Day 11 - Milan is cold!

The Galleria- it sparkles!

We left our hotel and turned into the Galleria, the world's oldest mall.  I know, it sounds awful to spend our last day of vacation in the mall, but, really, it couldn't have been nicer.  It is an outdoor mall and, as you'll see in the picture, it sparkled.  Right outside the Galleria was the Duomo, the central church of Milan.  We will get to that later.  First, the Christmas Market.  There were a number of outdoor, farmer's market-esque tents with countless goodies- cashmere sweaters, vegetable peelers, trinkets and jewelry, purses, salami, cheese, arancini, pastries, porchetta sandwiches, candies, and much more.  That was lunch!

One of the stalls at the Christmas Market.  We love canoli!

Milan was cold, maybe 40 degrees in the daylight, but we walked all over around the city.  Here are some initial observations after one day in Milan-

• There are a ridiculous number of older ladies in fur coats.
• Nearly everyone has a dog, and dogs go everywhere.
• Milan at Christmas time sparkles with glittery lights and Swarovski crystals.
• It is an incredibly clean and well-maintained city.
• There is much less of a likelihood that one will be hit by a taxi in Milan than in Rome. 

A contraband photo of the Last Supper

Our stroll had an ultimate purpose.  We were scheduled to see the Last Supper at 2:45.  The process is well-defined.  We walk through three rooms, each sealing behind us to keep out dust. We were allowed 15 minutes with a small group of others.  The painting itself has been restored significantly.  Apparently, the method used by Leonardo da Vinci was new, and it began showing signs of wear just 4 years after he finished it.  (It took him 4 years to finish it, so I would have been disappointed with the quality, had I hired him.)  The monastery that houses the painting was bombed in WWII, but the monks had prepared for the bombing by shoring up the wall.  The wall didn't crumble, but it was badly damaged.  It has been restored over time, sometimes restoring the restoration.  It was strange looking at the original of a work of art that I had seen so many times before.  It looked like I knew the Last Supper would.  I had a hard time getting my head around it.

From there we walked to a medieval castle in the middle of the city.  It was surrounded by a beautiful park. We walked the castle grounds, which were interesting, but we admitted we were a little too art-overloaded to explore the museums within.  Our cab driver on day 12 told us the 3rd most important Egyptian museum was in that building.  The park was striking and I got the sense it is absolutely gorgeous in the Spring and Summer when the trees are green and the flowers are blooming. 

The list of nos.

Then, off to see the Duomo. Did I mention Milan is cold? We stood in long and slow-moving line as the sun set and it got colder and colder.  The entertainment was the sign showing everything that was prohibited in the Duomo.  There were, of course , the obvious prohibitions- food, drink, knives, dogs, ringing cell phones.  We had fun speculating about some of the pictures.  No balloons.  No selfie sticks (which was apparently the only rule they enforced).  No skateboards.  (Who tried to skateboard in the Duomo so they had to put that one on there?)  No helmets. No tripods. No luggage. No bags or purses. No high heels. No masks.  The only two things that were allowed- people, including children, and strollers. Aside from the selfie sticks, I saw none of these rules enforced.    

It is a massive building (over 300 feet tall) in the Gothic style.  It took centuries to complete the construction, and it's facade was only actually completed because Napoleon ordered it so. The whole church is surrounded by buttresses and spires that take on an almost lacey look.  Inside, there were dead popes in clear coffins.  Some had kind of a silver mask on their bodies.  While, others were just bones.  It was very interesting.  The church had the largest pipe organ I have ever seen.  It stretched at least 30 feet tall.  It is apparently the largest in Italy.  The highlight of the experience was taking the elevator to the roof.  From there, we could see all of Milan.  It was amazing, though not for our friends who are afraid of heights.  The whole time we were up there we both felt like we shouldn't be there.  Like, some day, we would say, "When we were younger, they used to let people up there."    

Duomo with Christmas tree

The buttresses and spires of the Duomo from the roof. 

 

The roof

We almost forgot about the cold up there.  Almost.  When we came down, we scurried back to the hotel to defrost.  When we went out to dinner, I had on 5 layers of clothes, two layers of gloves, a warm beanie, and a thick wool scarf (thanks Mom and Dad!), and it still stung when it hit my face. I am a Californian. 

After our final meal in Italy, we braved the weather once more for a stroll through Milan before heading back to the hotel to pack.  The long travel day home begins tomorrow.