Travels with Bill and Nancy--Italy Page 6

Italy Page 6

Friday, 10/1/10—Train to Milan
Travel day to Milan. It’s raining so I’m glad we’re leaving. We had breakfast at the Blue Marlin while the speakers were blasting out Johnny Cash’s music – “All My Routy Friends Have Settled Down.” This was the first time I missed home. The Blue Marlin staff must be big fans of Johnny Cash because the tip jar was labeled with “CASH for Johnny.”

My head was pretty stuffy – something’s getting ahold of me. We bought a sandwich for the train. I was glad to roll the bags out of town and to the train station. We caught the 10:27 to Monterosssa to transfer to Milan. There was some confusion which car to get in and I was in a hurry to board … I ended up yanking my suitcase up unto the train and wrenched my back – I really did a number on it. Now I won’t notice my stuffy nose.

It took a while to find our assigned seats – someone else was in them. Finally we got settled and I hit the Advil. That, coupled with cappuccino, sent me into an altered state. I sat still and didn’t move much for 3 hours. I saw lots of empty railroads and analyzed in great detail what it must have taken to install a railroad system – the ties, the bolts, the tracks, the trains.

We arrived in Milan and rolled our bags to the taxi stand. I was hurting. Bill said to the taxi driver “Take us to the Berna Hotel.” The driver started laughing heartily and he yelled to his Italian buddies something about going to the Berna. We didn’t understand until he drove one block from the train station and the driver said, “Here’s the Berna.” It was worth the €5 to see him enjoy our ignorance.

We really like the Berna – nice rooms, great service and free mini bar (for non-alcoholic beverages). It's also in a great location--close to Stazione Centarale (as previously noted) and to metro stops.

We unpacked. I pretended I was OK and we headed to Milan’s shopping district. We walked through a lovely park filled with fascinating statues.

Park in Milan

The sidewalks are littered with gorgeous models wearing the latest fashions – and all with such attitude. Smoking is part of that coolness, unfortunately. We stopped in several stores to be greeted by salesgirls looking like they just walked off the runway. Their cute accents made them all the more adorable. This is the fashion capital of the world, no doubt about it. Grey is the in color. They wear cool hats, sophisticated boots with high heels and cover themselves in scarves. I was the only one in the city wearing geeky, bright turquoise Keen clown shoes – but just you wait; next year, they’ll all be wearing shoes like mine.

Milan	Milan
Milan	Form over function?
High fashion in Milan	Milan

Gorgeous models wearing the latest fashions

Bright turquoise Keen clown shoes

We walked to the Galleria, a grand four-story, glass-domed arcade leading to the cathedral square. It was built during the heady days of Italian unification (1870) and was the first building in town to have electric lighting. It was everything Rick Steves promised: high domed ceilings with Frescos, mosaic tile floor, expensive shops, and one classy MacDonald’s, named McCafe. On the mosaic tile floor is a bull, symbol for Milan. Legend has it if you spin on your heel on the balls of the bull, you’ll have good luck. We waited in line to have our turn at spinning. (The city goes along with the fun and replaces the bull’s testicles every few years.)

Milan	Galleria
Galleria	Galleria
Galleria	Spinning on the bull

Galleria

After our spin, we walked through this temple of merchandizing and Italian pride and into the Piazza del Duomo (Milan’s main square) where the Duomo, that great Gothic Cathedral, proudly stands. There was lots of activity in the square – families coming and going, young lovers, people fondling the pigeons and several roped off sections for soccer / basketball competitions. History is entwined in this hub-bub of life. The statue of Victor Emmanuel II, first king of Italy, proudly sits on his horse (white horse now, covered in pigeon poop). Mussolini once made grand speeches from a balcony to the crowds below in the square. One can feel the ageless energy of this place.

Milan's Duomo	Piazza
Activities in the piazza	Activities in the piazza

It was beer time for us so our strolling became a mission to find a beer under €5. The going rate for a beer in the cafes around the square is about €8 to €10! How can they get away with that? We finally settled into a little place on a side street and paid €6, and it was a large one.

We walked to the Brera neighborhood to find a place to dine. The Brera neighborhood surrounding the Church of St. Carmine is a delightful, upscale neighborhood with narrow, inviting pedestrian streets. The shops and restaurants and people were classy. We were definitely out of place. We found Ristorante Nabucco, recommended by Rick Steves, right on Brera’s Restaurant row; very quaint, very elegant and discreet (as they say in these parts). The restaurant was housed in a building probably left over from the 1700’s, when opera was big. A bust of Verdi greeted us along with walls plastered with playbills from the famous operas performed at the La Scala. The restaurant was named “Nabucco” after an opera written by Verdi and first performed in Milan in March of 1842 (before Italy was even united). It was a lovely evening. The waiters were classy and the food was good. I had a penne dish with fungi and Bill had lasagna.

