Milano: You Know You're Not in Seattle Anymore

Seattlest's Ronald is in Italy, sending back missives on what's notable for the rest of us who lost any hope of travel--and early retirement--when the market went south yesterday.

MILAN, Italy--You come up the escalator at the subway station, into the vast piazza (bigger than three Qwest Fields), and dead ahead is the shimmering pink marble façade of the Duomo itself. Holy Something!

It can hold as many worshippers as descend on The Safe. It's the second highest church nave in Europe, as high as St. Peter's and only a couple of feet shorter than Beauvais (in France, never finished). Jaw-dropping, as you realize that it's getting the full brunt of the late afternoon sunlight.

You turn and face the sun, and there, across the piazza from the House of God, is the House of Mammon, or at least Eros: a giant, four-story billboard for Lovable bras and panties. The locals don't seem to notice, let alone care. Maybe they think the saints have a sense of humor.