Day 4: Verona to Milan to Monterosso

We woke up early again this morning to have one last hour to walk around Verona. We were determined to figure out where these people worked. After walking around yesterday, we realized that we hadn't seen an office building or hoards if business people. We walked a few blocks back from the arena and we think we figured out a few business buildings, but there's something so wonderful about remember Verona as the shopping, meandering down alleyways, river front city. We grabbed a quick cafè (yes, even Kristi had a shot of espresso) and grabbed our bags and, after using the little Italian I know to get directions, walked about 20 minutes to the train station. The Verona station reminded me on the railway stops on San Francisco where you walk up a set of stairs to get to the platform.

An hour in a half later, we were in Milano Centrale, which is a site to see (think Harry Potter's favorite platform meets New York's Grand Centeal). We had two hours before our next train left, so we stored our bags at a coat check type of service and hit road on foot to find the Duomo. Milan reminded me a lot of New York with the buildings and big-city feel, but there weren't as many people crowding the streets. We were told by a worker at a tourism booth that (with an eye roll) the Duomo was a 45 minute walk. We gave him a smug smile (he thought we were crazy for wanting to walk) and started power walking in the direction he pointed. We got turned around once and asked for directions. We could tell that the gentleman we asked didn't know, but he behaving studying the map we had trying to help us. He ended up asking another gentleman for help. This guy was heading to the Duomo via the non-scenic route, so he pointed us in the directions of the shops where the "view is beautiful". With a deep breath and feeling a little nervous of getting lost and missing our train, we kept going. We checked a map once more, decided that we're only in Milan once and started power walking to the center of the city. When we came to the galleria, we nearly tripped over the merchants and crowds of people, because our eyes were fixed to the sight above us. The towering stone and marble buildings surrounded us and a ceiling of glass hid us from the sun. If you don't know what the galleria is, Google it! It's beautiful (and I only have photos on my camera so those won't be up for awhile)!

We weaved our way through the crowds and, when we exited the galleria we were standing in the Piazza de Duomo. I've seen photos of the Duomo, but it still took my breath away when I saw it. Milan, but especially the piazza, is pickpocket central. We had one man approach us when we stopped to take a photo... You've never seen two girls move so quickly to get away from a person. We had to have our bags checked (we still had our bookbags and purses) and hurried into the Duomo. I'm at a loss for words to describe it: grand, gothic, stone, intricate details. It was truly amazing, but we couldn't linger because we had an hour and 15 minutes to get back to the station (it took us an hour to get there). Thankfully, we remember how to get back and, 45 minutes and a few blisters later, we claimed our luggage and hopped on our 3hr train to Monterosso!

The ride to Monterosso was beautiful! Hills and valleys to the left and the ocean to our right. You step off of the train platform and are practically on the beach! It's beautiful! Our hotel is situated at the top end of Old Town Monterosso. It's the most quaint town I've ever been in. One main road that dead ends into the ocean. We ate dinner over looking the water on a small dock set against the rock and watched the sun go down behind the mountain. We grabbed gelato and then explored more of the city. I just can't get over the views! They're amazing!