As we prepare for our trip to Milan, looking up all of the tourist websites and reviewing the blogs of world travelers, everyone points to one spot as the number one tourist destination for Milan: il Duomo. Funny I thought it would be the Armani factory outlet. What the hell, half of my shirts are Formula One race T-shirts. So much for my fashion statement!

So it’s Thursday and we are going to head over to check it all out.  We hop on the #12 trolley from our hotel, and 15 minutes later we stop to hop off a block away from il Duomo. We take a few steps, turn the corner and there it is, il Duomo! OMG!   Look at all the people here, there’s got to be 10 or 15,000 people out here. And everybody just taking selfie’s with il Duomo in the background. Reminiscent of everyone taking pics and selfies of Mona Lisa in the Louvre back in 2016. The rest are just milling about, either heading to or just coming from il Duomo. We take a couple selfie’s ourselves, stop at the Vittorio Emmanuelle II statue. He’s the first King of Italy, back in only 1861. And then we head over to buy tour tickets. A word of advice, by the full package that includes both the Duomo, the Duomo museum, and the underground museum.

I’m not Catholic, so I really don’t know much about cathedrals such as il Duomo, or Notre Dame, or Sacré Coeur, but one thing I do know, is incredible dedication to workmanship and craftsmanship. Unlike any other Cathedral and I have ever seen, including those mentioned above, the exterior is absolutely filled with tens if not hundreds of thousands of human sculptures, small and large. They seem to cover a full spectrum of humanity, people crouched in suffering positions, people stretched in elation, praying, eating, and even beheading. Yikes! Some as small as maybe 12 inches, all the way up to full size and then some. And this is carried all the way up to, what I would estimate to be somewhere in the range of 70 feet high in the main area, up to 100 feet or so towards the back of the cathedral. And that’s just on the wall, as I look up, I see spires at the top of the building with statues on top of the spires. Wow, that is trippy.  Thank about it, I mean these life-size statues on top of spires, the support that is needed to maintain that at the top of a building with winds gusting about, how these things simply do not blow off the top must be absolute divine intervention. And then as if that weren’t intricate and detailed enough, when we come back downstairs I noticed the front doors. Each door which stand some 15 feet high and probably 8 feet wide, inlay carved with thousands of bronze figurines depicting scenes from the Bible. This is absolutely fascinating.

il Duomo, incredibly, was finished in 1965. Wait…1965? Well when did it begin? How about 1386. Wait..wha…are you kidding me? That’s like 500…and something…carry the 7, 579 years in the making. Yes, the final gate was finished in 1965, and there are actually some statues still under construction! Whoa, some people just need to know when to quit.

The interior is like any other large Cathedral.  Full of sexpartite vaulted buttresses, massive columns for support and benches for praying. We walk through and admire it all and say a prayer. We head downstairs to see the underground museum, and then head up the steps to tour the rooftop. Rooftop? Yes the rooftop! What cathedral has tours of the roof top? il Duomo! When you’re the largest Cathedral in Italy, and #5 in the world, you can do whatever you want. The rooftop is just as fascinating as the steps to get up to it are not something a vertical sufferer would want to deal with. But it allows you to see architecture that extends literally to the heavens. Why would anybody even build this atop of the cathedral? Literally, only Heaven knows. Narrow walk ways, in marble which is very slippery in the rain, and even more narrow stairways allow you to see the rooftop guardians up close and the view over Milan is incredible.

Once you see these statues, above the city, something immediately comes to mind. Has it? Wait for it…think…The Dark Knight…Batman…comics in general. It is scary, seeing these statues in person, you see exactly where the idea for these comics came from. The Saviors. The Guardians. The Watchers. They’re all here, standing 100 feet above the city, watching over the citizens below.

The visit is exquisite, mesmerizing and even transforming. Seeing this in person makes you believe so much more, in the human spirit. What man is able to imagine, he can create. Ironically, for this Formula 1 weekend, is the Formula 1 of churches. Thank you, for this, I am eternally grateful to Milan. Grazie e arrivederla!

