Milan

We are back in the land of good WiFi, so I can catch up a bit.

Our visit to Milan started poorly.  We got to the hotel I had booked near the train station, only to be told that our reservation had been cancelled.  The hotel had tried to do a pre-authorization of the credit card on file, and it was declined (probably because I'd been issued a new one since making the reservation -- just a change in expiration date was enough to do it).  The bad thing was that the hotel was completely booked.  The good thing was Wendy, the front desk clerk, spoke excellent English and, because we were early, she had time to help us.  We were able to find a comparable hotel on the other side of the station.

 

Milan Centrale from our hotel room... trains are on the level above the arches

view from the Terrace Grill

Milan was very smoggy...we know it's a manufacturing center, but you would think it would be clearer on a Sunday.  After the bad start, we treated ourselves to dinner at the rooftop restaurant at a nearby hotel.  (Risotto with shrimp and penne arrabiata were the first course, then we both had braised beef cheeks with vegetables.   Mmmm good!)

Santa Maria della Gracia

Monday, we got an early start, and got to the convent of Santa Maria della Gracia to see the Da Vinci Last Supper, only to find the ticket office closed.  When I checked my reservation printout, I discovered I'd booked the wrong date.  Luckily, due to Expo 2015, a special Exhibit was created called "Inside the Last Supper."  We were able to go through it, and could take our time and really learn about the some of the unconventional painting techniques Da Vinci chose, and got detailed descriptions of each of the subjects in the painting. 

The fresco technique used oil-based paint, which gave deeper colors, but made the painting more fragile in the long run.  (A restoration attempt 20+ years ago almost destroyed the original, and had to be redone.) Scott had been doing some reading beforehand, and one interesting thing was that, because Da Vinci was taking so long, the prior of the convent kept asking when it was going to be finished.  He got back at the prior by modeling the face of Judas after the man.

We made a quick visit to the historic city center.  The Piazza del Duomo was in chaos.  Apparently there had been a large concert event over the weekend (as part of Expo), and workmen were everywhere taking down a large stage.  The best shots of the Duomo were ruined, because the stage blocked the view. 

This cathedral is the third largest in the world, behind St. Peter's in Rome and Seville's Cathedral.  It took more than 500 years to complete.  Initially they were building it with bricks, but a local businessman donated all the grey & pink marble so it could be grand enough to represent his city.  It is quite an impressive building. 

There's something like 3500 statues on the outside, it has the world's tallest stained glass windows inside, and can seat 40,000.

Robin Hood's men seem to be on guard

Across the plaza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an elegant covered arcade lined with ritzy shops and restaurants.  It is basically four square blocks of buildings under a 150-foot dome... all built in the 1860s.


looking north from the cathedral to the Galleria



inside the Galleria