It was a long walk back to our hotel. We stopped by a Gelato place where a very fat gal served up a huge portion of ice cream. We had to lick fast because I couldn’t keep up with the heap of Gelato and it was dripping down my arm.

We got back to the hotel about 10:00. I watched a girl through our window. She was lying in bed in the hotel directly across from us. I’m not sure what she was doing – but I did enjoy the show.

Saturday, 10/2/10 - Milan
I woke up with a stiff back – hope I haven’t done any serious damage.

We got to our big, lavish breakfast about 9:00, buffet tables filled with lots of choices (I must try them all, and the sweetest gals dashing about, offering us espresso or cappuccino. This is the life. (Hope I can get back to tea after this trip is over.)

After breakfast, we trotted down to the nearest subway station, bought an “all day pass” (€3 each) and jumped on the car to the La Scala Opera House. We meandered around a bit, then went to the La Scala Opera House Museum. Bill and I are “musically challenged” so the rooms of opera stuff didn’t have much of a hold on us. We saw Verdi’s top hat, Rossini’s eyeglasses, Toscanini’s baton, original scores, stage sets, costumes, busts, portraits and death masks of great composers, musicians and performers. I even spotted the proverbial fat lady. We did get a peek into the actual theater. Technicians were checking the lighting. The stage was huge, the audience section, small and intimate. We learned that a recent 5-year renovation corrected acoustical problems caused by a WWII bombing raid. We were glad we didn’t book an opera; would have cost us about $200 and we wouldn’t have appreciated what we were seeing.

La Scala Opera House

We left La Scala and explored the square across the street (Piazza della Scala). In the center of the square is a statue of Leonardo da Vinci (built in 1870). People in Milan are proud that Leonardo spent many years here working for the Sforza family (Godfathers of Milan). Under the statue are four of Leonardo’s greatest followers. Reliefs on the statue show Leonardo’s contributions: painter, architect and engineer. In one scene, he’s wearing his hydro-engineer hat because he re-engineered Milan’s canal system, complete with locks. (Milan was once a port town connected to the Po River and Lake Maggiore.)

Piazza della Scala

Leonardo in Piazza della Scala

Piazza della Scala

On this particular day, the action in the square was much more exciting than the statue tribute to Leonardo da Vinci. Eight to ten gorgeous, models, dressed in brown silky evening dresses were working the crowds. TV cameras and photographers were shooting them from every angle. Then, at one point, the director told the girls something in Italian. They dashed to a large bin filled with toilet paper and began passing individual rolls to the crowds. Everyone was laughing and having a great time. These wacky Italians really know how to have fun, and in very bizarre ways! We got a roll – great to have extra tissue in my backpack for my dribbling nose.

Toilet paper models

Bill only got toilet paper

We found a little place for lunch and went up to the 2nd level. We had a pizza and some beer to refuel ourselves.

After lunch we headed back to the square to get some audio guides for the Duomo, the 4th largest church in Europe. It was under construction from 1386 to 1810, with final touches added in 1965. Talk about a long construction project. It started out Gothic, and later, of course, Napoleon had to add his touch. The church was dripping with statues, some glued to the building and some floating on the spires. Added to the fun façade were 96 fanciful gargoyles which served as the drain sprouts.

Milan's Duomo	Milan's Duomo
Milan's Duomo	Milan's Duomo

The Dukes of Milan built the Duomo to impress the dukes from Germany and France. Milan earned respect on the worldwide stage with this massive, richly ornamented cathedral. They decided not to go along with the (new-age) Renaissance-style domes, but stayed with the Gothic pointed arches and spires. It’s one heck of an eye-grabber. They did it up right. They didn’t use ordinary stone, but instead pink Candoglia marble from top to bottom. They hauled the marble in from 60 miles away. The church was scrubbed up in 2008, looking good as new. (The Duomo Museum was closed for renovation – due to open soon – so we only had the real church to explore.)

We walked around the entire church several times and gazed up at the statues made between the 14th and 20th centuries by sculptors from all over Europe.

Milan's Duomo

We entered the main doors and were blown away by the immensity of the place – 525 by 300 feet, with more than 2,000 statues, 52 pillars (each a hundred-foot tall) representing the weeks of the year. It was built to hold 40,000 worshippers--the entire population of Milan--when construction began.

