Tour Day 12, Milan, Lake Como

Milan

Milan (Milano)––we arrived here after traveling northwest from Bologna. We are now in the Lombardy region of Italy. We stopped on this side of the Duomo for our orientation to the sights of Milan. I put a movie clip on this site of our tour guide Paolo giving us our Milan orientation: Go to Movies, Western Europe, Italy, “Milan Orientation by Paolo.” I thought that our tour group would like to remember some of Paolo’s Italian version of English.

Milan

Duomo

You can see from this photo that part of the Duomo is being worked on. This was greatly disappointing to me. I had been to Milan with my parents when I was 19 years old and my main recollection of Milan was this spectacularly beautiful Duomo and I was greatly looking forward to seeing it again in its full glory.

Duomo

Piazza del Duomo

The Duomo faces this square. When Eddie was working in Milan for Boeing in June 2002, he told me that after work he would take the Metro down to the Duomo and have dinner here and then buy chocolate gelato and walk around. I thought it was great that I knew where Eddie was talking about from my trip to Milan with my parents.

Piazza del Duomo

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

From the Duomo, Paolo led us through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This galleria opened in 1878. Here is the entrance to the galleria, which faces one side of the Duomo.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Entering the galleria.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Inside the galleria. The floor of the galleria is shaped like a Latin cross. On the floor are mosaics representing four continents and also art, agriculture, science, and industry. There are also mosaics of the signs of the zodiac. The galleria floor is quite spectacular and so is the entire galleria.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Another photo of the floor of the galleria. The cross represents the king.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Taurus the Bull. If you step on the bull’s genitals and then spin around, you will be guaranteed good luck. I spun around twice, making sure that my foot was on the right place.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Sidewalk dining at the galleria. Wonderful for people watching.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

If your budget is tight, you may want to do your people watching from the McDonald’s here in the galleria.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Ceiling of the galleria. The galleria has a metal and glass roof with a central dome.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Some of the art work on the walls of the galleria.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

I spotted this store selling ties––Andrew Ties––on our walk through the galleria and I went back to it to buy Italian ties for gifts. The style this year in Italian ties seems to be one of bright colors but I found some really nice conservative ties to buy. Their quality was top notch, and compared to the prices for such Italian ties in the U.S., the prices were very good. After I bought them, I wondered why Eddie didn’t buy himself some ties in Milan, but I think he spent all his money on buying Italian leather goods for us. Quite a guy!

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

La Scala

Near the back entrance to the galleria is the famous La Scala opera house (the Teatro alla Scala). It has a Neo–Classical design and was opened in 1778. You can go inside and see the auditorium and also visit the Museo Teatrale which has sets and costumes and even some theater items dating back to Roman times. I didn’t tour the La Scala but some my fellow tour members did and they enjoyed the visit. La Scala was closed for renovation when Eddie was here.

La Scala

Leonado da Vinci

This statue of Leonado da Vinci is in the square directly across from La Scala.

Leonado da Vinci

Close–up of the statue. The most famous work by da Vinci in Milan is the original Last Supper in the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie. You need reservations to be able to see it, and since the book the Da Vinci Code came out, it is very difficult to get reservations. I saw it when I was in Milan with my parents so I didn’t feel tourist–sight deprived. Eddie saw it when he was in Milan. If you can plan your trip to Milan way in advance, it is definitely worth trying to make a reservation.

Leonado da Vinci

Duomo

After stocking up with Italian ties for gifts, I went back to the Duomo. This photo shows one side of the Duomo.

Duomo

Close–up of this side of the Duomo.

Duomo

Close–up of some of the approximately 3400 statues on the outside of the Duomo.

Duomo

Very disappointing front of the Duomo.

Duomo

Picture of what the Duomo looks like that was in front of its entrance. This Duomo is the fourth largest church in Europe. Building of it began in 1386 and completion of it wasn’t until 1810. It is built entirely of pink marble and has 135 spires.

Duomo

Inside the Duomo. The Duomo is 160 meters long and 93 meters wide. Inside it has 52 thirty–meter pillars and more than 2000 statues. Photo–taking but not flash was allowed inside, and without a flash, the photos did not come out too well.

Duomo

Inside the Duomo.

Duomo

Inside the Duomo.

Duomo

Sundial line on the floor of the Duomo.

Duomo

There is an elevator at the backside of the Duomo that will take you up to the top to where all those spires are. I went up. Walking around the spires is an experience not to miss. In this photo, taken from the top, the Galleria is on the right and you can see its rooftop restaurant.

Duomo

I was very surprised to see people in the rooftop restaurant waving to me––Lyall and Bev, from my tour group. I thought that they would like to see this photo. Maybe they were also taking a photo of me among the spires.

Duomo

The spires from on top.

Duomo

More spires.

Duomo

More spires.

Duomo

More spires.

Duomo

Beautiful window at the top.

Duomo

More spires.

Duomo

Part of the roof.

Duomo

Detail of a spire.

