Irrelephant

I did some sight-seeing in Milan today. Although I’ve been living here for so many years there are still many things of this city that I haven’t seen yet. So I thought it might be fun to go where the tourists are usually draged to whenever they come here.

One important historical place is the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio named after the patron saint of Milan. Inside the basilica is a crypt with Sant’Ambrogio’s remains.

Remains of Sant'Ambrogio

As you can see there are two sets of remains. Believe it or not, no one is really sure who the second remains actually belong to. My guess is that they belong to Ambrogio’s close “friend,” who probably “served” him in a very important capacity, earning the saint’s undying affection.

Here’s another shot of the two of them:

Remains of Sant'Ambrogio

 This is what the Basilica looks like from the outside:

Basilica Sant'Ambrogio

Nearby the Basilica there is one of my favorite buildings in Milan. I am not sure what it’s history is, nor do I know it’s true age. But I think it’s pretty cool looking. Got that whole castle thing going for it.

Fancy building in old Milan

In the same neighborhood is the Pasticceria Marchesi which is one of the oldest pastry shops in Milan, if not the oldest. It has been open since 1824. It is a very “in” place, where the milanese like to be seen on weekends for breakfast.

Oldest Pastry Shop in Milan

In front of the Basilica is a double archway and tower the date back to Roman times, when Milan was called Mediolanum.

Mediolanum

A straight on shot of the ancient arch:

Mediolanum

I love roaming around an old city and discovering the narrow streets that give you an idea of what the city was like before cars and buses existed. Here’s one I found today while walking around.

Narrow Street

Another great find was a toy store/hobby shop that sells used analog cameras.

Old Camera

Old Camera

Used Cameras

Well those are some of the iPhone shots I took today, which happens to be my first day of self-imposed unemployment. Yay!