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.