MILAN

Our trip on the Bernina Express started in Milan so we headed to that city early enough to walk around the city and get acquainted.  It was a wet, pretty miserable day.  We caught a taxi and headed to our hotel.

Milan is the business capital and one of the principal cities in Europe.  It is situated in the north of Italy resting on the plains of Lombardy.  The city is thought to have been settled by the Celts around 600 BC.  Then in 222 BC it was taken by the Romans as a stronghold for their western empire.  In the long years to come it would also be the target of both French and Austrian interest until it regained independence in 1859.  

A very nice hotel  in a very good location, just minutes away from Duomo Square, La Scala Opera house and the best shopping street in Milan and arguably the world - Via Montenapoleone.  Another trip to Milan and another blog will have to let you know if that statement is a fact. We have seen many a wonderful shopping street during our travels and we didn't get to that particular street to take a look.  

This hotel on Via Baracchini, 12.  They served a very nice breakfast and lucky for us they had a restaurant , Le Volte, in the hotel which was nice and served pretty good food.  Nothing to write home about or blog about but good and we didn't have to go out in the pouring rain to get some food.  

We headed to our first stop , the Duomo.  Walked by this lovely sculpture and small park on our way.  I have no idea what it is and didn't see anything that would tell me and didn't feel like researching - so there - ha!  

Wow!  I have to say this is a pretty impressive sight!  The Duomo de Milano, Milan's magnificient Gothis cathedral, is one of the world's largest churches.  Its dazzling white front facade, arguably the world's most beautiful, dominates the cathedral square.  The Duomo is literally at the center of Milan.  Streets radiate from the cathedral or circle it.  

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Nascente covers an area of 13,993 square yards and can accommodaate a congregation of 40,000.  

It wasn't until the 19th century that the Duomo's most impressive element, the front facade was completed.  

The Duomo is decorated with an amazing number of beautifully sculpted statues and spires.  These are more statues on this building than any other in the world, 3159 in total.  Two thousand two hundred and twenty four of these are on the exterior together with 96 gargoyles and 135 spires.  It is said that if the statues were placed on top of each other, they would reach a height of about 3.3 miles.  

There are five bronze doors.  The central one is the oldest and was created in the nineteenth century by Ludovico Pogliaghi.  The other doors were creatd in the mid-twentieth century;the fifth doorway is the most recent and was created as recent as 1965.  The panals on the doors depict episodes in the lives of the Virgin Mary, Saint Ambrose (patron saint of Milan) and Saint Charles Borromeo as well as scenes from the history of Milan and the construction of the cathedral.  

The inside of the Cathedral is expansive and rather dark.  There are five large naves divided by 52 pillars - one for each week of the year - that support the cross vaulted ceiling.  

When you stand in front of the main altar ( I didn't get a good picture of the altar) and you look up there is a red light shining to show the presence of the Holy Nail kept inside a gilded copper protection.  According to tradition , this is one of the nails from the cross of Christ, donated to Saint Ambrose by the emperor Theodosius, but legend has it it was Saint Ambrose himself who found the nail in a workshop where a blacksmith was trying to bend it in vain under the hammer.  Every year in September , the archbishop of Milan climbs up to take it from its protection during an exciting ceremony, and shows it to the faithful.  He is transported by the Nivola: a special picturesque elevator in the shape of a cloud, made of wood, iron and painted papier mache.

I had Sharon stand in front of one of the pillars just to get an idea of how big each of these pillars were.  

There are beautiful stained glass window in the cathedral and those you just can't capture on an iPhone camera.  

This year the Expo is being held in Milan and the Duomo is preparing to open its doors to milllions of visitors   and they called upon Tony Cragg, a Britsh sculptor, to create  a contemporary piece. It is inspired by the Madonna - Paradox or  Parradosso.  It was to be on display in the cathedral until March 15, 2015 and than moved to the terraces of the Duoma.  When we were there it was still in the cathedral.  

"Certainly, the setting of the Terraces of the Duomo is unusual for contemporary art - said Tony Cragg- but when you're up there and surrounded by sculptures everywhere, you realize that sculpture is an integral part of the monument, expecially this one. "

Saint Bartholomew was one of the 12 Apostles and an early Christian martyr that was skinned.  This statue was made by Marco d"Agrate in 1562.  If you look closely, you'll notice that's not a robe, but actually his removed skin hanging around him.  Such a macbre motif of the flayed Apostle carrying his own skin, was first met in The Last Judgement ( Michelangelo ) and continued to be a common representation, not only for St. Bartholomew in painting, but also in the later artistic Anatomy manuscripts.  

The great organ in the Duomo was built in 1938 and was restored and repositioned entirely in the Presbytery in 1986.  It remains firmly in second place in Europe for the number of pipes and ranks ( only to the instrument in Passau cathedral in Germany surpasses it), and it is one of the fifteenth largest organs in the world.  It has 15,800 pipes, the longest being over 29 feet and the smallest under an inch.

The organ was concieved in 1938 with a truly grandiose plan:seven organs were positioned in different points about the cathedral.  There are five consoles ( five-manual console, altar-side, three- manual console, choir two-manual console, two single-manual apse consoles.  

In the hands of the two principal cathedral organists; the instrument enhances all the services on the eve and the day of religious holidays, but has also proved its worth for concert performances given by some of the world's mosts outstanding musicians.  

On each side of the aisle in the cathedral stand rich stained glass windows, some are original, but most have been replaced with a copy of the original.  Each window has a particular history linked to the historical moment and to the artist who created it.  The windows were made by Germans, French,and Italian artists.  

