We took one final boat ride from our hotel on Lido to get to our bus that was waiting for us at the bus terminal in Venice. We passed several cruise ships and saw many of the morning work crews with produce etc. setting up their wares. We headed on the autostada 4 for Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. Along the highway, we saw many manufacturing plants. When we got to Verona, we were surprised to learn that it is the fourth largest tourist destination in Italy after Rome, Florence and Venice. Name any of the brand name stores, and they were along streets near the main square area. They also had a Roman Coliseum that is more preserved than the one in Rome and still has its seats of about 22,000 and is used for opera productions. There is also a large statue of Dante who was ostrasized from Florence and was taken in by the people of Verona. Saw the balcony of Romeo and Juliet(which was built in 1890 by a business entrepreneur) and the Embroidery shoppe that houses the Juliet club that answers letters to the lovelorn.
We then headed to Milan which is the financial capital of Italy. It is basically just a big city except for the main square area. First, you start with La Scala opera house which was completed gutted and reopened in 2006. You also see a huge statue of Leonardo da Vinci who is from the Florence area but applied all of his invention and ideas in the city of Milan (which was the capital of Italy for a couple of years at one point in history). Then you walk into the Galleria which is an open shopping area covered with a beautiful glass ceiling. At the center where there are four corners, you have the stores of Louis Vitton, Prada, Gucci and then McDonald's!!!! I just laughed to think that McDonalds rates up there with the designer labels. I guess Armani is desperately trying to buy their space. As you walk out of the Galleria, you immediately cast your eyes on the magnificent Duomo, the great cathedral of Milan. There are over 2,000 statues as well as 52 hundred foot granit columns inside the church. It contains the largest stained glass windows in the world. It is of a gothic style and is the fourth largest cathdral in the world. In Italy, all of the stained glass windows and statues on columns were designed to tell stories to the people who could not read or write. We ended with a visit to La Rinascente which is a 7 flooor department store similar to Neiman Marcus which has all type of designers having a set location on the various floors.
We headed and are staying at Lake Maggiore. Our room faces the lake with the mountains across from us. We will do more exploring tomorrow as there was a light rain tonight when we arrived. We are staying at the Hotel Dino which is definitely a spectacular resort hotel. Talk more about it tomorrow. Ciao!!
We then headed to Milan which is the financial capital of Italy. It is basically just a big city except for the main square area. First, you start with La Scala opera house which was completed gutted and reopened in 2006. You also see a huge statue of Leonardo da Vinci who is from the Florence area but applied all of his invention and ideas in the city of Milan (which was the capital of Italy for a couple of years at one point in history). Then you walk into the Galleria which is an open shopping area covered with a beautiful glass ceiling. At the center where there are four corners, you have the stores of Louis Vitton, Prada, Gucci and then McDonald's!!!! I just laughed to think that McDonalds rates up there with the designer labels. I guess Armani is desperately trying to buy their space. As you walk out of the Galleria, you immediately cast your eyes on the magnificent Duomo, the great cathedral of Milan. There are over 2,000 statues as well as 52 hundred foot granit columns inside the church. It contains the largest stained glass windows in the world. It is of a gothic style and is the fourth largest cathdral in the world. In Italy, all of the stained glass windows and statues on columns were designed to tell stories to the people who could not read or write. We ended with a visit to La Rinascente which is a 7 flooor department store similar to Neiman Marcus which has all type of designers having a set location on the various floors.
We headed and are staying at Lake Maggiore. Our room faces the lake with the mountains across from us. We will do more exploring tomorrow as there was a light rain tonight when we arrived. We are staying at the Hotel Dino which is definitely a spectacular resort hotel. Talk more about it tomorrow. Ciao!!
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