Happy birthday Zac, we tried to text but the reception on the ferry wasn’t the best as we exited Venice.

Verona here we come.   These people know how to dress.  They are very smart.

 

We went to Guilette’s house of the Romeo and Guilette fame. How cool was that and we also went through the whole house and stood on the balcony.  In case you think it is strange if you hold the right boob of Guilette it is meant to be good luck in love.  I felt she was a little cold….

Guilette’s balcony and me !!!!!!

Verona also had a very cool flower market in the square.  They also had an interesting arena.  It was not as spectacular as Roma but it was better than the Athletic Oval in Toowoomba.

Arena and view of square from cafe

Then we went onto Milan. We went to the largest castle in Italy. This place had a moat that went all the way to Venice.  It was 200m by 200m and the walls were 6m thick.  Also the holes in the wall in the pictures were for the timber structures to act as scaffolding while being built.

Milan has been governed by various countries over the period of its existence and they all have had an influence on the general culture and architecture of the city.  Interestingly, I believe the city has Parisian influence in the style of the building.  In any case it is a very stylish city.

 

We also saw the fourth and last Pieta of Michelangelo. He died at the age of 89 while he was completing it.  It was carved out of a previous sculpture which was of a man holding the body of Christ as ot was removed from the cross. Michelangelo was unlucky in love and he believed that the only true love was the love of a mother to her son. We have seen the first Pieta and we are going to seed the other two in the next couple of days.  A bonus….

 

We then had a tour of the Milano Opera House and stood in a balcony alcove.  We marveled at the marble columns in the centre of the building carved out of single blocks of marble and the large busts of Toscanini.  This was the home of Maria Callas one of last centuries greatest Sorpranos.

Check out the dancing girls (Ballerinas)

We then had a tour of Milan’s cathedral.  I didn’t want to go as I am churched out and I am exhausted.  Guess what, I was blown away by the mosaics and the general structure of the church.  It was built by a Duke because he had a child and the church was large enough to hold the 40,000 people standing.  This was part of a pact the Duke made with God if he had a child. Today it has a congregation of 80.  This probably explains the great big advertising billboard on the side of the church. They have to pay the bills somehow.

 

Dining with Hugh

We then had a quick trip to Lake Como and straight to bed.