Milan & Switzerland

Thursday 16 November

Our hotel stay was familiar and comfortable (Hotel Arizona) and Elton (hotel part-owner), very friendly.

He insisted on our next visit that we stay in one of his new apartments, situated close by and recently renovated. We very well will as it would offer a larger space and more comfortable layout whilst still in the area of Florence we like.

We took a taxi from the hotel to the railway station and had no problem locating our platform for our departure to Milan. Albeit, we did keep our eye on the electronic board for fear of the platform number changes but that didn't happen.

We arrived in Milan, absolutely stunning railway station! We had no sooner alighted from the train than we were met by "authorised" porter who offered to take our luggage, loaded the two large bags and one small bag on his trolley and manoeuvred us through the packed station, across the main area to a very large elevator. It could easily hold 3-4 passengers and their luggage. The elevator took us to ground level, correct side of the exit and queue of waiting taxis.

He ushered a free taxi, helped the taxi driver load our luggage, gratefully received our tip, as grateful we were of his service. The taxi took us to our booked hotel, Best Western Plus Hotel Felice Casati (Felice Casati, being the street name on which hotel is situated). It was a great chose of hotel, ideally situated to many eateries and retail shopping close by.

It was a great choice of hotel. Ideally situated, very welcoming staff and although our room wasn't ready, the concierge enquired if we would like to have lunch at Mamma Rose, Italian restaurant just around the corner, made the phone booking for us and we were not disappointed.

The restaurant was just fantastic, delightful ambience and equally fantastic food, a great choice.

We would eat there three times during our four night stay in Milan.

Our room was ready when we returned to the hotel and the room did not disappoint. It was sufficiently spacious for our stay and the staff happily provided an additional luggage stand so both our large bags were off the floor, saving our backs! They also provided additional tea bags and shampoo/conditioner on request. The room had a small balcony with french doors and although the balcony was small, it did enable us to set out and provided fresh air when we wanted despite the dropping temperature outside.

Friday 17 November

The breakfast was I think the best on our whole trip, both in layout and selection. It wasn't included in the tariff however that didn't deter us and we really enjoyed the experience.

Our first outing from the hotel would be to MBE to send home our second batch of "excess luggage". We located the store and called a taxi.

The office was very similar to the one in Orvieto, however, the experience was certainly not as smooth. Milan office insisted that "every item needs to be listed" with no "old" clothing as Australian customs would not allow entry of old clothing and the total must not exceed €140. The matter of "old clothing not entering Australia" is, of course, incorrect however we just wanted to be rid of this luggage to enable us to continue our journey so we compiled as best we could.

€290 cost seemed reasonable although more expensive than Orvieto office but the job was completed and I was reasonably confident our box would arrive home……indeed it did!

From MBE office we took another taxi on a reconnaissance mission, to locate the Information Centre, our starting point for our Swiss Alps Bernina Express Rail Tour to St.Moritz.

It was located in a piazza, with a cafe opposite which we checked out and sampled the coffee and cake. It would be ideal for our breakfast and very early start the next morning.

We walked a short distance from Info Centre through a pedestrian mall, Via Manfredo Camperio, a mall of beautiful architecture residential apartments, retail business (including exclusive boutiques) and many eateries. The only vehicle access to this mall area were emergency services and residents (Audi, Mercedes of course).

Saturday 18 November

It was a very early start, having to be at meeting point by 6:45am. We already had put on our thermal underwear and were taking our scarves, beanies and gloves for the expected cold.

We were at the cafe at 6am opening time and the coffee and croissants were great. Several others came in after we were seated and obviously were joining the tour. From their accents Phil said they were Spanish speaking and Germans.

There were two coaches, one for Spanish speakers and our, for English/German speaking.

Our tour leader was a very knowledgeable young woman who made the long coach trip interesting. The first early morning stop was for coffee/bathroom at a roadside restaurant/grille and was just after we left Milan and passed the exit for Lake Como. We passed by the north/west corner of Lake Como, near Menaggio, where we took our cooking class when we stayed at Bellagio.

Next stop was a visit to Bascillica near Tirano, then lunch before joining the Bernina Express Rail, the steepest train journey in the world.

We joined the train at 1pm, arrived in St.Moritz at 3pm. The journey was stunning, absolutely breathtaking. The carriages had full glass windows on both sides to enable maximum viewing and the windows were opened to enable great photography. No-one seemed to mind that by opening both sides of the coach it enabled the outside air to become the inside temperature….it was cold and colder as we climbed. Starting at altitude 441m above sea level at Tirano, in Italy to St.Moritz, in Switzerland, 1822m above sea level. The train enters Switzerland just 2km from the start.

There were several short stops, enabling children & kids@heart to jump off and romp in the snow or just for a photo shoot. Phillip alighted for the latter! The stop was very brief, only one short whistle, then the train went on. We both were grateful for our "winter gear", for without my gloves, taking photos out the window would have been impossible.

