Italy #5

........And on Thursday we caught the train to Milan. Tres elegante. We would have preferred not to have been accosted by gypsies when we arrived at the Railway Station, but there you go. We all make our living in different ways I guess. It was actually quite disconcerting - Louise and I were using the machine to get Metro tickets, and we were managing perfectly well. However a young man and young woman smothered us and attempted to 'help' and of course demanded money. I have no doubt also that they would have pocked our pickets too, given half a chance. But we managed to get ourselves out of that one. Thankfully.
Anyway, we got into Centre Ville and wandered round the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping centre. Which is a very grand arcade. Just looking thanks. Do you know that tucked away in there is a 7 star hotel?? I had no idea that such places existed. I wonder what you get for the money? We then 'did' the cathedral which was lovely as they all are really. AND - we went up on to the roof! If you have the latest Lonely Planet - Italy, (or perhaps you could peek at a copy in Whitcoulls), you will see that the cover picture is of people strolling on the very same roof. Now I am no great shakes on heights, and it was raining, but it was OK! Great in fact. I just didn't look down. There was a little set of stairs which went even slightly higher but I didn't quite make that. However, I was pretty chuffed about it all. I was helped by the fact that you could go up in a lift and didn't have to climb rickety staircases.
In the afternoon we went on a bus tour which was great despite the rain. We retraced our steps a bit, returning to the shopping area and the cathedral but that was fine. Having a guide this time meant we found out lots of information. For example, there is a mosaic of a bull in the arcade. If you grind your foot into a part of him where it must hurt, you get good luck. Great! We also saw the La Scala opera house and went into one of
the boxes. People were reharsing on stage and I ached to go into the audience and watch. It wasn't quite like Nelson's Theatre Royal, but there were definite similarities! It must be fabulous to see a performance there. After that,
we visited the Castello Sforzesco, a big red brick fortress in the centre of town.
And so to our main reason for doing the tour. (Which was very expensive!) We went to see Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper'. According to our sources, mainly The Lonely Planet, you have to book about 2 weeks in advance, or join a tour, all of which seemed to be at 9.30 am. We happened to find an Information Centre and by absolute chance discovered a company which did tours at 2.30pm. So that's how we came to be there. The painting is in an old refectory, and just getting admitted to the room it's in was an experience in itself. Into one holding pen, doors shut, wait a bit, move into the next area.... and so on. Anyway, we finally got in and I wasn't sure what to expect. I remember being decidedly underwhelmed when I saw the Mona Lisa, but seeing The Last Supper was fairly emotional for me. Just amazing. I have to confess that I didn't know that it had been painted directly on to a wall. So it is much larger that I had realised also. It is in a very fragile state due to old Leonardo having used the wrong sorts of paints, and poor care over the years, and I guess just plain old age. It also came close to being bombed in WWII. The colours are pretty faded as you would expect, but I thought it had a kind of radiance. Gosh, it sounds like I had some sort of Road to Damascus experience, doesn't it? Nah, but I'm so glad I saw it. We also talked to some New Zealanders there, who spotted the 'Papatoetoe Intermediate' on my jacket. It's always exciting to meet fellow countrymen I have to say. Oh, and I discovered a wonderful book on children's art at the shop nearby so am very keen to use it when I get back to school. (Quite a way off yet!)Well, I have always been keen on art but this had some new ideas.
So back to the station, and some relief at the absence of gypsies. However, what we did find was a group of students
protesting. The station was crawling with riot police and soldiers -
very unnerving, but we got away OK, although late enough to make us
miss our connecting train. We had to lurk around the Genoa station
with the homeless people for a while! Railway stations are not the gretest places at night I have to say.
So that was our day in Milan. Umbrella Sellers lurking everywhere, gypsies at the ticket vending machine, protestors demanding smaller class sizes - well, fair enough!- armed police; but we still got a great impression of the place. I could happily go again. Next time I would like to shop and stay in the 7 star hotel! Lol.
The photos pretty much speak for themselves. Two taken on the cathedral roof, one taken out of the tour bus window, and one of me getting some good luck. Of course you couldn't take photos of The Last Supper, but naturally one chap did. The guard happened to be reading her newspaper at the time. Oh well..... Oh, if you are interested, you could google The Last Supper. It's interesting to read all the theories about the painting. I didn't know all that stuff before.
Au revoir.