Milan

One of Milan's many squares

Teatro alla Scala

As scheduled, we returned to the Hotel Impero shortly before 10:30 this evening after spending the entire day in Milan. This morning we rolled out and onto the highway by 9:00 AM and within an hour and a half found ourselves leaving the bus (and our driver, Lorenzo) alongside the walls of the Teatro all Scala, or as we know it in the USA, La Scala Opera House. 

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside either the theatre or the museum that followed, but after ascending the staircase whose walls were adorned with numerous opera bills from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, we entered the main lobby ready for our tour. It was interesting to find out that since its opening in 1776, this lobby had served not so much as a gathering place for theatre goers to chat and discuss the performance at hand, but rather as a gaming room where gambling, along to plenty of smoking and drinking were the norm. In fact, the orchestra section of the house, which today holds some of the most expensive seats, was nonexistent, and was an area where patrons would dance during performances rather than simply stop and pay attention to what was happening on stage. We each got a chance to walk into one of the many boxes to look out into the house, which today was hosting a rehearsal of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman). The La Scala museum held many artifacts of the theatre such as books and music dating from the various periods, portraits and sculptures of some of the greatest composers and singers who'd performed there over the years, as well as many old and antiquated musical instruments. Franz Liszt's piano sat in one corner of one of the rooms. 

Galleria

Afterward, Colin walked us through the magnificent Galleria which stood just across the square and into another, far larger piazza where the great Cathedral of Milan stands, otherwise known as the Duomo. 

Il Duomo

We had free time from that point to find some lunch before we re-grouped and made our way to the church of Maria della Grazie, where we viewed one of the greatest works of art in the world: Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, a mural painted on the wall of the old refectory, or eating place of the monks of the time. (An appropriate subject to paint in a room like that, don't you think?) Again, no photography allowed.

Posing with "Leo"

Back to Duomo Square and more free time to shop and take in the sights of central Milan. We had dinner a half an hour later than planned since yours truly mistook our 6:15 meeting time to mean 6:45, but our pasta pancetta and veal dinners, along with some extraordinary dessert choices made it all seem ok. Many of us slept on the long bus ride back.

Andrew, Colin and Jeff jump for joy!

Tomorrow we'll visit a demonstration of violin-making as well as hear a live performance of Stradivarius violin made in 1715.

We perform tomorrow evening as well.

More tomorrow night, our last night in Italy.