CK Goes to Italy – Milan (Milano)

Milan, the financial centre of Italy, is also the heart of the northern regions. With its fame drawn from the hottest and hippiest designer fashion, this vibrant city is also synonymous with clubbing and partying.

It became my convenient base for exploring northern Italy as it is also the hub of transportation here. On the 23^rd of May, 2006, I left Florence for Milan. The Eurostar train left the Stazione di Santa Maria Novella of Florence at 9:14 a.m. and it was expected to arrive Milan at 12:14 p.m. The train schedules in Europe is so precise that the train arrived at the Milano Centrale Stazione just two minutes later than its estimated time of arrival.

I chose Hotel San Carlo over other hotels for its convenient location near the central train station, and of course, of its reasonable rate. I only need to walk across a square in front of the train station to get myself checked-in.

After I had unloaded my backpack at the hotel and refreshed with a hot shower, I was ready to hit on the streets of Milan! Since it was already 1:30 p.m., I decided to head straight on to Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, expecting to see Leornado da Vinci's intriguing Last Supper.

When I went to the ticket counter of Cenacolo Vinciano, the refectory adjoining the church, I was so happy that there was no queue and no crowd at all! I thought I was lucky until the attendance told me that the ticket had been all pre-booked until end of June. If I want to see it, I need to stay in Milan for another one and a half month before I could enter the refectory with a ticket!

Well, I told the attendance at the ticket counter that there might be one or two persons who pre-booked the ticket that would not turn up, hoping that she could resale the ticket to me. However, she told me very firmly that the tickets sold out cannot be resold! Probably I had no luck, so I finally accepted the fact that I need to go to Milan some other time to see this controversial work by da Vinci. There is a poster print of the Last Supper with descriptions just before the grill-guarded entrance to the refectory, so I took a while to admire the print and read through the descriptions, imagining I was looking at the real thing before I left the vicinity of the church with disappointment.

However, the disappointment did not stop me from exploring the other aspects of Milan, so I took a Metro train to go to the Quadrilatero d'Oro (Golden Quad) lined with streets full of flagship stores of the internationally renowned brands.

Can you spell 'Salvatore Ferragamo' with your eyes closed? I'm sure the bimbos wouldn't fail their dictation if the teachers in schools tested them on brand names. Haha!

Have you ever seen a pram which costs more than a thousand Euro? This is one of them! I would like to pimp a ride if someone is getting this for their precious offspring. :-p

These are my dream watches, O-ME-GA! Ω

Can you tell what store this is? Look harder! Look harder! There are three spots there where you can tell.

I have not seen this brand in Malaysia, or is it just that I'm so uninformed about fashion. Hehe! Do let me know if you know where it is in Malaysia.

It's got fashion for men too.

There are even bicycles for the brand conscious. You can say out loud: "I can ride on my Trussardi, while you can only wear or carry yours!"

Do I need a pair of new shoes? Can I wear these shoes if I don't go to church?

OK! Another 'can you spot the brand?' thingy. There is no prize, though.

This is definitely not by Faye Wong!

I'm sure any lady won't mind to have breakfast here everyday. Is there anyone of you who would like to go with me?

How about calling Roberto for a tailor-made outfit for your ball tonight?

Do you know how to pronounce this? Is it 'bor-bones' or 'bor-bo-nay-say?'

Is this Canal, Channel or Chanel?

As a centre for the hottest and hippiest fashion, how could the over-sized billboards be missed? Passing through this gigantic billboard marked the end of my first day in Milan.

Early in the morning of 24th May, 2006, I took the train on Metro Line 3 from Milano Centrale station to the Duomo station. Riding up the escalator of the Duomo station brought me to the Piazza del Duomo.

At the eastern end of the square is the fourth largest cathedral in the world, the Cattedrale (Cathedral). The Cattedrale has 135 spires and 3200 statues on its roof and facades. I started counting, one, two, three, four... errr... one, two, three, four... arrrh, forget it, just take a picture.

During the time of my visit, the front facade of the Cattedrale was under restoration.

