We've been visiting small towns for such a long time now, that we're not quite accustomed to large cities, but after a couple days here in Milano, we started to get into the city groove which includes our favourite time of day called Happy Hour which, by custom in many establishments (large and small) means one drink at or lower than the regular price and all the buffet food you can eat between 17:00 to 19:00. You can eat a lot of great buffet food in two hours which saves on the cost of supper. Happy Hour is fully responsible for placing us about 30 minutes behind our intended scheduole on our last day in Milano. We had planned to arrive at the train station at 20:00 to collect our bags from the "left luggage" prior to the 21:00 hour departure of our train to Luxembourg, but we only arrived there at 20:30 which was more than sufficient. The city of Milano started off as a place where Insubrian Celts used to congregate abou 2500 years ago. The Romans formed a strategic fortress here around the 1st century B.C., and named the place Mediolanum which ultimately became an important political center for the Roman administration. Like most fortified cities, Mediolanum was built, more or less, in a circular formation. The subsequent city planners developped a circular pattern which radiated out from the fortified center, and this characteristic has survived to this day. In the present age, the piazza of the duomo is the epicenter of Milano. This piazza is home to both the duomo and a large monumental statue of Vittoro Emanuele the 2nd where all the pigeons hang out. Facing each other across the large piazza, the duomo and monument are the loci of this elliptical city center around which thousands of tourists meander at any given time of day. The duomo exudes so much detail inside and outside that it is absolutely impossible to absorb it all. The grandeur of the entire structure hides the fine and brilliant detail throughout. It would take years to study all the carvings and paintings and intricate designs cut into the marble. It is interesting to note that the 8 little stutues nestled into the collars positioned near the top of each of the pillars inside the duomo are 2 meters tall and, as far as I can tell, are all unique. Something else which strikes me as interesting is that the technique adopted by the christians for placing their dead in sarcophagi is not far removed from the techniques used by the neolithic peoples 7000 years ago. The Milano train station is the largest station that I can recall seeing. there may be bigger ones in the world, but they will be few in number.
