Exploring Milan

Milan Cathedral

Cathedral at night

Maria della Grazia church (to see Last Supper painting)

Cathedral square

Sforza Castle

Sforza castle

Sforza castle

Sunday, Nov 20

I spent the day exploring Milan city center. It's very nice but much bigger than the other towns I've visit (except Rome ofcourse). The center is older and more historic. The crown jewel so to speak is the beautiful cathedral and square. The day was very chilly. OK, it was freezing especially in the morning. Martin & I rode into the city on the tram but went separate ways once we got there. He had already seen the city the day before when I went to Verona so he was only interested in checking out some shops. That's ok, unless I'm with Gary I prefer to wander around alone and at my own pace. To get out of the cold I went into the cathedral and was pleasantly surprised that there was a sunday service in progress. The choir and organ was so nice to hear.

The highlight of the day was to go to the Maria Grazia church to see da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting. I didn't realize until too late that you have to book tickets weeks in advance because they only let 25 people in at a time and only for 15 minutes. Luckily the admin in the milan office called and got me a ticket due to a cancellation. I really really wanted to see this painting. It was fun to search the net and read the background and history of the painting so you can just enjoy it when there. It's a fresco of sort in that it's part of a wall. The painting is huge and stands 15ft hight and 29ft wide. Leo painted this in 1495-1498 and the inventor in him decided to try a new technique by painting directly on a dry wall (instead of on wet plaster as in the way of frescos). The result was that it deteriorated rather quickly. Over the centuries there were some bad attempts to restore the painting but instead they would botch the job and made it worse. Recent attempt in the 20th century was decent since they finally understood that it wasn't a typical fresco. Now they sealed the room (part of an old convent) and you have to pass through 2 airtight entrances before you enter the room. 15 minutes was sufficient to admire the painting. I've seen so many recreations of this painting so it's cool to see the original. Ofcourse the colors are not as vibrant but you can still appreciate the genius of Leo's work.

It was a cold day so a good excuse to buy roasted chestnuts and walk around with the warm bag in your hands. Ended the day shopping. THere's a famous shopping street here call montenapolean. All the famous designer names are here. Unfortunately all I could afford was window shopping!