So a new day dawned in misty Milan, with that traditional Italian brekkie (rolls, croissants, and jams). Tricia and I first headed off to the Duomo (incidentally by a material shop), and we duly astounded by the sheer magnificent, overwhelming magnitude to this gigantic church. The pillars are like those trashy fantasy novels, which describe stone forests, or bones of the earth rising out of the ground. There was some good stuff inside too, frescos, the stain-glass windows, and the statue of a saint carrying his flayed skin over his shoulder. Then it was off to Castello Sforzesco, it has those classic Italian crenellations, but the museum displays inside were a little disappointing. In fact most of the Milanese museums subscribe to that old-school philosophy; show objects behind glass. I much prefer the explanatory displays, often which try to show the context of use, or setting. Another disappointment is that all the armour seems to have been shipped off to Germany or England! I was hoping for a Missiglia Museum, but it was not to be. Still there was lots to see at the castle - Egyptian, Roman, a great musical instrument collection, and various other medieval stuff. With sore feet, and empty bellies, we trudged down via Dante to find some pizza and pasta (birra too of course!). Thus being refreshed, we had enough time to squeeze in Saint Ambrogio's church/tomb/museum, before heading back to the London Hotel for a wee rest.

In a daring move the next morning, we tried a little cafe for breakfast, this involved sweet rolls, and cheesecake stuff. We then headed off to the inspiring Poldi-Pezzoli, where Tricia was denied an Italian guide book, with nice pictures, but indecipherable Italian text. Trying traditional foods for lunch (Risotto, and Calozoni) and then off for more museum madness at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. This was a modern, renovated art gallery, rambling through a converted home, lots of great stuff, but I was starting to feel a little art-numbed by this stage. To fill the afternoon, we thought of trying some smaller sites, the Santa del la Grazia (home of "the last supper", which we failed to find), the Leonardo da Vinci Science & Technology museum (like MOTAT but in Italian), the very colourful Monastero Maggiore (which we wandered into by accident), and then La Galleria for great Salmon and good Mushrooms. A last night time stroll back via a gelato shop (both of these seem to be very common habits for the locals), and a flight back the next day.