The SAI group and others walking through the rainy streets of Milan.

What a trip it has been so far! Half way through and I have been to around fifteen Italian cities in seven different regions. Among those cities I have visited my favorites (in no particular order) would probably be Rome, just for the historical presence of the city, Turin, as I ate some of the best food I had ever had there, Assisi, as it had the best view I have seen in Italy so far and Milan. I went on the free excursion provided by SAI to Milan and Como and I did not regret it whatsoever. The excursion included travel to Milan, a hotel in Como, a boat ride around Lake Como as well as free dinners and breakfasts. I think my favorite part was exploring the city of Milan. It was easily one of the biggest and most active cities I have ever been to. Needless to say, at first I felt out of place but luckily the locals were kind enough to direct me around, as I made sure to be polite and speak in Italian until they started speaking in English.

The very first thing we saw once arriving in Milan was Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper” which was protected by doors that keep out unwanted air. At first our guide began his spiel in Italian but, I told him in the best Italian I could muster that no one in the group understood Italian and he promptly switched to English. The Last Supper was breathtakingly beautiful – a sight I feel privileged to have seen.

The tower and fountain of Castello Sforzesco, the home of the powerful Sforza family of Milan.

Before we got time on our own we were given a guided tour of central Milan, which included the Castello Sforzesco. It was great being inside an actual castle, I felt like a kid again pretending to be a knight or a king, except instead of a sandbox I was in an actual castle. The tour also passed through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is a gigantic shopping mall named after the first king of a united Italy. I thought it was kind of an odd thing to name after a king to be honest but, it was filled with all sorts of clothing and accessory shops. In the center of the mall there were children dressed up for the last weekend of Carnevale. It was almost like Halloween with all the kids dressed up like Spiderman, princesses etc. The tour ended at the duomo of Milan, Santa Maria Nascente, which was done in a gothic style with large pointy towers and gargoyles like I had never seen a church done before. There Carnvela festivities thought the city, with clowns messing with each other and in the piazza del duomo there was even a clown concert going on with a full clown band in a van.

The Duomo of Milan done in gothic style with sharp spikes and piers. The top is flat enough that you can easily stand atop the church for a nice view of Milan.

I decided to explore Milan on my own. Of course, I immediately got lost. I eventually stumbled into the Santa Maria Presso San Satiro, a beautiful church filled with many optical illusions accredited to the great Renaissance architect Donato Bramante. It is hard to explain the illusions with words or pictures but, everything appears to have more depth than what it actually has. The dome seems higher than it actually is and some pieces behind the altar appear to be deeper than they are. Truly a beautiful church.

The altar of the Santa Maria Presso San Satiro seen from straight on to create the illusion of depth behind the altar.

After quite a while wandering I finally found what I was looking for, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. The Pinacoteca is a large library holding the remains of Napoleon’s treasure trove after his conquest of Italy. Inside I had heard there were some of Napoleon’s weapons and personal articles as well as some famous works of art, Da Vinci’s “Portrait of a Musician,” and other oddities such as a lock of Lucrezia Borgia’s hair. I found so much more there. As I entered there was a gigantic room of art before I even purchased my ticket. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures in the gallery but, I have never seen so much Renaissance era art in one place. So many famous paintings that I unfortunately forgot the names of as I didn’t bring a pen and paper and I don’t have the best of memory for names of artwork. I did see Napoleon’s gloves as well as his knife but, Lucrezia Borgia’s hair was missing as it was moved to Paris to be shown there (which wouldn’t be the first nor the last time I went into a museum expecting to see something only to see a note saying it was currently in France). The place was much bigger than I expected. I must have spent over three hours in there and I was hoping the museum would end but, it just kept going with rooms filled with paintings and sculptures. I was simply awestruck. At the very end I was stumbling along almost over-blown by art, when I saw the most striking thing I have ever seen, the original manuscripts of Leonardo Da Vinci. It was the very last room of the museum and I was blown away with amazement. There right in front of me behind a heavy glass casing were the calculations and drawings of one of the greatest thinkers of all time. I can’t help but, smile as I think back to it. There was his design for a device that would drain a castle’s moat or his famous aerial screw.

The exit to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the most amazing museum I have ever frequented.

I left the museum not only astounded but, also in a hurry as I spent too much time inside and had to rush to the duomo if I wanted to get to the top of it before we left. So, I ran to the ticket booth grabbed a ticket and sprinted up the stairs as quick as I could but, once I reached the top I received a call from the group leader saying I was late to meet up with the rest of the group to depart for Como. Luckily we were meeting up at the steps of the duomo so, I decided to try and snap a few photos while I was up there. Unluckily, my camera ran out of batteries and I forgot to bring my charger on the trip. It does not really matter though as I will treasure those images in my mind forever. The rest of the trip was great as well and I hope to go on more trips like it in the near future. Thank you for reading and by next time I hope to explore the south of Italy as all my experience so far have been in central and northern Italy.

The inside of the duomo of Milan. Below the altar is buried Saint Carlo Borromeo, a venerated cardinal of Milan.

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Charles is a current student at the University of Missouri studying at Florence University of the Arts (FUA) in Florence, Italy during the Sprig 2015 term.