Day 2,806 of Traveling the World | Milano, Italy | October 8, 2025
Jan and Mike
Milano! Known, among many other things, for culture, fashion, food, and architecture, we experienced all of that. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the Milan Duomo both occupy a lot of space on Duomo Square. Both are giants, and both bring standing room only to the area. The glorious Duomo (Basilica of the Nativity of Mary) took more than 600 years to build and is one of the largest churches in the world. Visiting in 1867, Mark Twain commented on the Duomo: “They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter’s at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.”
The Galleria was just two years old when Twain visited. He said it was a “vast and beautiful arcade,” stating, “I should like to live in it all the time.” We had that opportunity – the Galleria Vik Hotel was our home during our time in Milan. It is one of the most unique locations we have ever stayed in, and we want to stay again!
We last visited Milan in 2015, mainly to attend the World Expo. We saved most of the touristy things to do for future trips such as this one. In turn, we didn’t try to do everything this time, either – there are still sites to see during future visits.
A quick tip for frequent travelers, which is in our Tips for Travelers section, is to stay for increments of five days when staying on points in Hiltons or Hilton-affiliated properties. When you use four days of points, you get a fifth day free. This time we stayed five days for free. We told the staff as we were leaving that we liked it so much that we would stay 10 or 15 days next time.
A visit to the Leonardo da Vinci Museum was quite interesting. It has areas of scientific and technological innovation, as Leonardo inspired a lot of inventions. But the part pertaining to Leonardo’s drawings, imagination, and vision was just wonderful. He was a man way, way ahead of his time.
A free walking tour was on our agenda, and we spent some time with our guide, Fabrice, a couple from Munich, a woman from Brazil, and four cheeky guys from the UK who were a lot of fun. We told them that we got to know a couple from Wigan (a village halfway between Liverpool and Manchester) who described themselves as “pie-eaters,” but we couldn’t understand a lot of what they said. They confessed that they couldn’t understand people from Wigan either! Then they told us the funniest thing: the village is so fond of savory pies that they place their pies between two pieces of bread (called a barm, or a pie kabob) because the pie is too hot to hold, and the bread – or, barm – soaks up the gravy and drippings. Carbs encased in carbs! Way to go.
High-end fashion is everywhere. We truly felt like tourists, with our travel clothing. But we have photos of some of the latest clothing and shoes. High fashion? You decide!
Finally…ice cream! We found the very best shop on earth and tried to avoid it, but we failed…twice. It was very crowded, but it was the best thing we ate in Milan. Some people would be shocked to hear us say that, but we only speak the truth. On to Torino!
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – along with the Duomo, this was the main site that we remembered from 2015.
We took this shot from our hotel balcony. We were lucky enough to actually live inside the Galleria, thanks to using our Hilton points.The nightly cost ranges from €400-700.
We also had the opportunity to watch the passers-by during breakfast, which we stretched to 1.5–2 hours just to enjoy the pedestrian activity.
An odd part of the activity inside, and around, the Galleria was people, mostly women, posing flirtatiously as though auditioning for a modeling position, as you can see with the woman in the middle. Her photographer, behind whom we were standing, had a camera that looked professional.
This was another fun moment that we observed at breakfast. We missed some of this dancer’s initial, wilder moves. As you can see, people walking by don’t even pay him any attention whatsoever. At the end, the woman filming him handed back his camera and walked away, so we are guessing that he randomly asked her to help him out. It was so fun to spy on people during breakfast!
The Magnificent Duomo! For €13, we were allowed to walk around the main body of the church. But we were denied entry to the crypt and entry to the rooftop. For full access, the cost would have been €75 for two people.
The main aisle, from the back of the church.
Walking around, the enormous pillars make you feel that you are walking among giants. Note the wide variety and distribution of colors.
SO excited to see this statue of St. Bartholomew in the Milan Duomo, sculpted by Marco d’Agrate in 1562. He was skinned alive, so the veins in his body are prominent. It looks like a cloth draped around his body, but it is actually his own skin. This statue was one of the inspirations for the Frankenstein creature in Guillermo Del Toro’s new Frankenstein movie, premiering next week in theaters and on Netflix November 7 (just FYI, if you are interested). As horror aficionados, we will see it in the theater if we can find it in English.
Near the entrance is this magnificent baptistry, with its lovely canopy ceiling and lamps surrounding the font.
As we exited the Duomo, we noticed this wall that seems to be the Wall of Misery.We can see Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt and Daniel fighting the lion, among other murders and misfortune.
We promised our British friends — Tristan, Scott, Samir, and Will — that we would publish a photo of them in our blog so that they would have international fame and glory! Uhhhhhh….maybe, just maybe, not so much, guys…
Duomo Square, very full of tourists. This view is toward the Galleria, with its outside row of shops and restaurants in the colonnade.
Can’t visit Milan without looking at some fashion!…or, whatever this is.
A classic suit….with a Mickey Mouse ears collar. We first thought they were inadvertent Mickey silhouettes, but when we looked further, we saw that the designer, Zara, had a deal with Disney and had lots of Disney references in their shop.
We don’t have a comment for this “fashion.” We do assume, though, that they are only advertising the purse for sale and not the rest of the ensemble. (Andddd…does the purse look a teeny tiny bit…..frumpy? Just sayin’)
We also saw some wild shoes.
These Chanel heels are the bomb. But….in which context do we mean “bomb?”
We don’t know much about fashion, but these shoes have just got to be the ugliest ever. Those heels! Our apologies if you just bought a pair from the new Fall Collection.
This is Casa degli Omenoni, a 16th century palace famous for the eight Telamon, or Big Men, on its facade, representing defeated barbarian tribes.As you move from one to another, their eyes all look down on you. In this way, they serve as guardians, always watching approaching humans.
In the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, his original concept for a flying machine was actually built to illustrate his ideas.
Da Vinci’s original idea for a flying machine.
Art Parfums Milano is located in an exquisite location – inside the Palazzo Bugatti Valsecchi in Milan. Such a gorgeous shop!
…a closeup of the beautiful ceiling.
During a lovely walk along Via Dante, the Torre del Filareterises in the distance. It is part of Sforzesco Castle.
We noticed that many of the buildings had lots of greenery on them, either from roooftop gardens or just vines like this, cascading down.
This tiny floral Luisa Beccaria car exactly matched the Luisa Beccaria shop, just down the street.
Another cute, tiny car.
Cioccolatitaliano is a very gourmet ice cream shop. We loved it in 2015, when a three-scoop cone cost €5. We loved it again this time when that same cone cost €5.50, just half a euro more after 10 years.This is a sundae with brownie crumble and two cone “holders” for hot white chocolate and hot dark chocolate to drizzle. It is the creamiest ice cream on the planet. Out. Of. This. World.
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