Milan, Italy - Cathedral

10/09/09

I visited the two most famous Milanese sites - the Cathedral (Duomo) and the Victor Emmanuel II Galleria. The first was beautiful - here it is in all its glory:

Inside the galleria there's a tile mosaic of a bull in the middle of the floor. Apparently legend says that it's good luck to "spin on a bull's balls." No joke. So now everyone takes a spin, and certain nether regions of the poor animal have been worn down to the cement. I took a spin, but I had way more fun watching the older Asian tourists in suits having their turn...

I think my favorite part of the afternoon was when an old man asked me (in Italian) if I needed help while I was looking lost with my map, and when I answered that I don't know Italian he switched to English. (It's hard to find northern Italians who speak English.) He then offered to walk me to my destination since it was on the way to the cinema. I asked him how he knows English, and he said that it's his third language - he was an interpreter for the war, so he knew Italian and German. He said that when they figured out the British were coming, he taught himself English at night. He then learned French, Spanish, Russian, Latin and Greek...isn't that crazy!??! He was really delightful to talk to, especially considering it was my first time talking to a veteran of WWII on the other side. (No picture of him, I'm afraid.)