. The Milan Cathedral, is the second biggest church in the world, and it’s impressive as hell. I think the Milan Duomo façade is the nicest façade I’ve seen this trip compared to Florence, St. Peters, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. There is so much going on, the towers everywhere, the thousands of figures. It’s a sight to behold. Some berber guy tried bumming off money by holding his hand out which had me thinking he wanted to shake my hand because he started talking about America with me. But all he did was dump pigeon seeds in my hand, which I had zero interest in doing, because I hate pigeons. I then went inside the Duomo, which the line goes by in like 3-5 minutes. The interior isn’t that amazing, but I didn’t see the treasury or the remains of the baptistery. I walked around, took some pictures of the altar, even though you’re not supposed too. I found a Giamcomo Medici tomb, which was interesting because I was reading my book about the Medici’s and there was like 2 chapters dedicated to him. What’s neat about the cathedral there is they have all the bodies of the former Arch Bishop’s of Milan on display. It’s kind of weird seeing deteriorating bodies, but it’s interesting seeing them dressed in church attire. 
Then I saw the statue o
f St. Bartholomew with his own skin, this statue is pretty insane to look at because it’s kind of a gruesome image. I had seen it before, but could never pin it to where I have seen it. I then walked to the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele where all the Prada, Luis Vuitton, Gucci, etc stores are, and found a Mcdonalds. I got my typical chicken nuggets meal. I then went to look at the monument to Leonardo Da Vinci right outside which was cool. I
then went to look at the formal Roman Portals in the city before my check-in time at 2 PM. I got to my hotel at like 1:45, but they let me check in. My room was pretty huge in size, for a one person, double bed. It was honestly like an American hotel, so I loved my room and the air conditioning. After this, I went to the Castello Sforzeca located in the heart of the city where the former Sforza rulers lived. 
My book also mentioned the Sforza-Medici alliance, so seeing this was also interesting. What sucks is they are renovating half the castle, so like 3 of the museums are closed. At least the museum I was most interested, the old art/sculptures that the Sforza’s owned was opened. They had some cool plundered ruins, tapestries, and stuff from their conquests. The main thing was the Michelangelo Rondanini Pietà. 
This pieta was interesting, because it was the third pieta of Michelangelo’s I have seen on this trip, and was one of the many unfinished works by Michelangelo. This is also believed to be his last work, so it’s understandable, he didn’t finished it. They also have the only remaining portal to the Medici Bank of Milan. The other museum open here was like music instruments, ceramics, and tapestries, which was boring, until you got to see the treasury room with gold and bronze stuff everywhere which was awesome. After this, I decided to go check out some of the churches that I was recommended to go too. The first one I went to was dedicate
d to Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan. The church was ok, except the crypt, where you can see Saint Ambrose and his brothers on display dressed in full Archbishop/Cardinal gear. That was a pretty impressive sight, to see the patron saint of Milan from 400 AD’s body. I then went to the Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio because this church had originally housed the tomb of the Magi before the Germans stole the remains to Cologne. So seeing this tomb was pretty cool. 
