Milano!

Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted - We finally started classes this week, so I've been and I'm going to be a lot busier than before!

Anyway, last weekend the IES program took us on a trip to Milan! All 30 of us went on the trip, which included transportation by bus, two nights' stay in a hotel, dinner both nights, and a few tours of the city. We got to see all the historic sites of the city, including the incredible Duomo, La Scala Opera House, some churches, and other noteworthy areas in Milan, and we had a lot of free time as well!

The trip started off with a 4 hour bus ride on Thursday morning, after which we checked into our hotel quickly and then took the metro into the center of the city. The first thing I saw once I exited the subway, literally, was the enormous Duomo of Milan. Its pink-white marble was so beautiful against the blue sky that day, and the piazza was pretty packed with people when we arrived. And funny story: the Italian version of TRL films on a balcony in the piazza, which they have showing on a huge television screen on the other side of the square, and our group was on the show for a few seconds! So now I can say that I was on Italian television. :)

That afternoon we went on tour #1, which took us inside the Duomo to learn more about it. Some fun facts: It took 500 years to construct (which is why it encompasses so many styles); it is the second biggest church in Italy (after St. Peter's in the Vatican) and the third biggest cathedral in the world; the entire facade is made of marble from the Italian Alps, with the exception of the gilded bronze statue of the Virgin Mary at the highest point on the roof; there are over 3,400 statues covering the exterior; its actual name is la Cattedrale di Sant'Ambrogio (the Cathedral of St. Ambrose), but absolutely no one calls it that - in Milan it's just "The Duomo".

the Duomo of Milano

After the Duomo, our tour ended with a walk through the pedestrian area of Milan, with the final destination of the Sforza Castle (which looked amazing all lit up in the evening - follow link for pictures). Afterwards, we headed to a restaurant where we had a delicious dinner - I had gnocchi in a cheesy tomato sauce for the first course, and a dish called Cotoletta alla Milanese (breaded and fried veal - a Milano specialty) for the second, along with red wine of course, and finally tiramisu! Everything was beyond amazing, especially the gnocchi... Then, as we were all desperately tired from our long bus ride and even longer day of walking across the city, that concluded our activities until the following day.

On Friday, we got up bright and early to trek over to Santa Maria della Grazie, a monastery that houses Da Vinci's Last Supper! They're very stringent there, so only 25 people are allowed into the room at a time, and only for 15 minutes. No pictures are allowed (sadly) but they have a tour guide stationed inside to tell you all about the painting. The Last Supper is more or less a fresco, per se, that Da Vinci painted on the refectory (dining room) wall of this monastery . Pretty appropriate, I think - the monks could contemplate the last supper while they were eating. And Da Vinci's experimentation with techniques (he painted on dry plaster instead of the traditional wet, and he used tempera paint) is what caused its bad condition nowadays. Even so, it was incredible. I was in complete awe. When I saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, it was kind of a let-down - It's very small and is placed very low on the wall in the museum, and the usual crowd around it makes it uncomfortable. The Last Supper, on the other had, exceeded my expectations. It's huge, first of all, taking up an entire wall of the room. And just being that close to a work that I've studied so much over the years, and that Leonardo da Vinci painted himself, was just amazing.

outside the entrance to the 'cenacolo' / last supper!

We then started day two of our city tour, on which our first stop was a medieval church called Sant'Ambrogio (follow the link for pictures). We then stopped by the IES Milan center (there are IES programs in Siena, Rome, and Milan in Italy) and we were able to check out the building and get a quick tour. Their program has over 120 people, compared to our 30! I can't imagine... And it made me really glad that we have such a small group. In fact, the whole trip made me more in tune with that fact, because the trip could not have worked out so well with 120 people! Anyway, after our short stop at IES, we finished up our tour at Porta Genova, where there is a canal. Who knew Milan had canals? I didn't. Apparently they were constructed in order to tow all of the marble from the Italian Alps (about 84 miles away) to Milan to build the Duomo - and that's a lot of marble. Makes sense.

the Milan canal

After our tour we had the entire afternoon free, so my friend Emma and I decided to go up to the roof of the Duomo! They charge 5 euros to take the stairs (and even more to take the lift!) but it was worth it. The views were incredible, and the architecture itself was so intricate and ornate that I couldn't stop taking pictures. And Emma and I are both fairly afraid of heights, so it was definitely a challenge, but one worth taking on. :) After we steadied ourselves enough to look out over the edge, we had a great time and actually ended up staying up there for over an hour and a half - and getting some great pictures! (Check out the link for more!)

love it.

beautiful architecture

reeeally high up!

After the Duomo, we ventured to a museum called the Pinacoteca di Brera. For all you art history nerds out there like me, I got to see Piero della Francesca's 'Brera Altarpiece' (that one with the peacock egg and the sacra conversazione), a special traveling collection of Caravaggio's artwork, and Mantegna's Dead Christ (the one with the crazy perspective). Although, we didn't stay for too long, and I just found out that I missed seeing a painting on which I wrote a huge paper for a class at Richmond. :/ Oh well, I'll just have to go back... And finally we ended the day with a big group buffet-style dinner, which was delicious of course.

The next day we had a tour of La Scala Opera House, one of the most famous opera houses in the world. We were able to go through the foyer, the attached museum, and of course the performance hall. It really is a beautiful theater, and I would love to be able to see an opera there, especially after studying so many operas in my Italian class last semester... Well, we'll see! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the performance hall, but I did grab one of the foyer!

We had a bit of free time again before checking out of our hotel and climbing back onto the bus, and in that time I was able to visit another museum I had been eyeing since we got there, where they were showing an exhibit on Magritte. No one else I was with was really interested, so I went by myself, and it was really an enjoyable experience. I really like seeing sites and traveling with other people, but sometimes I love to just get out on my own and explore. This was one of those times. So, I strolled over to the museum, bought my ticket, and perused the exhibit, mostly among Italians. When I came upon one of my favorite Magritte paintings (below) I ended up standing beside a mother and her young daughter. I overheard the mother explaining the painting to the girl (in Italian of course), saying that on the bottom of the painting it was nighttime but on the top it was daytime. Seeing the recognition on the little girl's face and seeing her smile widen was just too much, and I couldn't help but smile, too. :)

Magritte, 'The Empire of Lights'

And that concludes our trip to Milano! It was a really fun city to visit, but, like Bologna, it made me really glad that I'm staying in a smaller town like Siena for the semester. I didn't like having to keep an eye out for pickpockets, and even though the metro was easy I don't think I'd like to take it every day... I thought of the whole thing kind of like it is at home: I like visiting New York City every once in a while for a day trip, but for the most part I prefer the daily life of the quieter Montgomery. Now given, Siena is not as quiet as Montgomery - we have some pretty hopping bars and restaurants here that definitely overshadow those at home - but the main point is there. :)

Look out for another post really soon - aka this weekend - so that I can tell you all about my first week of classes and explain what my schedule will be like from now on! I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all!!