The grey and pink hued swirls of colour permeating the marble of The Duomo in Milan, with their ability to catch the light available and present a different face to the world as the streetlights cut their way through the winter mist, was an awesome first evening sight to behold on our wander in the neighbourhood when we first arrived.
After a seamless connection via Austria Airlines to the gleaming showpiece, Malpensa Airport in Milan, and a ride on the Malpensa Express train and a taxi to our apartment, we took the air in the evening just to explore our immediate environs. Just a turn from our lane into the shoe shopping utopia of Via Torino and a hundred metres stroll had us turn into the Duomo square and before-mentioned magnificence. We wandered the square, marveled at the edifice(and the crowd!) before heading to a nearby supermarket for some breakfast supplies for the next week. No more hotel buffets, we were now in our own slick little Italian apartment for the week!
Our apartment certainly lived up to our expectations. After a week in our beautifully appointed but relatively small hotel in Vienna, we were greeted by our slick, white living spaces with all the mod cons, fully functional apartment with luxurious features. Usually our preference, as it allows us lots of autonomy and forces us to be independent travelers, the apartment came with great advice and a little map of local eateries in the local area (from our host) and all the facilities we could possibly imagine. It was a treat to stay in and come home to: check it out.
The next day, we bit the bullet and joined the long queues to enter The Duomo and associated crypts. Before we got there, we dropped in at the cute Santa Maria Presso San Satiro to view its amazing eye-deceiving trompe l'oeuil. At the square, the security presence was exceptionally large and visible and their efforts, although appreciated, meant long delays entering the church. This is the first building I've seen that I feel can compare favorably with the Taj Mahal in terms of beauty and majesty. It certainly was awe inspiring, the sheer scale of the building, the types and extent of marble present and the intricate carving and positioning of said stone. Even the floors within were a work of art. The intimidating size and grandeur of the place must have kept those Milanese Catholics well in line! Apart from the main building the recently excavated crypt area was fascinating and we'd had our fill before possibly the greatest thrill of all: the stairs to the roof! Despite a crippling wait in the freezing cold (my back was a mess after an hour and a half shuffling in line on the cobblestones), the vistas and architectural details that greeted us made it all worthwhile. The flying buttresses and associated spectacular elements of the roof-line were jaw-dropping, and despite my vertiginous tendencies, the height didn't seem to be too overwhelming. Cass had a ball up here and took about a zillion photos which she only very reluctantly later culled just a little!
After such an assault on all our senses, we were a little giddy and enervated, so decided to wander the famous shopping street, Corso San Emmanuel II before indulging in the first of many meals of purely Italian fare. The pizzas and red wine were superb and we followed them up a little bit further down the street with some mouthwatering giant gelatos in cones. Weirdly, yet not altogether unexpectedly, the pizza's taste was imperceptibly different from our own Pizza Oggi, that of all the certificates and licenses just round the corner from our place here in Taipei. Happy days!
The following day, after a morning coursing through the underground network, missing tram connections out in the suburbs and finally walking miles through flash suburbia, we left behind pretty parks and fountains, ancient water drinking springs and flower stalls to arrive at the rather nondescript shopping warehouse we sought. Inside was designer world of goods, Versace and Armani casually flung over hangers and piled in bins. Cass did her very best to find something she really liked but preferred to "keep her powder dry" for something more amazing further afield. As it turned out I bought an oxymoronic "designer" beanie, which I promptly placed on my head like a flowing tea-cosy for the trip home!
The most amazing afternoon awaited literally just up the road from our apartment. We wandered rooms full of Renaissance masterpieces, including the most exquisite miniature Breughel paintings we'd ever seen. The gallery tour ended however with one of the world's great art treasures, Michelangelo's Portrait of a Musician, along with Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit and a full sized plan by Raphael for his School of Athens masterpiece. Quite overwhelmed by this feast (and the luscious kissing of a male couple doing the rounds of the gallery with us!), we were quite unprepared to then be in the presence of the original drawings for many of Leonardo da Vinci's famous machines, including the plane, helicopter, tank and machine gun. Beautiful, separated page by page from his original manuscripts and individually encased in glass and subtly lit, this was true genius up close. Almost the most stunning aspect was that when we left the exit at the back, we were within 50 metres stroll, in the same lane, of our apartment!
