Milano

I am not really sure where to start....I was having computer issues and couldn't post.  We have already been to Venice and are now in Rome, but I haven't even posted on Milan yet.  I guess "the beginning" is as good a place as any.  :)  After our days in Paris, we took a high-speed French train to Milan.  This allowed us to see a little bit of the French Alps, which were beautiful and made me add seeing the Swiss Alps to my bucket list.  I did not get great pictures because of the glare off the windows and the reflections of the interior train lights but here are a few:

 Ben and Chris at the train station in Paris.

We spent our first full day in Milan with a wonderful tour guide named Alice (pronounced Alee-chey ~ it just doesn't seem right to have you imagining it is "Alice", like the maid in The Brady Bunch).  She was born-and-raised Milanese, loved her city and while I think we would have gotten the "facts" of the city on our own, we would never have truly gotten a "FEEL" for the city without Alice.  She was passionate about Milan, God, art, and sharing all of that with us.  

This is Alice with the boys outside of our first stop ~ The Duomo.

Duomo, the "home for all", was begun in the late 14th century,  and is one of the 3 largest churches in the world (behind St. Peter's [Vatican City] and St. Paul's [London]) and is at the very center of Milan.  We often used it's spires as a landmark as we navigated the city.  It is an amazing building of beautiful marble, vibrant stained glass, magnificent artwork, rich history and details too numerous to note.  I could go on for hours about the Duomo, but I think I will just post some pictures and comment on them.  

The Duomo is dedicated to Mary ~ there is a huge golden statue of her at the top of the highest spire.  This Mary was always supposed to be the highest point in the city.  Well, eventually they began building skyscrapers.  I believe Alice said that there are now 2 buildings higher than the Duomo and as each was finished it was topped with a statue of Mary so that she is still the highest point in the city.

The front doors had amazing bronze sculptures all over them ~ one in each little square.  I wish I would have gotten a picture from close range.  They were really beautiful.

These tapestries and others like them were on temporary display in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the sainthood of a man important to the building of the Duomo.  

This is a view from the back of the church.  In the distance you can see the high altar and the lovely stained glass windows behind it.  I loved the huge columns.  The statues at the tops of the columns are 6 feet tall.  They are perfectly carved all the way around ~ even in the back where no one can see ~ this was to symbolize how God sees all.  

I always love the stained glass windows in churches, but these were especially colorful and bright.  Also a bit difficult to follow.  As we have learned in many of these old churches, the windows used to be the way people learned their bible stories because not many people could read.  These windows were all removed during wartime to protect them and were put back in in the wrong order.  They have a BIG project ahead of them some day.

This is a famous statue of St. Bartholomew, who apparently was martyred by having his skin cut off of him ~ that is it draped over his left shoulder.  Every muscle and tendon was precisely carved.  We couldn't decide whether we liked it or were grossed out by it!

This was a room created especially to house the crypt of a man important in the building of the Duomo ~ same guy from the tapestries upstairs.  The room was beautiful but it is always a little creepy to look at people's bones.

This is the "catheda" ~ the archbishop's chair ~ it is what makes a church into a "cathedral".

Another view of the massive columns.

We took an elevator up to the roof of the Duomo.  We had amazing views of Milan and I loved the views of the building itself....SO much detail.

The view of the Square below

This is my attempt to be artistic ~ bear with me. :)

Alice also took us to "The Galleria", which is right next to the Duomo.  The official name is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, after the first king of Italy.   It was built in the mid-1800's and was not initially all that well received ~ it was too modern.  The architect actually jumped off the scaffolding and killed himself right in the center of the Galleria.  Not long afterward people fell in love with the building.  Guess he should have waited just a little longer.  The building is very old but it is filled with modern, fancy stores.  There is even a McDonalds ~ but no yellow arches here ~ they are gold to fit in with the rest of the decor.  I don't think I took a picture of that but I should have.  I had another picture from inside but for some reason it refuses to load, so if you want to see more, you will have to look it up. :)

We ended the day with a visit to a church called Santa Maria delle Grazie.  It is there that Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper."  The fresco is painted on the wall of what was once the monk's dining hall.  It is HUGE (I never realized that) and beautiful.  Alice knew SO many details about the painting that she shared with us.  I never knew that da Vinci had painted the moment right when Jesus had said that one of the disciples would betray him, so the painting shows all their reactions to those words.  Also, Jesus' feet are cut out of the painting because long ago the painting was fading so they figured it was ruined and the monks expanded the door between the kitchen and the dining hall, cutting out part of the painting.  Can you believe it?  

This is Santa Maria delle Grazie.  The Last Supper is actually in that yellow building to the far left.

Of course, you cannot photograph the painting ~ this is a much smaller copy that is in the room just outside of The Last Supper.  You have to have reservation to see the painting and you only get 15 minutes in the actual room so we stood outside afterward and looked at this copy as we talked more about the painting.  

This is Alice with Ben and Chris at the end of our day.  She made that day really special for us!  THANK YOU Alice.  

I have to decide whether I want to post more about Milan or move right to Venice.  Our trip has been amazing so far ~ each city is so unique.  We are learning so much, though we miss you all.  

More to follow soon........