Milan and Venice, 1st stop - Milan

This past weekend was a 4 day weekend, so you know we couldn't let that opportunity go to waste. We thus headed to Milan and Venice! We spent our first two days in Milan then took a train to Venice for the next 2 days.

Milan was beautiful, especially the Duomo! The Candoglia white marble makes it especially stunning!

The Milan Duomo is the largest Gothic cathedral and the second largest Catholic cathedral in the world. It was started in 1386 and finished in the early 1800s for Napolean Bonaparte's inauguration as King, even though small work technically continued into 1965. The spires are really spectacular, which you can view up close since they allow you to walk on top of the roof! Very neat!!

Of course, a trip to Milan would not be complete without shopping! We did our fair share, even when it was mostly just looking in the windows of the designer shops.

The inside of the Galleria. Even the shopping gallery is art!

(Prada to the left, Louis Vuitton to the right, us on the outside looking in :) ....someday!)

We also went to see "The Last Supper" painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was very large and impressive, completely covering the back wall of the room. Over the course of 500 years since it was completed the room has been used as an armory, prison, stable, and left without a roof for several years after it was bombed during World War II. Of course we weren't allowed to take pictures, so here is one of us waiting outside. They had serious security for this thing! Bar doors, 2 air sealed rooms to walk through, and then you could only view it in groups of 15 for no more than 15 minutes! Had we not bought out tickets 2 weeks before we would not have been able to get in!

Then off we went on the train to Venice...