An exploration of the inside galleries of the Castello Sforzesca was an equally incredible experience and despite the rooms full of incredible arms and armour, furniture through the centuries, and musical instruments along with works by Titian and others (including a fresco by Leonardo), it was impossible to compare with Leonardo's last, unfinished, work housed in a purpose reconstructed space within the grounds. Beautifully restored and presented perfectly lit in a long viewing space, the Pieta Rondanini is breathtaking. A subtle calf-high glass barrier surrounds the piece about two meters all around, otherwise you have an uninterrupted 360 degree view of this ultimate work...
A stroll round the Brera district was delightful and full of street art and unplanned street theatre! For such a classy area, we nabbed the best value lunch in Italy: a lasagne and expresso for 6 euros in a backstreet cafeteria...crazy!
A huge day started with a visit to Monastero Maggiore, a church with intricate frescoes on every wall and surface, many done by the famous Luini (one of Cassy's new favourites). His work on Noah's Ark in the back corner is worth the visit alone. Sections of the old town wall and ancient columns and sarcophagus farewelled us casually as we made our way over a few blocks for our appointment at Santa Maria Della Grazie. Arriving early, our guide explained the procedure for us to visit and observe The Last Supper by Leonardo! In groups of just 30, we were allowed entry to the fresco room on condition that we wait in two consecutive airlocked rooms to "de-dust" before entering. In the presence of the great work we were allowed to take non-flash photos (a rule only just allowed in December) and take in the work for just 15 minutes. Our guide's background information was informative and surprising....this work has experienced a lot, including having beer tankards thrown at it by Napoleon's soldiers and being bombed almost into oblivion in World War II! The worst ignominy perpetrated against it however, was someone deciding it would be a good idea to cut a doorway through the wall, losing a precious chunk of it forever.
Not satisfied with this breathless assault on our senses, we then attended the world famous Teatro alla Scala for the ballet that evening! Despite my best efforts and managing to secure tickets online, I was less chuffed when our seats turned out to be in the second most upper tier. Owing to the shape of the theater, we needed to crane our necks to see the full performance, but Cassy assures me it wasn't detrimental to the lavish experience! It really was an amazing thrill to be in this theatre which has been operational since 1778 and is widely known as one of the most famous opera and ballet houses in the world. Our ballet, Cinderella with music by Prokofiev, was indeed another delight, which surprised me a little, I must admit!
Other days were similarly full of activities and wonders, all of which were interspersed by delicious meals in fine restaurants. We managed to eat our fill of pizzas and pastas of all designs and flavours while feasting on local breads, wines and desserts just for fun in between! A morning in San Ambrogio church was full of history, art and sculpture and we managed to catch the underground all the way over the other side of the city to check the canal network at Navigli and Porto Genoa. We wandered the canals which had been almost as ubiquitous in Milan as Venice before they were mostly filled in for streets. We managed once again to secret ourselves in a fine restaurant for lunch on the edge of the Grand Canal! After we made our way back to the middle of the city, the modern museum of Novocento right on the main square provided hours of stimulating contemporary art highlights before offering us stunning views of the cathedral and central square yet again.
As you can imagine, knowing my darling's life long love affair with Italian shoes, there had been a fair bit of window shopping, spotting, comparing and trying on of shoes and boots during this week: well, now, in our last full day, it seemed it was time to pull the trigger! In what I thought was her most efficient and circumspect shopping effort ever (considering the scope of temptation!), Cass managed to get in, try on and purchase just three pairs of shoes and boots within an hour and a half....what a champion! I really, really expected much worse: the amount didn't really matter, but the time did!
To celebrate we had yet another gourmet meal (!) then headed across town to another sleepy, rich suburb. Here was the Casa Museo Boschide Stefano and it was the perfect way to celebrate the end of our mini love affair with Italy once again. It was an apartment bequeathed to the city as a museum and the art works littered on every wall in every room are sublime examples of early to late 20th century Italian art. Not only that, but every room is draped in light from a Murano glass chandelier and floor lamps and Italian designer lounges and tables are still in situ. It was a special jewel frozen in time!
Oh, what experiences we had during these two weeks! Our time back has been a little difficult as we adjusted again to demands of work: ....Couldn't we just get up at our leisure, have some espresso and panettone before luxuriating in some beautiful renaissance art? Apparently, you need to work hard to be able to afford all those moments: I suppose it's worth it then!
The slide show can be found up top for a week or so and then here. The last photo up top is of our anniversary this weekend....more about that next week!