The day before we headed to Liguria was going to be our busiest in Milan. We had activities scheduled for both the morning and afternoon. Like basically two of the major sites.
We headed out to the first. I had gotten Fast Track Tickets for the Duomo di Milano, which included access to the Terrace, i.e. the rooftop of the Cathedral. I really wanted to check that out after seeing it on an episode Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy where he visits Lombardy (I hope his new upcoming shows do well). I thought both the architecture and the view was fantastic.
Our assigned time was 10am, so we headed out a bit early. We were way ahead of schedule when we reached bustling Piazza Cordusio. Among all the financial businesses and high end shops we noticed a location of Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Though we're not big fans of Starbucks, we had been to Seattle location of the Reserve Roastery, so we were interested in taking a look.
As one would assume for Milan....this location was pretty fancy.
The line for coffee was crazy; so the Missus got some tea which She rather enjoyed and I had some sparkling water.
It was an interesting place to visit. There are currently six Starbucks Reserve Roasteries around the world. If you'd like to see what the Tokyo location looks like, you can check out Kat's post here.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Piazza Cordusio 3
20123 Milan, Italy
It had started drizzling and things seemed a bit "wet" when we got to Piazza del Duomo.
But heck, we weren't going to let a little drizzle stop us. We were zipped up by the elevators to the "terraces". To a world of spires, statues, and gargoyles.
We were told that many of the statues were carved as a gift to God and were only seen by the workers who climbed the stairs for hundreds of years. Now an elevator can whisk you up in minutes.
It's as if you've entered another world. The amount of work is stunning. No wonder it took almost six centuries to complete.
The view, even on a drizzly day was wonderful as well.
If you ever have the chance to visit the Duomo, we highly recommend doing the rooftop!
Once back down on earth, we entered the cathedral. There's so much to see....I'm just going to post on a couple of tihngs that really caught our attention.
The nave of the Cathedral is impressive, at a height of over 200 feet and stretching over 500 feet long!
There was an "interesting" statue of Saint Bartolomeo, one of the 12 apostles. Check it out.
Bartholomew was famously martyred; skinned alive and beheaded by the Romans.
We also went to the basement of the Duomo, which was quite interesting. The highlight were the ruins of the Baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti.
The Baptistry was constructed in 378 AD and is where Saint Ambrose (who became the Bishop at the Duomo) was baptized.
There are different foundations of churches that stood here before the Duomo. Many artifacts, even some tombs.
Yes, there's much to see here. Especially if you go from "top to bottom".
I had thought 2 to 2 1/2 hours would be enough, but it wasn't. We needed to get some lunch and a take a break before heading to our afternoon "appointment". So, we took our leave. We'll be sure to return someday.
As for lunch. Well, we headed back to the apartment. Because we had a nice sized kitchen we were using it for breakfasts and such. We passed this shop on Via Ponte Vetero and walked on in.
The place had a good selection of prepared foods, salumi, and stuff. Though it was kind of pricy. Still, I couldn't resist the Porcini mushrooms, which heated up well!
Earthy, nutty, slightly sweet, in need of salt, but there was some in the cabinet.
I also wanted to try the Cima alla Genovese; which had everything from offal to boiled eggs to pistachios in it.
It's basically stuffed veal belly. Boy, this was potent! But quite filling!
Luckily we had some bread leftover from breakfast.
Yes, this place was quite expensive for a deli; in fact, this cost more than the dinner we had in a restaurant on this day! Still, it was great to be able to try this!
Rossi & Grassi Srl
Via Ponte Vetero 4
Milan, Italy
It was time for a nap; then we needed to head on out to our next "tour"!
Stay tuned!
beautiful cathedral
Posted by: kat | Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 12:30 AM
Loved my visit to Milano years ago -- the Duomo and the nearby Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II were super impressive! I got completely lost wandering the streets downtown -- this was pre-iPhone -- but eventually found my way. Foodwise, the pizza and gelato I encountered during my wandering were both excellent.
Posted by: Peter | Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 09:34 AM
It really was Kat!
Sometimes getting "lost" can be awesome Peter! You will come across things you otherwise wouldn't!
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 02:36 PM
I enjoyed the rooftop of the Duomo, and wish we made time for the cathedral. I didn't realize that there was a Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan (I really didn't do enough research), but I've been to the one in New York City (Chelsea location). It was interesting to browse, but the lines were long for drinks.
Posted by: Sandy | Monday, 16 December 2024 at 07:40 AM