We began today at the Ponte Del Diablo, just outside our hotel, as we bid a fond farewell to Venice. From there, we walked until we got to a boat, that took us past many more gorgeous Venetian scenes, that I tried to capture as we sailed along. And on to our waiting bus.
The bus took us through the picturesque Italian countryside, to Lake Garda. We looked out the windows, and I made some photos of the passing scenery. Thee were many vineyards. No one was trampling out the vintage as we swooshed along. I guess the grapes were not ready for harvesting. But the neat rows of carefully tended vines looks especially pretty. Also in this stretch of the journey we passed several towns, all of which were photogenic, and all of which had as their main visual interest, a church steeple or dome, or both. Here and there were farmhouses or barns, some looking habitable and some looking like a slight breeze would bring them down. Going past these places, one longed to take the scenic route and explore every one. Well maybe next time...
Lake Garda is a beautiful lake in every way. On its shores is a walled town, that has become a mecca for tourists, both to those from abroad and to Italian tourists. There’s a castle. We walked through the narrow portcullis to get into the town. On the other side we saw a bride and groom in a chic vintage automobile. We continued along the path, past gardens with views of the lake. Then we had lunch on a wonderful outdoor terrace. After lunch, we had time to shop for some mementos, and then we were to meet our tour director at the dock, where we boarded a boat for a tour of the lake.
It was thoroughly enjoyable to spend a part of the day out on the water, hearing about the lake's, history, and seeing some of the sites.
From there we traveled to Milan. Which is a gigantic city, and I believe among the Italians, it is considered, along with Rome, to be the primary cities in the country. Indeed, Romans seem to be somewhat envious of or in competition with Milan, and although they love their native city the best, they seem to have a bit of an inferiority complex comparing their own wonderful Rome to the wonders of Milan. This, they need not do. Rome is, after all The Eternal City.
Of course, Milan is famous for glamorous Italian designer clothing and the finest of accessories. American travelers to Milan are often encouraged by travel writers and social media influencers to dress with the utmost chic in Milan, as they say all of the people of the city themselves dress. Well, if you’ve got a bank account as big as JP Morgan‘s, why not? But truly everyone in Milan that we saw was wearing much more casual clothing that could have come off the racks at Target, so don’t feel that you have to buy a new wardrobe to visit there.
Our first stop in Milan was the world’s most illustrious opera house, La Scala, (yes Sydney is a close second in general, and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples among musical aficionados), where we had a very nice tour. There was a rehearsal going on in the theater itself, of a group of traveling American if I recall correctly. So we were only allowed to peer in, four people at a time from one of the balconies. That was fine.
They also have a lovely suite of elegant rooms which serve as a museum to many of the great composers and singers who presented works at La Scala over the past four centuries. This was well worth our time, and we saw some lovely sculpture, instrument, statues, and any number of things related to fine music.
From La Scala, we walked across the square diagonally, and came to large archway I recognized immediately, as one of the entrances to the Galleria. Of course this Galleria is the grandfather of every other galleria. And it is quite beautiful. The shops are very high-end. Worth looking in the windows, but we really didn’t have time to shop, and that was fine because we didn’t have the funds to make a dent in what they had for sale. When I say we, I mean the entire tour group, not just our family.
So we walked through the middle and looked up at the dome, Judy twirled around on the bull mosaic because it’s tradition. And then we came out the other end into the cathedral Square.
I’m not exaggerating when I said it was so full that people were almost shoulder to shoulder in that big outdoor space. It was hot as could be in the middle of the afternoon, and other than the front stairs to the cathedral and a little edge around the obelisk, there was absolutely no place for anyone to sit down. After we heard about the cathedral, and were told that we probably wouldn’t have time to go inside because of the long lines, we were given 40 minutes of free time. For Judy and me that meant going in search of something cold to drink, and a shadowy spot in which to drink it. After we did that, we strolled along the side of the Galleria toward the cathedral, looked into several of the shops, and then we went back to near where we were to meet, I mean only feet away, but where we stood, it was in the shade.
In addition to the cathedral, the fashion, and design, Milan also has some stunning modern buildings including one that is planted like the hanging gardens of Babylon, but more so. Milan also had a huge amount of leftover buildings from the time of Mussolini. That’s a dubious distinction. The architecture‘s very sturdy, and sort of a mishmash of Art Deco, and Renaissance Classical. It’s neither one nor the other. The scale is overly grand, the effect is overly somber, and it’s not the kind of place that has what I would call a poetic beauty about it. I’m sure there are many people who absolutely adore Milan. That’s great. Nonetheless it didn’t strike me as a place where one could be happy year in and a year out.
We had a very nice accommodations in Milan, and after a long day of traveling, which was also a hot day of traveling, we were glad to be in a relaxing space.
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