Milan's Duomo

The main treasure in the church is high above the main alter – a nail allegedly from the cross of Jesus. This relic was brought to Milan by St. Helen (Emperor Constantine’s mother) in the 4th Century, when Milan was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

We found the bronze line that runs across the floor and looked up to see a tiny pinhole where the sunlight from outside shines through high in the front wall of the cathedral. It’s supposed to shine a 10-inch sunbeam at noon indicating where we are on the zodiac. It wasn’t noon, so we couldn’t really check out its accuracy.

The mosaic colored glass windows of the church were bought by the rich in the 15th century and given to the church to buy power and influence (sort of like how campaign contributions work today). Bible stories are depicted on these beautiful windows and used to teach the masses (who couldn’t read) the way to salvation. On one wall, the mosaic colored glass is vivid and bright. On the opposite wall, many of the glass windows, dated from the time of Napoleon, are dimmer and made of cheaper painted glass.

We tried to see the main altar, but the front section was cordoned off. A couple of guys were playing heavy, oppressive gothic music on the massive organ – it fit in well with the surroundings.

We tried to sit in the main sanctuary, but we were foiled as ushers cleared us all out -- not a very friendly place. We felt ripped off by having rented the headsets and then weren’t allowed to roam around looking at things that matched the audio segments. (However, most of the audio bits were just the dronings of some bored, stuffy curator.)

We’d had enough of this place so we went outside and climbed the steps up to the rooftop. (You could pay a little more and take the elevator, but that’s too wimpy for us.) We walked on the rooftop among the spires and statues and gargoyles and looked out at the backs on statues of saints anchored on the church. A golden Madonna, anchored on the highest spire, appears to float 330 feet above everything. The bird’s-eye view of Milan and the main square below knocks your socks off. In my weary, afternoon, must-see-it-all funk, it still got my full attention. We watched a class of adolescent boys touring the rooftop with two priests as their chaperones. It seemed fitting.

The rooftop vistas were designed precisely for Milan’s “show-off” power as the then top political and religious officials took world leaders on the roof centuries ago to have a stroll. You don’t mess with anyone who has the power and ability to come up with something this magnificent. All over Italy, and other once-great world powers, the churches and works of art were built specially for showing off.

Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo
Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo
Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo
Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo
Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo
Roof of the Duomo	Roof of the Duomo

Roof of the Duomo

We’d done enough museum-hopping and it was time to hit the streets to so some serious shopping for Zion (our granddaughter). The Saturday afternoon streets were packed and we found nothing interesting in the stores. Bill tried to have patience and help me. He did pick out the cutest little shirt for Zi. Knowing how tired we were, and how he detests shopping, along with the crowds, cut into our enthusiasm.

After an hour or two of shopping, things took a turn for the bad. Bill lost his “all day” subway pass and my cold was getting worse. I got back to the hotel room about 4:00 with sniffles and chills. I lay motionless on the bed watched a couple of hours of “The Great Race” – the only thing in English and about the only TV I’ve watched in all of Italy. It was a stupid waste of time, but it took my mind off of my misery, and it let Bill freely explore on the computer.

I felt crumby, but I’d feel better if we went out for a nice dinner. Bill found Trip Advisor’s #1 choice for Milan – Da Maruzzella.

We took the first leg of the subway trip, but then couldn’t find any connecting subway car. We were directed to board a big, long distance train. We ended up walking a long way – not good for my back or my cold. I am a pitiful mess.

When we got to the restaurant, it was packed. We waited with hordes of people for 45 minutes to be seated. I watched big, sweaty, Italian chefs sloppily pull out one delicious pizza after another from the wood fired oven – just the way it should be. The smells were delightful. I soaked up the ambience of this little find. It was like being in the middle of a Godfather flick. The big fat owner, in command of the waiters, was loud and in constant motion, along with his army of servers. One very handsome waiter had slicked back dark hair – He must spend a fortune on product.

Finally, in a weaken state, we were seated. The food and drink arrived quickly and our spirits were lifted. Bill had a pizza and I had the local dish – risotto with saffron. Loved the flavors. Saffron was first discovered by a local artist who mixed saffron in his paints to produce the golden yellow. Then he experimented with adding saffron to his rice and the rest is history.

We took the metro back to our hotel (Bill studied the map and used a different line). We were back to the hotel by 11:00, fat and happy and almost forgetting about my cold (and my bum back)!

(I watched a shirtless man on about the 8th floor across the street from our hotel, hanging out the window and smoking a cigarette. Tonight I wanted no part of the show, so I quickly closed our heavy drapes and dived into bed.)

