We woke to
a blue sky and an Italian sun that had been hiding from us till today. Optimistically,
I drew back the curtains and opened the windows. It looked like we could dress
more lightly today and this was just as well as we had a lot of walking to do.
Breakfast
was again at the cafe bar around the corner, where 5Euros got us each a filled
croissant and a cappuccino. Good value I say.
We struck
out for the Duomo and were pleased to see that though it was about 9.30, there
was no tediously long line to get in. Well, there was a reason for this. The cathederal
was closed until noon as there was a private event for the city’s children. It would
have been nice if they had put up a notice the day before but I guess they do
things differently over here. This wasn’t in the end a massive problem as Milan
is a beautiful city and just walking the streets is entertainment enough.
We
set off for a slow walk to the Milan castle (Castello Sfarzo) on the other side
of the city, down some very wide boulevards fringed with beautiful historic
buildings. The castle was enormous with all manner of fortifications. We walked
through courtyard after courtyard, each betraying a different owner and the
additions they made to the structure. While the complex housed three huge
museums, we decided to make the most of the great weather and stay outdoors.
When we emerged from the castle over a moated drawbridge we could see through a
very beautiful park a huge triumphal arch in the distance, so we headed towards
it. The park was full of the colours of autumn and the lake alive with massive
fish and ducks. There was the most beautiful jazz guitar music swirling through
the trees so we followed the sound to a wonderful busker hidden by the trees.
Much closer to the arch there was some kind of modern dance rehearsal going on,
on one of the several stages dotted around the park. It looked like a group of
young dancers, their director and a photographer. We watched for a while before
circling through the park to get to the painted church the art loving senior
had recommended we see.
It was a beautiful day and a beautiful walk and we
grabbed a coffee as we passed through the castle again and headed off through
what appeared to be a very cultural area. There were so many art, antique, jewellery
and decorator shops. A huge theatre that hosts classical music performances was
surrounded by posh looking little eateries. Soon we were down on the main
street and shop after shop of very fancy clothing. Here it was all cashmere, silk
and superfine merino wool garments. We found a shop where you can order some
very flashy uniforms for your butler and maid. Or else you could spend a lazy 500 Euros on an antique compass. Well its good to know that some
people are doing very well indeed.
Just down
the road from millionaire central was the church we were looking for, but it
seemed locked. A beggar perched outside helpfully explained (with a lot of
repetition and a multitude of hand gestures) that it was closed and we should
come by “domaini”. Apparently it was closed due to a snap public transport
strike being called. Weld been warned that this sort of thing is to be expected
in Italy. Another plan was shot down, but people watching and window shopping
are just as entertaining as the art and architecture in this city. It was close
to noon and the cathedral would soon open its doors so we decided to head back
there.
Suddenly my
phone buzzed with a text message. It was Nola. She had heard that my friend’s
husband who had been battling cancer for some time, had taken a dramatic turn
for the worse and was in hospital with a very bad prognosis. I’d spoken to Toni
only a couple of days ago and I knew that things were taking a bad course but
no-one expected things to deteriorate so quickly. It was with a heavy heart
that we walked on. I felt it cruel and unfair that we had kept in touch with
each other and the progress of our treatments over the last year and a half but
now I was on this wonderful trip while Geoff was fighting for his breath in
hospital.
It was a
slow walk back to the cathedral and we stated to anticipate that the crowds
waiting to get in would be huge. All the people turned away that morning, would
probably return as we did, for the afternoon. I thought it might be a good idea
to get couple of panninis for lunch and
have them as we waited in the line to get in. We found a really great pannini
shop that stuffed the fresh, yeasty rolls with all manner of delish fillings.
Yes the lines were long!! It took about 40 mins to get in and having lunch as
we shuffled forward was a nice distraction. There was a metal detector and bag
check by soldiers before we could enter.
It was surprising
how dark it was inside while the outside of the cathedral sparkled with white
marble. The massive girth and height of the columns reminded us of the Sagrada
Familia in Barcelona. It was a very impressive building and positively
enormous. Several popes, including one of the most recent ones was encased in a
glass crypt there. We went into the heavily decorated and gilded underground crypts
and then down into the archaeological dig where we could see the streets and buildings
that were on the site over which the cathedral was built. The most
breathtaking part of the tour was up on the terraces. Our ticket gave us entry
to the roof of the cathedral. It’s one thing to see that incredibly intricate
masonry from ground level, but its quite another to walk under the flying
buttresses with all their enormous mass hanging above your head and stare the gargoyles and saints in the face while the rest of the
world is reduced to miniatures far below. I did well for a short time but soon
my fear of heights overwhelmed me and I found a place where I could sit and
have a white knuckled wait until john finished the circuit. It really was a
amazing experience.
When we
descended to ground level, the crowd in the piazza was still enormous. The passing
parade of humanity was lovely to watch. There was something fashionably particular
about so many of them, who had taken time and trouble to make a fashion
statement and record it on camera in such a stunning setting. While we had the time, I thought it would be
interesting to see what the Italian department stores liked like. One enormous
store faced out on to the Duomo and the air was rich with the perfume from its
ground floor counters. It was fabulous inside with every big fashion label brought
together in a symphony of wealthy, conspicuous consumption. There was a special exhibition on and throughout the
store there was a display of a huge range of motorcycles and all their
attendant gear. Many of them were unusual models and things of great beauty.
They were s much a feature as the luxury goods that the store offered. Johnny
reeled at the prices of some of the goods. At last he began to realise why I get so excited when I come across treasure like cashmere jumpers and scarves,
When we
emerged from the emporium, an energetic young man was drawing a huge crowds around
him with a terrific version of Sultans of Swing. He well deserved the loud applause and the
tinkling of coins into his guitar case.
We were
both well and truly tired by now but there was still a long walk back and
before putting our feet up I thought we could do with a couple of beers, so we
circled home past the little supermarket and bottle shop we found on our first
day in Milan.
Just got back from another very tasty meal at the restaurant run by the people that own our apartment. We literally took 10 steps and we were at the Trattoria Milanese. No booking but they made room and food was very tasty. We entertained ourselves as we waited for the meal by using Johnny's phone app to practice unlikely Italian phrases.
