Milan

It did give us an extra day in Milan so we set off next morning to look for the cathedral. Trams looked too hard so we tried the under ground. This worked well but first we had to work out how to use the machines that sold tickets. Next we had to work out where to get off. Our first try was central station as it sounded right. It was a good mistake as central station has to be seen to be believed. It is pretty much a rival for most cathedrals I have seen except that the statues were of Romans or greek gods rather than holy images. Everything else was well in line. It was massively tall with a central room police cars and ambulances could drive through and it had other equally large sumptuous spaces.

We just stayed and gauped for ages but eventually we went outside. The building was just as impressive on the exterior but seemed to be located no where particular. We were obviously in the wrong place for anything except trains. Our next stop above ground got us to what was obviously the right place. A huge square was bordered by magnificent old buildings. We decided to explore the cathedral.

This turned out to be a good move. It was Sunday and services were running but anyone could walk around or join in. There was a choir and Bach on the organ so we were enthrawled. The music was magnificent and what with various church dignitaries in full robes it was quite a show. After the choir left we had a girl singing solo parts so we just settled down to a musical morning which we thoroughly enjoyed. Edd was thrilled that he coud be part of something so archaic.

When the show was over we drifted along with other tourist who were heading for the shops. We were not interesting in buying anything but it was interesting to look and we soon found a busker with a guitar singing one of Edd’s favourite songs so we joined his audience and had a musical afternoon too. We walked back to the hotel and got a good look at the city.