Sunday, 10/3/10 –– Last Day in Milan – BIG MUSEUM DAY
We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast at our hotel. They’ve got the sweetest servers. “May I get you a cappuccino?” never sounded so good.

Museum #1 – Brera Art Gallery:
The museum was once an elegant palace – and now is an impressive museum with amazing works of art collected by the dominating families in pre-Italy days – and watched over by Ambrose, the powerful Pope.

A nude Napoleon greeted us in the courtyard. I’m sure the real Napoleon buns really weren’t that nice, but hey, if you’re Napoleon’s sculptor, you gotta make ‘em nice.

We purchased our tickets (Seniors, of course) and begin our journey of viewing. I really liked this gallery because of its humanist, secular bent. It was refreshing to see Madonna and Child as real people with the Mama looking worried and tired and the kid squirming around.

Brera Art Gallery	Brera Art Gallery
Nude Nepoleon	Nude Nepoleon

Nude Nepoleon	Nude Nepoleon
Bill in the Brera	Us in the mirror

We emerged from the Brera Gallery with just enough time to cover Museum #2 (Risorgimento) before it closed for lunch.

Museum #2 – Risorgimento, Creation of the Italian Republic – 1870
What floored me about this museum was that Italy did not become a country until 1870! It was governed (using the term loosely) by a handful of families who operated like “Godfathers” -- e.g., the Medici’s who ruled the area around Florence, the Sforzi’s who ruled the area around Milan, Borromeo who ruled the Lake District, the Visconti who ruled Venice).

Like the U.S., a revolt started in the 1770’s (about the time of our revolutionary war with England). Here, the locals were sick of being governed by Austria (the Hapsburg – see our journal on Vienna); and by France and by Germany. Napoleon came in and gave the people hope. He was loved and trusted, until the folks found out he was just another egomaniac. In the museum’s Napoleon room, we viewed cases containing his snuff box, the carrying case of his favorite books (which he took everywhere), his crown, his robe, his scepter and lots of pompous paintings.

The museum was very similar to the U.S. museums that display artifacts from our Revolutionary and Civil Wars. We ambled through rooms of swords, guns, knives, and uniforms (made from harsh, rough fabric and handcrafted buttons – not too comfy). Only the triangle hats (with the pointy tops) and the brushes that rested on the shoulder pads appeared to be a different design from our American soldier garb from the 1770’s through the Civil War. I was quickly reminded of the Civil War museums we toured in the south when I viewed the cases and cases of doctor’s instruments (mostly saws) that were used specifically to amputate the limbs of soldiers.

We viewed lots of battle paintings and old photographs. I became strangely attracted to Ghibaldi – their great leader with the nice, honest face of an underdog who conquers in the end.

Risorgimento Museum	Military Attire
Bust of Napoleon	Napoleon’s crown and scepter

Garibaldi

Risorgimento Museum

The last room or two focused on victory, independence and the union of Italy. Of course, I am left wondering about the moneyed, powerful “Godfather” families who had to give something up for the new country – it’s always a problem.

I did like this little museum. It’s well worth a 30-minute dash to further one's knowledge of Italy. (Hey, I had coaches as my history teachers in high school so I have to figure out all this world history on my own.)

We were back on the streets in this lovely little Brera neighborhood on our quest for a pizza and beer. Everyone seems so happy here – stylish gals out walking their designer dogs, couples strolling hand in hand, lots of people shopping and cool folks on their beat up bikes. We found our pizza, regrouped and were ready for Museum #3.

Streets of Brera	Streets of Brera
Streets of Brera	Streets of Brera

Museum #3 – Sforzi Castle:
This place was old, built in 1233 and huge and about did us in.

We crossed over the giant moat, now dry and filled with wild cats and old cars scattered here and there – but once inside the giant walls, the scene changed quickly to a lovely park setting in the massive courtyard.

Sforzi Castle	Sforzi Castle
Sforzi Castle	Sforzi Castle

A huge political rally in support of Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, was going on. I adore how the Italians get all worked up. They carried signs (in Italian, of course) and there were a few armed guards moving through the crowds. It didn’t seem much of a job keeping order on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. The place appeared ready for some serious political speeches. There were giant posters of Obama with Berlusconi. The 74-year-old billionaire is now in deep do-do. Everyone loves a scandal and there are plenty of lusty stories. He has naked models carousing at his villa. There are numerous allegations of serial infidelity and his crazy attractive younger women (at least one underage). Compared to him, Bill Clinton was in the minor leagues.

