t none
quite like Juliet. Her tomb (or, as they would say at Rome,
'sepolcro detto di Giulietta') I did not see, for it was too far
off. I was in a hurry to be off, and there was nobody to detain
me with a tender 'Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near' _night_.
The road, which is excellent, runs in sight of the Alps all the
way, and the Lago di Garda is excessively pretty.

Milan, June 23rd, 1830 {p.413}

Milan is a very fine town, without much to see in it. The Duomo,
Amphitheatre, Arch of the Simplon, Brera (pictures). There are a
few fine pictures in the Brera; among others Guido's famous
'St. Peter and St. Paul,' Guercino's 'Hagar and Abraham;' a row
of old columns which were broken and lying about till the French
set them upon their legs; Leonardo da Vinci's fresco, which is
entirely spoilt. The view from the top of the Duomo is superb,
over the boundless plain of Lombardy with the range of the Alps,
and the Apennines in the distance. I like the Duomo, but I know
my taste is execrable in architecture. I don't, however, like the
mixture of Italian with the Gothic--balustrades over the
door, for instance--but I admire its tracery and laborious
magnificence. Buonaparte went on with it (for it was never
finished), and this Government are completing it by degrees;
there will be 7,000 statues on different parts of the outside,
and there are already 4,500. St. Charles Borromeo's tomb is very
splendid, and for five francs they offered to uncover the glass
case in which his much esteemed carcase reposes, and show me the
venerable mummy, but I could not afford it. The entrance to Milan
from Venice, and the Corso, are as handsome as can be. The Opera
is very bad, but the Scala is not open, and none of the good
singers are here.

Varese, June 26th, 1830 {p.414}

Left Milan at six o'clock on the 24th, and got to Como after
dark. Embarked in the steam boat at eight yesterday morning, went
as far as Cadenebbia, where I got out, saw the Villa Sommariva,
then crossed over and went round the point of Bellagio to see the
opening of the Lake of Lecco, turned back to the Villa Melzi, saw
the house and gardens, and then went back to dine at Cadenebbia,
and waited for the steam boat, which returned at four, and got
back to Como at half-past six. Nothing can surpass the beauty of
all this scenery, or the luxury of the villas, particularly
Melzi, which is the best house, and contains abundance of shade,
flowers, statues, and sh