We began our trip to Italy by spending a day and a half in New York City. I had heard about a special exhibit at the NY Botanical Gardens. The exhibit was the works of Chuhily who is a well-known blown glass artist. Dale Chuhily graduated from the University of Wisconsin and also trained in Venice. Murano glass in Venice is world renowned. Chuhily’s work is really amazing. The botanical gardens are in the Bronx and are pretty far out on one of the subway lines, but we had all dat.
We also had to make a stop at the Apollo Diner in Brooklyn. Will had tried their cheesecake on the last trip and deemed it the best. Well, this trip didn’t disappoint and the cheesecake was again just as we remembered.
Traffic in NYC was really bad. Another piece of advice, somehow we came during United Nations Week. Luckily for us, that doesn’t effect the subway very much, but traffic was even worse than normal in mid-town. Barricades were blocking streets and sidewalks, and the police presence was on virtually every corner.
It was then time to board our Emirates Air flight . The flight itself was fairly comfortable with a nice amount of leg for even us budget travelers. The food however, left a lot to be desired. I had ordered the gluten-free meal and they served some tasteless fish for dinner. And guess what, they served for the breakfast meal, yes, another tasteless fish meal. Different then the first, but it did seem that I got two different fish dinners instead of a breakfast meal. Apparently, the regular meal wasn’t any better.
Arrived in Milan in the afternoon to beautiful weather. The first test making it to the hotel. We didn’t do too bad, found the Metro right away and got off at the correct stop. Walking to the hotel we got turned around and started off in the wrong direction. Google saved the day and got us straightened out.
Us as Americans faced some challenges figuring out some of the features in the room. Like how to turn on the lights and get them to stay on. Couldn’t figure out why only one light switch worked and then the light would turn off after about 10 seconds. We finally saw a device on the wall that looked like it would accept the room key card. It’s an energy saving feature that requires the room key to be in place to have the lights on so it knows you’re in the room. Flushing the toilet was another challenge. We looked all over the toilet itself including the wall directly behind the toilet for the flusher. Nope, it was a button on the side wall, of course.
We then set out as we had tickets to view the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Our plan was to take the metro. Got to the metro station only to find it closed. Couldn’t understand why until someone told us there had been a bomb threat. So, plan B, we’ll just take a taxi there. 45 minutes later we finally arrive with about 10 minutes to spare for our appointed time. Don’t go to Milan during Fashion Week. The cab driver told us that it would have normally been a 10 minute taxi ride, but traffic is terrible during Fashion Week.
The Last Supper was finished in 1498, and has gone through many restorations throughout the years. Many of these restorations did more harm than good. The last restoration took 22 years and was completed in 1999. Part of the restoration was to create a controlled environment around the building itself. When visiting you are sent through in small groups and go through a series of airlock rooms before reaching the painting. You are also limited to 15 minutes for viewing. So, glad we made it in time as this was a tough ticket to get.
As we were still trying to overcome our jet lag, we decided to head back to the hotel. Fell asleep and did not even make it to dinner that night. Restaurants in Italy typically close in the late afternoon and don’t reopen for dinner until 7 or 8pm.
The next morning we were headed to our next town, but had time to check out the Duomo (cathedral) in Milan. It is said to be the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. This one took over 600 years to build before it was declared completed in 1965. The stained glass windows were amazing and the marble building itself was very impressive.
What a wonderful trip you guys are on – Thank you for sharing your adventure and beautiful pictures – Smooth travels to you all- God Bless!
Thank-you, glad you are enjoying the blog.