After three days in Venice it was time to move on to Milan. We stopped in Padua on the way and spent the better part of a day there. We had no trouble with the train and checked out bags in the train station in Padua. We had tickets for the Scrovegni Chapel in the early afternoon so we went to Saint Anthony's first. We filed past the saints tomb and enjoyed the reliefs. We saw some actual pilgrims, one severely disabled in a wheelchair. I hope they found the peace they were looking for. After the basilica we headed to the Chapel to pick up our tickets. It was a little confusing figuring out exactly were to go but we found it in time. The chapel was amazing. I really could have used more time and our session was quite full. As we were exiting I saw that the next group was rather small. Too bad we weren't in that group. After the chapel we wandered around the university area and had lunch. We were going to do the Anatomy Theatre but my Mom decided she wasn't really up for it. Instead we went the the Arena Garden next to the chapel. My Mom found a bench to sit on and I wandered around the park until it was time to go catch our train. Upon our arrival in Milan I decided we should take a cab to the Hotel Vecchio as I had no idea where it was and it was after dark. That was the only cab we took and it was a good decision. Milan ended up being the only city I had any trouble navigating.
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OP
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
304 posts
The next morning we headed out into Milan looking for the metro. We didn't choose the best direction but we found it after stumbling upon some small ruins with a cat posing in the middle. When we arrived at the Duomo we found some sort of official ceremony out front and watched for awhile. We never did find out exactly what it was but I think it was some sort of memorial service. We visited the Duomo but did not go to the top. My Mom was too sensitive about how much everything cost so I decided to skip it. We went to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and did our spins on Torino's testicles, then went out to visit Leonardo da Vinci and La Scala. We had intended to see La Boheme but I had been unable to get tickets in our price range ahead of time. We only had one full day in Milan and I didn't want to waste it waiting in line for last minute tickets. We didn't tour the theatre either. We are both great theatre goers and have been on numerous backstage tours so didn't feel the urge to do so. Next we headed to Castle Sforza. Unfortunately the facade was covered in scaffolding. We greatly enjoyed the Museum of Ancient Art and had Michelangelo's last Pieta all to ourselves. Afterward we wandered around the Parco Sempione. In the evening we headed out to Leonardo's horse. On the way I made sure I knew exactly how to get to Santa Maria della Vittoria as we had tickets for the Last Supper early the next morning. While we were trying to figure out where to get off the tram for the horse we met a guy from Brazil and a girl from Canada. They were heading out to the Soccer Stadium which is near the horse so we joined up with them and all went together. The guy was very helpful since Portuguese is rather close to Italian. Unfortunately we were too late for the guy to get into the Stadium. We did get to see the horse though.
Posted by
OP
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
304 posts
The next morning we we checked out of our hotel and left our bags there while we went to see the last supper. While we were waiting for our time we watched lots of kids heading to school. The experience was fantastic. The time limit was easier than the Scrovegni Chapel since there is only one thing to look at. The rest of the group with us were a Japanese tour. After the Last Supper we still had several hours before our train to Florence. We decided to go to the Monumental Cemetery but there was an issue with the trams. So we picked up our luggage and headed for the train station.