This morning after breakfast, we set our sights on visiting the main cathedral in Milan, or the Duomo.  We purchased tickets to gain entry which is guarded by automatic rifle carrying soldiers.  Upon entry into the cathedral, one is struck by the massive size of the interior.  Rental of a couple of audio guides was easily accomplished by trading in my Washington driver’s license for two smart phone type guides.

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The audio guide explained that at the front of the cathedral, high up where the red light burns is the “holy nail” supposedly one of the nails used to nail Jesus to the cross.  You can see the red light in these next two photos.

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Once a year in September the Archbishop of Milan is lifted high up to the holy nail where some ceremony is performed.  He is lifted up on a contraption invented by Leonardo da Vinci.  When Doug heard this, he pulls a lighter out of his pocket and proclaimed “I have here in my hand the lighter of Jesus which you can have for 5 euros.”  Barb was not impressed and wondered aloud whether lightning would strike him for his irreverence.  It was right about that time that a loud thunder clap sounded. We all edged a little further away from where Doug was standing.

The stained glass throughout is spectacular and so brilliant with vibrant colors.  There was a sculpture of Bartholomew, one of the twelve disciples of Christ.  As the story goes, Bartholomew led several leaders of a ruling family to the Lord which ticked off others of a different persuasion.  He was taken captive and had his skin flayed off of him before he was beheaded.  The sculpture depicts Bartholomew with his skin removed and wrapped around his shoulders, before he was beheaded.

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Although taking the stairs would be free, we paid the extra 6 euros each to take an elevator to the roof of the Duomo.  It was at this point that the skies opened up with rain, thunder and lightning.  We snapped a few wet pictures and decided the prudent thing to do was to get down off the roof and head back to our hotel.  Barb reminded Doug that the rainstorm was probably his fault for making the jokes that he did while in the cathedral.

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After we returned to our hotel and dried off, we next headed out to a café where we could have lunch and people watch.  As the heavy rain continued while we ate lunch, we watched people scurry about trying to escape the rain.  Doug, still smarting from having been told of his responsibility for the thunderstorm, offered to Barb that it couldn’t be from his comments in the cathedral because all of these other people are also getting wet.  Barb was having none of that and reminded him of the scripture that “the Lord causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”  Hmmm.