Our stay in St.Moritz, the playground of the rich and famous, was indeed too brief. Only one hour, sufficient though for us to grab a waiting taxi (younger tourists opted to walk to the city centre) and be dropped at a famous chocolate shop where we had afternoon tea, apple strudel and hot chocolate….uhm, uhm. We grabbed a taxi back to the station, our rendezvous for our coach which would take us back to Milan and drop off at Information Centre. We arrived back at 9pm, very weary however what a day!

Sunday 19 November

Today was our next tour, equally exciting, visit to Leonardo's Last Supper.

This wonderful tour almost didn't happen. Quite by accident I discovered that Last Supper was actually in Milan. I was having lunch only the week before we left Australia, with dear friend, Eloise Whipper and her boyfriend, Henry. Over lunch they wanted to know our itinerary and when I said Milan, Henry said he had just returned from Italy and did a one-day tour from Florence to Milan specifically to see Last Supper. I didn't even know that was where it was painted by Leonardo. I bought our "beat the queue tickets" online before we left him. We will be forever grateful to Henry!

The tour started at Duomo (la Nativita della Santa Maria) in Milan. Another knowledgeable young Milanese woman was our guide and she explained the long period of building the Duomo and the three different design elements, from Renaissance, Gothic and finally finished in 19th century. From Duomo we walked through Gallerie Vittore Emanuelle (build to honour Victor Emanuel after he unified Italy). Now at the centre of the Gallerie, are Louis Vitton, Verace, and Prada. Along it's beautiful corridor are other "expensive" outlets and restaurants/cafe. A great place for "window shopping".

Next stop was Castello Sforzesco (a fortress built by Sforza family). Along the way and covering more than three kilometres we passed the "old traditional" buildings and businesses of Milan.

Our final destination and arriving at our appointed "viewing" time, we were at Monastery Sant Maria delle Gazie (an old Benedictine Monastery). It is in the dining room that the fresco of the Last Supper was painted. It was painted in late 15th Century in what was the dining room of the monastery. During WWII it was extensively damaged, with roof the all walls, except the wall where Last Supper was painted and the opposite wall, on which Crucifixion was painted by unknown artist. Both walls remained standing, however for four years after the war, both remained unprotected, exposed to all weather, sun, wind, rain and snow. Four years after the war finally Milanese people undertook repairs and they were astonished to find Last Supper still intact.

The viewing is restricted to fifteen people and fifteen minutes only per group. You enter on one side, as electronic door opens, we entered and door closed behind us. There were two benches in the centre of the room for tourists to sit and view if they chose. It was a very emotional experience for me, I was overcome with tears when I saw it. I sat just looking and trying to stop the tears from falling. It was a very powerful experience. Our very experienced guide explained the "story", addressed some myths and gave the Italian version of the painting.

At the end of our fifteen minutes, there was an announcement over intercom, a door on the opposite side of the room opens and we quietly leave. I will never forget it. I have seen the Last Supper, the carving behind our high altar in our Cathedral has a much deeper meaning and I look for "clues" mentioned by our guide.

Clues:

When the fresco was painted in the dining room to the left of the painting at the time of painting there was a window.

Leonardo painted it with all but one face bathed in light. The one in "darkness", Judas.

The sometimes version that the figure on Jesus right was a woman, Mary Magdalene, however the guides adopted and reported documented version, is a young man was the model for Leonardo, angelic face, long fair hair (very normal in Leonardo's time), featured in other Leonardo's paintings, was the model for John, who the scriptures document as "young".

Later renovation to the dining room, a doorway was enlarged, where Jesus feet/table legs once were positioned. At the time, no-one thought anything of it!

Eateries:

We ate at lovely restaurants, Dutch restaurant where I had a great pig's trotter and Phil a pork wellington (similar to our beef wellington), and we managed to find, close by, a Sushi/Chinese restaurant where Phil ate sushi, his only sushi in the entire ten weeks away), and I had Italian style Chinese, very nice.

Monday 20 November

Our last tour, before we joined our train at 2pm, was to be Milan Food Walking Tour, however two nights before we received an email from our host to say the tour had to be cancelled.

We were very grateful as we were very exhausted and really could not have done "more eating" the justice that would have been expected. Sometimes things to happen for a reason!!

We arrived at the station for our departure to Lyon in plenty of time. The train was a very long one, and since we had booked first class compartment, that meant a very lengthy walk for full length of the platform. We managed to get our luggage up and then ourselves, located our seats, just as the train pulled out.

It was a five hour trip to Lyon but the time passed very quickly. The train food was certainly adequate and filling. We arrived in Lyon 7.30pm and the queue of waiting taxis offered our transported to our hotel.

Footnote:

We just love Milan. It is truly a beautiful city. Very easy to get around. Very welcoming of tourists and very stylish, as the name suggests…..and it's the home of The Last Supper, what more can I say?