join the johnson journey: August 2015

After leaving Zurich, Mackie & I headed to Milan [aka Milano, aka Mailand {in Deutsch}]. We got there late and checked into our AirB&B. The guy was so nice and stayed up late to wait for us. I'd like to preface this post with a tad of information: Milan is about the only major city in Italy that neither Mackie nor I had been to. We did not really know what to expect and we seriously think that Milan is a hidden GEM in Europe. We loved it and it passed our expectations.

On Monday morning we woke up and tried to head to our Free Walking Tour. However, the guide did not show up so we were sorely disappointed. We just decided to do our own type of walking tour and see some sites. We walked down to the La Scala Theatre and then the Galleria [where all the fancy shopping is!] We then stood in line to grab some tickets for the Duomo Cathedral. We snapped a lot of pictures outside & wow is this place spectacular. It's by far the most gorgeous cathedral I've seen thus far. After we grabbed tickets we found out that we needed sweaters & no shorts to get in so we decided to put it off until Tuesday and went to grab some lunch. We had pizza & champagne [picture below!] - Mackie & I sure love some Italian food. And you know you're getting the authentic stuff in Italy!

La Scala Theatre

Galleria :)

yummy pizza & champagne

the absolutely gorgeous Duomo Cathedral

After we finished eating, we walked down to Naviglio Grande Canal and took a boat tour. The sites were gorgeous & while the canals are no Venice, I was surprised to see that they are very well kept and a quite happening place in Milan. After exiting our boat we decided to check out the church where the Last Supper is housed [on the wall that Leonardo DaVinci painted it on]. We found out we should have purchased tickets like 4 months in advance {oops} so we felt quite defeated but were hoping to find some online through a travel company. We started to head back to the AirB&B but we stopped by the castle and the grounds to check it out. The castle is very gorgeous and so is the park. We walked through the park and checked out the Arc that used to be the entrance to the city and provided protection to the castle. Afterwards we grabbed some dinner {zucchini lasagna!} and then went and grabbed some drinks on a rooftop that overlooked the Duomo. All in all, a great first day in Milan!

mackie in front of the Arc!

our quaint little AirB&B

yummy zucchini lasagna!

view of the Duomo Cathedral from the rooftop bar/restaurant

spin around three times on the bull's balls for good luck!

On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to find some pretty cheap tickets that included a walking tour of Milan and a chance to view The Last Supper by DaVinci. The painting is absolutely spectacular and if you go to Milan you better not miss the opportunity to see it. It is housed at Santa Maria delle Grazie. Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures of the painting but I snapped a picture of the model picture outside. Our guide was very informative in general and we really learned a lot from her. She took us to a few sites we had already seen but it is also good to hear stories and information from an expert. After lunch, Mackie & I went into the Duomo Cathedral and then we climbed up to the top for a view of Milan. Absolutely gorgeous! Not only is the view gorgeous from the top, the inside of the cathedral is GORGEOUS. We perused around the museum as well and saw a lot of interesting sculptures and paintings. Afterwards, we were both pretty tired so we headed out for a pretty early dinner then some hot tea at a local cafe. Afterwards, we tired to retire for the night but the people above our AirB&B decided to have a par-tay. Needless to say, I was a walking zombie on Wednesday...

funky looking "needle & thread" statue next to Milano Nord train station

the mock painting of the Last Supper

The church {Santa Maria delle Grazie} where the Last Supper is housed

beautiful tile work

Milan Cathedral

panorama of a circle of super old building in milan

absolutely gorgeous cathedral....the inside is absolutely insane

gorgeous doors to the Duomo Cathedral

gorgeous stain-glassed windows!

helllooooo milano!

top of milano cathedral

can you tell i'm obsessed with the architecture??

On Wednesday, Mackie & I headed to the La Scala Theatre. The view is gorgeous in the theater. There have been many famous plays & operas in this theater. I really enjoyed the museum itself as well. Afterwards, Mackie and I had a few more hours to kill before heading to the airport. We just walked around a bit more and saw a few more churches we had not had time to see. We also checked out a few "Piazzas" which are large estates where royal or famous families used to live. A lot have been converted into museums. After consuming entirely too much pizza and pasta, we headed back to the airport to come back to Hamburg.