Milan

We arrived in Milan at 6:30AM local time, 12:30AM Eastern US time, also the actual time our bodies thought it should be.  After what was arguably the quickest and easiest jaunt through immigration and customs ever we found our way to the train and arrived at our hotel by about 8AM.  Magically, our hotel had a room available, (hallelujah!) so we went straight to nap-land.  We both slept intermittently on the flight so we compromised on a 2.5 hour nap.  Enough to take the edge off but not enough to confuse us even more.  We headed out to explore. 

Our hotel is a short walk to a metro stop so we jumped on the metro and headed to the Duomo.  It seemed like a good base to begin exploring.  

After some oohs and ahhhs we went to Sforza Castle.  It reminded me very much of the Victoria and Albert museum in London a  little bit of everything; architecturally interesting walls, a version of  da Vinci’s Pieta, Dante’s Devine Comedy, crazy flatware and of course “the 3’ wide crab”. (Crazy old folks were so enthralled with the Pieta that we failed to take a picture....you’ll just need to visit to experience it yourself)

We left Sforza Castle and returned to our room for nap number 2 and a shower.  

We finished the evening with (in this order) a stroll around the neighborhood, a yummy gelato, dinner, sleep finally.

That brings us to today... we woke early with the assistance of a (yikes) alarm.  We had an early entry into the Milan Cathedral aka the Duomo.  As sad as we were to wake up the lack of lines and the almost empty cathedral were well worth the effort.

And the roof top terraces were amazing.  It seems the marble used to build the Duomo is very soft and there are constant reconstruction projects underway. Even with the scaffolding the sites were amazing.  I’m not sure how many steps we climbed but by11:10AM after  almost three hours into the Duomo we had walked 3 miles and climbed 20  flights...thanks apple.

And then, we wandered stumbling upon a tiny museum, Museo Studio Francesco Messina.  Messina was a Sicilian sculptor who relocated to Milan, “bought” a decrepit about to be demolished church for “80 sculptures and 26 works on paper”. It became his home, studio and gallery space.  The museum is small, such that each visitor gets a private guided tour.  He worked in bronze, wax, clay and plaster and tended towards boxers, dancers, horses and bulls.  Pretty amazing little gem.  

It turns out the museum is operated by the Touring Club Italiano.  They are a group of volunteers that work to keep the lesser museums and historic sites open and available to the public.Our guide gave us a map of the 17 sites they support in Milan.  Most of which are closed today because during  the month of August all of Italy is on holiday.  But we were able to get into two other sites.  

The Basilica di Santa Maria presso San Satiro, built between 1476 and 1482, the church is made monumental by a trompe l’oiel  illusion.

We followed that with the Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore.  It was described to us as the “Sistine Chapel” of Milan.  It did not disappoint.  It also had a “Last Supper”.  Not da Vinci’s but quite lovely nonetheless.

While I am writing this post Lester has been figuring out our plan for tomorrow; we’re going to Genoa for the night then heading to the Cinque Terre.  

Pictures to follow, having internet troubles. Apple and Google don't seem to like each other very much. Thank you to Nora for being my technical assistant and posting this post! (and writing this sentence)

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