Submitted by scott on

The family left Turin at 9:15 AM and arrived at Milan at 1:30 PM [MTNJ 2: 188]. Sam’s  notebook is full of things they saw in Milan, and observations on a host of  items and situations.

Some favorites:

I think the arcade  system is borrowed from Turin.

Saw a starchy suit of  clothes marked $9—doorway full of dummies dressed—stepped in to order one like the $9—nothing inside! The old man hauled in the dummy, stripped him & I  ordered the clothes sent to the hotel.

Omnibuses have a sign  “Completo” when they are full.—I wish we had such laws.

Saw 6 Italians go into  a furious quarrel, with terrific gesticulations. Turned back my sleeves &  prepared to cord up the dead. By & by they embraced & all was over.

The same old door frame  of the Cathedral still fascinates me…It must be very bad art.

Saw a vast pyramid of  furniture on two almost invisible wheels—went around to hunt for the moving impulse & found a donkey the size of a rabbit—the driver was riding [MTNJ  2: 189-90]. 
 

Links to Twain's Geography Entries

Day By Day Acknowledgment

Mark Twain Day By Day was originally a print reference, meticulously created by David Fears, who has generously made this work available, via the Center for Mark Twain Studies, as a digital edition.