Milan (You should visit there!)
Back to Milan. Milan is unlike the more southern cities of Italy. Located relatively close to the Swiss border, Milan has a very business like feel, but was very welcoming none the less. We stayed at one of the many business hotels located right outside of the Milano Centrale train station. From there you can catch a train to anywhere in the nation, or catch the subway into the historic downtown. When you get to the downtown you immediately exit the underground in front of the Milan Cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world, and one that took almost six hundred years to complete. The cathedral is the location of Napoleon's coronation as King of Italy, and he was apparently so impressed with the building he ordered all construction projects be completed. The cathedral has what appears to be hundreds of spires each with a unique statue sitting on top. The famous Madonna statue sits at the top of the cathedral, and for centuries marked the highest point a building was allowed to have in Milan. Every inch of the exterior appears to have been a place for an amazing sculpture to have practiced. There breath taking stones and metal carvings both on the wall and the doors that depict scenes from the Bible. The inside on the other hand appears rather tame compared to the exterior. Inside the cathedral is one of the most unique sculptures I have ever seen. Saint Bartholomew Flayed is an 16th Century carving by Marco d'Agrate that shows the artist depiction of the former apostle after he was skinned alive for preaching the gospel in Armenia. If you walk up to it and look behind you will see the well crafted "cloth" wrapped around Bartholomew is in fact his skin, with a detailed face to go with it.
From the cathedral we proceeded next door to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the Gallery of Victor Emmanuel. This location is quite interesting. An enclosed shopping mall that was built in the 19th Century to host the wealthiest of shoppers in Milan, the roof is made completely of glass that lets in natural light. The art within the structure is equally impressive. Standing in the center, if you look at the women painted above the four corners they represent the continents of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
After this brief stop we made our way to the highlight of the day, da Vinci's Last Supper. Along the way to the church you pass by the Sforza Castle, a 15th Century castle built to the ruling family of Milan. While the exterior is still present, and shows you the massive size the castle must have once enclosed, the castle is now more of a public park with beautifully maintained grounds. From there the walk to Santa Maria delle Grazie, the home of the Last Supper, is just a few blocks away. You MUST get your ticket to view the painting through one of the local tour guides in town. The church did offer single tickets if groups did not fill up the viewing area, but there were countless people waiting for hours to go in one at a time. Painted in the late 15th Century, da Vinci apparently took his time painting this now iconic image. So much so the head of the covent apparently complained to the Sforza family that commissioned it to get him to hurry up. At first site my impression was shock over the size of the painting. It sits five or six feet off the floor, and is more than fifteen feet tall after that. While it is fading, and they are doing their best to maintain it, the detail is still amazing. You can clearly see all of the mystery that Dan Brown detailed in The da Vinci Code. The figure to Jesus' right does in fact look like a woman, more than it looks like John the Apostle. One thing that did surprise me, and maybe many of you have noticed this before is the giant section that was removed below Jesus in the painting. The painting is on the wall of the dining hall in the convent. Apparently the head of the convent in 1652 decided the monks needed a new way into the hall so he had a door placed directly under Jesus. It has since been bricked over, but is shocking to see in person. On the opposite end of the hall is an equally massive painting called Crucifixion by Montorfano. I immediately felt bad for this artist. This painting is supposedly this artist's high point in his career, and while impressive, he apparently painted it at the exact same time as da Vinci and must have realized the difference in quality as he painted it. After you visit the Last Supper, wander around the downtown area for a while. Wendy and I found a local restaurant, which there are thousands of in Milan, that was amazing called Ristorante Osteria al 29, located on Corso Magenta. This place had the best pizza I've ever had, and it was a Quattro Formaggi (four cheese) pizza. I can't stand cheese pizza, so that tells you how good it must have been for me to say it was the best pizza I've ever had.
Just a few more thoughts about Milan. First, let me say we are glad we didn't listen to all of the negative comments. We were lucky to be attending while the World's Fair was going on. Who knew they still had those? Milan did an amazing job hosting, and the theme of the fair was food, in particular what each nation did to help the world's food supply. Not surprisingly some nations spent much more money than others on their exhibits, but South Korea and Germany were by far the class of the show. Second, if you do decide to stay by the Milano Centrale train station, walk over to Via Fara just a couple of blocks away. This narrow street had dozens of restaurants on it from classic Italian, Chinese, Fusion, and countless other types. We ate there all three nights were were in town and greatly enjoyed each place we went. One stands out in particular, Ristorante Dalla Zia. The food was amazing, the service was outstanding, and it was completely convenient from our hotel.
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