Our journey from Phoenix was uneventful, and clearing customs in Milan was a breeze. We have found Milan to be a metropolitan area of about 3.6 million. It is the second largest city after Rome in Italy. It is also Italy's financial center and, of course, a world-renowned mecca for fashion.
 |
| First Prada store, 1913 |
Our weather has been warm with temperatures in the lower 80s, cooling off to the 60s in the evenings. There is some humidity. We have 24 people on our tour, most of them with ties to Sun City Grand. We've travelled with some of them before, but we are meeting some new friends along our way this time.
 |
| Grace, Pat, Mary and Rick at our welcome dinner |
Today was spent touring the major tourist attractions in Milan. The architecture ranges from Romanesque to modern. It's all jumbled together, making it very eclectic and interesting.
 |
| City courtyard |
 |
| La Scala Opera House |
 |
| Modern apartment building |
We saw La Scala Opera House opened in 1878 and still recognized as one of the foremost opera houses in the world.
We also spent time in the the Duomo District, the site of the Magnificent Gothic cathedral which is the third largest church in Europe. The District also houses representatives of all of the major fashion houses in the world.
 |
The Duomo Cathedral,
begun in the 14th century |
 |
| Entrance to the Duomo District |
Milan was the residence of Leonardo da Vinci for 25 years, some of the most productive of his life. Our touring today ended with a viewing of da Vinci's "The Last Supper". The frescoe is in the monastery of the cathedral. It was a moving experience to see this masterpiece that was created between 1494-1498.
No comments:
Post a Comment