OK, here's the link to all of our pictures. Unfortunately, they aren't in any order or labeled, but they still came out well.
My favorite ones are the juxtaposiiton of what we saw when we went to the Armani Hotel cafe. It was written up as a "must go to" place in Milan. We got there around 5 PM, and it was quiet. There was one other couple (I think they were having a business meeting) and a family with 2 adult sisters, a very newborn (one-two weeks old, by my estimate), the grandmother, and husband having drinks, all looking very stylish as the mom interspersed her sipping her drink with visits to take the baby out to nurse, I think. Then, two men walked in with a dog. Not a teeny dog, as you sometimes see in the US, but a medium sized one. Dogs go everywhere in Italy, even restaurants. All of this, with a view of the Duomo from 8 stories up. When we left, there was a parade of very large, black cars bringing patrons to the hotel. They looked like people you'd see on the society page of a newspaper... enough to give me the creeps! But, the mojitos were were awesome and we were treated nicely.
I'd say my favorite 2 things were the visit to our friends and hiking in Sestriere and the winery tour/visit to La Morra and Barolo. I did buy 2 pairs of shoes and a leather winter jacket, with a wool lining. It's probably the most expensive piece of clothing I've bought, and it was about 40% discounted. I never found any pants or dresses that even remotely looked like they would fit me, though.
Of course, the eating was in a category of its own!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevema...57635222485923