We jumped on an early train from Venice to visit our last Italian city, Milan. Really, all I knew about Milan was that it had good soccer teams, that Mussolini's body was hung there after he was assassinated, and that runway fashion is front and foremost. Well we didn't see any football, no dead bodies, but lots of "fashionable people"!!!

From my train seat on the ride through Lombardy I got a sense of the geography and economy of the region. Mixed with mountains were broad fields of trees (my guess olives/grapes) and plowed fields, and it seems that agriculture is a mainstay. The tracks did pass through Padua, Vicenza, Verona and Brescia that looked like substantial cities with a lot of industrial capacity. Some rough areas around the stations, but that has always been the way around trains.

Relieved that all our train connections ran smoothly, we found the bag check at Milano Centrale, a well organized station, and accessed a Tourist Information booth. I was, in comparison to my other city itineraries, "winging it" in Milan as I was really unsure how much we would have left to offer by the time we arrived there. Thus, the info stop was great, and we grabbed a city map and got some excellent advice on where we could visit and how to get around. Next stop was the subway and downtown Milan.

We commuted to "Duomo di Milano", a fantastically gothic Basilica in the heart of the city. The Piazza del Duomo in front was busy with visitors, despite the light drizzle of rain coming down, and what looked like an upcoming public presentation. We were ahead of the crowds and went right into the basilica. It's a massive building, and one of the most well kept we visited. The information sign said the church has over 3,500 statues and maintains a staff of 120 persons. It was dark, but had some of the nicest stained glass we'd seen. There is a visit to the top which looks out over Milan, but we didn't give it much thought.

Across the piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an upscale shopping district that hosts all the biggies. Architecturally its very interesting, as a glass dome covers the area and was perfect cover from the sporadic rain we had in the morning. We walked, window shopped and emptied back out into the piazza after moving through. The rain had fizzled, and we put to the streets.

As we wandered the historic core of Milan we dropped into Museo Teatro alla Scala, and Milan's famous opera house. We'd visited the Opera in Paris and decided to try an Italian version. We climbed several flights of stairs to the museum and viewing area for inside of the opera house. Red and gold, with boxes lined from floor to ceiling. Rich interior with actors rehearsing on the stage. They had a curtain malfunction as well!!! We also watched a young group finish tuning and play in the upstairs corridor. We then viewed the museum portion, a collection of artist statues, musical instruments, costumes and Alla Scala history. Neat place to visit, and we had lots of room and time to explore.

Several blocks away we stumbled into Castello Sforzesco. Basically, this medieval castle, situated in the centre of Milan, has been transformed into a massive museum complex. The museum pieces have been displayed with care, and one forgets he is inside a castle as it was warm, very modern and housed a wide variety of artifacts. Of special note was the unfinished Michelangelo Pieta on display.

Outside the castle is Parco Sempione, which is Milan's largest green space. Its very functional and between dodging the runners and watching "young love" on the park benches we had a great stroll. We enjoyed sandwiches we had fixed up from the night before, as the weather cleared and air warmed.

Our last scheduled visit of the tour was at Cenacolo Vinciano, or more commonly Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. The painting is located at Santa Maria del Grazie, and is one of those works of art I've seemed to have known about all my life. The fresco fills an entire wall next to the church, and special precautions in regards to climate control and number of visitors make advance preparation necessary. It, in fact was the only wall of the building that survived an allied bombing raid in 1943. We booked ahead online, and enjoyed our 15 minutes in the room with 23 others.

We caught a bus, which travels every 15 minutes from Centrale to Malpensa for 7,50 euro, and had a 40 min bus tour to the area northwest of Milan. At Malpensa, we hooked up with folks at the Air France counter and the attendant printed us our boarding passes for our flight and connections home. Eerily, the attendant even mentioned the word "strike" and that Air France would soon be walking out. We were freaked at that. Thankfully, she said we would be home by then. Jane then called the folks at our accommodations at First Hotel and they promptly sent over a drive to our final destination. We had a "proper" evening, and checked in smoothly, had a fine meal in the dining room, drank some wine in the bar, and a great sleep in preparation for the long journey home.

Sunday was a long day. On the bright side, we made all connections, with the last one being the trickiest!!! When we got to Trudeau in Montreal the customs line was huge. We were very worried that we wouldn't be able to make the Moncton flight, but hustled and got there with 15 minutes to spare. A lot of flight time and moving through very busy airports in Paris and Montreal. However, everyone was patient and helpful and our travel went so well!!!