June 23, 2007 – Milan/Lugano, Switzerland/Lake Maggiore

Duomo in Milan First Mall in History, Milan Lugano, Switzerland Peering out of our windows in our hotel room - Lake Maggiore, Italy View from our hotel room window - Lake Maggiore, Italy Bright and early we arose to drive to Lake Maggiore. On our way we stopped at Milan. It was breathtaking. When we arrived in Milan, we went to the Duomo to see that incredible Gothic Church. Mom described it perfectly…it looked like a wedding cake caught in a rain storm and covered with angry squirrels. Amazing. We went inside to see the stained glass windows. What is particularly impressive about them is that they are not painted – the color within the glass is minerals melted into the glass, so the color is very vibrant and does not ever fade. It was beautiful. The floors in the Duomo were all made of marble and were absolutely incredible. When we walked outside, we went to the first mall in history. It is an open mall, meaning that it has no doors to the entrance or exit; however, it was covered with a high ceiling that arched across the entire mall. Something so beautiful it seems almost unreal. The floors were mosaic, and the ceiling was made of glass. The stores were of course outrageously priced, however, we had fun window shopping. There was a group of about 5 young men (approximately 18 years old) who gathered together in one corner of the mall and began playing their instruments – mostly violins. They played one classical piece after another. It was absolutely gorgeous. I stood there with tears in my eyes as I listened. It was beautiful. Perfect. We ate lunch at McDonalds today – we couldn’t find anything else that wasn’t priced out of this world. Felt like silly Americans eating at McDonalds in Italy. But it was something to eat and we were soooo hungry. We only had an hour and ½ in Milan. It was unfortunate. We walked over to see la Scala Opera house, the first opera house in the world. Unfortunately since we were there over the lunch hour it was closed, so we didn’t get in. I was so disappointed. We drove another couple of hours to Lugano, Switzerland. Switzerland is breathtaking. I love Switzerland. It is perfectly clean, surrounded by mountains. Lugano is situated on a beautiful lake. It looked so clean. Looking into the water, you could see rather deeply. Nothing like the lakes in the States. It was pristine. Gorgeous. We walked around the city a little bit, bought some Swiss chocolate and sat on a bench in front of the water while we ate it. It was lovely. We wished we could have stayed much longer than only one hour. We got back on the bus and drove to Lake Maggiore, Italy. Like Lugano, it is situated on a pristine lake. It was in a valley and how the mountains are situated makes it so that the temperature is between 64 and 80 degrees all year long. Much cooler than the cities we had been in for the last week. It was a welcome change. We walked into our room and were pleasantly surprised. There was a large window open wide allowing the fresh air to enter our room looking directly out to the lake surrounded by mountains. We stuck our heads out the window to enjoy the view. Chris actually sat on the ledge of the window and let his legs hang out on to the roof. As we were enjoying the view, one by one, the heads of the rest of my family members popped out of their windows, too. We were all hanging out our windows. It was kind of funny. Got some fun pictures. Kendra decided to get a bit closer for a better picture, so she climbed out of the window and scurried down the roof to our room. From then on, we used the windows as doors instead of the "traditional" door to the room. We went to the pool and played Marco Polo with my siblings. After a lovely shower, we got all dressed up for dinner and enjoyed our table right by the window that looked out to the beautiful scenery. The boys went down to the game room after dinner and we girls went for a walk along the side of the lake. It was a perfect night. We really enjoyed ourselves.