I just have to back track a bit to show some images from a Valencia "fire run" we stumbled upon. It was on Colón, the main street next to our apartment. It was wild! NO images nor any words can describe how wild and crazy it was. FOR SURE it would NEVER happen in our country! Valencia is mad for fireworks. Imagine setting off fireworks in a parade heading down Fifth Avenue or Market Street in San Francisco. Sparks flying, booms echoing off buildings.
OK now our to our trip from Friday, August 5th through Tuesday, August 16th. As I have mentioned numerous times it is HOT here, in Valencia, well really very warm and high humidity which makes it miserable. The reality is that MOST of Valencia closes down for the month of August and MOST locals travel, almost EVERYTHING is closed in August.
We really wanted to visit our niece who lives in Munich and find cooler locales.
Friday, August 5th our flight departed after 10:00pm and we arrived late 12:20 am into the Bergamo airport, which is about and hour from Milan. The last bus leaves at 1:00am and we did not want to miss it as the bus costs 8 Euros each vs. a taxi which would have been 150 Euros.....we made and arrived at our NH Milan Touring hotel. It was perfect, except one thing. In order to get into to see The Last Supper we had to book a tour with a guide. We could only get a 10:00 am tour, so not a lot of sleep Friday night!
Saturday, August 6th - The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is where the Last Supper is located. (15 things you should know about The Last Supper).
Below are some of my images. It was bigger than I thought. I didn't have the right lens to capture the entire image close up. Plus you have 15 minutes to see it and take pictures then they move you out and another group comes in. It's sort of like seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre or the Taj Mahal. We've all seen them but the magic of them comes alive when you see them for real.
First images are the outside of the building
The following are a couple of the more in interesting "15 things you should know about The Last Supper":
"The Last Supper captures a climatic moment. Everyone knows the painting depicts Jesus' last meal with his apostles before he was captured and crucified. But more specifically da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus reveals that one of his friends will betray him, complete with reactions of shock and rage from the apostles. In da Vinci's interpretation, the moment also takes place just before the birth of the Eucharist, with Jesus reaching for the bread and a glass of wine that would be the key symbols of this Christian sacrament."
"Although it's painted on a wall, it is NOT a Fresco. Frescos were painted on wet plaster. But de Vinci rejected this traditional technique for several reasons. First off, he wanted to achieve a grander luminosity then the fresco method allowed for. But the bigger problem with frescos, as da Vinci saw it, was that they demanded the painter to rush to finish his work before the plaster dried."
This all means that The Last Supper needs to be restored more often. The world is lucky to still have The Last Supper - the building it's in was bombed during the War and the walls surrounding the painting were all demolished. Devine intervention?
Santa Maria delle Grazie is on the "World Heritage List - UNSECO" .
After this we visited the actual church next door, as da Vicini's painting is on the dining hall wall of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in 1495.
The place is divided in two: the church itself in the front and the monastery, that used to be strictly reserved for the nuns only called the Hall of Nuns, behind it. There are eight chapels in the church, divided on both sides which are mostly painted by Luini, both father Bernardino and his three sons along with other masters. The Hall of Nun's is quite amazing with works from the XVI century Masters.
This first image the women holding eye balls
This women holding a tooth
The beheading of St John the Baptist
In the Nun's Hall, ceiling paintings
And Noah's Ark
I also found the following YouTube video which shows most of the church.
After our tour of these sites was over we walked to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II , one of the world's oldest shopping centers. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is quite beautiful and if you want any Versace, Prada, Gucci, Armani, Vuitton and so on you can get it here. On the second link above (wikipedia) there is an interesting story about how McDonald's sued the city of Milan because it used to be inside this galleria. They ended up renouncing their suit after receiving the opportunity to open a new restaurant nearby!
At the end of the Galleria you can see a statue...it is of Leonardo da Vinci
You can see the McDonald's at the bottom of this photo
The Duomo is just across the street. We again choose to take a tour of the roof, in order to by pass all the long lines. It was a clear day and we could see the Swiss Alps, even Matterhorn.
What an amazing Gothic building structure this is. We enjoyed the outside and roof, more than the inside of the church. In this link of the 6 amazing facts about the Duomo "the Duomo is the fifth largest church in the world, it has the most statues and you can set your watch by its sundial.
Can you believe it...a carved image of Benito Mussolini in a somewhat hidden wall of the Duomo.
A full day we were very tired but we did go out for dinner at a pizza place called Dry. Wonderful bar area and it's Dry because you order your choice of pizza and whatever topping you want come on the side so your pizza is somewhat Dry.
Sunday, August 7th - after such a busy and exhausting day yesterday we slept in and chose to have an easy day today.
First we went to the Castello Sforzesco (Milan Castle).
" Love and hate for the Castle - For centuries the Milanese considered the castle to be an emblem of both tyranny and foreign domination and accordingly attempted to assault and demolish the reviled fortress on various occasions. Only after the unification of Italy and its conversion to a cultural centre did the castle truly become dear to the hearts of the Milanese and as such, a symbol of the city" It has an enormous fortress and a lot of space that today houses about 18 different museums. We were lucky that today, being the first Sunday of the month, EVERY museum was free. This enabled us to see many different museums, while not spending a lot of time in any one.
We did start off within the Castello at the Pietà Rondanini Michelangelo. This was his last sculpture, which is unfinished due to his death, although he worked on this marble block for over a decade. The sculpture was found in Michelangelo's Rome studio upon his death on the 18th of February 1564 (my birthday but not in 1564) It depicts the Madonna standing and supporting the dead body of her sone, Jesus, after the Crucifixion.
You can see that some parts like their heads are not finished, yet the legs are finished and look polished.
Next I checked out the Museum of Musical Instruments . Thinking of my Dad I was drawn to the piano's and accordians. I then checked out the La Sale della Balla, one of the most famous halls in the Castello Sforzesco. As early as the 1470's it was used as the theater of the court's most sumptuous events: feasts and receptions, balls and games such as that of the "balla" (tennis).
Next I checked out the Museo d'Arte Antica. I saw this unusual Telamon or Atlas (7th-8th century) in travertine marble. This figure of a nude bearded figure whose arms are bent in the typical attitude of someone who is supporting a heavy load. The figure was found in Via Rovello in Milan and scholars of the last century were amazed at this rare example of figurative sculpture from the early Middle Ages, which betrays the persistence of classical art.
Next I saw the Tomb of Bernabò Visconti, it is considered a masterpiece. The equestrian statue, totally the work of Bonino da Campione, was completed by 1363, while the tomb below was completed between 1380 - 1385. The entire tomb is extremely impressive.
More cool sculptures
Some castle images
After lunch looking at the Castle we chose to take the metro out to visit the Armani/Silos museum.
"Silos is Giorgio Armani's own museum, dedicated to his fashion designs of the last 40 years, displaying around 1,000 outfits categorized by seasons and collections."
The museum is located in the fashionable Tortona area of Milan, in a renovated building that was constructed in 1950 as a granary for the Nestlé company"
Giorgio Armani's quote about the building is "I decided to call it Silos because the building used to store food, which is something we all need to live. For me, like food, clothes are part of life"
Enjoy the images
My dress up outfit for Gigantes (Giants) baseball games
Beth's "dragon fly" outfit
No comments:
Post a Comment