The guys got up early and went exploring in the streets nearby basically to get some coffee, milk, eggs and bread. Being a Sunday, no grocery stores were open, and the guys went up all the way to the Milano Centrale but came back empty handed. And so for breakfast, we started with our Ready to Eat Poha.
Once the breakfast was done, we decided to walk till the Duomo where we were booked for walking tour.
The walk was about two hours at leisurely pace and that is what we did – started walking South on Via Gallarate (Via in Italian is a street). We passed through lots of shops – most were closed at that time in the morning – passed through Piazzale Cimitero Maggiore, Arco della Pace (a historical monument) – where we wandered through a park, then onwards to the Duomo.
Once the breakfast was done, we decided to walk till the Duomo where we were booked for walking tour.
Then we were off to the Duomo (https://www.duomomilano.it/en/) for our Guruwalk (https://www.guruwalk.com) at 10:00 AM.
The Duomo is almost the centre of Milan, the cathedral is the largest in Italy and the architecture is simply superb. The construction began in the 14th century and it took almost five hundred years to be completed. We did not venture inside but clicked a lots of photographs in and around the Duomo. The crowd was vibrant and there were so many tours going on simultaneously.
We then located our Guide – Marco, our guide, was typically Milanese— and an excellent story teller – giving an excited rendition of stories with lots of hand gestures. The tour was for three hours and Marco took us around the vicinity of the Cathedral, talking about the history…dates and all. Unique and interesting bits of information like the use of viper for logos, meaning of some common hand gestures, the moat that doesn’t exist now, fall and rise of the Milanese royalty, the premise behind the construction of the grand cathedral in a style that was no longer in vogue then, the story behind the gilded statue of Madonnina, the Galleria with the world’s high brands, the bull in the centre and in case you move around in circle it brings good luck,….and more …ending the tour at the irreverent sculpture in front of the Stock exchange.
More than three hours of walking and standing had almost all our feet and legs crying for rest, and then we had a two hour walk back to the Airbnb.
Chose a street cafe for a pizza and pasta lunch, strolled back to the Airbnb.
Clicked some more pics on the way back – really had a wonderful day!
Reached the Airbnb – rested for a while and then decided not to go out anywhere in the night. Party time at the Airbnb plus we had to plan our day trips for the next day.
Ready to eat Indian dinner at home, some drinks and we called it a day.