Berlusconi rally

Burlesconi and his buddies

Burlesconi and his girlfriend

Enough of the Sunday afternoon courtyard thing, it was time to do the Sforzi Castle. (Bill and I would miss the whole political event and all the action outside in the courtyard. Instead, we’d be wandering in the gigantic museum, roaming endlessly from room to room.) We entered the castle, found the bathroom and the ticket booth, then took a deep breath and were ready to go.

The castle was the first structure in Milan, built in 1233 and went through several iterations. Depending on who was in power, it housed Spanish, French, German, and Austrian soldiers. It was also the home of the Sforzi’s for hundreds of years. Sometimes it was trashed, and at times, it was a palace fit for a king. Now it is remarkable museum that really takes days to see it properly.

I really liked the feel of the Castle Museum. The floor plan hadn’t changed much throughout the centuries so it gave you a real sense of the space and organization and how it must have been to live in a castle. The ceilings and walls were covered in faded frescos with just the right touch.

The first rooms held Gothic treasures: statues, carvings and paintings. Then came the armory rooms with knives, swords and helmets. I was enthralled. Bill was bored and wondered off – I spent some time trying to track him down all the while thinking of Plan B – how do I get to our hotel on the other side of town by myself – without money or an address. I found him rooms beyond our last sighting and scolded him. He had been bad and knew it.

Sforzi Castle Museum	Sforzi Castle Museum
Sforzi Castle Museum	Sforzi Castle Museum

Sforzi Castle Museum

We got back on track and flowed into more and more rooms. One huge room only contained a single item – a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. It was on an easel exposing the back of the painting to show off Da Vinci’s signature. People huddled around the painting in the dim castle light.

Sforzi Castle Museum

Leonardo's painting

A few more rooms down, we came to the museum’s crowning jewel – Michelangelo’s unfinished pieta (statue of Mary and Christ). Michelangelo died while doing it. You were allowed 15 minutes to sit and view it. I didn’t think it was that impressive – but one had to ouuu and ahhh to go along with the crowd.

Michelangelo’s unfinished pieta

Bust of Michelangelo

Just when we thought we were done, we discovered we had three more entire museums to cover -- China / Silverware / Pottery; Musical instruments (showing the evolution of the piano, violin, harpsichord, guitar, etc.) and Italian Design in furniture. Give me a break – my brain was hopelessly blurred as I had packed way too many images in it today.

Sforzi Castle Museum

We emerged from the dark castle into the daylight about 4:00 p.m. The political rally was breaking up in the courtyard and people were heading for home.

Streetcar outside the Sforzi Castle

Streets of Milan

We headed to the metro for the last of our to-do list of the day – and, for that matter, the last of our Italy adventure – The Monumental Cemetery.

We got off the metro in a blighted neighborhood and walked a few blocks in traffic and pure ugliness until we found the gem from the past nestled in this rundown neighborhood. The Monumental Cemetery was something -- the statues hovering over the graves are better than the ones displayed in most museums. It is the final villa for the rich and famous. It costs $28,000 for a basic, run of the mill, plot. We roamed from gravesite to gravesite. I was energized and imagining what the body that dwells within was really like.

The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery

The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery	The Monumental Cemetery

About 30 minutes into this grave adventure, Bill (who is not crazy about graveyards) had had it. He promised me one more row of graves. Then we walked out of there and back through the urban plight and into the hole in the ground to take the metro back to our hotel. As we were crossing a 6-way intersection, an old bell tower was blasting out its chimes, reminding us of the by-gone days while cars zoomed by.

When we got back to our room, we had done Italy. Now I was a mess – my back completely hosed and my nose running uncontrollably. I licked my wounds and we went to a little café a few doors down from the hotel. It was cheap and bad. It was the only bad meal in all of Ital, but our expectations were very low. After dinner, we walked over to the train station to check out where we’d catch a bus for the airport in the morning and then I limped home. Bill’s doing fine and worried about his lame partner. We showered, packed and set the alarm for 6:30 a.m.

10/4/10 – Monday – Flight Home
Forget the alarm – We both woke up at 5:30 and I couldn’t move. Bill had to pull me out of the bed. We called a cab – €10 – a royal rip-off – but arguing with the driver didn’t help. We piled onto the bus and rode an hour to the airport. Each move was painful – but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. I got ice packs from the plane stewards (they haven’t figured out how to charge extra for that yet) and doped myself as best as possible with a steady stream of Advil. Bill was very attentive and concerned. I went into my own personal autopilot mode, thinking of all the great sights we had seen all the while popping Advil and mopping my nose with a big roll of toilet paper, a gift from those cute gals in Milan.

Yeah – We’re going home!

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