Enough of This Resting Business, Let's Go Exploring TODAY!

Tuesday, 12 June, 2018

Time to be tourists in our own town again. We were off bright and early on the 8:05 a.m. train to Milano.

Once in Italy's financial and fashion capital, we needed some sustenance in the form of two cappuccini and a brioche near the Cadorna train station.

It could have been . . .

. . . MUCH worse if we weren't

so strong willed

We were now ready for the short walk to our first objective.

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

It was founded in 1609 by

Cardinal Federico Borromeo

He intended for it to be a place for the general public to first learn about the Church's secular knowledge via its extensive library.

Today it also houses an amazing art collection featuring the works of Raffaello, Caravaggio, Tiziano, Da Vinci and Brueghel.

Rowing NOT Drifting

Nice horse armor

Those eyes!

Delicate in stone

Life can be a struggle at times

Pieta

Arcimboldo -like

FACE ME!

St. John the Baptist

A dapper man in armor

Aren't I the center of attention?

  

There has to be more than

just one hymn book in Heaven?

I did not know that on Easter Sunday,

Jesus arose from the dead sporting

the Milano pennant

Why don't armies wear pink

uniforms into battle anymore? 

Mary on a throne

St. Peter of Verona and

Mr. Christopher

This St. Peter was a fun loving Inquisitor in the first half of the 13th-century who took a blade to the head from one Carino of Balsamo representing the Cathars who did not like answering questions about their faith to any Inquisitor.

 Kind of young looking

to be Bishops or Cardinals

 San Rocco,

STOP IT!

Mary wearing an early

version of a Bose

noise cancelling head set

The ultimate Good Friday

souvenirs, the three nails

AND the Crown of Thorns!

  

Why the dead frog?

A Michael Contreras worthy beard

Away in the manger . . .

I like blue religious art

Apostles in rough waters,

WWJD?

 Brueghel at his funkiest

One tall urn

 We both loved this hand painted

glass window featuring Dante

in red in the middle

 Beatrice's face was haunting

A fellow peregrino!

DON'T LOOK AT HER!

Maybe not at her either

 Beautiful carving

A Pope's Crest

 A Cardinal's Crest

Has to be a leopard

 The Ambrosiana's Courtyard

 Jael hammering a tent spike

into General Sisera's head

It's from the Bible's Book of Judges, you can look it up!

My new Villa for the

2019 Skorpion season

It has a decent staircase

Thanks to my Super Agent Laurie Maguire for getting the Skorpions to agree to this in my new contract.

And another thing you should

know about boys . . .

Laurie's favorite fruit

The Madonna and Child

was a recurring theme today

Off with the heads!

This depicts the brutal attack by the Cathers on St. Peter of Verona and his friend Brother Dominic.

"Every woman's crazy 'bout

a sharp dressed man!"

   

 Dante

Leonardo

GREAT beard and hair!

"I fart in your general direction!"

More of the courtyard including . . .

. . . a fresco and . . .

. . . some statues

A unicorn on your Cardinal's

Crest is a good thing, right?

 Leonardo's "Musician"

Jesus being crowned with thorns

Laurie wanted a string of pearls

like hers

The last room you enter in this amazing museum is straight out of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose.

It is the old library's ancient reading room, a.k.a., the Sala Federiciana.

The aroma of dusty, old books

was heaven to our senses

 Leonardo studies in mechanics

More Leonardo notes

 A drawing attributed to one

of Leonardo's students

We liked the bear cub

Leonardo had SO many interests

and talents

Parachutes?

These tomes are only a little

over 100 years old

 I was overwhelmed!

I need to learn a LOT more

about the Italian language

  

 A random holy man

What the . . .

One great art museum seen, we were on to our next stop just a few blocks away . . .

. . . Chiesa Santa Maria

Presso San Satiro

This church's claim to fame is the ingenious work by artist Donato Bramante who had limited space in which to build a church where one already existed.

He was commissioned to do this work by the Duke of Milano, Galeazzo Maria Sforza.

How could he get the job done in such a limited space?

He did it!

But not in the usual way.

Note this side view of the apse

over the main altar

Now look back at the previous photo.

The apse is only 40 inches deep!

Bramante's ability to ad imaginary perspective through his painting did the trick! 

The church's Baptistry

A Good Friday scene

Bramante's genius was more than a little interesting.

We continued our trek seeking a place for lunch.

Did I mention already that Milan is

one of the world's most fashionable cities?

One more stop before lunch . . .

Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata

 Laurie keeping the Italian

candle industry afloat

Armless Jesus

 The Holy Family

The Sforza Family

Jesus and His x-ray vision

  

 The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Another Sforza we believe

ENOUGH! Let's eat at . . .

A great dining experience

Good looking meats

 Laurie and her love of cherries

We had pizza and . . .

. . . macchiato of course

Strange beans

Magic beans?

Laurie loves grapes

Especially fermented.

A fine dining experience in the books, we were off on the Metro to . . .

San Siro Stadium

One of Europe's great Cathedrals for soccer/calcio/football fans, the home of both the powerhouse AC Milan and Inter Milan teams.

The World Cup starts in just two more days.

This is what many fans will . . .

 . . . look like after . . .

 . . . two weeks of World Cup action

Janne Kristofersson

this one's for you!

Aiki and Janne, I'm loving my new shirt, TACK SÅ MYCKET!

Is it too late to sign up

for this competition?

We enjoyed a good day in Milano before beating today's late afternoon deluge back to the Villa Skorpion.

Tomorrow we are off to Torino for two days to meet up with fellow retired Rio Mesa H.S. colleagues Deanna Owens and Richard Bellman who are long time biking enthusiasts and who have been riding bicycles throughout northern Italy for the last two weeks.

It should make for a great two days!