Milan, Italy Travel Photos
The Grand Hotel Et De Milan, has been the home away from home (or just permanent home) of international celebrities since it's opening in 1863. Giuseppe Verdi lived there for many years while writing operas for the famed La Scala opera house located just a few block away. The hotel still preserves the room where he died using it for special occations. The Don Carlos restaurant is supposed to be very good but we didnt have chance to get there because it was all booked by late afternoon so if you want to try it, better make your reservations in advance.
The location is great, the Duomo is 10 minute walk away while one of the main shopping streets starts basically right across the hotel and while it may sound funny, when compared to the prices of similar level hotels nearby (like the Bulgari), the Grand Hotel suddenly doesn´t seem quite that expensive.
The Duomo in Milan must be one of the most impressive cathedrals to be found anywhere in the world. It is also one of the largest, able to fit up to 40´000 people which is what the entire population of Milan was at the time of its founding in 1386. However amazing it might sound, the last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century, with the last gate being added in 1965.
It took almost 580 years to build the Duomo and the result is extremely beautiful, distinct and intricately detailed. It is a unique experience to enter through the gate built 40 years ago and walk 150 meters to reach floortiles that while looking the same as the ones near the entrance are almost 400 years older.
Walking through the Duomo is a bit of a time travelling experience because it takes a bit to put in perspective what does it mean to build something consistently for more than 500 years. Needless to say it is definetly a must on every visit to Milan.
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The church of Santa Marie Delle Grazie has quite a particular achitecture, its dome is beautiful and different from most remaining churches in the city but of course the main reason it is known worldwide is because the dining room of the nearby old dominican convent houses the recently controversial painting by Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper". I am pretty sure that pretty much everyone who goes to Santa Marie Delle Grazie, does so to see the painting and most wouldnt even look at the church if it were not for the waiting time before the painting.
Of course with all this demand flowing from all over the world thanks in no small part to the Da Vinci Code, getting there is quite a problem. The best way of doing it (since it requires reservation and attendance is very much restricted) is to take the Milan city tour that starts at Duomo Square. It must be possible to book it from any hotel but it is even better to do so in advance. Incredible as it might sound, the city tour are uisually completely full because everybody wants to see the Last Supper and follows this same advice. The city tour is quite nice thou and shows you the main sights of the city before taking you to Santa Marie Della Grazie.
Once in the church, everybody is arranged in groups of 20 or so people and than you go through a system of automatic doors that would make any CIA facility proud before getting in the dining room. Time inside is restricted to 20 minutes per group but since there is pretty much nothing else inside besides the Last Supper, one other painting and the atmosphere contolling equipment, the time is quite enough.
The painting was recently restored and it is now supposedly closer to its original state. Since Leonardo for some reason didnt use the proper technique to paint it in the first place, it started deterioration almost from the day it was finished and having hot walls of the convents kitchen behind certainly didnt help. Still, it is well worth the visit just to be able to make a personal judgement about the whole Apostle John / Mary Magdalene controversy.
Personally I found it quite eye opening and the "person" in question certainly looks more like a woman than like a young man but that is a personal decision. And to make that decision is actually the main purpose of going to Santa Marie Delle Grazie in the first place.
