Living on pizza and prosciutto

We are in Milan today. It wasn't exactly how we had planned it, but we think it will work out better in the end. Our plan had been to go to the Cinque Terre region and a lack of accomodation options left us with few choices, so we bagged that plan and headed for Milan. We'll have to do Cinque Terre at the end of our trip.

Our day today was pretty lazy. We actually slept away a good 3 hours of it, but we must have been still catching up because it felt great! Then we walked into downtown to see the Duomo which was spectacular! Apparently it is the fourth largest in Europe. I can't even begin to guess how many ornately carved spires come out the top of this church. The stone they used is a white-ish color, so it reminds me of an elegantly decorated wedding cake. Even the buttresses are carved and fancy. And of course the inside was just as impressive. The ceilings throughout the nave and the entire cathedral are incredibly high - moreso than the National Cathedral. It is able to seat 10,000 people. The stained glass inside is some of the most beautiful glass I've seen. Instead of pieces of glass put together like a mosaic, it's more like many, many squares painted on and put together to create a scene. The windows directly behind the altar were enormous. It was a beautiful church overall. I would say the trip to Milan is worth is just for this building alone.

Milan is very different from Venice. It has a very designer-esque feel. If you like shopping, Milan is the place to be.

We spent the evening taking it relatively easy. We were beginning to feel really dumb not knowing a word if Italian. We found that when anyone would utter a single word of English to us, we would automatically give up trying Italian altogether, which really isn't very nice considering we're visiting their country. So, we sat in our room this afternoon practicing some basic and essential phrases. We can say things including: we'd like...beer...wine...table for two...check please...where is...what time...to go please...etc. We practiced tonight buying our prosciutto pizza and vino rosso from the local pizzeria. (by the way...you really can live on pizza and wine here we've realized). It worked out pretty good for us and we're already feeling a bit more confident. We have another 10 days or so here...we'll be pros in no time. Ha...right...

We want to include pictures eventually, but we haven't found a computer that wants to download them yet. We're searching and will post as soon as we can.