Day 2

Day two in Italy began with a stop at the local coffee shop. Starbucks was built on the Italian concept of a coffee shop on almost every corner. There was a cappuccino for Steve, macchiato (an Italian expresso coffee) for Jessica, and of course a café Americano for Linda. There were also wonderful croissants. We sat at a little table on the street and watched the Italians bustling about their Friday morning business. The morning was cooler than it had been. Jessica says it is the first morning that felt like fall.




We bought a daily pass to the tram and headed off to the Duomo for a full tour. It took almost as long to get there on the tram, with all of the stops, but there will be plenty of exercise today. The interior of the church is open to the public free of charge, but of course there is a charge for visiting the dome. There is an elevator but that’s no fun. We opted for the stairs and save 2 Euros in the process. Jessica gave us her counting lesson on the way up and down. Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci. ( 1-10). Steve was very good and by the way down the steps was counting into the teens. There are lots of steps to the top.

It is one of the most famous and complex Gothic constructions of the world. It is the second tallest church in the world (after the cathedral of Beauvais in France) and third greatest cathedral (after St.Peter in Vatican City and the cathedral of Seville).

Fifty two pillars divide the five aisles supporting the main archway.



Walking back to Jessica’s last night, we each guesstimated the number of statues decorating the outside of the church. Jessica said 900; Steve said 2500; and I guessed 1500. Today we found out there are 2422 on the exterior and another 500 inside.





From the Duomo, we walked through town watching a local demonstration that had the police helicopters flying over us all morning. We believe the demonstration was about the financial crisis in Europe. The castle of Milan is on our route to the tram, which we will take to see Bocconi University. The castle is an elaborate structure that now also houses a museum. It is surely a major Milan site, but we merely walk around the exterior and through the center courtyard. It is bounded on the north by a lovely park which probably once served as the castle gardens. As we exit the park, Jessica explains that we are now in the yuppie area of Milan. We saw mostly young professionals with children, nice apartments and some green areas. We caught the tram to Bocconi – now we will see what Jessica has been doing in Milano. The tram left us with about a half mile walk to Bocconi, so we decided lunch was in order before the school visits. We headed to a local favorite of the SDA students and had pizza and wine. An interesting Italian tradition is that everyone orders their own pizza. When I see the size of what I ordered, I am amazed but as I look around I see it is what everyone else in the restaurant has done. Of course, the pizza is amazing, and I eat all of it. Truthfully, it is much lighter than a pizza of the same size in the USA. As we walked to the Bocconi campus, Jessica explained that there are two separate campuses. At the first campus, she has been taking the Advanced SDA courses; at the other she has attended the regular Masters Degree classes. This is where most of the undergraduate courses are also taught. The entire university complex is much smaller than even the University of Toledo. After our tour, we hop back on the tram to Jessica’s apartment -- for a time change adjustment. (i.e. nap before dinner). There is a restaurant in the same block Jessica lives in, and that is where we walk for dinner. Of course, we get there at about 8 PM, and we are only the second table of the evening. We all ordered different items and shared. There was ravioli with gorgonzola, porcini risotto, and a combination seafood platter that Steve ordered with a little of everything. Of course, vino complimented all of the dishes. Dessert … of course, with three of us to share, we tried the tiramisu.