put 3 bags in and certainly wouldn’t have had room for a fourth, much less any backpacks.

So we rented a second, medium size, locker.
This would have been fine except that the automated locker management system said they would text and email me the code. (Good luck with that!)

Then we wandered down to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church to join our city walking tour.

The tour started in what was once the dining hall for the monks at the adjoining monastery. (It was also a stable during the time Napoleon occupied Milan.) It is currently famous for the artwork at one end of the hall.

Before we headed out on the city tour we learned a bit about the church and monastery.

Built in the late 15th century the church and associated Dominican monastery were commissioned by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. The church also served as the castle church and was connected to the castle by a tunnel large enough to ride a horse thru. The tunnel is still there, but is no longer in use since subway lines have bisected it. There are currently 18 monks in the convent. They are mainly geology professors at the nearby university.

After viewing the cloister we proceeded several blocks to the palace – home of the Swarza family who ruled Milan for 50 years in the late 15th century. They didn’t build the palace, it was there long before they came to power. But they did add on to it significantly during their brief reign.

The triumphal arch shown in the last photo was built by Napoleon when he ruled Milan from 1895 to 1814. The arch is on a street that runs in a direct line from the castle to Paris. As is normal for these structures there is an image of Nike driving a five-horse chariot on top. Originally this statue faced Paris. However after the end of the Napoleonic rule the statue was reversed so that the horse’s back ends face Paris.

Leaving the castle we walked to the Dom square.
Along the way we passed the Lego store. Here’s their homage to the castle:

The Milan Dom is the largest cathedral in Italy (St. Peter’s in Rome is in Vatican City.), third largest in Europe, and fifth largest in the world. It was begun in 1386 and finished in 1965.

Adjacent to Cathedral Square is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – an expansive covered shopping arcade.

One main tourist feature in the Galleria is the bull on the seal of Turin. Turin served as the first capital of the unified Italy, an Honor that Milan (among others) believed belonged to them. Obviously there is no love lost between these cities, so tradition has it that spinning three times counterclockwise with your heal on the bull’s testicle will bring good luck. The mosaic must be replaced every two years because of wear caused by the number of happy participants.

The last stop on our tour was the La Scalla opera house.
This very ordinary building (on the outside) houses a truly magnificent interior.
Sadly we didn’t get to go inside.
I had checked and there wasn’t anything going on there while we were in Milan so we’ll have to come back to be over-awed.

After the tour we were feeling a bit peckish (actually Cheryl admitted to feeling weak from lack of food) so we decided to take the subway back to Cardona station to get lunch there before seeing about retrieving our suitcases.

During lunch (actually for most of the morning) I tried to retrieve my email – without success.

So finally it was time to address the bull and see what we could do about getting our backpacks back
(the code I had previously received for our suitcases worked like a charm for them).
There was a ‘squawk box’ on the wall (“Hold this button down and talk to us.”) but nobody on the other end – guessing it was a Sunday thing.
I went to the railway customer service desk, waited in line, and just as it was my turn the lone attendant spoke a bunch in Italian and lowered his blind – Guess it was time for the 2:00 siesta.
Back in the luggage room I tried to use Cheryl’s phone to log in to my Google account – without success.
Finally I tried to log into my Google account on Billie’s phone. SUCCESS!
(She’s been having fits with trying to get her eSIM setup so she is still on Verizon’s international plan.)
I was able to get to my mail, find the code, and open the locker.

From there it was back downstairs and on to the subway to the centrale station (not the direct line because they’re working on it. “Take the Red line to Duomo, then change to the Yellow line.” Done!

Milan Centrale station is a pretty amazing place. Multiple floors of shops and eateries, the hub for all subway lines, and (Oh yes, also) trains.
We tried one automated ticket machine that told us “Sorry, you can’t get there from here.”
So we wandered a bit and finally found an actual ticket sales person who sold us tickets for the train leaving in 10 minutes on track 2 (“…or if you miss that one you can also take the one leaving in an hour and 10 minutes.”
We made the first option.
I slept most of the first hour.
Arriving at the end of the line we transferred to a bus and 20 minutes later were checking into the hotel.
WHEW!!!

We rested a bit before dinner where we met several interesting and fun people.
This is gonna be a great trip!

After dinner we needed to decompress a bit, so we headed up to the rooftop ‘Sky Bar’ for a libation (and an accompanying bit of nosh to accompany the alcohol (They say this is ‘a thing’ in Italy.)

We enjoyed views of the lake.

We toasted the evening.

We went to bed.

Here’s the schedule for tomorrow:

Until then,
R