If you have the chance to make it to Milan, definitely make plans to see il Duomo. And if you make it to il Duomo, then definitely plan on getting the entire tour package which includes going up to the rooftop of il Duomo, going to the basement of il Duomo to see some of the excavated area, and going over to the museum. The Museo del Duomo is a remarkable display of Catholic statuettes. The museum isn’t heavy on historical Catholicism itself, few and far between are the trinkets and coins, and other artifacts from Jesus’ time. There’s a couple of golden crosses from the middle ages, some gold statuettes of Mary and the Holy Child, and even some antiquity wood carvings. More so it is a museum dedicated to the construction of il Duomo and the thousands of statues that make up the il Duomo. So what you have are lots of paintings of catholic martyrs, and lots and lots of statues of historical Christianity. These are done in plaster, and marble, and feature some really dramatic scenes. John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and many of the Apostles. Of course Mary makes several appearances with the Baby Jesus. There are other lesser known biblical members as well, such as a large relief of Judith and Holofernes, as she is cutting off his head. And it’s pretty detailed, and classic Italian.  Yikes! #MeToo!

The cool thing is that many of the statues are life-size. This gives you an incredible feeling as if you were walking back in time with these historical figures.  There’s nothing that puts the faith in you like standing next to a life-size statue of John the Baptist. He looks so peaceful, such a cool guy. The statues, of course, are played up for Catholicism, but they are fun nonetheless and the museum is a real joy to walk through. Also included for display are the rain spout that top il Duomo. These spouts are very intricate in their detailing. Interesting, since these spouts are located a hundred or so above the ground and are far out of eye sight. Even taking the rooftop tour, many people were not noticing them as they are out of the normal line of sight, but very intriguing to see from a view above the crowds below.

The museum was dedicated back in 1953, no doubt it has been updated since then. As you leave the main museum, there is a replica of il Duomo, which allows you to take in the enormity of the build in one view. And amazingly enough, the complexity and intricacy of this replica does not match that of the full building, which is amazing. As you leave, you see that there are actually 2 sections of the museum. The traditional depicted here, and then there is a museum temple outside, that contains a church with a beautiful sanctuary for prayer. This area is very reserved, very quiet with an attendant to remind people of the holiness and to keep it quiet. Outside of this church sanctuary section is a courtyard with the remnant of an ancient Roman trestle.  It is definitely worth the time and money to visit, especially if you are a statu-ista and really want to take in the full force of il Duomo and it’s thousands of statues. Not going to the museum is like getting a hamburger with no lettuce  or tomato. It’s still a hamburger, but it’s just not as good.

Underneath the 2nd largest cathedral in Italy, second only to the holy St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the 5th largest in the world, according to some records, lies truly historical ruins. Underneath il Duomo in Milan, Italy, lies the ruins of an original baptismal that contains fragments dating back to 355 A.D. This is by far, the oldest piece of land I’ve ever visited, and most interesting ancient site I’ve ever seen. What is so amazing, is that this is everything I’ve ever seen on the History Channel or any other ancient world show, and yet how ordinary and modern day normal it looks. Bricks are stacked orderly, atop dirt foundation, and support channels, drains and other modern day architecture. Amazing that old world building is still followed to the day. This area could date back to 355, or 1355, or even 1955. I makes me acutely aware of how limited I am in my “thinking” of the old world. They had drainage, water systems, architectural designs and so much more. The idea of everyone living in mud huts and dirt floors is blown away by a more modern approach to urban planning. So here are a few shots of the area beneath il Duomo. Enjoy and I hope this encourages you to visit Milan and see this on your own. Or to even explore architectural ruins local to you.

For our first couple of nights in Milan, we we stayed at the Hilton Doubletree in the Certosa neighborhood. After our rumbling drive-through the streets of Milan, I was surprised to see the industrial neighborhood that this particular hotel is located in. I was expecting to do some shopping here, but this is a pretty quiet neighborhood of what seems to be mid-sized auto parts manufacturers.

