We started slowly this morning. I went for a walk around the local Brera neighbourhood, and discovered the Saturday morning street market, numerous restaurants, the new media library and the other activities that we all have in our local areas. Then we headed back to the Duomo. Just in front of us a girl was refused admission for wearing shorts but we and nearly everyone else had no difficulties (being just slightly more respectable). Inside, the place is impressive because it is immense, with 4 rows of massive columns. The stained glass is very good (even better than Armadale Uniting!), and the marble floor is pretty impressive, too. We had been told by Sophie C to go to the top of the next door Rinascente department store, to get an up-close view of the flying buttresses and higher features. This we did, which meant that we felt we could pass on the climb within the Duomo to the walk around the buttresses. We would have had a coffee at the Rinascente restaurant, but it was just too crowded, and so we had something to eat at ground level.
Sophie also told us to check out via Montenapoleone for shopping. Every designer name you can think off seems to be represented in this street – we felt we couldn't even afford to go into any of the shops. The one “designer” not represented in via Montenapoleone is Ferrari – its fan shop is close by, and I checked that out, too. Again following Sophie's advice, we visited the Triennale design museum. Only the Italians could have something like this. The current exhibit probes the "why, when and what" of design, as well having some great examples of (mostly modern) design on display, showcasing numerous local designers. I can't say that I personally absorbed all the issues, let alone the implications, but it certainly made us appreciate that there is more to modern design than mere functionality.
We had dinner in one of the many restaurants in via Berera, along with the Saturday night crowds of locals, students and a few (but not too many) tourists. We resisted the temptation to have our fortunes told by any of the numerous fortune tellers, found that we didn't have to buy a bag from the street vendors with their (nearly identical) wares set out and certainly passed up the opportunity to buy a bubble gun!
On Sunday we're off to Venice by train. We doubt if we'll have internet there, so there may be silence for a few days until we hit Florence.
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