The Bell Curve of Life: Milan: Duomo di Milano

If you only see one thing in Milan, make sure you see the Duomo. Photos don't do it justice - you have to see this magnificent building to truly appreciate it.

I won't go into the history of the Duomo, there are plenty of places online to read about that. I'm just going to give you a brief tour of the parts we saw while in Milan in 2008. First, note that the exterior is under restoration. That is while parts are covered with signs - to hide the restoration work.

Notice the height of these doors in relation to the people. Those are HUGE and probably rival the height of my entire house!

And of course, the obligatory pigeons. Diamond ring, anyone? (You have to have seen the "Diamonds are Forever" commercials to understand that reference)

A close-up to show you how the marble looks in person.

The building is obviously very ornate, but I don't think I realized that it was covered in gargoyles and whatnot until we saw it in person.

Here is a sign describing the restoration work. I think you'll be able to read it if you double-click on the photo.

Looking along the side of the Duomo, later in the afternoon.

A single window from the same side of the building.

Here is a photo I took on another day when it was obviously much sunnier. Shall we go in? One word of warning, they check you over very carefully before you enter. That did not alarm us since we don't carry bombs or guns or anything...but as we got to the front of the line we noticed that they were making the women cover themselves! And they weren't even that exposed! I see much more skin going to the grocery store. Now that did alarm us (see my wife's photo in the Galleria post - that is how she was dressed) but we talked it over and decided to go for it anyway. For whatever reason, they did not say a word to us and let us go in. I have no idea why we got special treatment. [Note: we finally figured it out...women with their shoulders exposed were not allowed in]

Once inside, this is what we saw. Again, photos do not do it justice. The space and heights are tremendous. These were extremely dark when I downloaded them from the camera...I actually used Photoshop to lighten it considerably...before, I couldn't even see the columns!

There weren't all that many people in the church, but then again it wasn't exactly empty either. Notice the circumference of that pillar in relation to the people.

Somewhere through here there was a huge statue of Jesus on the cross wearing only a loincloth. Now, what was the scrutiny at the door about, again?

Towards the back of the church, there is a stairway leading to the basement where there are relics on display. So we headed down...

Back out on the Duomo Piazza, there are other noteworthy buildings besides the Duomo and the Galleria. Here is one.

Now let's return to my new-found favorite activity, people-watching!

Still on the Piazza, I snapped this photo. Gray Crocs...just the thing to wear on your day at the Piazza.

On a separate day, we were on the hop-on hop-off bus which stops for about 15 minutes in front of the Piazza. Nothing better to do than to snap photos of people (mostly tourists on the Piazza)...let's do it!