Duomo

Another detail of a spire. You can climb up a staircase to one level above the one I was on. I have a fear of slipping on stairs, so I evaluate each staircase as to how I would do on it before going up or down one. This one I didn’t want to attempt, but I bet if I had I would have gotten some good photos.

Duomo

Castello Sforzesco

After coming down from the top of the Duomo, I wanted to see the Castello Sforzesco, but it was a 15– to 20–minute walk away and I didn’t think that I had enough time to walk there and back and meet my tour group at the appointed time. With the help of a map of Milan that I had bought, I figured that I could take the Metro from the Duomo to the Castello. I didn’t think that the Milan Metro would be as dark and uninviting as the one in Rome as Eddie would have said something to me about it. I was right––I’ll give Milan about a 6 for their Metro and it even had escalators. Only problem was to try to figure out the ticket machine––the instructions were in Italian. I had to press one of about 20 buttons, lined up in two rows, to get a ticket. I picked one button and then saw that I should put 1,50 Euros in the machine. I did and out popped a ticket. I was on my way. This photo shows the front of the Castello. (The Castello was being renovated when Eddie was Milan, so he couldn’t visit it.)

Castello Sforzesco

The Castello Sforzesco was originally built in the late 1300s as a military fortress and then turned into a Renaissance Palace by one of Milan’s rulers, Francesco Sforza, in the 15th century. Today, it houses museums, one of them with Michelangelo’s unfinished sculpture known as the Rondanini Pieta in it. This photo is a close–up of the entrance to the Castello.

Castello Sforzesco

This photo shows the part of the Castello to the left of the entrance.

Castello Sforzesco

This photo shows the part of the Castello on the right of the entrance.

Castello Sforzesco

Entryway to the Castello.

Castello Sforzesco

One of the inner courtyards of the Castello.

Castello Sforzesco

The large courtyard at the Castello.

Castello Sforzesco

I walked through the Castello and went out its back entrance. I hadn’t had lunch yet and ordered a sandwich and diet coke from this vendor. The sandwich was very good––ham and cheese.

Castello Sforzesco

The back entryway to the Castello.

Castello Sforzesco

View inside the Castello while walking back to the front entryway. I walked back to the Metro station and realized that I didn’t need to buy a new ticket as Eddie had told me that the tickets were good for 75 minutes. But where was my ticket? Okay, so I had to buy a new one (only second ticket this whole trip that I lost). I was back in time to meet up with my tour group. We next took off for Lake Como.

Castello Sforzesco

Lake Como

We were offered an optional tour to Como, Its Lake and Villas, which I took. Como is about an hour’s drive from Milan. This photo shows the dock at the town of Como and we took a boat from here to view the lake.

Lake Como

A view of Lake Como. There are many towns on the lake, one of them being Bellagio (in case you wondered where the Hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas got its name). You can take a water taxi to the different towns.

Lake Como

The shoreline of Lake Como is lined with 19th–century villas.

Lake Como

This villa has its own private elevator to get down to the villa from the road.

Lake Como

Another villa.

Lake Como

This villa was owned once by an opera star.

Lake Como

Art work on the opera star’s villa.

Lake Como

Lush vegetation and statues on a seawall.

Lake Como

A village on the lake.

Lake Como

George Clooney’s villa is in this area.

Lake Como

Another villa.

Lake Como

Village of Moltrasio.

Lake Como

Coming back to Como.

Lake Como

Como

Piazza Cavour at the harbor.

Como

Street scene.

Como

Another street scene.

Como

Another street scene.

Como

I ate dinner at the Piazza San Fedele at the sidewalk cafe in the photo.

Como

Another view of the Piazza San Fedele.

Como

The dinner menu.

Como

Photo of my dinner––bruschette, lasagna Bolognese, and diet coke. The lasagna was very good with the very light noodles. The bruschette was only so–so.

Como

The Church of San Fedele in the Piazza San Fedele, across from where I had dinner. It is a 12th–century church though parts of it date back to the 6th century.

Como

Mosaic over the door of the church.

Como

Inside the church.

Como

Back of the Church of San Fedele. The church has five sides.

Como

Street scene.

Como

Another street scene.

Como

Another street scene.

Como

Another street scene.

Como

The Torre del Commune on the left, the Broletto (Town Hall) in the middle, and the Duomo on the right.

Como

The Duomo. It is part Gothic and part Renaissance in architecture and dates back to the 14th century. It was closed so I couldn’t go inside the Duomo.

Como

The Duomo from the side.

Como

The Torre del Commune.

Como

In this photo, the Duomo is on the left, the black and white striped Broletto is in the middle, and the Torre del Commune is easy to see.

Como

The Piazza Duomo. I met up with my tour group and we drove back in our bus to our hotel in Milan––the Quark, an extremely nice hotel, probably the nicest that we had so far stayed at. I was going to take a tram back into the city of Milan to be part of its nightlife, but a somewhat violent thunder and lightening storm started before we even reached our hotel.