Day 1 - 2: NYC -> Milan

Ah, Italy! The land of Michelangelo, Fiat, and Dolce & Gabana.

I had expected my last trip to be my last for a few years, but it turns out that I got a two week break from Submarine School over Christmas, and I figured - why not go back to Europe? I told my friend Heather, who's about to finish med school, and next thing I knew, we were looking for the cheapest tickets to Europe.

They turned out to be for a little city called Milan. Once we bought the tickets, our trip was pretty much planned. For about 14 days, we'd travel around the Italy, taking in the sights and eating spaghetti and gelato. I guess we'd also take in some culture, art, and history along the way.

We met up in NYC near the always fantastic Times Square. I was lucky enough to meet back up with Elissa, who I met in Austria. She took us out on the town, since NYC was her new and temporary home. After food, drinks and travel stories over some piano music, it was time to go to bed, we had a big travel day ahead of us.

The next afternoon, after worrying about the snow storm and sitting on the tarmac for 3+ hours getting de-iced, we were airborne. Eight hours later, plus a time change of 6 hours, it was morning and we landed in Milan. Right away, Italy hit us in the gut with a huge Roman-style train station that managed to impress and confuse us simultaneously. Once we figured out where we could leave our bags, we headed out to see what the city had to offer. Since we were leaving that evening for Verona, we decided to take in the most accessible sights, namely the Town Square, and the Church, or Duomo.

Milan is an electric city, full of fashionable energy. All the Italians were dressed to impress in their fancy shoes and fur coats. The Duomo is the 4th largest church in Europe, and it's huge! The outside is decorated in intricate spires and ornate statues. Inside, enormous paintings hang seemingly in mid-air, depicting various scenes from the Bible. Near the ends of the nave, unbelievable stained glass windows rise from ceiling to floor at least 100'. Columns as large as Redwoods run the length of the nave, carved from multi-colored marble. The floor as well is made up of intricate marble patterns.

The most interesting part of the Duomo (besides the vacant stare from behind his silver death mask of a random Saint entombed beneath the altar) was the statue of St. Bartholomew, who was skinned alive, wearing his skin over his shoulder like a Roman senator would wear his toga. Creepy. We'd see Bart again in Rome.

We also climbed up to the top of the Duomo, which was fascinating. We could see the amazing architectural accents up close and personal. It also afforded u s a fantastic view of the square below, the Galeria, and the expansive skyline of this tremendous city.

After the Duomo, we walked around the square, taking in the still-new italian sights. Running out of time, we had to leave The Last Supper for another trip, and we headed back to the massive train station.

Next stop, Verona!