Road-trip to Milan, Italy


Road-trip to Milan

Susan and I drove south, over the mountains to Milan, Italy this weekend.  The Swiss advise taking the train from Bern to Milan, but, we’re Americans.  We drive.  Actually, it was too last minute to get train tickets, and we would have gone by train if we planned ahead more.  As it turned out, the drive was quite beautiful and we’re glad we drove. The two cities look pretty close on the map, but it’s a twisted route to get through the mountains.  We took the #2 highway, which includes many tunnels, including the Gotthard Tunnel which is 17 kilometers.  It is so deep under the mountain, that it’s warm inside:  it was just below freezing when we entered the tunnel, at the midpoint is was 90F...SCIENCE.

We stayed at a hotel in the center of the city, lucky to find parking under the hotel.  The city center has very narrow, crowded streets.

We really lucked-out, and had great weather in Milan.

 The pictures below are the Galleria Vittroio Emanuele, an enclosed shopping area built in the late 1800's, and perfectly restored, with all the luxury brand stores.  



The pictures below are the Duomo, Milan's famous cathedral.  Built from 1386-1813.  Holds 40,000 people.



 Below is a 1:1 replica of the Madonna statue that rests on the highest spire, the actual one pictured above, as close as I could zoom on my camera.   Both statues are 13feet tall, weigh over a ton.
 The cathedral inside was just as elaborate as outside.  

Below is a picture of the Sforzesco Castle.  The castle grounds have been very well preserved, including a moat all around.  There are several museums in the castle buildings.  The Duke of Milan started building this castle in the late 1400's.  Leonardo da Vinci painted some of the ceilings.  

The city gate , Arco della Pace, pictured below, very well preserved, from 1838.  



On our return trip, back to Switzerland, we chose another route, over the Simplon pass.   The weather was sunny in Milan, and in the mountains we drove through some snow, see picture below.

 Our drive back also took us through Montreux, with a view of Lac Leman, the opposite side of the lake from Geneva.  We saw several castle ruins on our drive back, and had to stop for a picture of the one below:

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