Spring 2000
Visiting friends in Milan/Lake Como
ARRIVAL-At the New Airport in Milan
Maggie and I had been talking with our friends Mariangela and Umberto (See the New Years eve photos) about visiting them when Maggie has her spring break and so this past spring (I am terrible about getting these updates done on time!) we went up to Barraso (Milan) and Lake Como for a few days. We had been a little concerned since it had been raining but although we had a touch of rain, during our excursions everything mysteriously cleared up and we never got wet! I think it must be something about the Milanese... it was almost as though it would be bad manners if we got wet! We would be visiting something and get in the car to head home and ONLY then would it rain :-) We were truly lucky. Okay, on to the text stuff... hmmm. Maggie and I decided to fly up to Milan since it is about an 8-10 hour drive and we would have been tired upon arrival. Also, the tickets are cheap :-) So we flew from Naples to Milan on Air Europe (first time) and had a very nice flight landing at the new airport in Milan which makes connections in the area easy. Umberto and Mariangela picked us up and we headed to their house (which is beautiful by the way!!!) to settle in (only about a 20-30 minute drive). In the evening (if my memory serves me correctly) we went up the mountain near their house to see a church. The decoration on the interior of the church was of such great detail that I have never seen something like it before including St. Peters... Everywhere you looked there was little bits of painting/carving/or some other type of detailing. We also noted the small curtain covered window inthe back for the residents of the Abbey who were not allowed to be out and be seen!
MILAN, The City and its sights
The next morning we went to Milan early Sunday morning. We parked outside the city a little and took the subway in (Highly recommended) and came up in the Piazza where the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle is (Umberto, I know I did not spell that correctly!!!!!) the piazza is wonderful and the Galleria is located there as well as the Duomo ( The big Church). The Duomo is world famous and even if you don't think you have ever seen a photo of it you probably have. Here is the "roof" which most people recognize. The massive doors of the Duomo are also of interest. Here is some detail and for more, just change the number to <1-5> or remove the number to see the rest. We took no photos inside but suffice it to say that if you are ever in Milan even for an hour, take the subway, get off at the Duomo and run inside. Words cannot describe the inside! Also, pay the dollar or so and go down into the treasury! It is amazing that humans can create things as beautiful as some of the objects in the treasury.
Here is a shot down the inside of the beautiful Galleria and one of the other three in front of a shop. In the middle of the Galleria where the four side halls come together are two important sights. The first is off to the side and is a mosaic of a bull with rather large... uhhh... Tradition says that for good luck, visitors to Milan should place there heal on the ...ummm appropriate portion of the bulls anatomy and spin on one foot. So we took a spin for good luck! (I must add that this is probably one of those customs you won't find in your guidebook!!!! The other important thing to see here in the middle of the Galleria are the four mosaics up near the ceiling. They are wonderful although I am not sure who the artist was. There is one at each point of the compass, North, South, East and West.
After visiting the Duomo and Galleria we exited out the rear of the Galleria onto another piazza. The piazza is where the people of Milan honor one of their former part-time residents, a famous Artist, Scientist, and all-round thinker. Do you know who it is??? Take a guess! Here is another and you should figure it out now... check the image title!
After a nice lunch in Milan we went to a different part of town to check out the City Castle (Fortress) and to go see the Last Supper which I DID NOT KNOW WAS IN MILAN... I never really thought about where it was. If you go to Milan PLEASE PLEASE make reservations via phone. They have an English line and you may NOT VISIT THE LAST SUPPER without reservations, period. The security combined with the number of visitors makes pre planning imperative. nuff said about that but I want to make sure that anyone coming does not miss out because they did not know to make reservations. Send email to Maggie and I ( anton <or> maggie @ kaska.net ) if you need this taken care of! Okay, back to the castle, which since my latest hobby is research on the Templars Order of knights made this interesting. As you walk from the subway stop and turn the corner, this is what you see... In my excitement Umberto and Maggie had to stop me after I walked out in traffic ;-) while staring at the castle! There is a well-developed garden around the castle walls and on entering/exiting you can see the importance placed when designing such a castle towards a good defensive design. Here is a coat of arms etc. on one of the passage-ways. Now quickly to the Last Supper. I have no photos since they were forbidden and most banks have less security than this place! I must say it was awesome though. They are taking care of it now but for example, in WWII the building (an old abbey dining hall) was bombed which took out the roof and one entire wall and in times past, some bonehead wanted another door so they cut a hole in the wall under the table, removing Jesus' feet... priorities were different in the past I guess. Considering that in WWII the wall painting (not a true fresco due to the methods used by the guy whose statue you saw before!) spent about 2 years exposed to nature!!!!!! I highly recommend that anyone going to Milan visit this. Make your reservations in advance, Mariangela put on the crying routine a couple of days earlier to get our tickets saying that we flew in from the states for the purpose of seeing the last supper etc.. cry cry sniffle sniffle and they gave her tickets but you really need to call a couple of weeks early. The only photos of the area I have are of the nearby Abby main-buildings and here. The location is in a normal neighborhood and in my opinion; you need a map because if you are expecting signs saying "Last Supper Next Left" you are going to be disappointed!!!! Here are Maggie, Mariangela and Umberto outside the refectory.
Lake Como-and I know there are not a lot of pictures of this beautiful lake but we were enjoying ourselves!!!!
Okay, after morning and mid day in Milan we took off in the late afternoon and drove to Lake Como. We arrived and settled in the family cabin, which was a cozy, true wood cabin that was perfect with a couple of bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom. The cabin was, "up the street" literally form the lake. We went to dinner a ways away from the lake that evening to a tradition restaurant that was a favorite of Mariangela and Umberto... After they FORCE FED US for a couple of hours we understood why this place was a favorite. The traditional food was excellent. I forgot the name of the place but if you are in the area, you must go here for dinner one night for a North Italian Dining Experience that you will remember. The next day we were busy. We did some walking along the lake, taking in the sights and "testing" some of the ice cream! During the day we went to a palace with a rather large and extensive public garden. The flowers and trees inside were awesome. Here are some photos take in the garden of Maggie, Maggie/Mariangela/Umberto, and the three again, this time through the plants! We visited a mountain church and a small village on the water as well. At the mountain church we were looking over a wall that dropped off down into the valley and in front of us was the top of a tree... looking in the tree we saw a rather large black snake (this is when I discovered Mariangela HATES SNAKES). At the village on the lake there was a very old church with some strange symbols on it that I am still trying to figure out! We also (and I lost the darn photo!!!!) had lunch at a place right on the water, like 3 feet away. It was really good and we all had lake fish (baked) Maggie and I were trying to read the menu off a chalkboard as Mariangela and Umberto were laughing. The menu listed several lake specialties and then next to pizza on the menu it said, "out the gate and 200 meters up the road" The place was very interesting and the fish was some of the best I have had (And in Italy, you can get some really good fish!) We went home in the evening and then the next day Mariangela and Umberto took us to the airport for out flight home... even though we did not want to leave, I had to work the next day. It was a good time and later this summer Mariangela and Umberto will be spending some time south of here and we plan on getting together so look out for those pictures!
Late breaking news !!! Umberto sent photos of lunch at the lake, our wives in the gardens, and three of us on the steps at the entrance to the gardens.
