On Friday morning, we all said goodbye to sunny and warm Tuscany and to the castle we stayed in. Greg and Cheryl dropped me, Mom, and Steve off at the train station to head to Zurich, while they drove to Venice.
View of Tuscany from the castle
Mom, Steve, and I took a train up to Milan where we had a four-hour layover before our next train to Zurich. Even though it had been perfectly sunny in Tuscany, Milan was cloudy and rainy, but luckily still warm. We still were able to see some sites beginning with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which is a shopping area in downtown Milan with a beautiful glass and metal roof. The structure is designed like a cross with a huge domes at each end and in the center. The Galleria has a mix of designer stores like Prada, upscale restaurants, and more traditional retail shops. I really enjoyed the architecture and appreciated a public area with a roof when it was raining.
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan
Right next to the Galleria is Milan's massive Gothic Duomo (duomo means cathedral in Italian). This cathedral took 500 years to complete and is one of the largest Gothic churches in the world. I think this is one of everyone's favorite churches because the spires and the roof are so ornate, which is probably why it took so long to build. We didn't go inside, but instead just took some pictures by it and moved on as it started to rain.
Milan's Duomo
Mom and Steve in front of the Duomo
After seeing the Duomo, we did some shopping for some AC Milan fans back home and had our last Italian meal at the Galleria. By the time we finished lunch, it wasn't raining anymore so we headed to the "fashion quadrilateral" where lots of high-end designers have stores. The streets were very cute and well-maintained, and the shops themselves were fun to look at. I don't have any pictures because I was on navigation duty again. Mom really enjoyed going to the designer stores in one of the fashion capitals of the world. After that we headed back to the train station to catch our train to Zurich.
Unfortunately, we had a horrible experience getting from Milan to Zurich. The train was 20 minutes late arriving into Milan. Then, two stops into the journey, they made everyone get off and transfer onto another train that was in really bad shape, where we had to fight for seats because our seat assignments were no longer honored. The Swiss transit system did not live up to their reputation! It was very disappointing and a terrible way to start the Switzerland part of the Hipskind European Adventure!
We finally arrived in Zurich 40 minutes late and generally unhappy, but things turned around after that. It had been raining all day in Zurich, but as soon as we arrived, the skies cleared and the sun came out. The hotel I had picked for Mom and Steve was great and they were really happy with it. In addition, we had a fantastic dinner at Zeughauskeller. If you only eat at one restaurant in Zurich, make it Zeughauskeller. It is a Swiss/German restaurant that serves sausages and other traditional food in an old arsenal that was built in the 15th century. It is a fun and lively restaurant, and it was a great way to kick off the Swiss Adventure!
Steve, Mom, me, and Darren at Zeugkauskeller
Me and Darren
My "beer", the Germans love their apple juice and serve it in mugs
I just had to pull up the Zeughauskeller website and look at the menus. It made me hungry just to look at them and I just had lunch! We also didn't get to go the Milan Duomo. We arrived too late so just walked around the Galleria and saw the most beautifully dressed people I have ever seen.
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