DaVinci, Dior, & L'Opera

 we hadn't, exactly, picked our airbnb location

due to the proximity of this mural,

but it ended up being a 5-minute walk -

making us quickly feel a wee bit

like locals :)

Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper

(Il Cenacolo)

the mural was painted

by Leonardo da Vinci

between 1495 - 1498

on a wall of the refectory (dining hall)

of the convent adjoining a church,

Santa Maria delle Grazie

Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan at the time,

was Leonardo's patron

& commissioned Leonardo to paint

the mural during renovations of the church.

there is, actually,

little of the original mural 

that remains, unfortunately.

(what you see is primarily restoration)

Leonardo, due to a somewhat artistic approach

to work, used materials that could

be constantly amended, even months later -

materials which, conversely,

just don't hold up to the passage of years...

including a period of time when

the mural was exposed to the elements

due to bombing during WW2

on the opposite wall

of the refectory is a mural

of Christ's crucifixion

by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano

to which Leonardo added figures

of the powerful Sforza family

the tour of the mural & some related materials

ran like clockwork, with one tour

after another setting off through

the building you saw in my first photo.

along the tour route, the doors

were set - it appeared -

to automatically open at

the designated time for one group

to leave a space & another to enter,

so there was absolutely

no dawdling or sidebars!

(in fact, when one person on our tour

asked a somewhat off-topic question,

our tour guide answered it

but then prefaced her next monologue

with the caveat that she was now

going to run out of time and would be

unable to provide all of the content

we might have otherwise been offered!

as you can imagine,

no one asked another question.)

our tour, in English

(which was the catch-all tour

for anyone who didn't speak Italian),

was led by the aforementioned

and incredibly ardent

da Vinci aficionado

who imparted many interesting

tidbits about the expressions and gestures

you see in Jesus and the Disciples,

such as gazes that meet or don't meet

and the position of hands.

Jesus' right cheek is turned towards the viewer

& located at the vanishing point

for the entire scene.

here's a view of the outside of the refectory -

the two tall (darkened) windows look into the wall

on which The Last Supper is painted

& here's our passionate tour guide,

who was delighted to answer many questions

after the tour was completed

& we were outside in the courtyard :)

after the tour, we - of course -

went into Santa Maria delle Grazie,

the church attached to the convent

it became interesting to note

how our trip highlights centered

around religious art and buildings,

moving from mosques to, now, cathedrals.

but that is where wealth & beauty lay,

i suppose. and also

what has been preserved

(and fought over,

in some cases).

what became, for me, a delight

was the scent of incense

as we came through the

doors of each Catholic church.

i never could find a sure source,

so perhaps it simply lingered

after mass, when it is dispersed

at the altar through great, swinging arcs

of the censer, the smoky incense

dissipating throughout the nave.

we spent a lot of time

looking UP on this trip!

in Milan, we often saw these

snake-like designs

(or possibly rays of the sun) -

but i believe they referenced

the Sforza family's crest,

which was a coiled snake!

you just simply

can't truly absorb it all -

there is just

so.much.ART!

we are not Catholic,

so i didn't light candles -

but i thoroughly enjoyed

the ambience created by them

i loved all the side chapels

in these churches -

each one unique

Santa Maria delle Grazie

so beautiful!

& don't forget

to look UP!

it's pretty on the outside, too!

it was so interesting to be in these spaces

after having been in Istanbul's mosques

(and the mosques that had originally been churches)

we were doing the La Scala

ticket dance again

for opera tonight,

so it's possible that we

- at this point -

nabbed our Important Numbers

(and got on the Important List)

prior to visiting the

absolutely

jaw-dropping

Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore

we ended up visiting this church

again (and maybe again)...

it was simply

STUNNING

very unassuming from the outside,

every surface inside

is exquisitely covered

with beautiful murals

this is the "hall of nuns,"

from where the nuns of the convent

watched the mass

behind the metal grate divider

you can see at the bottom

of the photo (above)

though the site was a Benedictine Monastery

in the 8th-9th century,

the church was completely rebuilt in 1503

through the patronage of Ippolita Sforza

i was interested in this

quite old lock box...

perhaps where a relic

was kept?

oh, the beauty of

ultramarine,

originally produced by

crushing lapis lazuli

BLUE.BLUE.BLUE

also, i love

finding the more hidden art

in quiet little corners

by now, we had our

Important Numbers

and were on the Important List...

so we decided to do some

grocery shopping & have a

bit of a rest time back at our place

grocery shopping in other countries

is fun, mostly to covertly watch

the regulars and see what

they're putting in their carts -

but, also, to put some quality

Italian pasta, sauce, & cheese

in our own cart!

