DAY2

I somehow overslept this morning but managed to shower and grab some coffee prior to heading to my first walking tour of the trip with Walkabout Milan. I took the metro to the Duomo, where I met up with our guide, Marco, and the rest of the folks taking the tour. As is usual in Europe, the public transport in Milan is great. The metro and the tram system are available for 24 hours for a mere 2 euro, if the ticket is purchased from the hotel.

There are about 25 people on the walking tour but as soon as I met Marco, any concerns about the group being too big were abandoned. To say Marco is enthusiastic and passionate is an understatement. Remember Roberto Benigni's acceptance speech at the Oscar's when he won Best Actor for "Life is Beautiful"? Well, that's pretty much the level of enthusiasm and expression that Marco exudes. Full of energy, loud enough to hear and easily discernable English. Right from the start I anticipated that the tour would be a winner and it was.

In about 3.5 hours, Marco walked us to pretty much all the major sights of Milan, excluding The Last Supper (because what's there to see without a ticket?) and the Sforza Castle but he mentioned them both during the tour. We saw the Duomo, Galleria, a few churches and chapels- including one that was an interesting crypt, the first hospital in Europe, and a modern scupture of questionable taste along with some things I've likely forgotten. Marco gave a thorough explanation of the history of everything and included some excellent stories along the way. The tour was everything I could have asked for and in now way was it a mere pointing out of restaurants and shopping opportunities. When asked, he did mention a pizza place that supposedly is great but I didn't have a chance to go.

After the tour, I headed to my 3:30 reserved viewing and tour of the Last Supper. The Last Supper has to be one of the hardest "gets" in Italian tourist sights. You can only see it by way of a reserved ticket or by going with a tour group. If you go with the tour group method, it also means you are going to have to go on a tour of the city with them, which I didn't want to be stuck doing all day. So I decided to try and get a reserved ticket, which meant I needed to be online at 9am Italy time (3am EST) the day they made the tickets available for my desired time. If you aren't online and quick with the click of your mouse, you are SOL because the local tour companies are online buying all the available tickets as fast as they can and within minutes they are soldout. So I got online and managed to snag a ticket.

I thought I was through all the Last Supper hurdles at that point but I was wrong. For a 3:30 reservation, you are required to pick up your tickets at 3:00. So I left downtown around 2:15 and caught the metro to the closest stop to the Last Supper and began walking in the supposed direction of the church. Along the way I attempted to ask directions and no one in Milan seemed to know what I was talking about (even when giving the name Cencalo Vincenza and referencing Leonardo Da Vinci). Occasionally I would come across someone who would pause and think and would send me in a direction, only for the next person to send be in a different direction. This went on for quite a bit and FINALLY I found the church and ticket office at about 3:26 and thankfully they still let me in for my appointed time but just BARELY. I'm not sure which required more perseverance, obtaining the ticket or finding the destination. It was astounding to me how few locals knew where the church was located. I meant it's like being at DIsney World and not finding someone who can point you in the direction of CInderella's Castle or a professional ball stadium in a big city. It simply

Because the Last Supper is in such a fragile state and they have already had to restore it, they make everyone go into this special holding area to dehumidify and then they let you in to view the masterpiece for a whopping 15 minutes. I did not bother to look at my watch but I can tell you it was seemingly the fastest 15 minutes of my life.

The Last Supper is pretty amazing and, if you had time to actually study it and take it all in, it would be even more amazing. Surprisingly, they allow you to take photographs, as long as you refrain from using a flash. Given the fragile state of this work of art, this was really surprising.

Here's a little insight to the insanity of trying to get things accomplished in Italy... I have a friend who will be joining me midway through my trip and, understandably, she would like to see The Last Supper, so after my viewing, I returned to the ticket office to try and purchase a ticket for her. At the TICKET OFFICE they informed me I could not buy a ticket there but rather had to call the office to buy a ticket or buy one online. I attempted to argue the point but they were unrelenting, so there you have it. You can pick up a ticket at the ticket office but you cannot buy one there.

After the Last Supper I headed over to the Sforza Castle before it closed. After 4:00 entry is free. This is where Michelangelo's final work, The Pieta, is located and it's all I really wanted to see, so I headed directly to that room. When I tried to enter the guard informed me I needed a ticket. I pointed out that it was now free entry and he said I know but you need a ticket. Again, Italian logic. So I hurredly walked across the castle grounds, obtained one of the tickets that were being handed out freely, and walked back to the Pieta room and handed the guard the ticket. Crazy.

It snowed steadily all day and is freezing here. Glad I have plenty of layers! Every now and then, it makes sense to bring plenty of clothes.Read more