When we last left my Milan adventure, I had gotten on the wrong bus, walked a couple of miles in the July heat to my hotel, and had my first (of three) gelatos in my 24 hour trip.
After eating dinner and buying postcards to send back home, I returned to my room. I was staying at a clean and cheap one star hotel – there were no hostels in Milan. My room consisted of a single bed, a fan on the window sill, and a television on a little ledge. It was all I needed. I showered in the bathroom down the hall, taking care not to fully dry myself off. The fan hitting my still damp skin was the coolest I’d been all day.
I turned on the tv and watched Murder She Wrote dubbed in Italian before drifting off to sleep to the sound of my fan. The next morning I was one big mosquito bite. Darned Europe and the lack of window screens! There was no time for scratching, though; I had a lot of city to cover!
This is the site I was dying to see in Milan.
The Duomo in all its glory. When I turned the corner into its piazza, this is what I saw.
I almost cried, but since it had happened to me at Notre Dame and the Brandenburg Gate, it was almost (but not quite) funny.
I walked up to the cathedral entrance and was waved off by the security guard because I was wearing shorts, or so his hand gestures indicated. I reached into my bag and pulled out a skirt, which I stepped into (shorts still on) in front of the guy. He looked at me in my wrinkled and bulging clothing layers, shook his head in disbelief and waved me in. I had come prepared and was so proud of myself!
After viewing the inside, I climbed up to the top where I lay on the steeply slanted stone roof for quite a while absorbing the beautiful view. It was a struggle to make the surreal situation feel real.
I descended, staring at the fake, temporary façade to the building, anxious to see the beautiful entrance to La Scala, which was right around the corner. As I existed the piazza towards the Opera House, I was confronted with more scaffolding. That was too much for me. I didn’t even go inside or take a picture. Fortunately, gelato was the perfect cure for disappointment.
The trip was definitely some of the most memorable 24 hours I’ve ever spent.
What has been your favorite trip? or Has anyone else repeatedly encountered scaffolding or am I the only one with this gift?
Grown Up, Now What? 