Somewhat odd request.

As some of you may recall from previous requests (Moldova et al),I have a group of friends who are nuts about football (you'd have to be to support Scotland; and, yes, I DO mean the round ball game). They follow the national team all over Europe. Scotland seems to be playing in Milan in the not too distant future.

Most of them are property professionals. They tie these trips in with quite serious consideration of the local architecture and culture (As far as I can see, the culture bit involves sitting at pavement cafes, drinking beer and watching the world go by)

Now, they are convinced that there's nothing worth seeing in Milan except the Cathedral and they've seen that. I don't necessarily agree with them but so far have been unable to convince them otherwise. The trip will not be more than 2 or 3 days

So, my challenge to you is:- what should they see? Should they leave Milan and go elsewhere? Verona?

Suggestions please

Your chums aren't far off.

Much of Milan makes Cumbernauld look like a World Heritage site, and I'd say its architecture overall compares unfavourably with Glasgow (but then so do most cities). The view of the Duomo's gargoyles from the Rinascente top-floor caff is worth the trip - and this branch of Rinascente is probably still the best place in Europe for middle-aged men to buy clothes that are stylish, unfaddy and affordable. Sizing isn't too friendly for 80/- over-indulgers though.

Otherwise, don't dismiss St Ambrogio, which is just a nice church of an age that makes us realise how late we started building proper churches (it was centuries old when Edward started thinking about building an abbey to go with the Parliament building opposite). And there are a few prettyish walks round the Naviglio Grande and in Brera that are well worth a detour of ten minutes or less.

I always over-prolong stays in Milan just to eat and shop (Brera's stuffed with proper eateries, and scores highest of anywhere in Europe for quality of eye-candy as judged by us blokes of a certain age), and the likelihood is that most of your friends have never managed to be there before when the Brera gallery was open. The nearby Poldi-Pezzoli museum is an undervisited gem (with as small and concentrated a painting collection as the Wallace Collection but without that air of fustiness), and perfect for those of us who get a severe dose of museum head after an hour in a museum or gallery.

And even though I don't relate to high fashion, walks round the world's fashion capital - Via della Spiga, Via Sant Andrea and Via MonteNapoleone - make terrific street theatre (his'n'her matching mink jackets last time).

Ottherwise, if they're all into architecture, how about a drive along the road running parallel with the Brenta Canal? it's a 2.5 hour slog from Milan, but it's lined with Palladian (ie Palladio actually had a hand in their design) villas, most of them visitable and really is one of this continent's great - and least appreciated - architectural assets.

If they're into football, they can take a tour of the great San Siro stadium

http://www.sansirotour.com/

topping- more input sought, please.

Hi Sheila,

Have they considered Bergamo? It's about an hour from Milan by train.

We will be spending a night there on the way back from Lake Como the weekend after the game (I know....timing is everything - it's pure coincidence).

To be honest, I originally only booked there because the Ryanair flight back home is around 10 a.m. and so I wanted to be close to the airport. The more I look into Bergamo, however, the more interesting it looks. Here's their toursit office website - the "Virtual Tour" facility shows how attractive the old town (Citta Alta) is;

http://www.bergamotour.com/uk/index.htm

Hope this helps & here's hoping the Team surprise us all.

Jim

I would HATE to be part of the travelling support

But after Saturday I'm not certain that I'm up for any more rugby- EVER!

I know Sheila - it's hard to imagine either the rugby or football teams getting a decent result in the forseeable future.

Incidentally, whenever I post a web address here I always go back in after I've posted to check if it works. This time I found that although the website itself was OK, the "virtual tour" I recommended wasn't working. Hopefully this is just temporary, however, as it was working just the other day.

If they are interested in Bergamo, however, a Google search will bring up plenty of pictures, with the Piazza Vecchia being a good example of the type of charm I was talking about.

Pictures I've seen actually remind me of Edinburgh, except instead of a castle perched high above the new town there is a fully formed old town.

Jim