Through a pisa-crap to reach TV Miland
Trip Start
May 14, 2008
1
6
15
Trip End
Aug 14, 2008
Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Then it was off to Milan Tony became camera happy on the train ride and we had about 10-20 scenic pictures of the journey (Tony wants to make sure I note that those are scenic pics of villas in the mountains on the way to Milan). We got to Milan late at night so we just crashed out till the next day.
Our second day in Milan was an adventure we saw the giant gothic Duomo in central Milan in the morning which happens to be one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world. It was intersting to see something different since the cathedral was gothic with its spires and gargoyles since up until then we had been seeing tons of architecture from the rennaissance.
Next right by the Duomo we walked into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is Milans fancy upscale shopping district(right up my alley). Of course we couldnt buy anything but it was fun to window shop stores like Prada, and Louis Vuitton. That was great and Tony enjoyed it to which was a nice surprise.
After wandering around a bit we found The Castello Sforzesco which is known as a symobol of Milan and walked around the courtyard enjoying the view of the giant castle. You could walk into the courtyard which had many sculptures on display or walk around the high castle walls where the moat used to be.
We also managed to find a park the next day that was holding some kind of festival. It was one of the grandest public parks we have run into so far on this trip and Tony was as happy as a kid with candy when we spotted the basketball courts. We spent most of the day walking around the park and enjoyed a free demonstration in the middle of the park of yoga by a yoga studio and boxers showing off their talent in the ring.
A big highlight of the trip was the 15th century convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the city because it contains one of the most popular and well known images of western civilization.......Thats right the "Last Supper(or cenacolo) of Leonardo da Vinci. It is sealed in rooms that control the air so that the painting lasts longer. What was interesting was that it was actually painted in the dining room and on the other side of the paintings wall was where the kitchen was held so most of the damage to the painting was the humidity that the room kept in it on a constant basis. There was another painting opposite the Last Supper that took a local artist one year to paint and was not as ruined as Leonardo painting because of the location of the wall the Last Supper was painted on. Not to mention that the painting by the local artist was larger than the Last Supper but he used a different technique than da Vinci. Leonardo took 4 years to finish the painting and at the time it was something that had not been seen since he used a linear technique that makes it look as if the painting goes back into the wall. Also Jesus's feet were destroyed in the famous painting because a doorway was later made to go into the kitchen that tore up the middle bottom of the painting it was still quite a sight and one I will remember forever. As a bonus we had an english guided tour of the place that came with the tickets that we bought from a man outside. We really lucked out apparently you have to make reservations to see the convent a week in advance and we did not know the man sold us the tickets for the same price you pay for them inside good deal for us anyway!!!!!
The rest of the time in Milan was really spent with us being pretty lazy in the hotel room and lobby. We decided to take a vacation from our vacation went to the market picked up some beers and cold meats and watched our T.V. we found out after a day of nothing but Italian voice overs on the tube that the TV in the lobby of our hotel had some english channels. So Tony and I camped out in front of it and watched BBC and Fox news (the only channels in english) It was fun and we were glad to watch programs that we understood completly.
The only other thing I really need to mention about Milan is Tonys Pantene Pro Ve commercial that he put on in the hotel room after I mentioned that his hair looked like it had plenty of body right out of a hair ad. This may not be funny to most of you but I included some pics from his photo shoot. Plus this cracked us up for a good 45 minutes while he was trying to keep a straight face impersonating the hair ads......tooooo funny!!!
I hope everyone is well and I hope our updates dont bore anyone. Milan was our last stop on our Italian tour and we will be heading to Austria in the morning.....talk at ya soon Ciao!!!!
Comments
Milan
Nothing is boring. Keep it coming and keep enjoying. Love and prayers.
Great job
Great job on your blog - maybe you could write a new book Aliston's guide to Europe!
Hi you two
Enjoy your blog and looking at your great pictures. Tony you are soooo handsome!!! What a wonderful trip. I will continue to tune in and see your next adventure. Be safe and have tons of fun.
Much love
Susan