Mobile blogging: Winter breakaway...MILANO

Milan is the fashion city in Italy and one of the fashion cities in Europe. A rival fashion city of Paris. Places worth to visit are Il Duomo, the gothic marvel with 135 spires took the best part of 500 years to complete with 2,000 or so statues, then Castello Sforzesco, Piazza Castello. This Renaissance edifice was once a fortress, Ducal palace and a military barracks, and is now a cultural centre. Sant'Ambrogio in the Piazza Sant'Ambrogio is Milan's most important basilica (church), and also one of its most beautiful; dating from AD379, it forms the resting place of the city's saint and has a superb pulpit carved in 1080. City of Milan is also home to some important museums including the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Piazza Scala, which is full of historical mementos of this celebrated opera house and memorabilia from Verdi, Rossini, Puccini and Toscanini. The Museu Archeologico, Corso Magenta 15, houses fascinating remnants of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Milan, including mosaics, glass phials and busts. The Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnica Leonardo da Vinci, via San Vittore 21, set in the former Olivetani monastery, boasts 40,000 square metres of space, with 15,000 objects including a reconstructed Art Nouveau train station. Milan is of course a centre of high fashion, and famous for its designer shops and boutiques. Or if you want to venture further afield, the spectacular Italian ski resort of Livigno is just four hours' drive away. Lake Como is just 30 minutes drive or an hour by train; from here take a boat to Bellagio, a beautiful town full of cafés, shops and famed for its gardens.