Day 2 - Milan, Italy

Yes, it has taken me forever to get these pictures up, but here they are.  

Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) -  

The gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the fifth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian state territory. There are more statues on this building than any other in the world, 3159 in total. 2245 of these are on the exterior together with 96 gargoyles and 135 spires. It is said that if the statues were placed on top of each other, they would reach a height of about 3.3 miles. 

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the world's oldest shopping malls. 

Inside the Galleria.

Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square")

Inside the Cathedral.

The stone work and stained glass windows were incredibly ornate.  We spent almost our entire day in Milan taking in the beauty of the Duomo.  We were able to browse some of the amazing shops in the square and explore an gigantic department store too.  After checking into our hotel, we rode the Metro back to the square.  Milan is gorgeous at night with all the buildings lit up.  After browsing a bit, our group selected an outdoor cafe for our dinner.  The food was very different than the dinner we had in Florence the night before.  I had the Lasagna, which was delicious, but much richer than our American recipe. I also tried the Spaghetti Carbonara and it was so good that I've had cravings for it since we've been back home.  I guess I need to make some myself.