Well, what an eventful weekend. We have been down to Italy numerous times in the past and always seem to just drive by Milan on our way to some other destination. We decided to make a weekend excursion to see the famous mural painting "The Last Supper" at the Santa Maria delle Grazie and do a little bit of shopping in one of the most renowned world capitals of design and fashion.
Day 1: Shopping
The shopping went according to plan. In other words, there was a lot of looking and little buying - whew! With the likes of Gucci, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Fratelli Rossetti, Etro, Loro Piana, Luis Vuitton, Prada, Valentino, Cartier, and Tanino Crisci, one could get into a lot of trouble financially. We had a riot people watching at all the various piazzas. We are sooo not in style. :)
Day 2: Church
We went to church today but not to our usual one. We were in the Santa Maria delle Grazie where "The Last Supper" and the lesser known "Crucifiction" by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano are. The funny part leading up to seeing these works of art is that unbeknownst to us, there are a zillion churches in Milan and the surrounding area named Santa Maria delle Grazie! The navi took us to some obscure church were we all thought that there was no way that the paintings were located there. Well, we were right and late for our pre-booked tour. A good, rather great Samaritan ended up driving and we followed him to the right church. We gave the staff the explanantion and they whisked us inside. We were amazed at the high level of security and the sectioned off doors leading to the 2 murals. Only 25 people are let in at a time, and you only have 15 minutes to admire paintings that you could study for days. It was a wonderful experience nonetheless. The painting is rich in symbolism with a multitude of references to the number 3 (Holy Trinity), from the 12 Apostles in groups of 3, to the number of windows in back of Christ. With the various detailed expressions depicted as a result of the news that one would betray Him, da Vinci makes "The Last Supper" a sight to remember.
My recommended links are:
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci in high definition
The Crucifiction by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano
Our drive home proved to be quite entertaining as well. Instead of going through the Gotthard tunnel, we basically went on top of the Alps through the Gotthard pass, which coincidentally is not open for very long in any given year. With the traffic backed up for miles before the tunnel, the pass proved to be the right decision. It also turned out to be much more scenic - duh - a straight, dark tunnel through the Alps versus a windy, open road over the Alps.
We uploaded many pictures from the trip, which can be found by clicking here!
Day 1: Shopping
The shopping went according to plan. In other words, there was a lot of looking and little buying - whew! With the likes of Gucci, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Fratelli Rossetti, Etro, Loro Piana, Luis Vuitton, Prada, Valentino, Cartier, and Tanino Crisci, one could get into a lot of trouble financially. We had a riot people watching at all the various piazzas. We are sooo not in style. :)
Day 2: Church
We went to church today but not to our usual one. We were in the Santa Maria delle Grazie where "The Last Supper" and the lesser known "Crucifiction" by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano are. The funny part leading up to seeing these works of art is that unbeknownst to us, there are a zillion churches in Milan and the surrounding area named Santa Maria delle Grazie! The navi took us to some obscure church were we all thought that there was no way that the paintings were located there. Well, we were right and late for our pre-booked tour. A good, rather great Samaritan ended up driving and we followed him to the right church. We gave the staff the explanantion and they whisked us inside. We were amazed at the high level of security and the sectioned off doors leading to the 2 murals. Only 25 people are let in at a time, and you only have 15 minutes to admire paintings that you could study for days. It was a wonderful experience nonetheless. The painting is rich in symbolism with a multitude of references to the number 3 (Holy Trinity), from the 12 Apostles in groups of 3, to the number of windows in back of Christ. With the various detailed expressions depicted as a result of the news that one would betray Him, da Vinci makes "The Last Supper" a sight to remember.
My recommended links are:
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci in high definition
The Crucifiction by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano
Our drive home proved to be quite entertaining as well. Instead of going through the Gotthard tunnel, we basically went on top of the Alps through the Gotthard pass, which coincidentally is not open for very long in any given year. With the traffic backed up for miles before the tunnel, the pass proved to be the right decision. It also turned out to be much more scenic - duh - a straight, dark tunnel through the Alps versus a windy, open road over the Alps.
We uploaded many pictures from the trip, which can be found by clicking here!
posted by Bret Pobanz at
9:35 PM
2 Comments:
Bret you are one awesome Swiss dude....
Hi Halle,
What a surprise to see your comment. How have you been? We are headed off to the US in a few hours. Where are you nowadays?
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