My second day in Milan began around 10am. I figured that since I had circled three cities in three days that my feet and legs had earned a solid break. Besides, vacation is meant for relaxing so I wanted to make sure I got some of that in too. After I took my time getting ready in the morning I hit the streets of Milan (like a tourist, not like a prostitute). My goal for the day was to track down Leonado di Vinci's painting of the Last Supper.
I had heard from a little bee named Alessandro that a reservation, made no less than three months in advance, is required to view the masterpiece. Like most major city attractions, a large number of people on a daily basis come from all over the world so they can say "Guess what I saw in Milan." So a line a football field long of people who planned three months in advance to see the painting was my competition for getting my turn, but I was feeling feisty that morning and thought I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, another handicap I had was that I didn't have the faintest idea of what building the painting was inside. All I had was a picture-book map and a general idea of where this treasure was hidden. I was hoping that my street smarts, dashing good looks, and amazing American accent would all come together to successfully hunt down the painting and convince the door man to let me take a peek.
Well I don't know if it was because all three of my attributes failed me miserably or because it was Sunday, but there was no infinite line to point me in the right direction nor were there any signs giving any indication that the painting was even in this city. After wandering around the general vicinity of where I thought I might find the Last Supper for about...um....15 minutes, I gave up and figured there were other things to see. I didn't want to spend my last day in Milan standing in a line anyways.
Instead, I decided to go to Castello Sforzesco, a castle in Milan dating back to the 14th century. Now to give you some information about this structure I just did a google search and have learned that there are surviving paintings from Leonardo di Vinci on the ceiling of the castle. I could have seen these for a mere 3 Euros but as I did not have this tidbit of information at the time, I passed up the opportunity. I believe that this what an epic failure feels like. It is times like these when the ability to laugh at yourself comes in handy.
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| Castello Sforzesco |
So after failing to locate the Last Supper and then unknowingly passing up the chance to see some other Leonardo di Vinci originals, I decided to wander around Milano's central park. After wandering around the park for about an hour, watching the Sunday morning joggers, and daydreaming about the future, I stumbled upon Arco Della Pace, another marble masterpiece. I spent a lot of time circling the arc and even more time trying to time my jumping with the self-timer on my camera. After walking around for a while I decided to make my way to the train station.
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| Arco Della Paco |
When I got back to the hostel to pick up my backpack, Alessandro had just started his shift. I asked him for a suggestion for where to go to lunch on my way to the subway (I wasn't about to repeat my mistake of walking the mile and a half to Milano Centrale). The lunch spot, called Luini, that Alessandro suggested turned out to be a big hit with the native Italians because there was about a 20 minute line out the door. Obviously if it is good enough for the Italians than it had to be far better than anything I could imagine, so I waited in line and ordered the first thing on the menu. I can't recall what it was called, but was this deep fried batter filled with cheese, tomato, and prosciutto. D-E-Licious! I cought the next metro to Milano, Centrale only to realize that I had read my ticket wrong and arrived an hour earlier than I planned, so I posted myself on a bench and read a book until my train arrived. Once I was on board, I slept the whole four hours back to Zürich.
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