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Milan, Italy
Yeah you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon
I had initially planned what I believed to be a really awesome trip, only to change half of it the day before I left. The last half of my planned trip took me into an area that the US State Department has since issued travel warnings for. I was supposed to go to Egypt, Jordan and Jerusalem- the hotel in Jerusalem that I had booked was on Nablus Road in East Jerusalem, I'm not sure if it's still standing or not. One and a half weeks before I left Ariel Sharon decided to visit the Temple Mount and, well, you probably know what happened next. The presence of tanks and the greatest anti-American feelings in the Arab world since 1967 (and specifically anti-American demonstrations in Jordan) caused me to rethink that whole part of my trip. I kept the first half of my trip intact (London-Athens-Istanbul) but with about 24 hours before I left for London, I booked new plane tickets which allowed me to wander about Italy for the last 12 days of my trip. All things considered, there's a lot worse things one can do.
I left Istanbul for Italy where I remained for the rest of my trip, something that will become terribly evident as you view the remaining slides. What better way to start my pictures from Italy than Milan, the first (and last) place I visited this time, a place where everyone remained better dressed than me. This is from the terribly fun roof of Milano's Duomo, Milan's dome-free cathedral- a building with more spires than are (probably) necessary.
This is the piazza in front of the Duomo- the cathedral itself is on the far right (see slide above), and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is on the left. Just beyond the Galleria is La Scala, the world's most famous opera house where the ushers dress really cool and I was fortunate enough to see two performances from the cheapest (worst) seats available (an opera one night and an orchestra concert the next). Just trying to sound more cultured than I really am.
If you go (or have been) to Italy, you will (or have) run across the name Vittorio Emanuele II a few times, he has something big named after him in just about every decent sized city. If you go (or have been) to Milano, you will (or have) visited this place, possibly the first modern shopping mall (from the 1800s) but much, much nicer than that claim allows.
South of the Arno River, looking back towards Brunelleschi's Duomo, arguably (or possibly inarguably) the greatest dome in all of Christendom. Florence (or Firenze as those wacky locals like to call it) is as cultured a place as I may ever find, plus it's home to some really kick ass gelato.
Up close of the greatest dome in all of Christendom.
And no up close of what lies just beneath the greatest dome in all of Christendom.
And the hills of Tuscany, still within the limits of Florence.
