Jeff and Serena Italy & Spain 2017: Milan

travel and arrival

Traffic from Capo di Ponte to Brescia a little heavier today than when we came in but no problem dropping off the car on time and catching our train. Only a 45 minute train ride to Milan.

Milan is our first large city in Italy with vehicle traffic and there is A LOT of it. Cars, scooters, taxis, bicycles, busses, and street cars. Scooters are parked everywhere both on the sidewalks and lined up side-by-side on the street. We took a taxi from the train station to our AirBNB so we didn't have to deal with it, just marvel and be slightly overwhelmed.

After settling in we took a walk to check the route and timing for getting to DaVinci's last supper; we have a reservation for early tomorrow. Stopped for dinner and did a little grocery shopping on our way back.

It's very warm in Milan today (and the next couple of days). It's comfortable with the windows open and ceiling fans running. We have A/C too which is helpful in the night so we can close the windows and not hear the traffic.

Wednesday, May 17th

Up early for our appointment to see Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. Every 15 minutes they allow a new group of 30 people in to see it. Leonardo da Vinci did not do a fresco but rather something less durable so the painting started to degrade almost immediately and has needed a lot of refurbishment. The most recent work which removed previous "fixes" took 22 years! Access to the painting sells out and despite our advance planning Serena missed the first opportunity to buy tickets. So we ended up having to buy a more expensive guided tour and not a lot of choice on the timing which is why we're here at 7:45 a.m. The history of the painting is interesting and the theories of why DaVinci chose this subject and did it the way he did are interesting.

The painting is in what was at the time the dining hall for a monastery. That somewhat explains his choice of topic and the perspective he used which does give the impression of the people and the table being in the room. Why he chose the moment of Christ's announcement that one of the apostles would betray him is less known. However, it did allow him to paint the apostles with more expressive faces and hand gestures. Because of how it was painted, the age and the numerous repairs the painting itself is a little underwhelming but we appreciate knowing more about it.

After coffee and a croissant we walked to the Duomo plaza (more about the Duomo later). The high end Vittorio Emmanuele II mall fronts the Duomo plaza. On the far side of the mall is a museum which is currently housing a multimedia exhibit about Leonardo DaVinci's "inventions". They have built some and explain many and there are some that you can play with a bit. It was interesting enough but would have been better if the wall displays were in English. Luckily all the multimedia bits had an English option.

From there we went to see LaScala opera house. The opera house is not as highly decorated as La Fenice and the museum only so-so. But they had a temporary exhibit about the director Toscanini and that was very good. There was also a ballet rehearsal in progress which was beautiful. Even when there isn't a rehearsal in progress the tour doesn't go into the hall; you only get to view it from the boxes.

We were tired but its not far so we walked to Castello Sforzesco. The castle looks to be in very good shape and is large but all attractions are the museums that now occupy the castle. Serena would have preferred historical information about the castle itself. We took a gelato break in the shade then walked through Parco Sempione to Torre Branca. Torre Branca is 356 feet tall. It was built in 1933 but has been upgraded since then. It was 5 euros each to ride the elevator to the top and hang out for six minutes. That's a little steep but there's no other view of Milan like it. Milan has more people than San Francisco but their skyscraper neighborhood is very small. They don't really have a skyline to speak of but it was still cool to see it all spread out below us.

Walked home stopping at the grocery and also bought a French press so we can make coffee. Our AirBNB has a tiny stove top percolator that can make one half cup at a time.

Thursday, May 18th

Coffee was grand this a.m. Jeff also made us omelets with prosciutto and cheese. And we had bread and jam. A lovely breakfast. We didn't rush out to be first in line at 9:30 but the line at the Duomo wasn't crazy long when we got there about 10:30 a.m. It was very entertaining to watch people's strategies for altering their clothing to match the duomo's modest dress code. You're not even allowed in the line unless the nice man in a suit approves your clothes.

A lot of the dress code seemed to be a judgement call by the man in the suit. They say they don't want bare knees so shorts are theoretically a no-no but men were getting in with their longer cargo shorts (knees still showing). No mini skirts obviously but there were many women with skirts above their knees which were passing. No bare shoulders so tank tops are out for both men and women. No bare midriff. Skin tight anything is okay as long as the skin is covered.

We have visited several cathedrals now and it's interesting how each one can still be different. It's hard to describe the ways but we weren't disappointed in our visit to the Duomo. We were a bit disappointed in the audio guide though. The numbers jumped all over the place and the map of where the things were that they were talking about didn't entirely match. They also had an archaeological exhibit below ground which was a bit interesting.

After seeing the inside we took an elevator to the roof (+4 euro each for the elevator vs. the stair route). It's pretty amazing to be able to walk on the actual roof. We were only allowed on one half since there is a large maintenance project. Apparently there is always a large maintenance project since they have a saying about if a job never ends it's like working on the Duomo. The audio guide talked a lot about the Veneranda Fabbrica which is the agency that is in charge of maintenance and refurbishment of the entire Duomo. They've been in existence since the 1300s and own the marble quarry that provides all the marble for the Duomo. The Duomo is not made of brick as was most common at the time of its construction. Rather it was decided to make it out of marble. It's a somewhat local marble and quite pretty - white with peach and grey streaking. But apparently also rather fragile. Over time it turns grey then black then starts to disintegrate. There was no information about how long this takes. It's very easy to see where the new pieces are. Jeff did read something about a twice a year complete examination of the exterior of the Duomo.