I then went to this other church with 16 roman columns on the exterior of the church. After this, I actually went shopping because it was a pretty happening street and they had good stores. A soccer fanshop store, Stussy, Vans, Adidas, etc. I then found a German type fast food place which was pretty funny, but they had good brats, and served Paulaner so I’m not going to complain. The cash register worker was from Brazil, spoke English, and we talked about surfing and UFC. He is from Curitiba and he has watched Anderson Silva train before at his local gym. After this, I was pretty seriously wiped out from lack of sleep and lots of walking that I had an early night. Day 2-I chose my hotel because of its proximity to the Santa Maria Della Grazie, or the refectory known as Cenacolo Viciano, because I had a 9 AM reservation to see the Last Supper. It was like an 7 minute walk from my hotel so I got there a little early but that was fine. The painting is housed in the former dining hall of the Dominican friars, who luckily got to eat breakfast there every morning. This building has through serious neglect in its life time. It was washed over by monks trying to clean it, Leonardo tried painting a dry/wet fresco on the wall which already made it start to fall off, it was used as a prison too. But after serious restoration, the painting has been restored to a decent image. It’s mind blowing how large this painting is. It’s seriously about the size of at least 15 by 30 feet or something. I was amazed at how it basically was the whole south side of the wall. You can’t take pictures, although it wouldn’t be very hard to sneak one. The room is kept dark, and cold, and they only allow small groups of people in at different intervals so moisture doesn’t build up in the room to damage the painting. The Mona Lisa painting was whatever, but this and the Sistine Chapel are two of the finest pieces of art I have ever seen. I was like a huge Da Vinci Code fan when I read the book, and after seeing the Apostle John, he does very much look like a women. However I believe the story of the painting when the other guys are trying to figure out who will betray Jesus. And you can see you a pouch in Judas hands, the gold he got for betraying Jesus. They have a crucifix painting by another famous Italian painter, on the other side which I looked at for like a few minutes, but my eyes were transfixed upon the Last Supper. This painting is a must-see for everyone, since there’s no chance it will ever become the full image its supposed to be. I then decided to check out the Cimitero Monumentale, (Monumental Cemetery). I didn’t know anyone buried here, but the sculpture on the tombs for these people was pretty amazing. I guess people famous to Italians are buried here, but to me, it was like being a tourist at Punchbowl Cemetary on Oahu, instead of visiting my grandpa’s grave. After this, I went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, to see the private collection by the Cardinal Federico Borromeo who started the first public library in Milan. The lady at the front desk was excited to learn that I already knew some of the work there, like the drawing of Raphael’s School of Athens. 
Cause our tour guide at the Vatican didn’t show us this painting…….not many good things to say about the Vatican tour. But seeing the drawing was amazing, on how someone could sketch something like this because it is gigantic. They have Caravaggio’s fruit basket, some Boticelli works, and then this bronze room had a bronze statue of what the Original Trajan’s column looked like, with Trajan and not St. Peter on top of it. That was cool. You can peak into the researcher part of the library. Then downstairs is the most famous part of the room, the Da Vinci works. You see his Duchess painting, and his painting of a Musician. And they have a copy by another artist of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, and what it would look like if it was a painting. Then they have 24 pieces of the Codex Atlanticus., which was amazing. You see Da Vinci’s handwritten notes, his sketches, his little side notes. It showcased pages from birds flying, to weight equilibrium to siege defenses, to stone throwing devices. It makes you wonder if Da Vinci grew up in the time of Galileo/Newton, how close he was to figuring out modern physics. Because many of those pages were almost physics like, but missing the equations to solve the answers. I’m glad I went there, and I’m glad I got a student discount for only 10 euros. I then went to the San Siro/Giuseppe Meazza stadium. 
T
his was pretty much heading into local Milan territory
. I’m a fan of Inter Milan, so it’s known as the Giuseppe Meazza to Inter supporters, because he captained the club in their early history. To AC Milan fans, its known as the San Siro, because it’s in the San Siro neighborhood in Milan. The museum was cool, showcasing the various trophies and memorabilia they have won throughout the years. Then the tour was neat, we got to sit in the VIP section, got views of the field, and of the supporters section on either side. The stadium is pretty massive, you have to look at it has a large NFL stadium. It can hold 84,000 spectators. Then we got to see the Locker Rooms of both teams, the AC Milan focuses on individuality. The Inter Milan locker room forces on unity. It was pretty cool to sit at 
the same spot where some of your favorite players sit before game. After this, I eventually made it back to the Duomo and to the same Mcdonalds at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Then I had a decent amount of time to make the train back home. This Milan trip was definitely worth it, seeing the Last Supper and the Duomo, and the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was worth the trip alone. The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, and the Sforzeco Castle were welcome surprises.
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