This is the Duomo in Milan, Italy.  Like so many world-renowned landmarks, it is  awesome in detail and in scale.
Whether you aspire to  prayer, contemplation, or meditation and whatever your spiritual tradition, spaces like this seem like they should be ideal places to get still.
But we humans can always find distraction more easily than stillness, can’t we? Even if you were there all alone, the visual senses are overwhelmed.  But of course, you are never there alone, there are cameras clicking, there are whispered conversations and explanations in so many languages that you can’t understand but can’t entirely ignore either.
And yet, I always try to take a moment, or two, or five or ten to get quiet in places like this full of history and human artistry.  Here’s what I found out this time – it’s way easier to make this work in November than in high-season summer.  I mean, spiritual discipline can only take you so far.