Milan - Day Twenty Two

With no room mates to wake me up, I slept late for the first time in ages, and didn't head out to town until the early afternoon. Milan is fairly flat, and the buildings are all quite high, so it's hard to get your bearings as you walk the streets. I came out of my hostel with no idea at all where I was or where any of the interesting stuff was, so I opted for my 'old faithful' method of picking a direction and walking hopefully until I find something.

For once old faithful worked swimmingly. After about half an hour of being convinced I was lost, I stumbled upon Il Duomo, Milan's landmark cathedral. It is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world, with space for 40,000 people inside apparently. When you're travelling you see a lot of cathedrals, and they can start to fell a bit samey, but this is definitely a good'un.

Italy definitely feels like the most foreign place I've visited so far. Part of this is the language barrier - which is frankly embarrassing, I didn't even know how to say "I can't speak Italian" until I'd left the country - but I also get the feeling that the baggy jeans and dirty hoody look is not going to be lighting up the catwalks this season. Several people had a slow, meaningful look up and down of me as I was waiting at traffic lights or in shops, and it seemed that my lack of Prada left a bitter taste in their mouths.

I enjoyed dodging crazy Italians on scooters, admiring the fashionable passers-by and trying to avoid the more impressive arguments going on around me in my brief stay in Milan, but this has really only been a chance for me to relax and recharge myself. I'll come back and see Italy properly soon...