All Hail Milano

Well, today was more than an interesting one. It was actually a day of adventures and excursions all over the city. We started off by meeting up with the everyone in the lobby so we all could go to our first destination; the Milan City Bus tour. First mission completed successfully.

Mission 1: Completed!
Milan Hop-on Hop-off Bus tour

   Throughout the bus tour we stopped in different areas of the city such as Brera, a very important area for modern art and is much like Soho in NYC. We drove by the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in front of the Scala with some of his students below him. He was not just an artist but also an engineer, architect and a poet. 

Leonardo da Vinci and his students

      We soon arrived to the Castello Sforzesco where we would have the chance to visit Art in Milan from the 4^th to the 11^th century such as the head of the Empress Theodora. There was a room full of large tapestries from the 16^th-18^th century that showed a lot of fashion for that time period that can easily be relatable to modern times. Leonardo da Vinci, Monochrome decoration of the walls of the Sala delle Asse created in 1498 were commissioned for the Duke Ludovico il Moro.  The museum of Classical Art closes with one of the greatest masterpieces in the Sforza Castle collection: the Rondanini Pietà of Michelangelo. 

The Rondanini Pietà by Michelangelo

This piece is given high important because he worked on the sculpture for many years and was engaged in sclutpuring the Pietà up to a few days before his death. This piece is unfinished and represents his belief that his hands no longer served purpose. He kept this piece in his home and left it to his faithfull servant, Antonio del Francese.  The castle holds much more history than I could have seen in one day.

Castello Sforzesco

At one of the exists of the castle, in the distance is the Arco della Pace, created by the French to represent peace. The castle walks into Parco Sempione, a large park with white gravel and bright green grass that resembles central park in NYC. I am definitely going back to just enjoy the scenery.

Arco della Pace(Arch of Peace)

 After the park we went on our bus tour to find our second destination, but this time, it was with our culture group. We put our brains together and our clue made us believe it was in a park or church. We jumped on the red bus and were off to our second destination. We finally found where it was but by the time we got there it was too late. We had to meet with the rest of the group to go to the Il Teatro alla Moda at the Costume Moda Immagine.

Museum with Il Teatro alla Moda; Costume di Scena Exhibition

Before we even got into the exhibition, I already bought the book. I want to take something back that doesn’t lose value over time. I didn’t even realize it but I am starting a collection of books. Never thought I would!  As I walked through the black curtains the first dress I see is the Gianni Versace long black dress in black crystals with crystal geometric designed for the Capriccio show for the lovely Kiri Te Kanawa. 

 Made by Gianni Versace
For: Kiri Te Kanawa in Capriccio
1991, Royal Opera House

This dress gave me a clear understanding of what I am about to see and experience. From that moment, I was surrounded by masterpieces from designers such as Versace, Cappuci, Fendi, Armani, Ferretti, Missoni, Valentino and so much more. I never knew opera and fashion were so strongly connected! I am learning so much so far. I couldn’t even mention which costume was my favorite because they all were all precious in detail and design.  I would love to learn more about the relationship with Opera and Italian fashion designers.

         After leaving the museum, we grabbed a quick lunch in Duomo. My group and I asked our waiter how to get to Giardino Guastalla and he diretcted us towards tram 27.  I than asked the driver which stop brings us to the park and found out it was only 3 stops. As we we walked off, it started to rain but 3 minutes later, it started to down pour! Here we are in dresses, shorts and sandals running to find cover. One of our group members didn’t have an umbrella so I shared with her. As we were running we tried to find cover. It has been raining for the past 2 weeks, so we are used to rain by now but something was different this time. Not even a minute later it started to hail!  

Mission 2: Failed.
In the middle of the hail storm

We had no where to hide but we ran and found a little hole for us to take cover. It was comical because we were glued to a wall with umbrellas covering our faces and body so we wouldn’t get hit by the hail. It worked for a while but we would get hit by couple. Every time a car drove by we would push ourselves backward more into the wall but in reality, we had absolutely no where to go and nothing else we could do but to just take it all in and get wet. This was the first time I ever saw hail. The ground looked like it snowed and within 20 minutes the street was covered in white ice cubes.  The funny thing is that we were right across the street from the park, our destination. So close yet so far away. We had no choice but to tackle the rain and run back to the tram.  This day ended with me walking into my room-soaking wet from head to toe and frizzy hair. I wouldn’t take it back for anything.