At the Duomo museum we were hoping for info and explanation about Veneranda Fabbrica and the process for the ongoing maintenance and maybe some info about how often things need replacement. Instead we got to see MANY pieces (mostly statues) up close that previously were part of the Duomo but have been replaced as they aged.

There aren't a lot of dinner restaurants in our immediate vicinity but it's only a 10-minute walk to the canal district of Milan and LOTS of restaurants there. It's really about a 10-minute walk to all the places of interest from our apartment and it's quiet and comfortable so other than having to buy a french press so we could make a more significant volume of coffee it's a good AirBNB.

The canals at least somewhat had their origins in the decision to make the Duomo out of marble. They needed a water route to get the marble from the quarry to Milan. The canals connect to some rivers. There was a scheme at some point to expand them and really give Milan a significant water trade route but instead some of the canals were covered over in the 1930s.

We could have chosen an expensive restaurant but ended up at a Greek "fastaurant". They brought menus and food to the table but we ordered and paid inside at the counter. A fancy restaurant wasn't really the point; it was more about the ambiance of the canals.

Friday, May 19th

One month ago we arrived in Madrid. I guess that means we're 40% done with our trip.

Thunderstorms have been in the weather forecast for today for over a week and it is overcast and lightly raining. We've really done all the major tourist sites we wanted to so today is a mellow day. We wandered in the rain over to the expensive mall and from there to the outrageously expensive high fashion district. You can see some of what we saw in the photos below.

Spent the afternoon getting packed, reading, writing and organizing photos.

For dinner we went to the restaurant downstairs and behind our apartment. It was lovely. It's obvious we're tourists but Serena does manage to convey info in Italian and a lot of people speak fairly good English (though they always apologize for it not being perfect). Tonight's waiter spoke some English and definitely understood from both of us how much we enjoyed the meal. That's possibly why he brought us a free digestiv with some biscotti and chocolate.

Ciao Milano!

More re: traffic and transportation

Despite the heavy traffic, life as a pedestrian is not a problem. The stop lights have an indicator when you should cross and at any cross walk pedestrians have the right of way AND GET IT! Step into the street and traffic will stop. Maybe a motorcycle will swerve around you but all the rest stop. We were in a crosswalk with several other people when a car didn't stop and it was clear from the reaction of the locals that it was severely rude.

Given the size of the streets and the limited parking we were surprised in Spain to not see Smart cars. We're seeing a lot of them here and a model of Renault that is even smaller. Scooters and motorcycles are everywhere (they park on the sidewalks but don't drive there). They are driven by pretty much anyone including men in business suits and women picking up kids from school. The bicycles ride on the sidewalk or the street. It's quite crowded and chaotic but seems to work.

We've seen some cars advertising something like zip car (cars2go) and there are numerous well-stocked bike-share stations also. We have seen some tiny little vans and pick up trucks too though they are few. There is also a subway system which we never used.

It's interesting that both in Spain and Italy the stop signs say "stop" rather than the equivalent in the local language.

Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. FYI for non-Italian speakers: da Vinci means 'from Vinci'. The town of Vinci is where Leonardo was born.


Duomo of Milano

Lego store version of the Duomo

Duomo interior

We can't recall why they have a duplicate of the Madonna. A statue just like this one tops the tallest spire. The Duomo is 356 feet tall (this includes the height of this statue which is more than 12 feet tall).

Some of the windows are traditional leaded stained glass and some are enameled and baked. But all are subject to being replaced when necessary.

Us on the roof (literally) of the Duomo.

Up close view of some of the roof decorations. There are 135 spires and 2300 statues on the outside of the Duomo.


People lounging on the roof. They don't have the same dress and deportment rules up here.

Up close it's easy to see which parts have been replaced more recently.

One of the more interesting gargoyles. This is a dolphin with wings, lion's paws and a snake tail. With 150 gargoyles total they needed to be creative to avoid repetition.

Archaeological area under the Duomo was vaguely interesting.

Across the way at the Duomo museum you can see up close many of the items that have been replaced.

Duomo museum also has the rusted iron interior framework from a previous golden Madonna statue. The framework inside the current statue is stainless steel.

View of the Duomo from the top of the Torre Branca.

Clock tower entrance to Sforzesco Castle. Behind the castle is a lovely large park.

Jeff and inside the castle grounds. The castle is mostly occupied by various museums which we did not visit.

Beautiful shopping mall. There are some high-end stores but since this is right on the plaza in front of the Duomo and therefore gets a lot of tourist traffic they are more "affordable" high-end stores.

This store - yes this was the name - is in a less affordable shopping area. I can't recall what they were selling but they are clear about who their customers are.

There was more than one store where you could order your yacht. Base starting prices were NOT shown.

There were a few street-side pavilions with very expensive cars on display (for example a V10 Audi RS8 Spyder). This gold Range Rover was simply parked so it may belong to someone shopping.

People here like sparkly shoes. Probably most of the people we've seen wearing them did not buy them at this store. It's hard to see but the colorful pair are 998 euros. The silver ones are only 875 euros.

If you can afford 998 euros for sparkly tennis shoes maybe you can afford this skirt which was nearly 7000 euros. All those shiny bits are just cheap plastic sequins.