For the first time since we left home we had a relaxing morning. Our train to Milan wasn’t until 11:55. It was a quick taxi ride to the train station where we connected with Terry and Paul. They had stayed at a different hotel the last night in Florence. This time we traveled business class. Except for the ability to easily change or cancel a ticket, there really wasn’t that much of a difference from standard class seats.
As expected, a Tauck representative was there to transfer us to our hotel, the Grand Hotel et de Milan. No more three star hotels for us. Our room was lovely, but not overly large. One thing we’ve discovered on this trip is that the bathtubs in many hotels stand over 2 feet high. Why? I can attest to the fact that it’s a challenge for someone 5’ tall to get in and out. I guess Italians really like filling up their bathtubs.
Note: At most of our hotels we were given a thin pair of slippers. If there was turn down service, we would find our slippers carefully placed on a towel on the floor on each side of the bed. How could we toss them out? We ended up bringing about a dozen pairs back with us.
Milan is Italy’s banking center, and is an international fashion capital. The hotel is situated very close to the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza Della Scala, so we decided to take a quick walk before dressing for dinner. Tonight is our welcome reception.
The famous La Scala Opera House was just down the street from our hotel. The Piazza del Duomo is large, but so is the Duomo. It is also extremely ornate like a gothic cathedral. According to Rick Steves the church has more than 2,000 statues inside and another 1,000 outside, plus fifty-two 100 foot tall pillars representing the weeks of the year. It was built to hold 40,000 worshipers.
Sitting across the way from the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a glass domed arcade filled with shops, restaurants, and people. We stopped at a nearby cafe and enjoyed drinks and a delicious salmon appetizer on flat bread. I had asked for an iced coffee and ended up with some kind of coffee martini drink. It wasn’t what I ordered, but it sure was yummy.
Our evening began at 6:30 back at the hotel. There are 24 people in our Tauck group and they come from all over the U.S. It seems like a very nice group. I sure hope so since we will be spending a lot of time with each other. Our tour director is Scott Bishop Falcone.
BY THE WAY WITH WENDY & DAN 