Milan, Italy - July 18

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after

July 18 Milan

33 degrees                                                                                                                      

the Duomo plaza

The highlight of today was seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. It was all that I had hoped for. We had to get tickets months ago and I am so glad we did. It was painted on the wall of the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent. It was painted at the end of the 1400s and covers an entire wall – about 15 feet high and 30 feet wide. Our tickets included a tour and visit. Our tour was titled ‘the Last Supper, After Hours’ and that is what it was - a group of 25 people and a guide. Our guide was great, she described a bit outside the building and then gave a detailed description of the painting, including the depiction of the crucifixion which is on the wall opposite the Last Supper. There are no pics as none were allowed, I'm pretty sure you are all familiar with the Last Supper. Here's Wikipedia's depiction.

Last Supper

Duomo facade

We also visited the Duomo today. This Gothic cathedral is huge and is Milan’s main attraction. Construction started in the 1300s and finished in 1965.

Church of the Last Supper

Lunch was pasta and a giant beer for Chris; a Caprese salad and wine for me. Dinner – pasta for me and wiener schnitzel for him – oh and wine, do I have to mention that? To be fair, wiener schnitzel is actually veal Milanese so he is arguably eating more local dishes than I am.

Duomo facade

We asked at our hotel about a taxi to the train station tomorrow for our voyage to Venice and we told ‘yesterday a problem – tomorrow, likely no problem’ When we asked further, we were told yesterday there was a strike, but not today and not LIKELY tomorrow.

We had a night cap at our hotel bar, which is a tiny street side spot outside of the hotel which seems more popular with locals than hotel guests. This is a self-serve bar (which most seem) and we sit outside on a low ledge – most people stand in the road.

Duomo facade

night cap

Our alternate ports to Jerusalem are Antalya, Turkey; Alanya, Turkey; Mikonos, Greece. We’ve been to Mikonos before, but not the ports in Turkey.

street of Milan

Lori – I forgot about Michael’s interest in cemeteries, as far as cemeteries go (and I am FAR from an expert) I think it is pretty spectacular.

Heather – we haven’t done a lot of shopping, so I can’t say about leather