Yoko and I left Florida on my birthday, October 16th, to mark the one year survival since being diagnosed with lung cancer. Our flight from Florida (Delta Airlines) was uneventful. The only part of this trip that is not first class was the flights. (I could not see paying three times as much money to arrive on the same plane!) They did NOT, however, have to seat us for the 9 hour flight next to the lavatories. Besides the steady stream of traffic, we had no good view of a movie screen and, over time, every opening of the bathroom doors released an oder no decent human being would claim. The plane was also cold and I was affraid I was going to land in Milan with psnumonia. I was happy when we landed, to say the least!
Yoko and I passed through passport control and customs in less than an an hour and were greeted by a our driver sporting a sign with our name. Our black Mercedes was waiting for us at curbside and we were wisked away to our hotel. The airport is a bit of a ways from cental Milan and it took a while to navigate our way into town. As it turned out there was a transportation strike and demonstration happening on Friday morning, round the time we were trying to get to our hotel. Everytime we got close to our destination a Cabeneri would waive us away in the opposite direction. If it was not for the fact that I was hungy and tried and had to pee, I wouldn't have minded because we saw a lot of the city by private car!
The hotel we are staying at it is the Carlton Baglioni Hotel on Via Sento. You can check it out at ww.baglionihotels.com. The hotel is very convenient in the heart of central Milan near the shopping. After arriving we took a shower (our room is a suite with a great overhead pour down shower) and then slept for a few hours. In the early evening we got up and went for a short stroll around the hotel. The weather was perfect and the area immediately behind the hotel (Via della Spiza) is a pedestrian only street that goes for maybe half a mile with shops (Armani, Prada, Tiffany) on both sides of the street. After returning to the hotel we went to the bar for a drink and loitered there in the outside terrace for an hour or so. We made reservations for dinner for 9 PM and returned to the room....but at 8 PM we were both too tired to eat. We ended up canceling our dinner reservation and sleeping for the rest of the night.
Yoko woke up around 2 AM and could not sleep, so she woke me as well! We watched TV until we both fell asleep again at 3 AM. We were up at 6:30 AM to prepare for our first tour of the trip. We had breakfast (complimentary) at the hotel and were then greeted by Ms Sara Santa, a Japanese speaking Italian tour guide. Her Japanese and English were excellent. We hopped a cab to to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church. Next to the church is the convent which houses Leonardo de Vinci's Last Supper. The painting is huge, covering an entire wall which was the convent's cafeteria. You need tickets and reservations and only 1000 people a day are allowed in to see the painting...so very few people will ever see it in their lifetime. Also, the painting is fading over time and will not be something people will be able to see in a few more hundred years, despite the Italians best efforts to preserve it.
One thing I did learn, which was surprising, was that the Allied bombing of Milan in WWII destroyed the convent. The room where the Last Supper was painted was destroyed as well, but the painting itself was not. They say it is another miracle related to the painting.
After seeing the Last Supper, we went for a stroll through downtown Milan. First we went to Castello Sforzecs, which lies on the northern end of the cental city. After that we went to see the Duomo, which is an all marble cathedral that took more than 600 years to build. Our walking tour ended in front of La Scalla. From there Yoko and I went to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where we had tea and coffee at the famous Sivino's. From there we walked back to our hotel to rest.
In the afternoon we had a quick bite to eat at a local place where they served Italian sandwiches and the like. I had gnoci al la pomodero...not my favorite. Yoko had roasted vegetables. After that we returned to the room. Yoko had a bubble bath and I went for a relaxing massage.
Tonight we are going out to diner at a place called da Bice, which our guide had recommended as the one place to go in town if you have only one night to go somewhere. We have 8 PM dinner reservations.
So far everything is going smoothly. I am looking forward to leaving for Venice tomorrow. Arrivederci y'all.
Yoko and I passed through passport control and customs in less than an an hour and were greeted by a our driver sporting a sign with our name. Our black Mercedes was waiting for us at curbside and we were wisked away to our hotel. The airport is a bit of a ways from cental Milan and it took a while to navigate our way into town. As it turned out there was a transportation strike and demonstration happening on Friday morning, round the time we were trying to get to our hotel. Everytime we got close to our destination a Cabeneri would waive us away in the opposite direction. If it was not for the fact that I was hungy and tried and had to pee, I wouldn't have minded because we saw a lot of the city by private car!
The hotel we are staying at it is the Carlton Baglioni Hotel on Via Sento. You can check it out at ww.baglionihotels.com. The hotel is very convenient in the heart of central Milan near the shopping. After arriving we took a shower (our room is a suite with a great overhead pour down shower) and then slept for a few hours. In the early evening we got up and went for a short stroll around the hotel. The weather was perfect and the area immediately behind the hotel (Via della Spiza) is a pedestrian only street that goes for maybe half a mile with shops (Armani, Prada, Tiffany) on both sides of the street. After returning to the hotel we went to the bar for a drink and loitered there in the outside terrace for an hour or so. We made reservations for dinner for 9 PM and returned to the room....but at 8 PM we were both too tired to eat. We ended up canceling our dinner reservation and sleeping for the rest of the night.
Yoko woke up around 2 AM and could not sleep, so she woke me as well! We watched TV until we both fell asleep again at 3 AM. We were up at 6:30 AM to prepare for our first tour of the trip. We had breakfast (complimentary) at the hotel and were then greeted by Ms Sara Santa, a Japanese speaking Italian tour guide. Her Japanese and English were excellent. We hopped a cab to to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church. Next to the church is the convent which houses Leonardo de Vinci's Last Supper. The painting is huge, covering an entire wall which was the convent's cafeteria. You need tickets and reservations and only 1000 people a day are allowed in to see the painting...so very few people will ever see it in their lifetime. Also, the painting is fading over time and will not be something people will be able to see in a few more hundred years, despite the Italians best efforts to preserve it.
One thing I did learn, which was surprising, was that the Allied bombing of Milan in WWII destroyed the convent. The room where the Last Supper was painted was destroyed as well, but the painting itself was not. They say it is another miracle related to the painting.
After seeing the Last Supper, we went for a stroll through downtown Milan. First we went to Castello Sforzecs, which lies on the northern end of the cental city. After that we went to see the Duomo, which is an all marble cathedral that took more than 600 years to build. Our walking tour ended in front of La Scalla. From there Yoko and I went to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where we had tea and coffee at the famous Sivino's. From there we walked back to our hotel to rest.
In the afternoon we had a quick bite to eat at a local place where they served Italian sandwiches and the like. I had gnoci al la pomodero...not my favorite. Yoko had roasted vegetables. After that we returned to the room. Yoko had a bubble bath and I went for a relaxing massage.
Tonight we are going out to diner at a place called da Bice, which our guide had recommended as the one place to go in town if you have only one night to go somewhere. We have 8 PM dinner reservations.
So far everything is going smoothly. I am looking forward to leaving for Venice tomorrow. Arrivederci y'all.
1 comment:
Sounds exciting & BUSY! Can't wait to see the pictures when we see you in Dec. Hope you have a good dinner tonight! XOXO
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