Milano

Plenty of dining options nearby and we naturally chose Italian last night. The clam and mussel soup followed by a pasta carbonara appealed to Johnny's taste buds and I decided on a pizza.

When the soup arrived it was just a big dish of cooked shellfish with a thin layer of liquid in the bottom of the dish. Johnny set to work with his knife and fork removing the flesh from the shells and casting the shells aside into a second dish provided for that purpose. This job took what seemed like 10 minutes but eventually he ended up with the mussels and clams etc in his soup. But he didn't have a spoon. So being the thoughtful and helpful person that I am, I asked the waiter

to bring him a spoon. He said his soup was delicious.

Next, our main courses were delivered. I had ordered a Romana Pizza - tomato, cheese, olives, anchovies and mushrooms. I asked the waitress if I could have some pepperoni added to that. She said, no problemo! Well, there was no pepperoni on my pizza but instead large pieces of grilled capsicum. Now, I'm not a fussy eater but sadly I cannot eat capsicum because it has disastrous results on my digestive system. I was pretty sure there was no capsicum listed on the menu so I was a little surprised but not wanting to make a fuss I just began to remove the camsicum and give it to Johnny because that is how we always deal with this vegetable when it unexpectedly appears on my plate.

The waitress and the restaurant manager noticed me removing the capsicum and came to enquire why I was doing this when I had

especially asked for it. We tried to explain that in Australia pepperoni is a kind of salami and they explained that they call capsicum pepperoni. There was quite a lot of gesticulating going on but we said "no matter". Next thing the restaurant manager laid a plate of very thinly sliced hot cured meat before me to add to my pizza. It was delicious.

There were two other couples in the restaurant. One couple asked us "where you from"? The other couple also had the mussel soup and demonstrated the Italian way of consuming this dish. They must have been thinking we were pretty thick and trying to hide their mirth.

A late start this morning so it was a bit of an odd brunch - really tasty sandwich and a pastry washed down by cappuccino.

The centre of Milan is within walking distance so we set off in search

of the Duomo. Passed one of Mussolini's grand buildings along the way, went inside but our camera's were confiscated while we looked around.

We eventually arrive at the Duomo. Construction began in 1386 and was finally completed on January 6, 1965 when the last gate was inaugurated. The history of the construction alone is worth researching.

Our taxi driver told us that the main construction phase took over 300 years and the area surrounding the cathedral was a town of families who worked on the building for six to eight generations. And there is a river under the city which was created to carry materials to the site.

Once again, long queues to visit the Cathedral so we explored nearby. A stunning shopping arcade and surrounding streets. Behind the shopping arcade there is a little square with this lovely statue of Leonardo. He appears to gaze right down at you wherever you are standing.

Found another 13th century church in one of the back streets. And have to reveal our own bit of Roman Wall at the end of our street. This one is not as old as Hadrian's but it is about 1000 years old and the arh is called the Porta Romana - the doorway to Rome. About the same age as the wall. Our apartment building is named after the arch.

Eventually got a taxi back to our apartment and had pears, grapes and strawberries with a yummy soft sheep's cheese to keep us going until dinner time. Italian again tonight but managed not to make idiots of ourselves this time.