(we actually had a kitchen

in our airbnb and planned

to eat in a little bit)

this was a small Carrefour Express

not too far from our place.

it's describe as a "convenience store"

but felt more like an upscale grocery to me.

~ ~ ~

soon, we were headed back out

(not much rest on this vacation!)

to claim our ten-dollar tickets

at La Scala for the evening's

performance of Boris Gudonov!

as before, there's a couple of hours

between when you get your tickets

and when you need to be in your seat -

just enough time for a quick

aperitivo nearby & a bit of a stroll,

so that's what we did!

we selected a sparkly place

near La Scala called

Cafe' Trussardi,

sharing a small plate of delectable items

and enjoying our drinks

then we took a stroll

towards the Duomo,

passing again the gorgeous

Dior chandelier tree,

where, on another day,

there was a line of people

eager for a spritz of Dior perfume

we walked through the

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II,

admiring the gorgeous

Swarovski Crystal tree

in the center

every corner featured

luxury retail stores - oh, my!

but, to me, even more stunning

was emerging from the Galleria

to THIS...

the Duomo di Milano

i mean, seriously...

have you ever seen something

so stupendous? i don't think i have!

oh, and another crystal tree!

(this time from Versace, i believe)

gah! i mean, just look

at those windows!

gorgeous!

but it was time to wander back

towards La Scala

& take our seats...

through the side door,

with the velvet-caped doormen

this time, we'd gotten seats in the second gallery

(the highest spot in the theatre)

so we could be right in the center

&, hopefully, see the stage

decently

(which was the case, as long as

we perched on the edge of

our closed seat or stood)

Boris Gudonov might not have been

on our opera radar,

but it was an interesting plot

with great sets and costumes

&, as operas are want to go,

a fairly bloody & tragic outcome

for most involved

most of the time, i wasn't at all sure

what was going on,

but the sets were so interesting!

& the opera singers were superb!

such as Ildar Abdrazakov,

who sang the part of Boris Godunov.

& you can applaud with vigor

regardless of whether you

understood a word!

what a stellar day!

culture hop

 we were both sad

to leave Istanbul.

a week in the city

gave us just enough time

to see and enjoy the "big" sites -

and start to feel a smidge

like ex-pats rather than only tourists.

had we stayed longer,

we would have enjoyed some trips

from Istanbul out to some smaller towns -

next time!

so, we said good-bye to the Tophane neighborhood,

which was a great base for our time

in this amazing city

we left behind our multiple

empty water bottles

took the e-train

(and underground funicular!)

back to Taksim Square

& caught the bus

(a rather cushy one,

with on-board vending machines!)

back to the airport

(where we spent our last

Turkish lira on an

Hagia Sophia magnet -

not on these deadly items^^^)

& zoomed our way west

to Milan!

(it's really amazing how far east

Turkey lies in comparison to

Western Europe)

we zipped into the city

via a lovely train

(and gained the mistaken perception

that they were frequently quite empty)

then met up with our AirBnB host

at our home-away-from-home

in a grand old building

on Via Aurelio Saffi

in Zona Magenta!

(there was an elevator -

and we were on the top floor,

so thank goodness!)

funny story...i had been communicating

with our hostess via WhatsApp,

and it quickly became clear that we both

assumed the other was fluent

in our native language (not!)

as the App must've automatically

translated our messages

(and did a superb job,

as i had no idea

she wasn't typing the message

in English!).

she blithely toured us through

the apartment in rapid Italian

as i (mostly) managed to understand her

(and what i didn't understand,

hubby did as he was focused

on her gestures while i attempted

to use Spanish to decipher what she said)

when she departed,

we had to pinch ourselves -

we had gone from a teeny-tiny efficiency

to a posh apartment with a chandelier

in the bathroom!

(i took a video,

but it is way too long

to upload here -

just take my word for it,

the place was beautiful!

....and appropriately & liberally

featured the color magenta!)

ever the travel over-achievers,

we didn't rest long but

- instead -

headed into the city

(by foot, of course!)

we became incredibly familiar

with this route

& variations on it.

isn't it lovely?

we were now in the land of Christmas

and thoroughly enjoyed the lights and music

we generally enjoyed fairly mild weather

(while back in NC there were power outages

due to incredibly frigid temperatures),

and the fruit and flower vendors

were in full force!

our destination was La Scala!

