The Duomo in Milan, Italy

Duomo di Milano view at night

The Duomo di Milano or Milan Cathedral is the most famous landmark in Milan, Italy. It is made of pink-veined white marble. The largest church in Italy measuring 520 feet by 302 feet. It is also the 5th largest church in the world, big enough to accommodate 40 thousand people. No wonder the construction works were prolonged over nearly six centuries.

This is me and the central door behind me. It’s a “stories from the life of Mary” and it was carved with floral Gothic reliefs in 1906 by Ludovico Pogliaghi.

It’s very impressive, inside and outside. Needless to say, it is really astounding. The Duomo sits on the grand Piazza del Duomo and it’s just beside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is right in the middle of the city and easy to get to. The Duomo is on the grand square so you can really see the physical of the structure which may surprise you when you stand outside.

It’s free to enter if you just wander around inside. There will be a charge if you want to enter the Treasury or Crypt (located inside the church) or access the Duomo roof (lift and stairs access is located outside of the church).

There will be a queue outside the church to go inside, there are police guarding the doors who have to ensure you’ve dressed appropriately, no off shoulders, mini-skirts, and shorts so remember to take a scarf or have your shoulders covered otherwise you will not be allowed in. They will check your bags, food or drinks are strictly prohibited too. I also noticed the signboards to advise people to turn off cell phones or lower down the volume and not to take photographs with flash inside the church.

Statue of “St. Bartholomew flayed” wrapped in his own skin, by Marco d’Agrate.

Once you get in, you will see the church’s magnificent sculptures in the frames and windows, decorations on the facade, beautiful layers of architecturally detailed pinnacles and huge patrimony of statues approximately 1,100 on the inside and  2,300 outside, massive paintings and several tombs of archbishops.

To access the rooftop terrace of the Duomo, you can either use stairs to the top for 5 euros or take the lift for 8 euros, open daily from 9:00 AM  to 5:30 PM.

You can admire and take a wonderful panorama shot of the entire city of Milan from the rooftop terrace, you would be able to see more details sculptures and marble carvings. The number of statues at the roof and the craftsmanship is absolutely breathtaking.

Beautiful Milan is a big city and attracts attention for its rich history and devotion to fashion. We as a traveler we want to make sure our journey to the heart of northern Italy is as safe as possible. You have to be extra careful as you are more exposed to pickpockets and sellers especially in Piazza Duomo.

There are 2 types of the seller in this place that you need to be aware of. One is the corn seed seller and another one is the bracelet seller.

Pigeons are everywhere and they’ll be flocking around the Piazza Duomo and this is where the corn seed sellers come in, they are everywhere too! They tend to grab your hand and when you open your hand they will drop the corn seed and whistles. Next thing you’ll know your arms are covered by pigeons and the seller will offer to take pictures of you while the pigeons are busy eating corn seeds.
Your camera will be given back to you of course but they will charge you 20 euros for the experience, clever isn’t?!

Here come’s the bracelet seller. There will be men who will try to put a leather bracelet or some kind of string bracelet on your arm and when he’s tying the bracelet on you they will tell you it’s free. The moment you start leaving they will start chasing you and ask you to pay 20 euros. They are very sneaky!
They can be very pushy and demand you to buy, so beware of these sellers.
A polite no is normally enough for them to leave you alone.

I hope this would help to give you some ideas and not ruin your experience. You just need to be aware of the pitfalls of traveling but relax and enjoy.

Final thought: I’m glad that I experienced and visit this place and I would love to come and visit again.

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15 Packing Tips For Travel

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

I’m about to embark on my most epic holiday. So I’m quite excited to pack my things.

This time I’ll be travelling for almost 3 weeks, means I have more clothing’s to pack and I’ll be moving from 1 location to another location by train+air bus.

The trouble mostly occur when changing location, as each flight and trains that I’m taking have set a different baggage policies, so I need to ensure that my luggage would not exceed my baggage limit. Hence, it becomes a major operation for me.

Some people say, packing should be quick and easy. Unfortunately, a well-organized packing is not that simple but with the right planning can save you from stress and enjoy your trip even more.

I have list down a few packing tips to streamline your packing and prevent some troubles on your upcoming trip.

1. Pack your things according to your baggage allowance. If possible, consider to purchase light luggage.
2. Pack ahead, start your packing process days or even weeks ahead of your departure date to ensure that you won’t miss anything to bring.
3. Roll Everything, this will give you more space rather than folding it. This will work for soft fabric and denim which less likely to wrinkle.
4. Pack more tops than bottoms.
5. Pack a pair of jeans that you can reuse.
6. Choose the garments that can be mixed and matched. I always choose a neutral colors garments like brown, grey, black or white whenever I travel. These colors are easy to match with, so we don’t need to pack more.
7. Bring layers rather and leave bulky sweaters. Choose the thin cardigans or jacket that you can restyle instead.
8. Keep a few and very light nighties for sleeping as you still can re-use it for few days.
9. When packing a pair of shoes, choose the flat one or which can go along with any of your clothes. You might need to consider a sneakers which also a statement pieces on and off the street.
10. Leave your hair dryer at home and use the one at the hotel. We can actually call ahead (or check online) to confirm whether there’ll be a hairdryer in the room. If they don’t provide one, get yourself a foldable travel-size hair dryer.
11. Get a small travel size bottles to decrease toiletry weight for your shampoo, conditioner, toner etc. You won’t need a full-size bottle for a trip.
    If possible, you can skip shampoo and conditioner and use the one provided by your accommodation.
12. If you can manage, leave your laptop at home and use a tablet instead.
13. Wear your heavier pieces when taking flight. This will give your luggage bag more space and lesser weight.
14. Fill in your shoes, with your underwear, socks, toiletry items and electronics items to organize and compress.
15. Weigh your bag before you fly to ensure you don’t get into trouble at the check in counter.

Hopefully, this was helpful and have given you a few ideas to save you from over packing and prevent some troubles on your upcoming trip.

If you’ve done this post please don’t hesitate to share it below, I would honestly love to read it.

Much love and thanks for reading!