Inside the
castle is a small museum that houses Michelangelo’s The Pieta – the unfinished
sculpture of “Mary mourning over the emaciated body of the dead Christ.” (There’s
another Pieta in Florence, this is the Milan Pieta.) It’s a small section of
the castle, and it’s interesting to see this unfinished piece – where the legs
are smooth an finished, but the faces are still rough-hewn and in process. You
can tell that it would have been an amazing piece when finished.
Behind the castle is a huge beautiful
park (from the 1906 Worlds Fair) dotted with a few café stand, and park benches
nestled in the shade under magnificent trees that have seen centuries of
history. And the shade is appreciated, because it’s 92-degrees and still rising
– and like most big cities in Europe the air quality is “Very Poor”, which I
have definitely noticed. I don’t know how so many also smoke so much here.
I then
walked to the Da Vinci Vineyard, which was gifted to Leonardo by the Duke of
Milan. There’s a large mansion, but only a few rooms are open to the public –
with a beautiful garden nestled behind these walls. It’s like a secret garden
hidden in the middle of the city, and it’s very charming.
Then over
to the Museum of Science and Technology – where, appropriately were the first
automatically flushing toilets I’ve seen in my journey (in a co-ed bathroom,
which is common, but I’m still getting used to.) Although there are other
things here, I headed straight for the Da Vinci exhibit. I’ve always been
fascinated by his inventions and mesmerized by his perpetual motion machines –
many of which are displayed here. And he invented stuff for wool & silk
making, printing presses, coin manufacture, and all sorts of random stuff. Some
of it even too advanced for what they were able to make at the time.
And on the
way back to the hotel, there was a playful dog (on a leash) jumping up try to
catch one of the pigeons swirling by. He was so cute and floppy that I couldn’t
help but laugh, and his owner stopped as she was passing me. It’s been 3 weeks
without Pippa, and I told her that I was missing my dog – as she let me pet
hers. Just a loving floppy dog, with bangs hanging down over his eyes. I so
wanted to just scoop him up for Puppy Snuggles, but that didn’t quite seem
appropriate on the streets of Milan – so I let them continue on their way. And
I grabbed my phone and scrolled through pictures of my Pippa. (Not sure I can
make it 5 weeks without her!)
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