The train ride to Cadorna took longer than I expected, and we both were getting edgy. Dragging the bags through the subway once we arrived was very tedious and we both were hot and agitated. We finally made it to the B&B and used a tiny closet sized elevator to get up to the fifth floor.
We entered B&B El Paso and met our host, Giovanni, and his sweet dog. She is a mix of golden retriever and another type of dog. He offered a glass of water, and a better room for tomorrow night when he found out we were on our honeymoon. We put our bags away and ventured out to explore Milan.
We first tried to exchange some of the cash that Joel had brought from home. We had a lot of trouble because each of the three banks we tried told us that they would not do the exchange and sent us on to a different bank. I got tired of waiting, so I took some money out of my Citizens account. We will see what fees I end up getting charged for it. After we got some cash, we went back to the subway.
The subway was a much better experience without the luggage. We took the red line to the Duomo and when we came up from the station, the sight of the Duomo was breathtaking. There was a quartet of young men playing Pachelbel's Canon so we stopped and listened to them briefly.
I had never seen the Duomo during the day, because the last time I was in Italy, we only got to explore the city center at night. It is a truly magnificent building, entirely white marble. The building to me always reminded me of the drip castles I used to make on the beach. I never knew that at the top of the drip castles were full sized statues of people. We bought tickets to use the elevator to go up to the roofs of the Duomo. The sites were amazing from up on high.
After we walked the roof of the Duomo, we came down and tried to go inside the building. The guard in the front told me that I wasn't allowed in, since I was wearing shorts. I pointed out that a girl in a shorter dress than my shorts (which are on the longer side, for women's shorts) was just allowed in, but instead of allowing me to go in he went and kicked her out. I found a girl tying a Milano scarf around her waist to cover her legs, and she told me that she bought it at a kiosk nearby. Ten euros later, I had my own Milano scarf and we made it inside. I was annoyed, since I had a legitimate pashmina back in the B&B, but we weren't going to go back and get it.
Joel suggested that I use my prime lens since it was so dark, and I'm very glad I brought it with me. I was able to get beautiful pictures inside the church of the candles, the stained glass, the altars, and the ceilings. After we explored the inside, we went downstairs to the baptistery. The baptistery was a cool underground place that had been excavated right beneath the piazza. There were tombs and places where water used to flow. It was also a nice reprieve from the heat of the day. Afterwards, we went to the treasury, which was a small room with some beautiful gold artifacts and crowns.
By the time we finished at the Duomo, we were both completely exhausted, hot, and hungry. My foot was killing me, and I felt like I might pass out from heat and hunger. We tried to stop at a restaurant nearby, but after a closer look at the prices, we realized it was quite a bit out of our price range so we moved on. We ended up finding a panini place and Joel had his first Italian panini. It was delicious, and the water I had to drink helped me feel better.
We left the panini place and headed off to find the Museo della Scienzia. I had been looking forward to this for months, because it features Leonardo Da Vinci's art and inventions. The place ended up being rather confusing and the map was mostly unhelpful. It also was mostly about other technologies besides Da Vinci's, but when we finally found the Da Vinci corridor, it was very cool. There were models of many of the inventions he devised and explanations about how they worked.
When we were finished at the museum, we found a gelateria on the way back to the subway. I ordered our gelato completely in Italian, and I was very proud of myself. I'm not sure if the guy behind the counter was just indulging me in my attempts, or if he actually didn't speak enough English to switch languages. Either way, we got our first tasty gelato of the trip. I got strawberry and green apple, and Joel got chocolate and tiramisu. As we were walking back to the train, Joel commented that we must have just gone to the best gelateria in town. I asked him why he thought that, and he said it was obvious since the gelato was so delicious. I just smiled at him and told him that all gelato was this amazing.
We got back to the B&B at around 5:30pm. We had spent more time at the museum than I had expected. We ate the remnants of our prosciutto and panino for some dinner, and Joel promptly fell asleep. I told him that he should shower before he goes to sleep, since he probably wouldn't wake up until the next morning. He had been awake for well over twenty four hours and I knew that he would sleep for a while. He agreed, and while he was gone, I organized pictures. He went back to sleep, and I followed suit at around 9pm after talking to a few people online and sending some emails to family back home. Our first day in Italy was amazing, and the trip is off to a fantastic start.
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