Milan and great food.

As we are on holiday we realised that we could have a sleep in and we did, it was a late start and we still managed to see a couple of the main sights. Sometimes Katie has to remind me
holidays are about relaxing too!

The first attraction was the Leonardo3, this was a very interesting insight into the works of the great man Leonardo Da Vinci. It had digital displays showing his manuscripts and current interpretations. Each display also had a physical creation of each Leonardo device allowing us to truly respect the great mans work.

Next stop was the Museum dedicated to the Milan Duomo (Church).  This was included as part of our tour yesterday, and was one of the most well laid out museums we have been in.  It contained many pieces of stone work that have come from the Duomo and been replaced.

Next stop was the Teatro alla Scala Museum. (Opera House Museum). The museum was very thorough for opera fans and covered many artists we had never heard of. Thankfully for us we were able to see what we had been looking forward to. The theater with the many floors of box seating.  Such an impressive building, if we were only a week or two later we could have got a ticket to a show. Well, there is always next time!

 

 

The afternoon got pretty warm and we chose to retreat to the Air conditioned Hotel room. In the late afternoon I took a walk leaving Katie reading and saw some more of the streets of Milan.
Here is the vlog whilst on that walk, phew, I didn't realise I was so sweaty til I looked back at the video tonight!

The evening was spent at the best restaurant yet, Mimmo. Selected for two reasons, it was behind our hotel and it also rated well in TripAdvisor.
Firstly it wasn't cheap but was well worth the price, the waiters were friendly, welcoming, professional and not in your face but there when needed.

The food was modern Italian.  We were offered a bruschetta whilst selecting from the minimal menu.
For starter I Selected the Yellow Tail Terine with Melon Granita and Katie selected the Grilled Squid with Speck and Halumi and a pea sauce.

Next was mains as we skipped the pasta dish.  I had the Lobster with Orange and fennel salad and Katie had Lamb with Fondant Potatoes and Courgette (Zucchini)

Finally we couldn't pass upon dessert, I had a Chocolate mud cake with white mousse and berries while Katie had Tiramisu.

I will admit it wasn't cheap but if you include service, ambiance and food it was well worth it. Again this is when Katie reminds me we're on Holidays and not here to save money. Thanks Mimmo for a lovely evening..

Tomorrow, On the road with the Violin?

Magical Milano

Our first full day in the city of Milan did not disappoint. Today on our agenda was a visit to Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' and a tour of the city and Duomo, in the afternoon.

When we were planning this trip and considering which places to add to our itinerary, we had question marks over Milan. This was only because so many people had said things like "oh don't go to Milan, it's just another city." Or..."Milan is just for
business and industry." I'm pleased to say Milan in all her beauty, proved those people wrong today and we are so pleased we left Milan on our list. While it doesn't have the same charm as Rome, Milan is elegant, polite, rich in tradition and its people are so friendly.

After breakfast at our hotel we headed in to the centre via the underground train. There is a trick to catching this correctly of course. To make sure you are travelling the correct way, you need to know the name of the stop you want to get off at and the name of the stop at the end of the line. Yes we have messed this up before, but it is easily fixed by getting off at the next stop, crossing to the other side and travelling back in the right direction.

Our booking at The Last Supper was at 11:30, so we had plenty of time to wander the streets from the centre to get there. After collecting our tickets we still had time to kill so stopped in at the local cafe for a cold water and espresso. There is something quite satisfying about being able to order your coffee in Italian and understand the waiters response. We have found in Italy, a small gesture like attempting to speak the language, goes a long way with the locals. They are very receptive to tourists attempting to speak to them in their language and this often creates the best traveling moments.

The viewing of the Last Supper is kept to 15 minutes and groups of 30 at a time. This is to preserve the beauty of the painting. Stepping inside the rectory and seeing The Last Supper for the first time, was quite emotional for me. Some would laugh at me for saying that but it's true. The same thing happened for me when I first laid eyes on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Trevi Fountain in Rome and walked inside Buckingham Palace in London. There are some things you never think you may see in your life time. When you do get the opportunity, for me anyway, it's a feeling of no other. It's gratitude of being able to travel and joy at seeing some of the world's most beautiful monuments, art pieces and buildings. So, swallowing the lump in my throat I was in awe of the beauty of this piece of art that had been so carefully restored. We were very pleased we had paid for the audio guide, which explained in detail, the meaning behind the painting and the process of restoring it.

 

 

The heat had certainly kicked in when we stepped back outside. Fortunately we already had some water with us, but took the opportunity to fill our bottles at one of the many spring water fountains on the street. We took our time heading back in to the centre as our tour wasn't until 2:30. We found a great little sandwich spot to enjoy some lunch in and then found a tram to take us the rest of the way in to the Duomo. I felt so tiny standing in front of the Duomo. It is just massive and dominates the main square.

This photo is taken from the side!

