Northern Italy II: Milano 1

With a little trepidation we plunge into the Italian rail system. The short trip from Bergamo to Milano Centrale Stazione goes smoothly. I remember that years ago when we did the usual trifecta of Rome, Florence, Venice as well as southern Italy,  some of the Italian trains being late or cancelled. Well, rail strikes still happen, the most recent one being last week! I am glad the unions got that out of their system in time for our arrival. Buying tickets from a machine is easy but despite selecting a specific train, the printed tickets do not show the times we chose. I give the system the benefit of the doubt and surmise that when you pick certain trains with low demand, it is allowing flexibility. But surely they could have included this fact during the purchase in otherwise excellent on-screen English instructions. 

The Italian young man behind us in line to buy train tickets states sarcastically, "You are asking about the difference? The first class is just less dirty than the second class!"  Well, we find even second class pretty clean and there are plenty of seats allowing us to place our luggage right next to us. This obviates the need for the luggage chain we brought after hearing horror stories of suitcases being stolen on Italian trains. 

The Milan Metro is efficient and easy to figure out. After a quick lunch on the pedestrian-only Via Dante, we join a busload of people for an afternoon tour. Either that or forgo "The Last Supper." Fortunately, our tour guide is excellent - knowledgeable, humorous, and skillful in crowd control. She cautions when we cross the street, "Don't trust Italian drivers!" Earbuds work well also, which seem ubiquitous these days, except in mainland China where they could do well without those loudspeakers blaring.

The first stop is Teatro alla Scala, which I have some mixed feelings about initially, as we are returning to this famed shrine of opera to attend a performance later in the evening and want to avoid any duplication. But the concern is unfounded as the tour covers the excellent La Scala Museum which contains mouth-watering material for opera buffs. They even let the tourists peak into the box at the opera house but a frustrated fellow tourist utters while a rehearsal is going on, "Oh, I wish I could hear some of that." (A Plexiglass barrier has been put up in front of each box in order to protect the singers from the tourist noise, which also means you cannot hear the singing well.) I am feeling so privileged at this point in anticipation for this evening.

Milan: Piazza della Scala. Leonardo looks over the Opera Square with the opera house on right. Da Vinci, living in Milan for 20 years, definitely left his mark here.

Milan: the foyer at La Scala receiving Arturo Toscanini's stern gaze.

Milan: La Scala. The staircase leading to the opera house museum is lined with old posters, including the one for the 1926 premiere of Turandot, the same opera we are seeing later in the evening.

Leaving Piazza della Scala, we walk into the stunning shopping complex of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Out the other end, we emerge right into Piazza del Duomo with the famous facade of the Cathedral in view. What a fabulous short walk connecting these major sights.

Milan: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the ultra-chic shopping temple. Louis Vuitton on left, Prada on right, and Versace behind us. 

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: These ladies cannot seem to wait to put their foot into the little bull's testicles and spin for good luck.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II at night

Milan's Duomo: A most impressive Gothic marble temple.

Milan's Duomo: huge stained-glass windows in the apse

Milan's Duomo: now something different. A statue of St. Bartolomeo who was skinned alive, which has served as an anatomy model.

Milan Duomo at night: the Gothic style has survived as the basis even though it has been built over many centuries

The last stop is the highlight of the tour for some - Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" at Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. They only allow 25 people at a time who spend a maximum of 15 minutes. It's reminiscent of the 10-minute-per-person limit we were subject to at the Nefertari tomb in Egypt (which is now virtually closed to the public), but still only a very small fraction of humanity get to see the real thing. After going through a couple of dehumidifying chambers (does it really work?), we are finally in what used to be an old dining room for monks where Da Vinci completed his masterpiece on one wall.

With the latest restoration, the colors are bright, but it still shows the ravages of age and deterioration which started very early because of the "dry" fresco technique used.  The mural is not large or extravagant, but in the hushed silence of the room, whether you are a lifelong admirer or heard about it only through "Da Vinci Code," you are in awe. The fact that Da Vinci took a long time to complete it right here in this room, taking the size, location, and lighting of the room into account, means you have to absorb the whole thing. It's not like viewing Guernica, Picasso's monumental work which I have seen in three different museums as it moved about, where you focus mainly on the painting itself as long as the room housing it provides enough artistic support.

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan: marvelous frescoes inside, but this is not what we came here for - next door is the chamber that contains "The Last Supper."

"Last Supper": bottom panel demonstrates the result of the most recent restoration (the "before" and "after" pictures)

"Last Supper": no, not the real thing. Photography is not allowed, but they kindly left a photo at the exit, which should help people with short-term memory issues!

Then it's time to return to La Scala. Getting tickets on-line as soon as they went on sale a few months ago while paying extra for the seats in the front row of the box was definitely a good move. It is awesome that we are seeing Puccini's last opera "Turandot," which it initially premiered right here in 1926, actually after the composer died. Even though I am dead tired from all the touring today, I remain wide awake and on the edge of my seat, or red velvet chair, until the final red curtain falls. Just a glorious experience and definitely a bucket list item checked off. A great way to cap off an incredible afternoon and evening in Milan.

La Scala: Front row seats in our box awaiting us. At this opera house, most seats are inside a box, which has three rows of two chairs each. We have nice conversations with our "box-mates," two couples from France and Italy, who have to tolerate the backs of our heads as part of their visual fields.

La Scala: the layout gives a new meaning to the "elbow room."

La Scala: almost 90 years after the premier of Puccini's "Turandot," the program for tonight has the same format as the original poster we saw in the museum staircase earlier (above).

La Scala: you can see the Royal Box lower right.

La Scala: my Donizetti pilgrimage sort of continues. Next to his statue, patrons wait to see the artists after the opera. On this floor there are four statues: Verdi and the trio of Bel Canto composers, Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini. Can't get much better than that.