Milano, Italia

So yesterday's post was basically to let our parents know we are alive.  I tried to dress it up, but really that's what it was.  As we rap up day 2, I have more to write about then I have internet minutes.
We started the day by returning to the Duomo.  I almost don't want to post pictures as even the best ones will not do it justice.  The Duomo is the second largest Catholic Church in the world, and it is spectacular!  I stand by what I said yesterday.  It is the most amazing thing I have seen to date in my entire life.  Last night we walked by quickly, and just saw the outside.  Today we went inside the church, and we climbed the stairs to the roof.  We probably spent 2 hours touring the church.  I could have spent the entire day.  It was absolutely the most stunning thing I have ever laid eyes on.
We then walked around the "shopping area" and I may or may not have bought a thing or two (ouch by the way).
Trevor has another friend in Milan from when he was here in 2001.  Cecilia and her boyfriend met us and we walked around Milan for the next 3 hours.  Cecilia's boyfriend is ... wait for it.... wait for it.... yep a Calgary Flames fan!!!!  I kid you not.  He is obsessed with the NHL, and is a Calgary fan (smart guy that he is).  While he hardly spoke any english, the guys managed to talk about sports most of the day.  After 8 hours of walking we decided to give our feet a rest and rest at the hotel for an hour.
We just finished dinner, and are relaxing with a glass of vino in the courtyard of our hotel with just enough time in the day for me to update all of you!

As I wasn't able to provide many details yesterday, I have to mention the family that Trevor stayed with when he was here before.  Giampiero and Paolo picked us up from the airport with roses in hand.  We then had a delightful tour of the Malpensa Airport Parkade as they could not remember where they had parked.  Giampiero referred to it as problem #1.  We thought - if this is our biggest problem - We'll take it! We headed back to their house for lunch as Claudia had been cooking for us all day.  As I said yesterday, best food ever, and that stands today.  We started with some sparkling wine and a plate of cured meats and cheeses.  My favourite being burrata (a fresh buffalo mozzarella with butter.)  It actually may not sound that good.  Cheese with butter?  Well let me tell you - it was amazing.  It didn't seem like butter, but more of just a creamier cheese.  It made me wonder if we just had a language barrier affecting the description.  That was fallowed by a shrimp pasta with this sauce that was indescribable (reason I'm not a food blogger).  Pasta was followed by not one, but two desserts.  Why would you only have one when you can have two I suppose....
After lunch we headed to the hotel to grab some sleep as we had been up for 24 hours will only 2-3 hours worth of airplane sleep.  Our quick nap was followed by dinner out in an area of Milan that has canals (like Venice).  Paolo brought his friends, Chairo, Carlo and Matilda to dinner.  They were great.  Chairo travels the world working for a fashion blog.  I'm sorry what?  Yep - literally spends tonnes of time in NYC, London, Paris etc.  Carlo now works on the marketing end of the blog.  Oh and how can I forget Matilda is their bulldog.  Matilda also joined us in the restaurant for dinner.  Yep just us and the dog hanging out for dinner.  Now I know what you are thinking - what kind of place were you at that allows dogs?  You must have just been at some cafe outside.  Well let me tell you - it was a really nice place and 100% indoors.  Good times.
I love Milano!

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