Our sleep was interrupted at about 4am this morning with the most horrendous noise outside. At first I thought something was on fire, as I could hear a crackling sound. I realised then that it was something hitting the windows, which I then worked out was hailstones. When I looked outside I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I saw rain, coming down like stair rods, lashing down into the small courtyard that our hotel room overlooked. The sky was lit up with sheet and fork lightning; I have never seen anything like it. To begin with, I didn’t want to open the windows for fear of being struck by lightning. Eventually I did and videoed the most incredible storm.

Once the rain had subsided I went back to sleep. We woke at around 8:30am to a beautiful blue sky. The weather forecast said there would be a storm in the morning. However, we stuck to our plan of going to the Duomo Di Milano, which we’d booked tickets for online.

We went to a small deli cafe for breakfast, close to the hotel, and bought panini to take away. Just what I needed to keep us going.

https://www.farinaecucina.it/en/

Once we had eaten, our next destination was the Duomo Di Milano. This is the fifth largest Christian church in the world. Because the weather was better than the forecast, we thought it best to visit the rooftops of the cathedral first. This is where you climb 256 steps to reach the roof Terrazza. It is advisable to book online to skip the long queues. I had my bag inspected and we were good to go. With our ticket we were able to go to the rooftop of the cathedral, so we queued there first. Near the top we walked along the entire north side of the cathedral and saw the most amazing views of the city. We then walked up a few more stairs to get to the roof of the cathedral. We saw some brilliant views of the city whilst standing on the slope roof. Once we’d had enough of the late morning sun, we headed back down the stone steps which took us into the cathedral itself.

There, we had to have our ticket scanned again. Once we had passed security we realised the enormity of the building. This cathedral can hold 40 000 people.

https://www.duomomilano.it/en/

We also booked the museum but never got there. Instead we walked up the Castello Sforzesco. When we arrived there were signs informing the public that the castle wasn’t accessible. This was due to the storm damage the night before. Tiles had been ripped from the roof, chairs and rental bikes blown over, tram lines damaged from the trees that had been uprooted. Whilst there, we also needed to be aware of ethnic men trying to sell bracelets, worth next to nothing, for an inflated price.

We took a few snaps from the outside of the castle before heading back to the main shopping area. We found a wine store/restaurant that looked pretty appealing. Signorvino had a wait time of 10 minutes but it wasn’t long before we were seated. We enjoyed a long, relaxing lunch of beef tartare, wine and excellent service.

We then wandered down some of the main streets that are lined with luxury designer shops. The main one was Via Sant’Andrea. At one end, we crossed Via Senato before reaching Via Marina. Here we saw some more of the devastation from the tornado that had ripped through parts of Milan. The trees along the length of the car park had been uprooted and landed on top of cars that were parked there. Some cars had dents in, some were completely covered in tree trunks and branches. Police had cordoned off some of the area because it was too dangerous. It was a strange feeling and I stood there hoping that nobody had got hurt.

Moving on, we headed back to the hotel via a bar, for a quick glass of wine.

After a rest at the hotel, we went out for something to eat. We thought that the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall was a good shout. This was after choosing somewhere else first, but as we were getting smoked out by a customer on the next table at this restaurant, we soon left.

Galleria Caffé-Restaurant had a good choice of food. It was a little pricier than other restaurants but this is probably due to the location. Even though we didn’t have a reservation, the waiting staff accommodated us with ease.

We didn’t stay out too late because we had to get up early for the next part of our journey by train. Milan is a great city that we have ticked off the bucket list. Next destination: Monterosso Al Mare (Cinque Terre).