Pulling up to the hotel I noticed the design was a little more like the Milan I expected. Lean, clean,  modern design, that surround an interesting walkway into the hotel lobby. At the front desk is Stefano and he’s great to us with a warm smile and I happy disposition. We chat a bit, and I am amazed at how much English everyone is speaking. Understanding that this is an a high tourist area, But here, as in Brussels, and Nice and Paris last year, everybody speaks crystal clear English. On the one hand you appreciate it because the language differences do not exist. On the other hand, like our hotel Lu Feye Boigelot, you expect to have a little language discrepancy and struggle with your high school Italian.

We check in and head up to the room which is again Euro-modern. It’s a good size, comfortable enough as a traveler hotel. Not full on luxury like Hotel Metropole earlier, but we are happy with the accommodations. Again, a bidet, smallish shower, little vanity area, but outside large closet space, fully functional TV, and a view looking back over northern Milan towards the mountains.

We head down to the lobby, and the lobby is spacious, and then we looked around the corner we realize it’s huge. Plenty of seating, a couple of communal bar tables with outlets for laptop work. Around the other corner there’s actually a men’s store in the lobby!

Alright, my first introduction to Milan fashion! Suits, jackets, shirts, ties, shoes and  a few accessories. I actually try on a couple of jackets, really nice fabric both in feel and fabric design, but unfortunately not quite my size. I ask the attendant if he had any others in the back, and unfortunately, no. Oh well, just the first night and I’m sure I’m going to find much more fashion once I get into Milan proper. We walk over to the area next to the men’s store which is a long bar, a great looking spot to have a Campari  or a pre-dinner Asti. There’s a good size restaurant where they serve the breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening. We managed to have dinner here Friday night. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I left my phone in the room, and missed out taking photos of one of the better steaks I had this trip. Nancy had a salmon dish that was perfect, so thumbs up to the hotel for a wonderful dinner.

The hotel is located close enough to trolleys so it’s easily accessible to Milano Centro and other areas of Milan. One block to the east is the trolley stop for the Trolley Number 12 which takes you to Milano Centro and il Duomo. About a quarter-mile north is the stop for Trolley 14, which takes you to southwest Milan, Porta Volta park, which is pretty cool and Girabaldi train station. The Certosa Train station is half a mile or so, which equates to a 15 to 20 minute walk, or DoubleTree will provide a shuttle to the station. Although the area is a little dated, and not the glam house of Vogue and Elle magazine, the location is still quite comfortable and of very supportive of tourist travel. In the afternoon, and possibly perfect breakfast, if you want some local Milan faire, café Tom and Jerry is just a couple of steps up the block. Also, there is a small market about a five minute walk up Viale Carlo Espinasse. If you want to pick up local goods, you can get things such as cheese, crackers, fruit, wine and other goodies. Depending on your length of stay, I highly recommend heading over to the shop to grab some local goodies for the room.

By the time we check-out, we have grown quite found of our front desk staff. Stefano, Victoria, Gianni and the gang are so polite, so wonderful, and so helpful, it enhanced our experience to no end. We always felt safe and taken care, not like we were on our own in a strange land, but like we were hanging out with friends. I can’t thank them all enough for making this an unforgettable experience.

Now you’re packed and rewards to go! Off to the airport to start your grand adventure. One last item to remember: Digitize everything! Download travel apps to track your itinerary. Do screen shots of your boarding pass that include gate and seat assignments. Convert any documents created on your computer to PDF and email them to yourself AND upload to cloud storage.

Travel apps are awesome and they are a one-stop-shop for your itinerary. Apps like TripIt, Tripcase, Lola and RoadTrippers capture details on your airline, hotel, car rental and in some cases can even make reservations for tours and dining. My favorite is Tripcase. The key factor is that it provided reservation info even when offline. And that is important when you suddenly find yourself in a location with no connection. All current info is stored on your phone, and updates trickle in when you’re connected. Even in the middle of Belgium cow country, I was able to retrieve hotel address and map location via the GPS function. A lifesaver!