&, specifically, figuring out how

to get the cheap-o ten dollar tickets

released the night of each performance!

back story: these tickets originated

in 1891 to provide an opportunity

for the 'regular folk' to attend performances.

most references online to these "loggionisti"

describe quite zealous opera fans

not afraid to boo a singer off the stage.

that was not our experience;

however, it is a more crowded location

(than the expensive boxes and floor seats)

as it is difficult to see the stage

unless you are in the first row or two,

resulting in many loggionisti

enjoying the entire performance

while standing or perched at their seat,

against a column, or

in the aisle!

it was a wee bit challenging

figuring out the ticket registration,

but we did manage to do so

(with the help of some folks in line

who spoke English and were

incredibly gregarious, unlike

the La Scala employee who was

decidedly jaded & unhelpful).

we ended up sitting next to one of the helpful people,

an Italian man, who eventually revealed

he was laid off from an energy-related job post

in Germany due to the war in Ukraine.

the other person who helped us

was an American flight attendant

who seemed to be on layover

& forgoing rest for the experience

of La Scala!

basically, here's how you get cheap tickets:

you arrive early afternoon

(which we had...these photos are from

our return visit later in the day)

to claim your "line number"

(you are not given anything to prove this number)

by gathering along the side of the building

where sits a lone folding chair.

with much anticipation from

those in line, soon arrives

a trio of volunteers

who examine your registration number,

place your name on the Important List,

and tell you your Important Number!

for this performance

(the symphony/choral concert),

one volunteer sweetly handed out

wrapped Christmas chocolates - yum!

then you return late afternoon

to actually claim your tickets

by recreating the line order

along the side of the theatre

(people were very polite & honest)

& again waiting for the volunteers

to arrive with the Important List

of Important Numbers.

 once the volunteer trio arrives,

they add folks to the Important List

who decided to wait for this line

(rather than the earlier line),

then proceed to call out in Italian

the Important Numbers

(and your name - so listen carefully!)

and we all line up again

in order of our Important Number!

at this point, you are taken

by one of the volunteers

in very strict line order

(& by groups of about fifteen)

to the ticket office

and procure your cheap-o tix!

by now, you are ready

for an aperitivo

(an early, quick one),

& this evening, we went

to Chinese Box

on the recommendation of

the helpful Italian in line with us

(though it turned out to be

a bit of a hike - or our legs

were shorter than his -

so our walk back to La Scala

was a speedy one!)

then you return (again!)

to actually gain admittance

for the performance!

we cheap-o ticket holders

enter through the side door

& ascend to our pigeon-roost seats

through a double-door

(greeted by velvet-caped young men)

to a plain (but red-carpeted!) stairwell

featuring old & beautiful posters

of prior performances

just look at the view!

this theatre was partially reconstructed

after WWII due to extensive bombing damage

that caused the roof to cave in

& shredded many of the seating boxes

(the façade survived & is original, however!)

such a beautiful theatre!

the concert this evening

was billed as a Concerto di Natale

(a Christmas Concert)

which might lead one to surmise

it would be full of "Christmas" music...

but - no - it was a concert that

simply occurs in December

and features superb

orchestral & vocal music

regardless of the time of year

unlike our entrance

up the plain side stairwell,

we of the "loggione" seating

were permitted to leave

via the main entrance -

so we took the opportunity to

poke our heads into the fancy boxes

on the lower levels

we exited through the front lobby,

which resembled a ballroom

(& was equally as noisy)

with lobby activities overseen

by pages in velvet attire

we departed out the front

alongside the more glamorous attendees

to a beautiful view of Piazza Belgioioso

& a chandelier Christmas tree

(which we later discovered

was a Dior advertisement)

our stroll back to Zona Magenta

took us down a street festooned

in lighted ornaments

over the days in Milan,

it was fun to see the different 

decorative light themes

on the streets,

and i came to recognize the street

by the lights first

rather than the buildings on them

we had, actually, been prepared

for Milan to be a somewhat gray, modern city

with little "old" left after WW2 destruction.

we, honestly, weren't sure if we'd picked

a city we would enjoy exploring.

but - oh, my - Milan proved us wrong!

we had an amazing time over the next days!