Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 80 • November 25, 1994
Milan, Italy

Day 80 had a strange and somewhat heavy tone to it, even though it ended on a warm note.

I spent most of the day in Milan with Julie and her friends. We visited the Duomo again so I could take some proper photos in daylight, and then we went to the Church of Saint Ambrogio. What I didn’t expect was seeing the actual preserved body of Saint Ambrose himself — dressed in robes and a crown, lying in a glass coffin. It was a jarring sight. From there, we went to the Milan Inquisition and Torture Museum, where we saw an unsettling collection of medieval torture devices. It was a grim, sobering couple of hours.

But the day shifted in the evening.

Julie and the other American students had planned a full Thanksgiving dinner, and they went all out. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and even homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Sitting around the table with a group of fellow Americans, eating familiar food and speaking English without having to think about it, felt surprisingly comforting. After weeks of constantly adapting to new places and new people, it was nice to just relax and be around others who understood where I was from.

After dinner we went out to a bar, but I was fighting a cold and feeling pretty worn down. Still, there was something to look forward to — the next day, Julie, her friend Anastasia, and I were heading to Venice!

Celebrating Thanksgiving with my friend Julie and her friends in Milan, Italy.

My Photographs from today Milan, Italy

View from Evan’s Balcony

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I woke up in Evan’s apartment and soaked up this gorgeous view from his balcony.

Duomo Architecture

Looking up at the Milan Cathedral, every surface covered in statues, spires, and carved stone. The Gothic detail is so dense it feels almost alive, a vertical city of figures climbing toward the sky.

Duomo Detail

These statues are mostly saints, apostles, and biblical figures, part of the more than three thousand sculptures that cover the Milan Cathedral. Each one stands in its own niche, carved over centuries, turning the entire exterior into a vertical stone gallery.

Walking the Streets

Walking through the streets of central Milan, I watched people moving under the long stone arcades, pigeons on the pavement, the everyday flow of the city just a short walk from the Duomo.

Phone Booth

Julie stepped into the glass booth on a Milan sidewalk to make a quick call.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

I took a picture of Julie standing in Piazza del Duomo with the entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II behind her. Built between 1865 and 1877, this glass-vaulted shopping arcade was one of the first of its kind in the world and still links the cathedral square to La Scala opera house.

Piazza del Duomo

The wide open heart of Milan, dominated by the cathedral on one side and the grand entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on the other. This has been the city’s main gathering place for centuries — a vast stone square where locals and visitors cross paths under the gaze of the Duomo’s spires.

A Stop for Gelato

Julie insisted I try gelato — the denser, silkier Italian take on ice cream, made with less air and stronger flavor. She was right. Standing there on a Milan sidewalk, it tasted amazing!

Front of the Duomo

The full façade of the cathedral filled the frame, taxis lined up in the foreground under a gray Milan sky. Even with the modern cars and the fog, the building still felt like it belonged to another century.

Duomo Window

One of the great Gothic windows of the Milan Cathedral. Construction of the Duomo began in 1386 and stretched across nearly six centuries, and windows like this — with their intricate stone tracery and rose patterns — were among the earliest and most ambitious parts of the design.

Heavenly Gaze

Two of the more than three thousand statues that cover the exterior of the Milan Cathedral. Carved from Candoglia marble and set into the walls over the long centuries of construction that began in 1386, figures like these are mostly saints, martyrs, and biblical characters. Many stand larger than life, some with their faces turned upward looking toward heaven.

Gazing Up at the Statues

A small group of tourists stopped in the middle of the square, every head tilted back at the same angle.

Milan’s Best

I had seen fresh flower stands in nearly every city I visited, but the ones in Milan were by far the champions. These bouquets were enormous!

Lost to Time

In a city with so much beauty to look at, this scene of decay caught my eye. Broken windows, crumbling plaster, and bare branches framing a building that time had clearly left behind.

Straight Out of a Movie

This scene looked straight out of a movie. Scooters parked against the curb, leather jackets, cigarettes, a few people lingering around the planters in an open-air piazza. It felt 100% Milan.

Last Look at the Duomo

As we walked back to Julie’s apartment, I took one last look — and picture — of this gorgeous cathedral. The Duomo stood at the end of the square, still dominating everything around it.

Thanksgiving Turkey

As we walked around Milan the turkey baked, and when we got home the smell of it filled the apartment. The sight of it sitting there on the table made my mouth water.

Thanksgiving with Friends

I set up my camera and we all gathered together for this group picture. The friends who had welcomed me in for Thanksgiving in Milan — I was so honored to be included.

DAY 80 / 11-25-94
Milan, Italy

Evan & I got up at 8:30 & were at the university at 9. He had bought a USA Today [newspaper] & gave it to me to read. It’s amazing how I can get so much pleasure out of a simple thing like reading a newspaper.

After Julie got done at noon we went to a store to pick up a few last things for the big Thanksgiving feast she & the other American students have planned for tonight.

Then we went back to the Duomo so I could take some pictures (it was too dark last night). Then we walked the plaza & around town.

After a quick trip home to “baste the bird,” we headed to the church of Saint Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan. Julie told me the dude was in there, but she didn’t tell me he was on display! This guy died in like 1350 or something, and he was dressed in gold & red robes & a gold crown was placed on his head & he was stuck in a glass coffin, and he is still there, well, what’s left of him: a complete skeleton & skin that looks like brown shrink-wrap dressed in robes with a crown on his head. Gruesome! And people come every day & pray to him.

After that pleasant experience we went on to another one, the Milan Inquisition & Torture Museum. On display here was every type of torture/death instrument imaginable.

Thumbscrews, iron maidens, guillotine, racks & wheels, vaginal & rectal hot pears, head screw, wooden pyramid, iron cages, skewers, chopping block, flying knives, breast pincers, along with detailed pictures and descriptions of the instruments. It’s mind-blowing to think people have had to endure these acts over the ages.

Anyway, then we went home to cook. (Yea, a big turkey dinner sounded delicious after seeing all that stuff).

About 10 or 11 people came overall, all students in the same program as Julie but from different schools. It was awesome! A delicious turkey, real stuffing, potatoes & gravy, potato salad, regular salad, wine, & homecooked, warm pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. All that was missing was the football.

After the meal, we all went out to this bar. I didn’t enjoy it that much though because I’ve been fighting a cold for a couple days and I was exhausted, even more so after the meal. I have to admit, I enjoyed the Second City Bar in Detroit much better last year. But tomorrow should be awesome.

Julie, her friend Anastasia, and I are going to Venice!

My ticket to the Milan Inquisition & Torture Museum.

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