Upon arriving at our meeting point for our tour, we realised we were the only ones there. We were expecting there to be a group of about 50, but were so excited it was just us - a private tour! The tour was 3 and 1/2 hours long and included a tour inside the Duomo, below it in to the baptistry and original churches and then access to the very top of the Duomo to walk on the terraces. It also included a walk around the city to the castle. The Duomo was so impressive. It would equal the beauty of the Basillica at the Vatican. Our guide was so knowledgeable and gave us a great insight in to the history of the Duomo and Milan itself.

 

 

 

 

After leaving the Duomo, we continued our tour by walking through the city with our guide Elisa. She led us through the Galleria Victorio Emanuele building, a high end shopping centre, with the first ever glass roof in Italy. We listened to stories of Milan's history and traditions and by the time we reached our end point at Sforzesco Castle, we'd fallen in love with another Italian city. We were so impressed with Elisa, she really was the best tour guide we had ever come across. After enduring hours in the hot sun we rewarded ourselves with an ice cold limone and arancia granite and sat in the shade in the park watching the world go by. We had dinner at a local, casual restaurant to round off another wonderful day in Italia.

 

Tomorrow; Museums and more Milan

Buongiorno Italia

It was a lovely 6 days in Switzerland, a place we have wanted to revisit since we were here in 2012.  Zurich is culturally very similar to
Melbourne, with a mix of many nationalities and culinary flavors. The other area we were in was Appenzellerland. This on the other hand was very rich in culture and history, however once again the food is based mainly on sausage and potato.  I'm not saying we were disappointed with the food in this region of Switzerland, but we were able to confirm our assumptions.

To get to Milan we caught the train over and through the alps, on the Gotthard line. My wish was to go through the Gotthard Base Tunnel that has recently been completed, however it isn't open to public trains 'til the start of December 2016.  This line is over 57km long and totally bypassed the need to cross over the alps.  In some stages its depth is 2.3km and this new line will take about 1 hour of the 4 hour journey.

On the other hand using the old Gotthard line had benefits, there was more to see, but looking through a double glased tinted window does not provide great photos.

We arrived at the Switzerland / Italian border on time, it is amazing how every thing runs on time in Switzerland.  All prepared for the expected passport check that was announced over the P.A. we waited.  After about 10 min we took off, no passport check, no new stamp in the book.

It was now that we were in a Swiss train on the Italian network.  The train sat stationary on 2 occasions and thus in turn made arrival about 30 min late. It was of no real concern to us, but it was amazing how many people started grabbing for their bags and queued in the aisles when we weren't even close to the city.

The evening was spent in front of the enormous Duomo.  I knew it was big from all the research I have done, but being in front with the setting sun illuminating the facade truly had us both staring in amazement. Tomorrow we will be venturing inside.

 

Heading into the  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping plaza, we passed Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Versace. All very interesting, but we were both looking for the bull.  This is a custom of the locals to spin their heel on the bull testicles, the bull is from the Turin city coat of arms.

This spinning has been done so many times there is a divet in the mosaic tiles and the bull testicles are no where to be seen.

The evening was spent with the company of the impressive waiters at A Santa Lucia. We normally try to eat away from the main piazza and this was no exception, about 500 meters from the Duomo we found this place.

It has been opened in the city since 1929 and has a hundred or so pictures in frames on the walls from all the famous guests that have eaten there. 

We trusted the advice of the waiter for entree that we shared. It was a Beef Carpaccio.

This was a plate of thin sliced raw beef with a rocket, walnut, parmesan and olive oil salad.  The plate looked great and we were amazed with how good it tasted. There was no fat on the beef and the slices were soft like ham.  The salad was a perfect topping and offset the raw beef,

Next was main, Katie selected from the spacial menu, Spaghetti with Zucchini and Calamari. There was nothing left on the plate at the end, and she said 'it was very simple but ohh so delicious'.

My main was also from the special's menu, Pesto Tagliatelle.

The pesto was so fresh it was like the basil was still growing on the plate. The pasta was cooked correctly, Al Dente.

Both meals were small enough that there was room for dessert, but i forgot to take photos before they were eaten, sorry. Katie had a Tiramisu and I had a Creme Caramel with an espresso sauce.

It is great to be blogging back in Italy. Switzerland is such a spectacular place but is a little too perfect for us, nothing seams to go wrong, it is all so clean and well organised. Please don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing just very hard to explain.  Italy on the other hand is a far more diverse place.  It has graffiti, some say this is a way of self expression, it has the boarded windows of deralict buildings.  Today we even had a very old drunk man wet him self while standing in the middle of the footpath!

Italy also has the food that one could die for, it has local places to eat, and it has the very expensive places too, just like Switzerland.  We are glad to be back, and I hope I can explain our love for this country further in coming weeks. 

Ciao for now, Shannon 

Tomorrow, Is that the last supper?