It was a quick bus ride to Milan with a couple stops to let some adventurers off at the train station. Marilyn is going to stay on in Lucca for months and travel around, lucky gal! And Blythe was heading down to Rome for the canonization of a friend. The rest of us checked into the very nice and convenient Sheraton Malpensa airport hotel - the same one that we stayed in with Mom in 2018. Don't get me wrong, staying in 13th century castles and remote villas is incredible, but after three weeks, it was really nice to have good internet, lots of electrical plugs, and a huge bathtub with lots of hot water! I know, what a brat - but we were all a bit anxious about doing our Covid online tests prior to boarding our flights the next day - so that was job one as soon as we settled in.  The eMed tests that we shlepped around for 3 weeks were a bit smooshed but still sealed and ready to go. The whole process is super easy - you can do it online with your computer or with your phone or ipad with the app. It takes 15 minutes and as soon as you click the "ready to test" button, someone pops up on a video screen and walks you through it. Easy peasy and after both testing negative we rallied and headed out to spend the afternoon in Milan for one last hurrah. 

The trains leave every half hour from right outside the door and take 37 minutes to get to Milan. We hopped on the train and soon found ourselves on Via Dante, a pedestrian road leading to the famous Duomo, and lined with restaurants, shops and of course gelato. We do believe that this last gelato may be the very best we had in all of Italy. The line was really long because he took forever to make each cone, carefully softening the second and third flavors so he could swirl it from the top, halfway down the cone. We ordered two flavors but he insisted on adding a third special flavor to enhance our choices.  

The Duomo di Milano is a mind boggling 14th century pink and white marble gothic giant that took five centuries to build. There were hundreds of people in the plaza taking photos and selfies and hanging out. Equally eye popping is the nearby over-the-top Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Built in the 1860s, it is Italy's oldest shopping gallery with a four-story arcade, filled with designer shops - and on this hot sunny day, masses of people (all unmasked!) We masked up! 

I had heard that from the 7th floor of la Rinascente department store you could get a great view over the spires of the Duomo so we headed up there. Apparently it isn't a secret as there were a ton of others doing the same thing but we did get our great view and, bonus - the 7th floor is a food market with all kinds of Italian delicacies, bars and restaurants. Good fun! We took escalators all the way down, stopping to admire the kitchen ware and SHOES.  The Duomo was so photogenic in the late afternoon sun. We enjoyed our last little walk back through town to the train.  

The three week trip feels like a dream already. We did SO much and had so many unique experiences. It was a trip of a lifetime and I'm so grateful to have had the chance to do it with my sister and this nice group of people. We said our goodbyes in the lobby but I have a feeling we will see many of them again. Thanks for coming along on our trip! Looking forward to coming home and seeing Drew and the doggies! xoxoxoxo

PS Just received these great shots from our host Cari.