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
(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!
