Milano

Having come this far, it seemed crazy not to check out Rome, so while the boys and girls from the Company chilled out with yet another round of gelati and coffee, I hitched a ride into Abbiategrasso, the nearest trainstation, in the back of a van driven by the local padre, and packed with about 20 Swedes, on their way into Milan, or back home to prepare for the next gig.

Once we reached town, we went our separate ways, but they were great craic on the way in.
I LOVED Milan. Wide streets, clean and cultured, renaissance to the core, in every way a European city. Folks say it's sterile and standoffish, but I beg to differ.

I walked out of the train station and immediately found myself staring at the Sforza fortress. This place is immense, beautiful and demonstrably built for a very different climate to the castles I'm used to in northern Europe and Britain.

It doesn't take much imagination at all to picture merchants and courtiers conducting business in these three sweeping courtyards, protected from the blazing sun by awnings or shade cloths. From the main entrance, each one is smaller and more intimate than the last, with surely only the favourites admitted through the gateways and wide covered halls into the inner sanctum towards the rear. The timbers of old are long gone, but the post holes are precise and form an artwork of their own on the walls. That's before you even begin looking at the statuary, memorial stones and other carvings - every one a thing of beauty.

I was transfixed - and I'd only come in the side entrance. Leaving by the front, the soaring tower and sprawling fountain were just gorgeous - and cooling in the blazing sun.

Next stop was the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (I couldn't stop 'hail mary, full of grace' running through my head), which is home to Leonardo Da Vinci's most famous work, the Last Supper. Couldn't go in, because you need to book about a month in advance, but I know for next time.

I got lost finding my way back into town, but liked what I saw of shopping and eating districts. People in the street don't interact with every passer by the way I was to learn that they do in Rome, but they're not standoffish like some French or Germans can be.

Eventually though, I hopped a tram into the town square, a massive edifice dominated by the Duomo (Italy's second largest cathedral, after St Peters in Rome), flanked on one side by a stately palazzo and the other by a gorgeous glass topped shopping mall. This, I will later realise, is the true holy trinity of Italy: God, celebrity and shopping. Maybe not always in that order.

The Duomo is incredible - tall, wide, long, ornate. Special from start to finish, although the thing that still haunts me is the sculpture of St Bartolomeo (Batholomew), who was skinned whilst still alive, and is portrayed with his skin draped, in a single piece over one shoulder, his every muscle discernable. Eugh.

I needed light relief after something like that, and the airy, beautiful mall provided it - and a hidden treat too, because out the other end was a statue of Leonardo da Vinci, flanked by four apprentices and opposite was... La Scala Opera!

After that, I had just enough time to find a gelateria and down the most amazing Almond milk granita (I don't know how they did it, but it's sooo good!) before finding my way back to the train, and thence to the airport.

I'm sure in summer it's insufferable and stuffy, and maybe it is the most expensive city in Italy. But I liked Milan. If this is as bad as it gets, I'm going to love Italy.