Milan

It's almost midnight here and I just returned from a 3 day trip to Milan and Venice. I was pleasantly surprised by how spotlessly clean Milan is. After so much time in Rome, I didn't expect that. My first stop was the Duomo, a 14th century cathedral that took 400 years to complete. It has 135 spires on the roof area and over 3400 statues. Michael and I climbed the over 200 stairs to the roof area for a spectacular view of, not only the city of Milan, but the


intricate work on the outside of the Duomo. I was amazed that each statue and spire are different. I didn't realize there could be so many variations of shapes, faces, animals, etc. It was pretty amazing. We

were blessed with good weather for a portion of the day and certainly took advantage of it. The colors of the marble used for the construction of the cathedral shone various hues in the sunlight. Many other people took advantage of the opportunity to climb to the top and it was a little strange to see so many people walking and sitting on the massive roof.

After visiting the Duomo, we ventured just across the street to walk through the Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall. It's actually open aired on all sides, but covered with a glass roof. It was built in the 1870's and houses many designer (read that really expensive) shops. One can easily spend the better portion of a year's wages in just one or two shops.

Sforza Castle is a Renaissance palace. It was actually lived in. The oldest section was began in 1360 and finished 10 years later. Other towers and areas were added later. There is a huge park area behing the castle that, to my understanding, used to be a garden area that is connected to the castle by underground tunnels so that, during seige, soldiers could still have access to fresh produce. Pretty smart, no?

Our final stop that night was a reservation at Santa Marie delle Grazie for a viewing of the original Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci (no photos allowed). To be honest, this wasn't high on my list of things to see. I mean, I've seen pictures of it many times, however it was a highlight of my visit to Milan. It was originally painted on the back wall of the church's dining hall and is 15' x 29'. The church has been bombed, destroyed, pillaged, and the wall was used for target practice. But the painting, though faded and restored, remains. Seeing it in person helped me understand why such a big deal is made of it, not only because of the subject matter, but the actual brilliance of the painting. First of all, da Vinci depicts the moment when Jesus tells the disciples one will betray him and it shows the various reactions. (Other paintings of the last supper have focused on Judas dipping his bread - showing him to be the traitor.) Secondly, it actually looks 3 dimensional. The shading and composition are truly amazing..... and I know next to nothing about art appreciation. I am grateful that Michael took it upon himself to get us tickets to the viewing.

Tune in tomorrow when I will fill you in on our 2 days in Venice.