Wednesday, July 5, 1922
“We got up at 5:00 to take a train for Milan. Had to change cars at Lausanne and Brigue. Had our baggage inspected at the latter place. Had wonderful mountain scenery all the way. Reached our destination about 4:30 [p.m.]. Went to the Capital Hotel du Nord. Had lovely rooms. Dressed and went for a little walk before dinner. Ate in the court. Went for a ride in the evening. Saw the cathedral by moonlight. Went to bed in good season."
[I could not find any information about the Capital Hotel du Nord in Milan.]
Thursday, July 6, 1922
“Went to the cathedral in the morning. It is the largest in the world. It is purely gothic in style. Had lunch and left there at 2:10 p.m.”
[The Milan Cathedral, or Duomo di Milano, groundbreaking was in 1386. It took nearly six centuries to complete. It is now listed as the fifth largest cathedral in the world. Mark Twain visited Milan in 1867 and wrote a wonderful description.
“We were told to get our sleeping accommodations when we got to Boulogne. Had interesting Italian company all the way. One man was very much concerned about our going to Rome alone. Told us to take a taxi to the hotel. At Boulogne we were told we could get a sleeping car at Florence, but we didn’t get one. As a result, we reached Rome the next morning feeling very brilliant after being up all night. Pietro Fabbri struck up an acquaintance of R. He knew a very little English and was anxious to learn more. We were the curiosities of the train. Everyone stood around and watched us. We had two very gentlemanly Italians in the compartment with us all the way to Rome. One was an aviator. They had both served during the war and were very proud trying to explain to us about their wounds. The soldier had been wounded three times. The other man - six times. We could not have asked for more perfect gentlemen than they were.”
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