When we were back in Milan on Saturday we went back to the Duomo. We had gone to the outside of it early in the week but now we wanted to go to the top and tour the inside.

Getting there and going on the metro on a Saturday was a lot different than on Monday. It was busy! We had to cram into the metro. It was so nice being back with Brandi & Ryan though and letting them guide.

The kids waiting for the Metro.

This guy was so full of joy and energy, he was dancing around.

Jaelee asked if she could take pictures with my camera. I was happy to let her. I love to see her perspective. She got some great photos. I really loved the one she got of Greg & Jayse laughing.
Here are the pictures Jaelee captured.

Brandi and Ryan had been to the Duomo roof and interior before so they went shopping while the rest of us went in. We rode the elevator up but had to climb some stairs before we were really on top.

When you get out you are right up close to the beautiful spires.

You start at one end and walk around the whole outer edge.

The view of Milan, it was a bit foggy and was starting to clear a bit to blue skies.

We figured that the whiter colored pieces might be some that are restored.

What a cutie!

This is at the very top.

Starting our way back down and to the inside.

Once inside it was a bit overwhelming. It is so big and unbelievable with so much to look at. The stained glass windows alone! Each panel told a story. Some of these panels are among the tallest stained glass in the world

I thought this statue looked a bit creepy, I didn’t know until later what it was. The sculptures name is Saint Bartholomew Flayed. Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to traditional hagiography, he was flayed and beheaded for converting a king to Christianity. Some accounts attest that instead of getting flayed, Bartholomew was crucified upside down like Saint Peter. Due to this grisly tale, Saint Bartholomew is often depicted alongside his flayed skin (or severed head) in art, including “The Last Judgment” by Michelangelo.

At first glance, the saint seems to be just a skeletal man wearing a stole, but upon closer look, you may notice that it’s actually his flayed skin he is holding. All of Bartholomew’s muscles, veins, and tendons are exposed across the statue.

These columns were huge! There are 40 of them. I mean how did they even create these so long ago? It’s just mind blowing.

The stained glass was so colorful and vibrant.

Let’s get a closer look at some of them.

Greg tried to get a panorama of the 3 large pieces of stained glass by each other.

We saw this blue chest behind some iron bars in a level below where we were. No idea what is in here.

I mean look at those colors and the details!

The duomo has the largest Organ in Italy with 15,800 pipes.

The red dot at the top of this photo has a significance.

Above the apse (the arched part above the altar) there is a spot marked with a red lightbulb. This marks the spot where one of the nails of Jesus’ crucifixion was allegedly placed. Every year on the Saturday closest to September 14 the archbishop of Milan ascends to the apex in a wooden basket decorated with angels to retrieve the nail.

The basket itself was constructed in 1577, though it was significantly reconstructed in 1701 when the angels were added. But you’ve got to be visiting at the right time – the nail is exhibited at the altar until the Monday after vespers before it’s lifted back up again.

Under the Duomo is an archaeological area that we went into.

We went through the Galleria again on our way to lunch.

We ate at an Irish Pub in the basement.

After lunch Brandi and Ryan took us to a church that has an ossuary. The ossuary is decorated with the bones of bodies from a nearby church. You can read more about it here.

Gotta admit all the bones were a bit creepy.

My sister said these little locket things also kept some of the organs.

We saw something on the ceiling but couldn’t figure out what it was so I took a picture and zoomed in and it was a balloon.

I just find it so fascinating that you could be walking around and see something like this.

After the bone ossuary we went to China Town. I was the one that really wanted to go. I’d never been to a China town. I’ll admit it was the least impressive thing of the whole trip. Besides the lanterns there was nothing to see here. It was dirty and underwhelming. The kids did and I did get to see our first big dead rat! I was so grossed out.

Another cool place we walked by, I think Ryan said this was a cemetary.

While we were in Rome we realized that Jayse had only brought 2 pairs of pants for the whole trip and one of them was jeans which he never wears so he was wearing the same pair of pants every day. We stopped by this store called Terranova and got him 3 more pairs of pants and a sweatshirt. It was very reasonable only 82 euros for it all.

We rode the metro back to Brandi’s house before we left again to go to dinner.

We ate dinner at a place near Brandi’s it looked really small from the outside but was pretty big when we got it in. The food here was delicious. I wish I would of taken a  picture of our food because I don’t even remember what we ate but it was good! I did get a picture of this desert I had that was very good.

After dinner we went next door to a little bar and hung out before going back to Brandi and Ryans.