It also updates me even faster than my United Airlines app for gate and/or flight time changes. Ever sit at AirVino sipping a Merlot, get your bill, head to the gate to find your flight delayed 55mins? I did. And upon return to the bar, all seats had been taken. Dang it Karl! Ever sit at a gate waiting for the flight and as they announce boarding, you realize they are boarding for flight #159 to Nebraska. Your flight#158 to Miami is now a 20 minute cross terminal run? I did. Air travel isn’t perfect and these apps help, but one thing they don’t do is provide the actual e-ticket for scanning your boarding pass. So there, you may still need to download the airline app that’s getting you to your destination. But even still, a minor issue to load another app on the phone, unless of course, you’ve maxed out storage with downloaded cat videos.

Another digi-tip: Take a screenshot of the mobile boarding pass. I’ve been rushing through an airport only to get stuck trying to get a signal to bring my pass up. Are you kidding me? No cell signal, so I had to search for wifi, and then navigate the ads and false links. What a pain! Instead, a screenshot works well to get you through TSA and on to the plane.

Most 3rd party itinerary apps have the email load feature, so when you get a confirmation email from your air, hotel, car and other travel aspects, simply forward the email to your app account and it loads into your itinerary. Cool! Now I have one spot for all my reservations and events during my trip. My air reservation, the rental car pickup, the hotel, dining and anything else on my trip are displayed in a nice timeline that displays in chronological order. Much nicer than my calendar.

But just because you’ve added these items to your app, don’t forget to back that up with the original documentation. Sometimes, there are details in the original document that does not transfer over to the app. And when you’re standing in the rain in Milan trying to figure out why the hotel doesn’t have your reservation, at least stand close enough to pick up their wifi and take a look at your original reservation document saved in the cloud. The cloud that pouring on you now. Ooops, we’re at il Parco by Hyatt, not Park Hyatt. Don’t blame the cabbie on your poor Italiano accent!

Larger documents, say tour passes or rental agreements made online can be printed out to PDF format, then emailed to your phone. From there, save the attached files and you’ll always have full documentation for backup ready even if you don’t have a connection to download. I just hope your phone doesn’t die before you get to the hotel. Can we say spare battery?

Another overall backup tip: Save all documents to the cloud. And if available, select the make available offline. I do this for the airline, hotel, car rentals, plus any tour correspondence, dinner reservations, subway maps. Anything that you may need to read, back it up, then make it available offline, for that one time you don’t have a signal and you’re stuck with no contact info for your next steps. I create a folder for each big trip, add all the documents to it. Select them all as “make available off-line”. And when the trip is over, just delete the whole thing.

Documents are easy to deal with, but what about foreign languages. Google translate is a cool travel app to have handy. It does manual entry translation, but also verbal, so have the foreign speaker say it, and even visual. This way, you can translate signs and menus. A pretty cool feature to have when you get to your location, and realize that one semester of high school French just ain’t cutting it.

For our recent trip to Brussels, as a result of heading over to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium F1 GP, we were told to head out to other locations because Brussels is kind of boring, just another European city. Well…wrong! Brussels is awesome! What an amazing city. A perfect combination of a classic historic, old world city, and a new, modern urban metropolis. And to make it even more interesting, try walking around at night! What a fun spot. We walked from our hotel, Hotel Metropole, to dinner at Berlin Fabrik, up to Palais de Bruxelles, and back to the hotel. A nice little 5k walk, interrupted by BBQ and a couple pints of beer, several wrong turns and a quick stop at a random beverage store for champagne.

The pics here are some of my favorite shots.

