What a perfect day! It certainly was long, but the beautiful weather and beautiful sights couldn’t be beat. After a light breakfast, we spent the morning learning new Italian words and phrases to use in restaurants and when greeting others with one of our guides, Mirella. I feel a lot more confident with my basic Italian, and it definitely helped us later in the day when we explored the center of Milan!
After our brief crash course in Italian, I went out with some friends to a local restaurant near our hotel. I ordered a delicious plate of spaghetti al pomodoro e basilico, and we enjoyed a great lunch as a group.
My lunch! 
lunch gang
After lunch, we went back to the hotel and met with our guide for our walking tour through Milan, Michelle. If you think of Milan as a donut, all of the smaller, older buildings are outside of the donut, newer skyscrapers and some historical houses make up the body of the donut, and most of Milan’s architectural attractions and buildings make up the donut hole. We walked from our hotel towards the “donut hole”, passing through the newest neighborhood in the city. This area is home to the Vertical Forests and other apartment complexes that were built by a variety of architects commissioned by the government to develop the area. Here, we see the biggest contrast between the old historical architecture of the outskirts and the new skyscrapers of today most clearly!
Each of these buildings were designed by different architects. 
Some of it is office space, but most is high rise residential space. 
Lots of modern shops around the fountain. 
This is Piazza Gae Aulenti. It’s bordered by the tallest skyscraper in Italy. 
These passages allow the lower levels of the plaza to receive fresh air. 
The Unicredit Tower! It was too tall to fit the top in the frame. It resembles a roll of fabric being unfurled. 
There’s the top! 
The Vertical Forests viewed from the plaza!
After walking through the beautiful modern plaza, we stopped for some amazing gelato in an Italian supermarket called Eataly! (I’ll have to write more about it in another post. There’s too much to talk about and too many pictures to share here!)
Once you pass through this neighborhood, Milan starts to get historic. We saw beautiful old buildings, cobblestone streets, and plants hanging off of balconies. Lots of small high end shops, restaurants, cafes and local grocers line these streets. Once the historical homes of low to middle-class families, they are now considered very high end.
Lots of walking… 
This church was built ~450 A.D! 
Some of the old architecture that survived WW2 bombings. 
These are public water fountains! They’re nicknamed drago-verdes, “green dragons”. 
Statue commemorating Leonardo DaVinci.
Michelle told us about this archway, which was once the true “entrance” into Milan, when it was still a small city state surrounded by walls. Walking through it, we go through some of Milan’s oldest streets, passing by churches that were built before 500 A.D!
Finally, we reached the heart of Milan, passing through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to get there: the Duomo di Milano. It is the largest church in Italy, and took over four centuries to construct! The weather was perfect for taking pictures of both the Galleria and the Duomo today. My feet are tired, but today was beautiful! I am looking forward to tomorrow, where we’ll be visiting the University Cattolica and the National Museum of Science and Technology!
Entering the Galleria! 
The floor tile is also beautiful! 
The main dome of the Galleria. 
Part of the face of the Duomo! 
A view of the entire front!