29 August 2007 - Wednesday (Mercoledi) - home
And so I begin. Four days to take-off for Italy. An unbelievably long dream finally about to happen. The emotions are somewhat familiar, as before any major event in my life — anticipation, head spinning with thoughts, lists, questions, imaginings of what is about to occur. But there is something a bit different. Every now and then, in the midst of all these anticipations, is a flash of — OMG! It’s really going to happen — it’s real, at last.
2 September 2007- Sunday (Domenica) – DAY 1 – travel day – Milano
OK, it's here. We're sitting at the gate at RDU waiting for the first leg to Atlanta. Yesterday was surprisingly organized, the way I had hoped and planned (but usually ends up frantic and hurried). There was plenty of time. Most of my things have been gathering on the floor near my suitcase, which, by the way, is much heavier than I expected. Had to pay extra because it was 12 lbs. over the 50 lb. limit.
Now we’re in
Atlanta and have 1-1/2 hour’s layover for our
Milan flight. Our flight to
Milan. OMG! I’M ON MY WAY TO
ITALY! I still can’t believe it. I’m on my way. I’m sure when I read all this some day in the future, I’ll realize that I must sound like a jerk. Alright already! You’re on your way to
Italy!
But geeez … I’m really going, at last!
3 September 2007- Monday (Lunedi) – DAY 2 - Milano
Last time I slept through the night was Saturday, and here it is Monday night in Milano (six hours ahead of EDT). This was a thrilling day for me, finally seeing Milan this morning as we approached the airport for landing. After deplaning we had to go through security lines to show our passports. And would you believe – I saw a colleague from my IBM RSS days, Debra Singer-Harter, and her husband Jonathan. They are on a different Perillo tour than us, so although they will be at different hotels, we will basically be doing the same tours, so should run into each other here and there.
Our tour lead is Antonella (isn’t that a beautiful name). Today was mostly about gathering at the airport and getting ourselves and our luggage on the bus, and about a 40 minute drive through from Malpensa (location of Milano airport) to our hotel, the Jolly Hotel Touring. After getting our things to our rooms, we met some new friends from the tour who were looking for a drugstore (Farmacia) in the neighborhood. We realized after finding one closed that it was during the siesta time (1-3pm). So we returned to the hotel and took naps before the group met in the hotel for drinks and dinner. Buffet style dinner — salmon, salads (pancetta, fish, ziti), vegetables, tomatoes and mozzarella, bread sticks and rolls. Champagne was poured for a toast, and then the bottles wines, and mineral water, were put on our tables. Mangiare! The coffee was even delicious. I promised myself I’d try some native flavors, without any assistance (i.e., espresso/coffee with no cream/milk/sugar). We all ate and drank and talked and drank and, well, you know. It was a good time. We all seemed comfortable with our new friends.
I took a few photos on the way to the hotel, trying to capture the feel of the streets. I was so excited. I was actually driving through the streets of
Milan! I tugged at my husband Bill’s shirt … I can’t believe I’m here, at last. (This would happen repeatedly throughout the next 17 days.) Trolley cars!
7:00 a.m. wake-up; bus will leave at
8:30 a.m. for Lugano (
Switzerland), and then on to
Como.
And the smallest cars I’ve ever seen, that actually run (photo below) . Antonella gave us some info for the next day and headsets we’ll use on the tours. We have a
4 September 2007- Tuesday (Martedi) – DAY 3- Milan, Lake Como, Lugano
Breakfast – catch the bus by
8:15 a.m. to
Lake Como. The weather was incredible, just like everything we saw.
Milan is an industrial area, yet clean and pretty, with much greenery, corn fields (for polenta). And, of course, the city is the fashion capital of the world. Designer shops all over the city.
Como is gorgeous, lush and privileged. It is an area where the wealthiest in the world own property or vacation, with private beach fronts here and there around the lake. A 2-story ferry took us around the
Lake, the deepest in the world at over 1000 feet. The mansions and gardens and compounds around the
Lake are owned and visited by the likes of Sophia Loren when she was living in
Italy (now lives in the
U.S.) and Marcello Mastroianni.
Milan. The Pope vacations here, and Pavarotti stayed at times; the heir to the Heinz (ketchup) fortune Teresa Heinz Kerry, now wife of
Massachusetts senator John Kerry) has a mansion on
Lake Como, and on and on.
Mussolini stayed here and the SS headquartered here during WWII. Mussolini was also killed here, and later strung upside down in the square in
Some of the mansions have private funicular (tram or elevator) that, due to the steep mountainside, is needed for transport from the mansion the road above. If you can enlarge this photo, you will see this “elevator” from the cluster of mansions to the building at the top of the mountain. The beauty just leaves me speechless … still in disbelief that I’m in Italy at last. The trip is just beginning, and several times throughout the day, taking in the beauty of the countryside, tears well up.
After Como, the bus took us to Lugano (Switzerland). Our guide, Antonella, had reminded us repeatedly to have our passports with us in the event that we had to stop at the border, but we drove right through. The buildings instantly took on a different architecture, less ornate and romantic. Lugano is also a huge Lake, and along it is a tremendous shopping area.
We all bought chocolate, of course, and took in the beauty of the area. We walked to a Cathedral just off the Square, and inside was amazing, walls and ceilings covered in paintings and arches, marble carvings everywhere
Outside in the square was a mime dressed as a jester all in white. At first we thought it to be a statue.
