Churches and Art: I Love Italy

The z is where the y is on this keyboard (the same on the keyboard of my Uncle Jim in Bern where I am updating this entry). Weird.... I started my day in Milan. I woke up and the guy who runs Amirai Hostel told me that breakfast starts at 8:30 am. I went to his room and woke him up to make me breakfast. I felt bad but he said 8:30 so that's when I showed up. There was tea, croissant, bread, and jam. He let me use his computer while I ate. I left the hostel with both my backpacks because I was heading straight to the train station and Swityerland when I finished sight seeing. It wasn't really raining but did drizzle a little bit throughout the day.

I started by riding the bus to the Duomo (picture 1). The guy told me "Take bus #54 to the Duomo. It should take 10-15 minutes." and that's all he said when I asked how to get there (he was still groggy). I found the bus and rode it for a while... There was no stop called Duomo. I finally realized after riding the bus for 40 minutes that I was probably passed it. Haha. So I got off the bus and took the same bus but back the other way. I got off at a stop where a bunch of people got off (my "follow the crowd" theory). It turned out I was only two blocks from the Duomo. Awesome. I walked through the fashion district and saw all the big names, Versace, Ralph Lauren, Dolce and Gabbana, etc (picture 2). The Duomo is really sweet. It has tons of spires with statues on top and all the needles. It reminded me of cathedral in Seville (that one had a lot of spires as well but no statues). There are over 3,000 statues in and on the cathedral!! Wow. It felt good to see a big Catholic Cathedral again. I had missed them when I was Greece. I guess the Greeks prefer small congregations and Catholics prefer big ones I hemmed and hawed and going on the roof but ended up deciding to do it (with both my backpacks no less). It wasn't that high up and I was glad I did it. The roof gave you great views over the town and of all the statued spires (picture 3). It rained a little up there but that didn't dampen my spirit. I walked over to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana next. This is the most famous museum in Milan. I saw Titian's Adoration of the Magi, Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit (the first and best Italian still life), Raphael's School of Athens, and Da Vinci's Portrait of a Musician. I really liked the museum nad all of those paintings. There was a TON of other art in the museum that I kind of had to brush over because it was getting late. There was a mosaic around a staircase that I adored (picture 4). The courtyard had some cool statues as well. It felt good to see some good art again as well. Just like with the churches, it had been a while. From the museum I went back to the Piazza del Duomo and had lunch. I ate a cafeteria type place and had some cheese stuffed noodles with a bowl of fruit. It was more than I wanted to pay but worth it. I had some gelato (I was in Italian, I had to) and walked around the square (picture 5). I took the metro to the train station and hopped on the train to Lugano, Switzerland. I really enjoyed the short time I was in Milan (except the confusing buses). I didn't get a chance to see The Last Supper which sucks but I didn't have time (it is in a small church outside the center of town and you have to have online reservations).

I rode the train to Lugano which is just barely in Switzerland. In fact, the Italian border is just across the lake that Lugano is perched on. The whole lake is surrounded by green hills (mountains I guess) and is extremely beautiful. I got lucky and it was actually kind of sunny sometimes while I was here. I got off the train and went to my hostel which was only five minutes from the train. It is located in two pink former mansions. Really awesome. There was a group of German speaking students staying there. They were loud, just like I was on trips in high school. I walked down the hill to the Old Town. I passed by the cathedral which was very pretty. I walked down the arcaded shopping streets. It was very Italian looking and the arcades reminded me of Bologna (picture 6). I walked along the streets and over to the city park. The park is on the waterfront and has sculptures throughout it (pictures 7). I walked back along the waterfront past a McDonald's and a Burger King. There were some guys outside the Burger King playing chess with big pieces on the ground (picture 8). I along the waterfront to the other side of the town where I went into a church. The church had a huge fresco of the Passion of Christ. It was painted by a guy they call "the Raphael of the North". Very pretty. Then I walked back through the town again and stopped at a department store to use internet. The biggest difference I noticed between Switzerland and Greece is that everything closes really early here. The town was basically dead by 6 or 7 pm. In Greece, that's when people just start coming out.

Food in Switzerland is crazy expensive. A Burger King meal is 10 CHF and the conversion rate is basically one to one. Ouch. I had bratwurst, tater tot things (way nicer than that sounds), and salad for dinner at a restaurant. It wasn't too expensive, for Swiss standards, and tasted really good. Bratwurst is one of my favorite foods. The rain started coming down hard while I ate so I had to scurry back up the town. I stopped at the train station and bought a little bit of chocolate for dessert (I'm in Switzerland). The chocolate was so fantastic. I ate it while I finished up reading Zorba the Greek. I liked that book quite a bit. Zorba lives each day as if it was a new one which is a very admirable quality if you ask me. I started reading The Lost World by Michael Crichton and then went to bed. The guy on the bunk above me burped a lot throughout the night. Not exactly attractive.

Tomorrow I am off to Lucerne. I will stay there until Thursday afternoon and then head to Bern.
Only 10 days till I am home... Holz crap.

Bye!