Summertime

"Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it.  Somehow, it was hotter then.  Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning.  Ladies bathed before noon and after their three o'clock naps.  And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum.  The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. "


~ Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird― 


 


Wherever you live, I hope you are staying cool in the sweltering heat.  A trip to the beach, a cool beverage, a hammock under a tree or sitting on a front porch  with a good book are great ways to enjoy a hot summer day! :)  Have a great weekend!

Duomo Cathedral - Milan, Italy

In November 1992, my daughter and I were able to travel to Milan, Italy with husband while he was on a business trip.  We spent two weeks there and did a bit of sightseeing.  One of the most beautiful sights we saw was the Duomo Cathedral.  This Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete.  It is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian State territory. 
(Information via ~  Wikipedia.)

It was magnificent and absolutely gorgeous!  These are few of the photos that I took outside.  At the time we went, we weren't permitted to take photos inside other than the entryway.  I don't know the policy has changed since then.  I was able to get one photo of the ceiling as we entered.  This picture does not do it justice.  It was very dark inside so this was the best I could do with the not so wonderful camera I had at the time.

Duomo Cathedral

Side View ~ Duomo Cathedral

Ceiling inside the Duomo Cathedral
One of the few pictures I could take once inside the Cathedral.  The photo isn't very good because the lighting was so dark.

The Square ~ Milan, Italy
This area is where people would walk and mingle and it surrounded the Cathedral.  A funny story...while we were sitting at the base of one of the areas where they had statues, a young lady, not to far from us was sitting, chatting with a friend, when a pigeon landed on the top of her head and was walking around on it. HA  The young lady started screaming "get it off", "get it off" all the while people just kept right on
walking, laughing.  You would have thought the pigeon owned the top of her head.  As you can see from this photo, pigeons were everywhere! 

 Side of the Cathedral

Atrium of the Enclosed Mall ~ Milan, Italy

Another view of the enclosed atrium
The inside of this atrium looked like you were outside instead of inside.   With the curtained windows above and the railing around them I wasn't sure if these were offices or actual apartments...Stunning!  

I found the history surrounding this Cathedral extremely informative and interesting and that is why I posted the video. Don't feel like you have to listen to it in its entirety.