We look Rick Steves' advice and arrived in Italy a few days before our tour began to help get over jet lag.
June 20th - Arrived in Milan – took a shuttle bus to the Central Train Station and then walked to Hotel Garda (you could practically see our hotel from the train station – but we got turned around and walked about 1 mile out of our way before we finally arrived). Dropped off our bags and headed for the subway. A young couple took pity on us and helped us navigate the subway. Arrived at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where we saw Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” The church was bombed in World War II, but miraculously the wall holding the Last Supper fresco remained standing (it was covered with a tarp for a period of time). Had our first gelato!! Had a couple of glasses of wine at a Happy Hour complete with appetizers on the sidewalk outside a bar and watched Italy play soccer in the world cup. We meet a nice lady who had done some work in Sunnyside, Washington.
June 21st – Had breakfast at a little café down the street and meet our tour guide Lorenza Scorti (recommended in Rick Steves' tour book - she as Fabulous) at our hotel. We took the subway to the fashion district and she gave us a brief history and we walked through a fashion museum. We then walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (glass-domed shopping center – built in 1870) to the Duomo (which was started in 1386 and finished in 1810 and is the 4th largest church in Europe) she pointed out the statue of St. Bartolomeo – he is wearing his own skin like a robe. There was also the sign of the zodiac on the floor and a small window at the top of the church which shines on the correct month at exactly 12:00. Next we walked to a little church Santa Maria presso San Satiro it looks like it has a big and deep architecture, but as you go closer to the front of the church you'll see that the wall is almost flat and the real space is very narrow (built by Donato Bramante). She showed us through Peck’s a great deli with everything!! We then walked through the Piazza dei Mercanti, a medieval market, on our way to Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco) – which was built in the late 1300 as a military fortress. In the museum we saw the unfinished piece - Michelangelo’s Pieta Rondanini (his fourth pieta) – you could see an extra face of Mary and an arm that he had not removed yet. Our tour ended and we had lunch at Caffe Spadari. We then went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (the oldest museum in Milan – 1618) which included Raphael’s cartoon and the Leonardo Hall which has his notebook pages. Next we took a tour of the La Scala Opera House and Museum which opened in 1778. We then walked the 919 stairs to the top of the Duomo. After enjoying the view we took the subway to the canal district where we ate dinner at a sidewalk café, Anema E Cozze and enjoyed people watching while we drank our liter of wine.
June 20th - Arrived in Milan – took a shuttle bus to the Central Train Station and then walked to Hotel Garda (you could practically see our hotel from the train station – but we got turned around and walked about 1 mile out of our way before we finally arrived). Dropped off our bags and headed for the subway. A young couple took pity on us and helped us navigate the subway. Arrived at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where we saw Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” The church was bombed in World War II, but miraculously the wall holding the Last Supper fresco remained standing (it was covered with a tarp for a period of time). Had our first gelato!! Had a couple of glasses of wine at a Happy Hour complete with appetizers on the sidewalk outside a bar and watched Italy play soccer in the world cup. We meet a nice lady who had done some work in Sunnyside, Washington.
June 21st – Had breakfast at a little café down the street and meet our tour guide Lorenza Scorti (recommended in Rick Steves' tour book - she as Fabulous) at our hotel. We took the subway to the fashion district and she gave us a brief history and we walked through a fashion museum. We then walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (glass-domed shopping center – built in 1870) to the Duomo (which was started in 1386 and finished in 1810 and is the 4th largest church in Europe) she pointed out the statue of St. Bartolomeo – he is wearing his own skin like a robe. There was also the sign of the zodiac on the floor and a small window at the top of the church which shines on the correct month at exactly 12:00. Next we walked to a little church Santa Maria presso San Satiro it looks like it has a big and deep architecture, but as you go closer to the front of the church you'll see that the wall is almost flat and the real space is very narrow (built by Donato Bramante). She showed us through Peck’s a great deli with everything!! We then walked through the Piazza dei Mercanti, a medieval market, on our way to Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco) – which was built in the late 1300 as a military fortress. In the museum we saw the unfinished piece - Michelangelo’s Pieta Rondanini (his fourth pieta) – you could see an extra face of Mary and an arm that he had not removed yet. Our tour ended and we had lunch at Caffe Spadari. We then went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (the oldest museum in Milan – 1618) which included Raphael’s cartoon and the Leonardo Hall which has his notebook pages. Next we took a tour of the La Scala Opera House and Museum which opened in 1778. We then walked the 919 stairs to the top of the Duomo. After enjoying the view we took the subway to the canal district where we ate dinner at a sidewalk café, Anema E Cozze and enjoyed people watching while we drank our liter of wine.