While in Italy, we had to balance time with the kids with the time their mom wanted to spend with them, but it was alright because it gave us some time alone together.  Nearly each day, we had a few hours to ourselves and were able to do lots of sightseeing.  It was fun because Tom knows so much about the history of Italy and where all the cool tourist sites are, and the fact that he knows the language made it that much better!  I honestly don’t know how you travel to Europe without knowing the language!

We were able to spend a day and a half visiting Milan, which was beautiful.  This is the city where Tom served his mission and it was neat to hear about so many of the memories he had there.  The city has changed a bit, but overall I think he enjoyed being there as well and sharing some special moments together.

One of the first stops we visited was the Cimitero Monumentale, which was simply stunning!  It is definitely historic, with many of the headstones and monuments dating back thousands of years.  It’s also HUGE and we were only able to get through part of it, but it was so beautiful.

Our next stop in Milan was the Castello Sforzesco, which was built in the 15th century and so full of history.  It was really beautiful to be able to walk around the inside and outside, and they even had a modern cafe where we were able to get some spremuta and brioche!

After the castle, we walked around downtown and visited the Duomo di Milano, which is an incredibly gorgeous cathedral right in the central square of Milan.  It was AMAZING and is so incredibly detailed – it takes your breath away!  Pictures don’t do it justice!  We had to wait a little bit to get in, but the inside is also incredibly beautiful.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

After the duomo, we visited Via Monte Napoleone (a high-end street of shops) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (the world’s oldest shopping mall).  Of course we had to take a picture by the really big Christmas tree — for some reason, that’s become our thing! 🙂

We spent the evening in Milan, where Tom loved the little shoe polisher thing in the hotel — and the “emotional shower” (just kidding — we actually never quite figured out what that was!).  We also had a great dinner with some of the best meat and polenta we’ve ever eaten!  Tom showed off his parallel parking skills — seriously, the parking spots are so tiny and his maneuvering of them was impressive!  It was a fun few days visiting Milan and seeing so many of the sights I’ve heard Tom talk about — he is the best tour guide! 🙂