The stained glass windows in the nave ( mostly 15th and 16th centuries) are the largest in the world.  

"Scurolo di San Carlo" is the name of the crypt where the corpse of Saint Charles Borromeo is on display in a crystal coffin.  He was the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal- Priest of the Title of St. Prassede, Papal Secretary of State under Pius IV, and one of the chief factors in the Catholic Counter-Reformation.  He was born in 1538 and died in 1584.  His emblem is the word humilitas crowned, which is a portion of the Borromeo shield.  He is usually represented in art in his cardinal robes, bardfoot, carrying the cross as archbishop;a rope arouond his neck, one hand raised in blessing,; thus recalling his work during the plague.

Quite an impresssive crypt. 

Back to the church.

Of course it is the burial place of many nobles and Clergy.  

There's work going on in the Duomo both on the inside and the outside.  

After viewing the Duomo we got the metro and headed out to the church Santa Maria delle Grazie which houses the Last Supper. When we got there there wasn't a soul around.  We noticed on the door that the church was closed from noon until 3:00.  It was just after one but we thought we could find something to do during that period of time although the church is kind of in the middle of nowhere.  We decided to get a cup of coffee and when inside we asked the girl about the church who informed us that it would be open at 3:00 but "the Last Dinner" couldn't be seen on Mondays. OOPs we forgot to check.  So we finished our coffee and headed back on the metro to the Duomo stop to go see one of the other sights in Milano " The Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II".  We knew that wouldn't be closed. 

The area where the church is located.  Way out. 

The church. 

The Galleria which is housed in a glass-covered 19th century arcade with luxury clothing brands and upscale dining.  

The interior of the five story structure is decorated with patriotic mosaics and statues.  In 1860 the local government of Milan launched a competition for the redevelopment of the historic area between Cathedral and the Scala Opera House.  A monumental design by the Bolognese architect Guiseppe Mengoni was selected.  Mengoni had studied the historic shopping arcade in Paris and proposed a large scale, glass covered arcade to connect the square in front of the cathedral Piazza del Duomo, with the newly created square in front of the operal house.

The first stone was laid in 1865 and although there ws a lack of support for the project it went smoothly and was offically inaugurated on September 15th, 1867.  Work continued for another ten years- mainly on the imposing triumphal entrance.  The day before its completion in December 1877, Mengoni fell to his death from the top of the triumphal arch.  

Mengoni did live long enough to see his creation become a mojor success.  It was soon dubbed - the living room of Milan since it became the favorite meeting place in the city.  

The Galleria was constructed during the turbulent era of Italian unification and for its architect, the Galleria symbolized Italian unity and self-confidence, so it is no surprise that the arcade is decorated with plenty of patriotic symbols. Mosaics on the floor below the dome depict the coat of arms of Savoy and Italian cities are allegorically represented: a wolf for Rome, a lily forFlorence, a bull for Turin and a white flag with red cross for Milan. Stepping with the heel of your foot on the genitals of the bull is supposed to bring good luck, so it's no surprise that the mosaics have to be renovated on a regular basis. 

Statues on the facades just below the glass roof of the arcade honor Italian artists and scientists. The four mosaics in the lunettes below the central dome represent four parts of the world: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. They were created in 1911 to replace the original frescoes that were already fading away.

Poor Bull!

After looking around a little we decided we'd leave and go see the Opera House.  When we got to the exit of the Galaria it was pouring out so we decided to just have a look from the protective covering and head back into the mall to do some more looking around.  

We stopped to rest and enjoyed a nice glass of Pino Grigio in one of the restaurants/bar.  It came with a lovely bowl of chips and a bowl of olives.  Total bill 24,00 euro's.  Not bad really considering the "place".  

Of course, Sharon did find a beauitful red hat.  She just didn't know how she could get it home.  I told her she should just wear it on the plane but she didn't want to.  

We donned our rain gear and headed out into the elements.  I just loved all these pastel umbrella's.  Probably all bought on the street from the venors who were running around with the umbrella's selling them for 5 euro's.  

On out last night we walked back past the Duomo and saw it lit up.  The most famous of all the statues on the cathedral is the Madonnina (Liittle Madonna), a copper statue of the Virgin Mary covered with 3900 pieces of gold leaf.  It was cast in 1774.  The statue, almost 14 feet tall, was placed on op of the cathedral's tallest spire and until 1959 marked the highest point in the city at 355 ft. 

As I mentioned earlier we ate at the hotel and returned to our room since we had to be at the meeting place for our tour at 6:45.  

These were taken after we returned from our tour but I am just going to do a blog on the tour and since I know there will be many pictures I thought I'd just include them on this blog.  

We stopped in a cafe on a little shopping street to get some dinner and a glass of wine.  We told our waited we wanted a nice glass of red wine.  It was!  The cost for the wine was 14 euro's a glass.  Remember I said we expected at the galaria, we were not expecting it here.  I even asked if there was a mistake.  Unreal!

A picture of the glasses that had held our delicious but expensive wine.  

Prior to our leaving  Milan we had a few spare hours to walk around before catchinng the train back so we did soe,shopping and looking around.  Outside the cathedral they were building a big stage for some show.  Probably something to do with the expo.

This is a Steinway piano and it look like it was made oit of marble.  Wouldn't get close enough to touch it so I really don't know if ot is or not.  They were just uncrating it as we walked by.  

Just a few cords going to the stage!

We left Milan on the fast train and were home in an hour.  Great trip.  Expecially the tour which is the next blog.