I took over 100 photos over the last two days and about 5 short video clips. I’m starting to wonder if my two 2GB media cards will be enough after all.
We came back to the hotel with a two hour break, before heading out to dinner. The day was warm and sunny, with a blustery wind that made white-caps on the lakes. Magnificent weather, in a magnificent place.
Dinner was at a restaurant here in Milano—delicious, but I have yet to be impressed with the food. Understand, being Italian, perhaps my bar is set a bit higher than others when it comes to Italian food. Every dinner includes 4 courses, starting with two pasta dishes, or pasta with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, then the main course, and then dessert. Espresso may be offered after but not with dessert unless requested. I’ve found that both salads (never served with any dressing) and pastas have a strong olive flavor, even when olives are not seen in the food.
Tomorrow is an early day. Wake-up call is 6:30 a.m., and luggage outside our doors by 7 a.m. We have a city tour of Milano first, then to Verona, and finally we drive to Venice where we’ll settle into hotel #2 for a couple of nights.
This is all so amazing! I’m H E R E! More tomorrow.
Ciao,
5 September 2007- Wednesday (Mercoledi) – DAY 4- Milano/ Verona / Venice
We toured the city of Milan this morning. I saw, and toured, the Duomo, famous for its Gothic architecture, the one I’ve seen countless times in pictures and paintings, in classes. Incredible. It is massive, yet delicate. Again, I’m speechless.
Throughout Italy, things are built on top of other things, and the Duomo is no exception. The first chapel on this spot was built in 496 AD. (I don’t know if my mind can comprehend these kinds of dates.) It’s been added to, destroyed, rebuilt and added to some more throughout history, and in a sense is never finished due to its constant renovations.
The building of this cathedral was marked with difficulties. Over a number of years several different architects and consultants (including Leonardo and Bramante) were asked to work on the design. A plate celebrating the first stone in the current building is marked 1386. The façade we see today was finished thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte, who was crowned King of Italy in 1805 inside the Cathedral. The interior includes many monuments and works of art. A small red light in the dome above the apse marks the spot where one of the nails from the Crucifixion of Christ has been placed.
Il Duomo, Milano – details
- Gothic style – 135 spires on Duomo, 3400 statues. In 1386 dedicated to birth of Mary. Her statue is highest spire on the Duomo.
- Napoleon conquered Austria in 1800 and took over its Italian city-states. He crowned himself “king of Italy” in 1805 in the Cathedral.
- Third largest cathedral: 1=St. Peter’s in Rome; 2=St. Paul’s in England
- Begun in the 1380's on a site where several churches had existed earlier
- Organ has over 30,000 pipes; cannot play together because it would break the windows
- Cathedral is white marble, over a brick core, and has a cruciform plan. One of the largest cathedrals in the world (14,000 square yards), it was designed to accommodate 40,000 worshippers.
- More about the Duomo in Milan: check out http://milan.arounder.com/milans_duomo_cathedral/ for a Web site that provides 360° views of the Duomo.
Today, Milano is the fashion capital of the world, but in the day, it was the intellectual and operatic center of Italy. Leonardo (1452-1519) came to Milano at the age of 30 to work as a military engineer for the Sforza family and stayed 15 years.
Leonardo was illegitimate and thus spent his childhood as an “outsider” in many respects. In an era when left-handedness was considered the devil's work and lefties were often forced to use their right hand, Leonardo was an unrepentant southpaw. It has been suggested that this "difference" was an element of his genius, since his detachment allowed him to see beyond the ordinary. He even wrote backwards, and his writings are easily deciphered only with a mirror. Biographers have stated that his “mirror writing” was to prevent others from reading his notes and stealing his formulas and procedures for various media.
From Museum of Science, Renaissance Man
La Scala Opera House
We toured inside La Scala Teatro, the famous opera house. Built 1776–78 over the remains of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala, it went through a reconstruction that ended in 2004. Some of the greatest musicians have made their debuts in this magnificent theater, like Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901, whose final Shakespearean opera, Otello, was staged here in 1887), Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Arturo Toscanini (1867-1967).
Some details:
- Theater opened in 1876 – Giuseppe Verde conducted
- Toscanini took over as conductor. He was first to have an orchestra pit, and to have the lights turned off in the theatre when music began.
- Rossini wrote Barber of Seville in 2 weeks. He was also a good cook; retired at 37 and died at 79.
- Giuseppe Verdi had 2 children and wife die from unknown disease; he lived a sad life and died at age 88.
- When a conductor dies his baton is broken
As we walked through, we saw posters from some of these famous performances.
Poster from April 1925 performance of Rigoletto
We passed the houses where Donatello, Mozart, Pacini, Verdi and others lived in this area during their creative years in Milano.
Back on the bus, we continued to Verona. Antonella (our tour guide) took us down the street to Giulietta’s balcony.
|
|
|
|
In the courtyard was a statue of Giulietta, and we were told a fable about touching the breast of the statue bringing you luck. The men lined up . . . .
|
On our own for lunch, we walked down different side streets to soak it all in. I found a pastry shop and bought some pignoli (my favorite Italian cookie) and amaretto cookies. Disappointed in both, actually. As we strolled, we picked up gifts for the family here and there, making our way back to the bus to continue on to Venice. What a treat was in store!
|
|
|
|
|
