Game Week Preparation and an Afternoon Trip into Milano

Monday, 12 March, 2018

After getting a lot of computer work accomplished in the morning, I opted to journey into Milano in the afternoon with my Nikon camera and zoom lens to take a few photos of the statures that adorn the Duomo.

My iPhone camera is both great and handy but for this job I needed to bring along my big, bulky Nikon camera.

The Duomo looked ready

for the photo shoot

This is what I normally get when

taking photos with my iPhone

This is what I wanted with my Nikon

What are the doing?

Nice mustache

"How do my abs look to you?"

"YIKES!

Where did you come from?"

This IS the Duomo,

modesty, PLEASE!

Adoration of the Baby Jesus

on one of the Duomo's main doors

And His death on the other door

A knife?

Violence in the Bible?

Have a quick swig before

those camels attack again!

"Why yes, yes I am a Bishop"

A knife?

Violence in the Bible?

Again.

Look good, feel good!

A grape harvest means VINO!

Vino, did you say VINO?

Nothing like a good broadsword

OUCH!

Broadswords are big at the Duomo

Is he stepping on that guys coglioni?

St. Andrew

A personal favorite.

Alas poor Yorick . . .

What is he doing?

Beats me!

I bet this rain spout was fun on Sunday

This one too

Incredible beard by the way.

"What do you mean,

do I want to see your etchings?"

"Not my etchings, my entrails,

do you want to see my entrails?"

Standing guard over Milano

A beheading?

Violence in the Bible?

Indeed.

"Let me show you my Chiesa"

Modesty, PLEASE!

A skull and a loincloth

A perfectly good idea in fashion conscious Milano.

Any chance that we could get

cleaned up before Easter Sunday?

A beheading?

Violence in the Bible?

Am I seeing a pattern here?

A beheading?

Violence in the Bible?

OK, that confirms it, there indeed is violence in the Bible.

But three heads? I can think of Goliath and John the Baptist, who else lost their dome?

A noble Roman

An intelligent looking man

Either a really small horse or

a really big man being lanced

Late lunches on the Duomo steps

The Blessed Virgin Mary

watching over the city

Photo shoot done, I had time to visit another one of the 111 Places in Milan That You Must Not Miss sites from my book of the same name.

To get there I had to board the #2 tram. With the wonderful transportation pass that the Skorpions have provided me, all train, metro, tram and bus rides in the greater Milano area are included.

I have found that hopping aboard a tram one of Milano's many tram lines is a great way to see the city's many neighborhoods.

A gondola in Milano's

Naviglio district

The Naviglio is Milano's canal district. These canals were designed by Leonardo di Vinci to help Milano's commercial interests move goods in and out of the city.

The stones used to build Milano's Duomo came to the city via these old canals that are mostly just a memory today.

This canal looks like it is still in use

After going over the canal via a bridge

I'd arrived at my site

#76 Saint Christopher on the Naviglio

First stop on the way to Santiago de Compostela

Interesting 15th-century entryway

San Cristoforo al Naviglio

That this church is a kickoff point for the Camino de Santiago seems fitting as St. Christopher is the Patron Saint of Travelers.

My book said that this was the place where you could pick up your Pilgrims Passport but I did not see a Pilgrims Office anywhere nearby.

I also found it odd that I did not see a traditional Camino clam shell or yellow arrow on the ground or on a wall to help guide a new peregrino on their way to Santiago de Compostela about 1,200 miles away.

Oh well, I entered . . .

Nice colors, interesting altar

Murals everywhere

Some were almost gone

Byzantine influenced Jesus

dating back to the 12th-century

Laurie would have

lighted a few more

14th-century St. Christopher

and carrying the Baby Jesus

San Cristoforo al Naviglio

graffiti on the next block

San Cristoforo to the left

of the bridge

That makes 22 sites visited from the book, only 89 to go.

I got back aboard the #2 tram, isn't public transportation great, to start the trip home.

I got off the tram when I saw this . . .

A bull doing a head stand?

I know that Milano and Torino are rival cities but really!

Wait, what is that different looking building behind the bull?

Why it was Il Civico Tempio di San Sebastian, a church.

I know that the rule is one church visit per day and I had already visited the one in the Naviglio but, what the heck, rules are made to be broken. 

Great altar, one of many

The Civic Temple of St. Sebastian was built to give thanks for deliverance from the plague in 1576 at the orders of Archbishop Carlo Borromeo.

Miracles attributed to Mary

Pieta

Love the Dome

Lots of altars on this circular church

I'm glad I went into the Civic Temple, but it was time to head home.

On the walk to the

Cadorna train station

Signs of Spring at the Villa Skorpion

Monday night, 9:25 p.m., RAI channel 1

"Il Comissário Montalbano"

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading 14 of Andrea Camilleri's series of Montalbano books.

I discovered that the Camarillo Public Library had CDs of 25 episodes of the Montalbano TV show which Laurie and I have found to be great fun.

The books and TV show are set in a fictional towns of Vigata and Montelusa on our beloved island of Sicily with Salvo Montalbano being a wily detective who heads up Vigata's small but effective police force.

On Monday nights, new Montalbano episodes air on RAI 1. There are no English subtitles for me like the episodes at home but I can follow along well enough and the main core of characters, though older looking, are still fun to watch in action.

Now if only I could find some the new Montalbano CDs with English subtitles . . .

BEAT THE BLUE STORMS!