Tour Day

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Today, it rained all day and cars were not allowed in the city because of the marathon. Nice not to have cars, but the invasion of umbrellas made walking difficult. We saw the last runner come in at the Castello, and then the cars came back. Unfortunately the umbrellas remained. Sally and I had light rain jackets, she with a hood and me with a hat, and that was plenty to keep us dry.



The tour took us to see the Duomo, the Galleria, LaScala, and the Last Supper.



At the Last Supper they allowed only 15 minute visits, after waiting in a couple dehumidifying rooms before entering so as not to subject the painting to excessive moisture. The guide talked about how Michelangelo changed the concept of painting in those times because he focused on the emotions of the people in the painting, and his last supper differed from others in which the emphasis was on Judas being singled out as the one who would betray Christ, while Michelangelo focused on the moment before that when Christ tells the desciples he knows one of them will betray him and they all show shock and surprise. Their faces and hands indicate to Christ and one another their disbelief that Christ would think such a thing. Only Judas sits immobile not looking at the other disciples and making no show of emotion.



The photo I posted is not one I took. It isn’t allowed, and if I could have, it wouldn’t have been as bright since they have restored it and removed all attempts to restore it by putting more paint on top. With all the added paint gone, it isn’t as bright, but one actually sees what Da Vinci painted.



I put a photo of a display window in the Galleria where all the high fashion shops are. The photo is of arrows, but you can see the glassed in roof reflected in the glass of the showcase.

Another photo shows one of the variety of colored paver stones that cover the city streets and courtyards. I like these reddish ones that look even more colorful with the rain on them.



The seafood pasta photo shows the wonderful meal we indulged in after the tour.



For our final activity, we walked to the Castello and saw the final marathon runner of the day come in and then toured the castle with one goal in mind—see the unfinished Pieta of Michelangelo. Amazing to see this chunk of rock half sculpted and see the figure only partially appearing from the stone. The unfinished part, totally rough, the totally finished part smooth, and the rest of it in states between those two. Again no photos, so I include one off the internet. It will be interesting to the see the one in Florence after seeing this partial one.



Sally and I do fine until about 4:30 and then our energy seems to go away. We got a bottle of wine and some toasted panini to bring home. Bed time comes early, but I guess that depends on whose time one is using. We feel almost switched over to local time. Almost is the key word.

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Comments

[Diane]

Great fun to read
Hi Sally and Julia, Like your tales and photos! They bring back a lot of memories. Do you have any more details on the air B&B experience, or was it share/swap a sofa? Diane