SO, I just have to say that this last week was exhausting because of midterms. During the week we literally did nothing but schoolwork. Which is why I am starting my blog on Thursday. haha Basically Monday-Thursday morning was all work, no play, but that made us very excited for the weekend. First stop, Milan, Italy! :)
Thursday-
After giving our midterm presentation (which went ok I guess, I can never decide) we headed to the airport to fly to Milan. We were a little rushed at first to make our train, but we made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare. One of the first times this semester. haha
The first night in Milan was a little rocky and we didn't have the greatest time. But long story short it took us 4 hours to get to our hotel (in the rain, and a few trains and buses) but we finally got there and enjoyed some awesome pizza down the street.
Friday- We woke up early and spent all day in Milan. I have to say we got a lot better impression on the second day because it was sunny and a lot of the old part of the city was beautiful. We started in the area of the cathedral just walking around to see what we could find. That area has the main square of Milan along with a large outdoor shopping area of all the high end designers.
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| Entrance to outdoor shopping area |
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| Inside the shopping area |
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| Steel and glass roof with painted frescos at the top |
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| Smaller square with interesting sculpture |
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| Tomb of a saint from the 1500s |
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| HUGE stained glass windows in the ambulatory |
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| Prayer candles inside the cathedral |
After seeing the Cathedral area, we took the metro to another main site in the city called the Sforza Castle. It was huge! Plus, the park behind it was beautiful.
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| Sforza Castle |
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| Corner tower and moat |
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| Inside the castle walls |
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| More of the moat from the back |
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| Public park |
After that we attempted to visit (first attempt) the Last Supper painting. We were unaware that you had to have an appointment and they were all sold out that day so we ended up just seeing the church that was attached to the Last Supper museum. This is what we saw on the way there, when we were there, and on the way back.
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| Plaza Cadorna |
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| Interesting sculpture in Plaza Cadorna |
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| Church of the Santa Maria del Grazie with the Last Supper Museum on the left |
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| Back of the church |
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| Interior of the church |
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| There were frescos painted on almost every wall |
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| Walking back we found this in the courtyard of a nearby residence...Ferrari! |
After seeing most of what we wanted to see in Milan we headed to Milano Centrale train station to catch our train to Venice! The train station was actually pretty cool as well...
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| Milano Centrale train station (front) |
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| Interior of the station |
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| Train platforms |
The next day was spent in Venezia (Venice), and all I have to say is WOW. Venice is so cool, I didn't want to leave! We were there the first weekend of Carnivale, so there were people dressed up everywhere. There was also an opening event with a fountain of wine. It was awesome to say the least. We mostly just wandered through the narrow streets and waterways, but we also saw the inside of the cathedral.
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| Canal Grande with Calatrava bridge on the left |
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| Calatrava bridge...his work is everywhere! |
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| Street vendors were everywhere |
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| Random side canal, complete with gondola |
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| Another random canal, so many colors |
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| Canal Grande |
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| Some of the masks on sale |
After walking through much of the city, we finally made it to one of the most famous sites in Venice, Piazza San Marco. It was really spectacular, so much to see. We also went inside the cathedral, which was also really cool.
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| Basilica San Marco |
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| Piazza San Marco |
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| Doge's Palace |
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| View of the Campanile (tower) on the left |
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| View along the waterfront |
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| Ceiling of main entry room to the basilica |
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| The nave |
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| The crossing |
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| Sculptures of marble over the altar |
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| Occasionally the Piazza floods, luckily, when we we there, there was only standing water in and around the church |
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| Another random street, they were all so cool haha |
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| Canal Grande- So many wooden posts |
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| Gondolas on Canal Grande |
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| Canal Grande again |
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| Ferrari store |
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| Setting up for Carnevale! |
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| Public space along the water way at sunset |
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| Statue in the sunset |
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| Just a small sample of the costumes at the opening event, sorry it is a little blurry (note the lady with a fruit basket on her head) |
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| Waiting for the wine toast... |
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| Hard to see, but this is a view of the wine flowing in the fountain |
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| Piazza San Marco at night |
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| Canopies of lights were hung over some of the streets |
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| Venice had so many neighborhood churches throughout the city, this is one of them |
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| Last picture in Venice, night scene over the grand canal |
On Sunday we woke up early to get to Milan, because we had made reservations at the Last Supper museum (Attempt 2). After rushing to get to the museum, we found out that we had made reservations at the wrong museum and, therefore, would not be able to see it. We were all bummed, but maybe we will be able to go back someday...
All in all, Venice was one of my favorite cities so far, it was so awesome. Obviously the canals make it unique, but that, combined with the culture and food, truly make it one of a kind!
Sorry this post is so late, but I was having trouble uploading photos...this next weekend, I will be going to Bilbao to see Frank Gehry's Guggenheim. This is one thing that I have wanted to see while I am here so I am really excited! Hope everyone had a great week. :)
Until next time...
Un abrazo,
Seth
