Sleight of Hand

Thursday was our last day in Italy and our day to spend in Milano. We returned our car in the morning to the Malpensa Airport (where we will be flying out of early early on Friday morning). From the airport, we caught the Malpensa Express, a speedy train into the historic heart of Milano. Our first impression as we walked down via Dante, was that Milano reminded us of Manhattan. We really like Manhattan. Not having much of a plan, we headed off in search of the Duomo and instead found the Castello Sforzesco, or Sforza Castle. Here is the complex:

After a quick tour of the castle grounds, we got back on track in our Duomo search. Since we were in no hurry, we were drawn to a small café for a mid-morning cappuccino and pastry. Re-energized, we managed to find the fourth largest church in Europe – it wasn’t difficult. Let me say this right now: this was an awesome cathedral and one of our very favorites. We were so glad that we overcame fatigue and made the effort to visit Milano. Here are a few aerial shots of the Duomo and one interior shot (no cameras allowed).

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Shopping mall. Prada. Gucci. Louis Vitton. Marble tiled floors. Expensive restaurants and cafes. Keep going. . . .

We rested at the Piazza della Scala under a sculpture of Leonardo (as in da Vinci). As we rested we wondered where the La Scala Opera House and Museum was located. Looking at our map, we realized it was right in front of us! A simple building, according to Rick it is considered the “world’s most prestigious opera house.” After a lunch at a vegetarian restaurant(finally!), we returned to the Teatrale alla Scala for a visit to the museum and a peek at the opera hall itself. We were called onto the stage and given a standing “O” for being such fine tourists while in Italy. Thank you, thank you very much.

Okay. First, about the painting at the beginning of this post. It is the phony artwork above our bed at the Hotel Cervo. We couldn’t use a real photo of a real painting BECAUSE OUR CAMERA BATTERY WAS DEAD AND WE DIDN’T KNOW IT UNTIL AFTER WE HAD TAKEN THE TRAIN INTO MILANO. Therefore, true confession: the above photos are all photos of post cards and taken in the comfort of our room after we returned from our day of sightseeing in the city. Weren’t you wondering how we got the aerial shots of the Duomo? And didn’t you think it strange that we didn’t invite our friends to our send off at the Teatrale alla Scala?

Crawling Along the Coast

Dateline: Wednesday, November 5, 2008. We got packed for our departure from the Cinque Terre, but first we took a final walk on the Monterosso beach. It was rainy and there were rough seas, but I managed to pick up lots of pretty rocks, a few shells, and dozens of pieces of itty bitty polished beach glass. I didn't get any photos of my bounty, but trust me, it was plentiful.

We got the car loaded and set out with a final destination of Milan, about three hours away. We decided to dawdle our way up the coast and our first stop was in Levanto, where we saw another beautiful beach town (quite a bit bigger than the 5 Terre). Also saw a gaggle of surfers!

Okay, drive drive drive - hey, I'm getting pretty good at snapping photos from a moving vehicle.


Next stop? Santa Margherita Liqure.

And it had a little sliver of a beach!

Last stop on our cruising the coast, Portofino, playground of the rich and famous.

Thursday is our last full day in Italy and we plan to spend it in Milan. We'll have a post about our day, but we also plan to post our Top 10 Favorites of Italy, maybe ten more, and then a few Honorable Mentions.

A Quiz

Okay, a little quiz. There are five towns in the Cinque Terre:

1) Riomaggiore
2) Manarola
3) Corniglia
4) Vernazza
5) Monterosso al Mare

Can you identify the photos below? (Hint: We did not visit Corniglia, otherwise known as the Billy Goat town.)

Answers:

eroiggamoir

aloranam
azzanrev
ossoretnom

Rain Can't Stop Us!

Rainy everywhere on this election day Tuesday, but since our time is dwindling, we hopped the train for the five-minute ride to Cinque Terre town number 4, Vernazza. This is Rick's favorite town of the five, and we found it to be young and hip; we liked it a lot. Although it was raining, we wandered around the town and visited the harbor, even had a late morning slice of fresh pesto pizza.

We were getting a big soggy, so we decided to catch the 3:33 p.m. train back to Monterosso al Mare, but, since we had about 45 minutes to kill, we stuck in a little hike to visit the top of a hill overlooking Vernazza . Howard estimated it was a vertical rise of about 350 feet and the equivalent of 600 steps! Wheweeee -- but what a view AND an unexpected cemetary.

It was our plan to stay in Monterosso through Thursday morning, but in discussing our flexible itinerary over a late afternoon cappucino, we are thinking we might pack up on Wednesday morning and head to Milano a day early. In reading Rick's take on Milano, he thinks it is worth more than an afternoon. Of course, we may change our mind again before morning . . . in any event, we fly out of Milano on Friday morning at 6:20 a.m., arriving in Portland a little after 12:oo noon - seems like a quick trip, but I guess that is what happens when you are going through multiple time zones equalling nine hours!