If you want to grab a beer in a cool, unseen, crazy dark, spooky underground bar, follow the name and do Delirium. Located just off the Grand Place in downtown Brussels, Delirium pays homage to the world of beer. And it’s an indication as to how big that world is. Maybe it’s more paying homage to the universe of beer. But unlike most beer emporiums these days, this one hearkens back to the dark underworld of beer. I guess that’s why it was voted, no elected, “Best Beer Cafe in the World!” And they have the button sign to prove it! Walking down the steps to the bar, which is always a good thing, it starts off cute and charming. The first floor is for rookies, and college kids from nice families. And then you go deeper, and it gets darker. The second floor starts getting a little darker, quieter, and food. Then there’s the 3rd floor. Now this is a place for some serious beer-ology. Or beerista. Or what ever you call it when you try some of the most exotic beers available…in the world! The varieties of beer here are beyond reproach. I don’t see how anyone can claim they don’t have “their” beer here. I just started ordering by what looked interesting or if the bar tender had a favorite or what met my taste for caramel-amber flavors. I honestly don’t remember what I had, at this point I’m on the third beer stop and the colors are just floating around my head now. The beers were falling fast and furious, at first I tried to order the coolest sign on the wall. After literally hundreds of signs on the wall. OK, let’s try coolest bottle, but that didn’t include what they have locked away. OK, screw it, Adler. Yes, Adler, ok Adler. OK Adler…stop repeating me Ron! The beer lantern lit my way and Adler it was. Went down way too fast so back and this time it’s Tuborg. I like the guy on the sign, ok, now let’s try Luxembourg. That’s it, small rich countries, let’s drink to them. Mousel will do. Needless to say, we staggered out sometime later, having thoroughly enjoyed our beer tour. And then we hit the light at the exit, our eye have to adjust. How do these monks do it? I guess that’s why they always look so chubby. Oh…that’s right, we should have gotten some of the Friar beer…what ever it’s called. OK tomorrow…stop repeating me Ron!

For our stay in Brussels, we have 2 nights at the Hotel Metropole. Getting to the hotel from Franchorchamps involved a pretty spirited 2 hour drive, including chasing down a Ferrari 430 down on the E40, topping over 170mph! wait…what’s that…oh, that’s kilometers? What’s that…some thing like….105mph. Oh, ok! For a Jeep Renegade, not bad!

Yet getting to the hotel from all the  major construction going on in the Place De Brouckere proved another matter. With the construction, we circled around 2 or 3 times trying to figure it all out. With those huge bags, we were not able to pull up in front of the hotel, so we had to stop down the street and have a bellman come out and assist us. And what an assist it was. This bellman, dressed in the classic red, black and gold trim jacket, walking down this construction thorough fare with the large brass luggage cart, once again the travel gods have smiled upon us. Already were feeling like VIP as people walking by us and look up and smile at us. We get to the hotel and the gentleman at the front desk is more than courteous,  he’s downright jovial! Europe has it down when it comes to hospitality. Everyone is just so friendly and welcoming, it really makes a difference. We get up to the room and yeah, my good karma is on fire. We walked into the room and walk down the hallway, wow, a hallway! When we get into the main room, what is spread out in front of us is nothing but classic European luxury. The room, just a basic room mind you, is more like a junior suite. Luxuriously appointed and very, very spacious. You should be here!

The room contains small desk and chair for some business writing, and lounge for relaxing, 2 chairs for sitting and a nice, big time king size bed for sleeping. The bed is wonderfully soft and supportive and well appointed, accompanied by our chandelier. Yes, we have a chandelier! Step into the bathroom, and this again, it’s  appointed with wood trim, possibly Teak or maybe Belgium Fir, and marble. Polished chrome fixtures add a nice touch. Nice indeed!

Although the bathroom is generous and spacious, there’s only a huge tub. It looks more like a Jacuzzi tub, but no actual shower. So I guess this is Euro fashion, where you stand in the tub with the handheld and take your own shower. OK, when in Europe, do with the Europeans do, it’s bathtime!

The hotel itself was built back in 1895, and is historically modern. One of the cool features is the small elevator. Probably the original Otis elevator built back in the early 1900’s. Hmmm…plaque says 1970, close enough. The elevator still has the two-part door where you open the clear door to walk in, close it, and then pull close the collapsing metal railing before pressing the floor buttons. I haven’t seen this in so long and it is a bit nostalgic, although it’s also a bit tiny. But then, it’s not like I’m traveling with the soccer team, so fine by me. I love the decor.

