Up we got at 8AM for our date with Da
Vinci… there’s something about having to be somewhere before 9AM that puts me
in absolute frenzy. And this morning was no different. We hurriedly got ready
and made our way to Santa Maria della Grazie to admire Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. No pictures were
allowed in the refectory itself, but I delighted in taking photographs of the
convent. Despite the grey and dreary weather, and the underwhelming viewing
set-up, I was in a good mood knowing that I had one more thing checked off of
the bucket list!
The rain started up and so we sought refuge
at the Café Le Grazie for some
cappuccinos and brioche! We walked into an absolutely PACKED coffeeshop filled
with locals in their Sunday Best necking down espressos and chowing down on
delicious pastries before Sunday Mass across the road. We ordered a pistachio
croissant and a Nutella-filled pastry – both absolutely divine!
We ventured out once more into the rain,
this time to visit the Castello Sforzesco, the former seat and residence of the
Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe. Situated in the city’s Parco Sempione, the
castle is incredibly massive and after the underwhelming Last Supper experience, I was pleasantly surprised at this
overwhelming structure. Kind of lost as to where we were supposed to go (slash
do) at the castle, we wandered around until we stumbled upon an entrance to one
of the castle’s many museums.
Luckily the museum we found was The Museum
of Ancient Art, which was FULL of interesting sculptures, armory, tapestries
and other incredible monuments.
Madonna
and Child, c.1310-1320, Maestro Campionese, found
at the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan in 2004
Tomb
of Bernabo Visconti, c. 14th Century,
from the church of San Giovanni in Conca
Fragment
with dragons and serpents, c. end of the 12th
century
Banner
of the city of Milan with the figure of the Patro Saint Ambrogio, 1565-1566, by the architect Giuseppe Meda
Weapons and defensive armory of the sixteenth
century
Armor
range, end of the 16th century, Gifted
by Baron Confalonieri
After exhausting ourselves with ancient
artefacts we decided to head over the the Triennale di Milano where we viewed the 'Benzine' show. The exhibition was about innovation and
creativity. Heavy with video works, it was a huge shame that neither of us
understood Italian, as most of the works were directed in Italian. Of course
there were some works that transcended such language barriers…
Tim Rollins, The
Metamorphosen (After R. Strauss), 2008, ink,
shellac, xerography, rag paper on canvas, 9 parts, 21.5x29.7cm each
Tim Rollins, De Immem
(After Giordano Bruno), 2010/2011, Aluminum, ashes
of books, acrylic on book pages glued on canvas, 183x183cm
Feeling hungry we set out to the Brera in
search of some lunch. Seeing as it would be our last lunch we decided to
indulge in some pasta. Settling into our seats at the cosy and absolutely
charming L’Osteria di Brera, we
gorged on the crusty table bread served with the most delicious balsamic syrup
(I am usually not a balsamic fan). We ordered some zucchini flowers to share,
which went down an absolute treat! And while my sister had the tagliatelle con
vongole, I went for the schiarelli con fruits de mer – both absolutely
delicious! And perfect our cold and wet day in Milan.
After our super indulgent meal, we decided
to head back to the MonteNapo in search of some more indulgence before heading
back for our date with the spa. The rain was absolutely relentless, so once
again we sought refuge in coffees – this time macchiatos at the Caffe Armani. After what seemed like an
exhausting afternoon of marching around the Brera district we treated ourselves
to a giant bowl of Tiramisu – when in Italy…
