It was very difficult (and expensive!) to get flights directly into Florence, so we flew via Milan.  We arrived quite early in the morning so had a day and a half to see the sights.

Impressions of the city ended up very mixed.  It seemed ugly on the most part - modern, functional and choked with traffic.  However, the area around the Duomo is quite lovely and full of elegant people.  A wonderful few hours were spent just watching the world go by.  Strangely enough my favourite building was the central train station.  Grandiose, monumental architecture that looks like it was erected during the heyday of the Mussolini era.  We don't have a photo that does it justice, so you'll just have to go there and see for yourselves!

    The Duomo in Milan.  Big and imposing but rather heavy I thought.  Not my favourite church!

    Lion on the statue in the Piazza.  We like lion statues, so had to put it on the website.

    Fountain in a little street near La Scala.

    La Scala.  A rather ordinary building.  For some reason I had expected mock gothic and fantastic beasts!  We had attempted to get tickets before we left the UK, but they were very expensive - no opera for us this time.

    Entrance to the huge shopping arcade off the Piazza.

    Detail of part of the shopping arcade.

Unfortunately, Glen got food poisoning while we were here, so our experience of Milan wasn't a particularly positive one.  Luckily we have another half day there on the way back which might improve our attitude to this city.

**Special Update**

No!  It was equally unfortunate - Milan is the city of sickness.  Glen developed Milanese flu, a particularly vicious strain which lasted until we got off the plane at Heathrow!