Kissing Beneath Giant Mistletoe in Milan

Leaving the pouring rain behind in the Friuli region, we headed to clear blue skies in Milan, Lombardy. Our first stop was Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church famous for containing the mural of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. We were hoping to get tickets to see the Last Super but having been before, I knew it was a slim chance. The Last Supper was, of course, sold out with no cancellations. Santa Maria delle Grazie is quite interesting in and of itself. The night of August 15, 1943, bombs dropped by British and American planes hit the church and the convent. Much of the refectory was destroyed, but some walls survived, including the one that holds the Last Supper, which had been sand-bagged for protection.

After a quick lunch, and I do mean quick, at the Mercanti Caffe, we were off to the Milan Duomo. The Duomo is the 4th largest church in the world at 157 metes long. A series of large canvases, the Quadroni, are currently exhibited along the nave in honor of the birthdate of the San Carlo Borromeo. For  a small fee, you can climb a very narrow and winding staircase up to the roof of the Cathedral for a bird’s eye view of its 3,500 spires. The main spire was topped in 1762 with a polychrome statue of the Madonna, to whom the Duomo and its predecessor have always been dedicated.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II links the Piazza della Duomo on the south to the Piazza della Scala on the north. Named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of united Italy, it was originally designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877. Many designers such as Prada and Louis Vuittion reside inside, along with restaurants and cafes.

Page 1 of 4 | Next page