Time for a beer and we head over to the bar which is incredible. The bar and restaurant, Cafe Metropole, is classic European. High ceilings give the place incredible volume, and the wood trim, all of it ornate, is elegantly detailed. Very classy indeed. For sure, this calls for a nice cool beer, a traditional blonde, please. The bar tendered brings over an Omer, and we just relax and take it in. wow, I’m staying here for the next days, this trip is going to be awesome!

Brussels or Bruxelles, contrary to popular belief, is an awesome city! And I say that as someone who has been to Brussels. Several people mentioned that Brussels was dead and boring, with not much to do, so you’re better off checking out other Belgium locations like Antwerp or Bruges. But this turned out to be the understatement of our vacation. The city starts off as a modern metropolis, then turns old world medieval, then modern, then medieval. A fascinating melding of the two which in turn makes it a mind expanding town to explore. First off,  it’s historic nature alone puts it in league with other world-class destinations.

Founded in 979, yes nine hundred seventy-nine, there are plenty of historical markers all around.  Most of what we see as modern-day Brussels, really kicked off in the early 13th century.  And that’s what I love about it: surrounding those historical markers is a thriving modern metropolis. How the two coexist is the beauty of Brussels. I love glass and steel. I love old wood trim. And Brussels gives me both. The capital, well tell that to Bruges, is a city that, and I quote, “We have no national language. We speak Dutch, French, English and beer.” And that was the customs agent when I asked him! I love this place!

Brussels, or Bruxelles, depending on which mile market….uh kilometer market you pass, has everything you want in a classic European city. Old medieval churches, check. Old city halls converted into museums, got it. Narrow cobble stone streets leading to underground beer halls, double-check.

I was told previously that there isn’t much to do in Brussels, it’s just another European city. Although the advice did lead to a day trip to Bruges, Brussels being just another Euro city couldn’t be further from the truth. Brussels is an exciting and vibrant city to hang out in and you could easily spend several days exploring. We had a day and two nights in the city, and we did make the most of it with a couple of restaurant excursions, a nighttime walking tour which was awesome, roaming the central markets, hitting a couple of beer spots, and just taking in the city. I wish I could’ve spent a week here, I would’ve had plenty to do and see.

One of the main tourist attractions in central Brussels, is the Grand Place. This giant square represents the old open market of ancient Brussels. Imagine this massive open space with the city buildings, the City Hall, House of Parliament, the Guild Houses, other government offices, and a Starbucks! Wow!!! (snark-snark) This is just one massive open air market for vendors of all sorts. Fish stalls, flowers, meat, fruit and vegetables all came here in the old world Swapmeet of sorts. Now days, it houses tourists doing selfies and visiting the museums. But they still have some art vendors to pickup lovely posters of Brussels scenery.

The buildings are sculpted with figurines and statues gilded in gold, and it provides quite a vision. There are thousands, I’m sure tens of thousands, of carvings added to the outside of the walls of the government buildings and churches. Each building has all sorts of monks, laborers, gargoyles and tapestries attached that I’m sure they have all sorts of stories to tell. Looking back, these were probably the first makings of graffitied buildings. But instead of spraying or painting, the churches and ministries of the time, they added these sculptures provided by the masons of the day. I guess this is why they are so secretive.

But the most famous sculpture in all of Brussels, some even say Belgium, even more say the entire European continent, has to be Menneken Pis. This small statue, the subject of visitations from people all over the world and a tribute to the sense of humor of the Belgian people, is a mystery and a revelation to all. It is not quite clear when the statue was built, and why. Documents show the statue being built in 1615, but it was also mentioned in text as early as 1451.

Maniken Peace

But why is still a mystery. Several legends have completely distinctive origins. One legend indicates that when Brussels was under attack by forces planting explosives, a small boy spied upon them and urinated to douse the fuse. Another story is of a wealthy merchant who’s small child was lost in the city and was found pissing in a small garden by the search party. The merchant thankful, decided to have a statue built to commemorate the event. This seems a little more feasible, but either way, the statue has been a beloved monument for hundreds of years and shows the humor and otherwise light-hearted good nature of the people of Brussels. You don’t keep a pissing statue around for some 600 hundred years unless you have an entire culture of good natured humor.