The spires and statues are crammed on the roof and studded on the facades.

After circling around the Cattedrale, I went up to the roof to have a closer look at the spires and statues.

Sometimes I peeped through the openings of the perimeter wall to look at the statues.

I was proud to have reached the top of the roof, although the steps were not that hard to climb, just about over 160 steps.

If I have blocked some of the features in the photo earlier, please take a look at this one. :-) I waited for almost an hour for the ever-flowing crowd of tour groups to dismiss before I can take this shot with less people blocking the scene.

This is a closer look at the 108-m tall central spire capped by the copper statue of the Madonnina (our little Madonna).

Before I left the roof, I took a shot from the back of the front facade. I don't have to worry about the crowd this time as they were all overshadowed by the silhouettes of the spires, huh!

After I have walked down the steps from the roof, I entered the Cattedrale trough the brass door at the front.

There are old paintings along the aisle.

There is a showcase of stained-glass windows inside the Cattedrale. It was quite hard to get a shot which is not blurry, though.

The northern end of Piazza del Duomo is occupied by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuale II with the layout of a cruciform.

The walkways are lit by natural lighting through the glass-covered dome and shells.

When I walked further north through Galleria Vittorio Emanuale II, I came to Piazza della Scala, where the statue of Leornado da Vinci stands proudly at one corner of the square.

Palazzo Reale occupies the southern end of Piazza del Duomo. There was a photo exhibition going on then.

That's all I have to show you on Milan, as I was venturing out to places around Milan for the other days of stay.

If you would like to read my other posts on Italy, these are the links:

• CK Goes to Italy – Rome (Roma)
• CK Goes to Italy – Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano)
• CK Goes to Italy – Florence (Firenze)
• CK Goes to Italy – Fiesole
• CK Goes to Italy – Pisa
• CK Goes to Italy – Siena
• CK Goes to Italy – Milan (Milano)
• CK Goes to Italy – Verona
• CK Goes to Italy – Genoa (Genova)
• CK Goes to Italy – Cremona
• CK Goes to Italy – Como (Lago di Como)
• CK Goes to Italy – Venice (Venezia)
• CK Goes to Italy – Naples (Napoli)
• CK Goes to Italy – Pompeii (Pompei)
• CK Goes to Italy – Sorrento
• CK Goes to Italy – Capri
• CK Goes to Italy – Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana)
• CK Goes to Italy – Amalfi
• The Return of CK from Italy

CK Goes to Italy – Siena

Siena is a medieval town about 50 km south of Florence. The best way to get there from Florence is by taking the SITA buses which leave for Siena every half-hour. On the 21^st of May, 2006, I boarded one of these buses at the SITA Bus Station near to Stazione di Santa Maria Novella at 9:10 a.m. and I was on my way to Siena.

About one-and-a-quarter hour later, I was already at the bus terminal of Siena, Piazza Gramsci, ready to explore this interesting town built on hills and valleys.

In order to get to the town centre, I had to past through the narrow streets with medieval buildings. Even the street lights are different from the ordinary.

The town is lined with swirling streets that is quite a labyrinth even with a map in hand.

Even if I was a bit lost and confused with the street layout sometimes, I enjoyed every moment of discovering nice buildings at all corners.

Sometimes I came across some small squares where the buildings are occupied by shops selling souvenirs.

I was about to pass through another swirling street again to get to the town centre.

While manoeuvring myself through the streets, I found some street performers along the way. This one looks like he's going to slay a dragon, but could he?

The first main squares that I have visited is this Piazza del Duomo. The magnificent Gothic cathedral Duomo with its soaring bell tower occupies the centre of the square.

The front facade of the Duomo was under restoration during the time of my visit, so I could only imagine the look through the painted safety net.

The bell tower was built with intermittent white and green marbles, making its look a resemblance of our Nyonya 'Kueh Salat.' If they had used more colours, then it'll look like the 'Kuih Lapis Rainbow!'

Can any of the Nyonya food specialist make a 'Kueh Salat' like this? The longer I stare at it, the more food like it is, haha!

