Got woken up a couple of times by sirens because we’re on a main road, but no big deal. I’d booked a walking tour of Milan which included The Last Supper and The Duomo (the main Cathedral in Milan), and I was a bit paranoid that we’d get there late and miss it – new city, different transport, peak hour etc – so wanted to leave early, which we did. The weather was brilliant again – blue skies and bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, about 5C but felt warmer. Got a tram from just over the road and it was only 6 stops to the Duomo, then we needed to either get another tram or walk, we decided to walk and managed to get there well before the meeting time. Waited for the others and then headed into the Refectory where the painting was. We’ve accidentally managed to see a lot of Da Vinci works, and the last time we were here we didn’t book and we missed out, so I wanted to make sure. I have to say the painting is not that impressive – you can’t get too close to it and the paint is faded, but it’s The Last Supper. Also, it was quite amazing to think that Da Vinci was in the same room 500 years ago, maybe standing on the same spot. He took 4 years to paint it, typical tradie.
We were only allowed 15 minutes in the room, but it was well worth seeing.
We then carried on through Milan, the guide pointing out various sights. She showed us photos on her Ipad of the buildings before the war, then just after the war, then after renovation. I felt like apologising whenever she showed a photo of a building the English had dropped several tons of bombs onto.
We visited the restaurant area, and the art area, the castle and finally onto the Duomo. Last time we were here it was undergoing major renovations, plus it was the end of April and we couldn’t get a ticket – we’ve learnt our lesson and now pre book. The Cathedral is really impressive – made entirely of marble, the largest cathedral in Italy (apart from The Vatican which isn’t technically Italy), with hundreds(?) of spires with statues at the top. The inside has 52 huge marble columns and is very spacious, with huge stained glass windows (of course).
It wasn’t very busy inside, unlike Notre Dame where we shuffled along with a couple of thousand other people. The Duomo was probably about a couple of hundred. I thought the Duomo was better than Notre Dame; so spectacular in the sunshine from outside, and high ceilings and spacious inside.
We finished up the tour, and decided to get tickets to the terrace – there are multiple things to buy tickets for, so we had to get the terrace ones separately to the tour, but not before walking to a Starbucks for a coffee (3.8 Euro, about $7, sensible prices again) and toilet stop. Got back to the Duomo, luckily it wasn’t busy so we walked straight into the ticket office and bought them in a couple of minutes, then over to the Duomo to get the lift up. Out of the lift onto some stairs, all marble and worn down by centuries of feet; fascinating to think how many people have walked here. The terrace is a couple of levels, and as you go up you get a close look at the spires and the statues – the carvings are so intricate and detailed. There are places where you can see pieces that have been replaced and repaired. The amount of marble is staggering – I can’t imagine the amount of effort to build it. We got to the top, and there were spectacular views over the city, we were so lucky with the weather. The exit was down the stairs, but it was easy going down, then we found a seat and ate our rolls we made.
Decided to head back to the hotel, thought about getting the tram but it was a 10 minute wait and it was about a 10 minute walk, so despite having been on our feet all morning, walked back, then collapsed until dinner time.
Walked around the corner to a seafood restaurant we saw last night; I had pan fried seabass and Song had Turbot and we shared a plate of grilled vegetables, and I had a beer. Came to 68 Euro, or $116. Not cheap.
On the way back to the hotel we passed a patisserie and bought 4 small chocolate cannoli. Watched some tv downloads then went to sleep, we had to be up early to get a taxi to the station then a train to Genoa, our next stop. But we’re doing a day trip to San Marino, another small country that we need to visit to fill our European bingo card.