With no firm tickets in hand, we headed toward the city center for our first day of sightseeing in Milan. It was a mistake not to plan ahead; now every sight requires a timed-entry ticket.
8.28 miles, cloudy, 57 degrees, 88% humidity, elevation gain 49 feet.
Richard’s ReLive video is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vrqDX4V8JLq
This is familiar territory bringing back memories. This flower kiosk was always here at the end of my block for 50+ years.
Piazzale Baracca is the park with a diagonal cut through to get to the subway stop, Conciliazione. In my day, there were only three subway lines. Today there are five lines.
We stopped at Santa Maria della Grazie Church where Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” was painted on the dining hall wall. The room was used as a stable when Napoleon secularized the church, and then this church was heavily bombed in WWII and only the two painted dining walls and parts of the church survived.
It is not possible to see the paintings since we did not get tickets weeks in advance, but the church is certainly worth a visit. Most crowds skip the church and go directly to see the Da Vinci painting.
This is still an active parish church. In front there is a large area where kids were playing and local people congregate. Inside there are still scars from the war wounds.
This is the Palazzo Litta from the 17th century. In the front on either side of the entrance, the imposing giant holding up the balcony and above was added in 1761. Now the building is owned by the State for the Regional Management for Lombardy’s Cultural and Landscape Heritage.
We reach the square to see Milan’s cathedral, the Duomo. Timed tickets are required, but the Duomo Museum is closed on Wednesday. We decide to wait for the combination ticket including the museum on Thursday or Friday.
The Galleria Vitoria Emanuel II is a high-end shopping mall between the Duomo and La Scala Opera House.
We purchased tickets for Milan’s art museum, Pinacoteca di Brera, for an afternoon visit. There was a special showing of Giorgio Armani at the museum, but we did not know what to expect. Never did I suspect that the fashions would be displayed with ancient artwork.
Note the nude Napoleon statue in the courtyard.
Castle Sforzesco is a medieval fortification built in the 15th century on the remnants of a 14th century fortification. It was enlarged in the 16th and 17th century to become one of the largest citadels in Europe.
Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, envisioned the new castle and directed its building.
This ceiling emblem from the castle includes the center “Biscione” representing the coat of arms of the Visconti family, the original rulers of Milan. The blue serpent is swallowing a human being or a child emerging from its mouth. It is an historical symbol of the city of Milan.
As we have seen in the Netherlands and also in Germany, these golden plaques embedded into the sidewalks mark locations where individuals were arrested and killed by the Nazis in WWII. In Italy, they are called pietre d’inciampo, or literally stumbling stones, to make people stop to remember the events.
It is always interesting to view the sizes of Italian cars and the way they handle parking. Here in the space of one normal-sized parking place, two small cars are parked (one perpendicular to the curb) and also one scooter on the sidewalk.
6 Responses
Very nice photo of you Jan! You still look hale and hearty. So sorry to hear everything requires timed tickets. How frustrating. What is that about? post-pandemic heavy travelers? Very bizarre to show Armani fashions in front of those beautiful pieces of art. This doesn’t compute. Is it because Armani recently died? Still… I’ve been very busy lately getting ready to have my house tented/fumigated for termites. They’re coming today and I have to move out. To bad I can’t be traveling. I continue to be in awe of all your beautiful photos.
I’m c sorry you have termite issues. It will be good to have that behind you. We continue to see hoards of people in the big cities—Milano and Rome. Assisi was better. I think it’s certainly related to more people traveling after COVID, and it is a Jubilee Year for It as my (once v every 25 years).
I thought the Armani exhibition would be strange, but it turned out to be wonderful for me. It was interesting to see who was drawn to the clothing and who was drawn to the art, but they really complemented each other. Well done curators!
We hope to someday travel in Italy. Interesting – fashion and art together!!!!???!!!
I love Italy for so many reasons! I do hope you get to experience it, but the crowds in the big cities are atrocious so we like the out-of-the-way towns and neighborhoods.
I thought fashion was not going to be particularly interesting but then I really liked it with the ancient art. Sometimes the colors just synched, and sometimes the styles complemented each other. Everyone seemed interested in both fashion and art.
We must have taken a hundred pictures at the Galleria. One of our highlights from Milan. A bit from the plaza is the Basilica di Santa Maria dele Grazie. Worth the visit. Dan and Wendy
Richard loves the a galleria and window shopping, but I’ll admit disappointment with so many crowds. In my day, the Motta store was a favorite because I could buy panettone crumbs cheaply and keep them in my room. Now even that store was fry-fru catering to tourists and charging exorbitant prices for food and drinks (and no panettone crumbs).