OK! 'Kueh Salat' and 'Kueh Lapis Rainbow' aside. Let us take a look inside the Duomo. This is the main dome of the cathedral with stained-glass windows.

The columns of the cathedral are lined with intermittent white and black marbles. Another type of 'Kueh Salat' again?

I aimed my camera at higher viewpoint to get the dome in the view with the columns with black and white marbles.

When I pointed my camera to a lower viewpoint, I saw this marvelous floor painting made of multi-coloured marbles.

Thank goodness that they only used the multi-coloured marbles to decorate the floor and not the bell tower. It would have turned into a 'Kuih Lapis Rainbow' if they did, haha!

The floor of the Duomo is filled with these sprawling paintings. Imagine that the people in the old days were stepping on these artwork!

Yet, there are more of them to be found on the floor.

After looking at something that looks like 'Kueh Salat,' my stomach started to grouch for food. Let me try this restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet travel guide, Osteria da Cice.

The restaurant was full of patrons, so it gotta be good.

I ordered a green salad and a plate of fettuccine (ribbon pasta) cooked in tomato paste and wild boar meat.

A closer look at the fettuccine could cause a non-stop salivating. I gotta tuck in. The Lonely Planet travel guide has never failed on me!

After a satisfactory lunch, I continued on exploring Siena. I went to the next main square of Siena, the Piazza del Campo. Piazza del Campo is a sloping square with Palazzo Comunale at its lowest point.

The beautiful Palazzo Comunale is also known as Palazzo Pubblico, or town hall, with the bell tower soaring high above it.

This is where I entered Piazza del Campo where the Palazzo Comunale stands proudly at one end of the square.

Right opposite Palazzo Comunale is this Fonte Gaia (Gay Fountain) located at the highest point of the slanting Piazza del Campo.

The 15-th century sculpture of the Fonte Gaia has become the resting place for pigeons swarming Piazza del Campo.

Some other sculptures of the fountain are also the convenient 'parking' place for the pigeons.

Leaving Piazza del Campo, I circled around the city walls to the viewpoint where I could have a panoramic view of the town centre of Siena. The soaring bell tower of Palazzo Comunale can be seen from almost everywhere around the city walls.

The 'Kuih Salat' can also be seen very clearly from almost everywhere.

With the buildings built on hills and valleys, they formed a very nice landscape for me to keep on snapping.

With another hour to spare before the bus leave for Florence, I decided to roam around the supermarket to see if I could spot some interesting stuff. The spread of Black Krim tomatoes first caught my eyes.

And these pink-shelled peas are new to me. Can anyone identify it for me?

How could an Italian supermarket be short of pasta?

At 5:40 p.m., I boarded the bus back to Florence. Along the way, I could see spectacular scenes of rolling hill countries of the Central Tuscany region rolling pass the bus windows. It was really a nice experience watching all these scenes in the comfort of an air-conditioned bus.

Somewhere near the SITA Bus Station in Florence, the bus passed through some retaining walls with wild bushes above.

Minutes later, I arrived at the bus station in Florence and took a slow walk back to the hotel.

If you would like to read my other posts on Italy, these are the links:

• CK Goes to Italy – Rome (Roma)
• CK Goes to Italy – Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano)
• CK Goes to Italy – Florence (Firenze)
• CK Goes to Italy – Fiesole
• CK Goes to Italy – Pisa
• CK Goes to Italy – Siena
• CK Goes to Italy – Milan (Milano)
• CK Goes to Italy – Verona
• CK Goes to Italy – Genoa (Genova)
• CK Goes to Italy – Cremona
• CK Goes to Italy – Como (Lago di Como)
• CK Goes to Italy – Venice (Venezia)
• CK Goes to Italy – Naples (Napoli)
• CK Goes to Italy – Pompeii (Pompei)
• CK Goes to Italy – Sorrento
• CK Goes to Italy – Capri
• CK Goes to Italy – Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana)
• CK Goes to Italy – Amalfi
• The Return of CK from Italy