Milan. October 2018.

For the kid’s Fall break this year, we went to Italy. It was wonderful. We wondered if the kids were old enough and how they would handle the amount of sight seeing, but they did great. It didn’t hurt that we kept feeding them gelato and pizza. We spent one night/day in Milan and then made our way down to Rome.

The Duomo is a sight. (Technically it is the Milan Cathedral, as duomo is Italian for church.) I’ve seen a lot of churches in my European travels, and the Duomo’s marble exterior is one of the most impressive. The pictures don’t do justice to the intricate sculptural details covering the church. The outside of the church has 2,245 marble sculptures, 96 gargoyles, and 135 spires. I can understand why it took almost 600 years to complete. It was actually Napoleon who ordered the final facade of the church to be finished. He was crowned King of Italy at the (mostly finished) Duomo in 1805.

Right beside the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It is named after the first Italian King and is Italy’s oldest active shopping mall. It opened in 1867 and is full of fancy shops and cafes.

A must if you are ever in Milan is the panzerotti at Luini (it’s around the corner from the Duomo.) There is usually a line, but we got there early. Panzerotti is similar to a calzone, but is fried, not baked. We got a couple cheese and sweet ones to share. It is amazing. So amazing my very particular son loved it. So amazing we actually went back for more.

San Bernardino alle Ossa is a church built in the 1200s and rebuilt in subsequent centuries. Predating the current Church is a small chapel decorated with human skulls and bones. I was super into it. (Back home, I was an orthopedic OR nurse, so I felt quite at home with all the bones.) It creeped the kids out a little, but they still thought it was cool. It was originally built in 1210 to house bones when a nearby cemetery ran out of room.

The chapel was filled with skulls, sawed off distal femurs (end of the thigh bone) and proximal tibias (top of lower leg bone).

I did some research on gelato before coming here. I really wanted the real stuff. (The easiest way to tell is to see how it is stored. It should be in covered circular containers and not whipped up, piled high in a freezer. Let’s not be snobby though, fake gelato is still super yummy.) Our first stop, Grom, was the real deal and did not disapoint. Flavors we tried today were pastry cream/chocolate and lemon/apple.

Piazza Sant’Alessandro

Castelleo Sforzesco was built in the 15th century by the Duke of Milan on the remains of a 14th century fort. It’s a massive defensive fortress that has been rebuilt, occupied by foreign armies (French, Spanish, Napoleon), and added onto over centuries.

Katherine walking along the water in The Courtyard of Arms, and the boys in The Rocchetta Courtyard.

We had late lunch/early dinner at La Prosciutteria. By we, I mean Andy and myself. The kids had a few bites we made them try, but they were not fans. Andy and I loved it though. We are very partial to meat and cheese platters, and this one was amazing.

A beautiful little fountain we came across.

The tallest building in Italy, the Unicredit Tower.

Since they decided not to partake in our meat and cheese plate at La Prosciutteria, we made a quick stop for the kid’s dinner at McDonalds. I’m pretty sure we’ve been to a McDonalds in every country we’ve visited with the kids.